Decameron – The Black Death or Stories?

What do I find more gripping in the Decameron: Boccaccio’s account on the Black Death or the stories in the book?  The stories are what I find more gripping as they are something I have not learned about that took place during the Renaissance.  We hear about the Black Death quite often in school in History, and that is why the stories Boccaccio shares tend to be more interesting to me.

Boniface VIII, Philip the Fair, and the Black Death

Philip the Fair of France had several conflicts with Pope Boniface VIII.  As the Western Civilization entered the fourteenth-century, they had to struggle with several crises including cattle dying, the Western Schism, harvests dying, Hundred Years’ War, and primarily, the Black Death.  These conflicts and crises are a part of history.