L ' I N F E R N O

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INF C19 94-96 / DANTE
Né Pier né li altri tolsero a Matia Nor did Peter or the other Apostles, ask gold
oro od argento, quando fu sortito or silver of Matthias., when he was chosen to fill
al loco che perdé l'anima ria. the place that Judas, the guilty soul, had forfeited.
SAINT MATTHIAS: CHOSEN BY THE APOSTLES (ACTS I 13-26), TO FILL THE PLACE AMONG THE DISCIPLES FORFEITED BY
JUDAS.
INF C19 97-99 / DANTE
Però ti sta, ché tu se' ben punito; So, remain here, since you are justly punished,
e guarda ben la mal tolta moneta and keep well the ill-gotten money,
ch'esser ti fece contra Carlo ardito. that made you so bold against Charles of Anjou.
CHARLES OF ANJOU: DEFEATED MANFRED, KING OF SICILY, AT BENEVENTO IN 1265 & BECAME KING OF NAPLES & SICILY.
HE SCHEMED TO BRING DOWN THE EASTERN EMPEROR, MICHAEL PALEOLOGUS, BUT WAS OPPOSED BY KING PERE II OF
ARAGON WHOSE WIFE CONSTANCE (COSTANZA) WAS MANFRED’S DAUGHTER. ON EASTER MONDAY 1282 THE APPROACHES
OF A YOUNG FRENCH SOLDIER TO A YOUNG SICILIAN WOMAN IN PALERMO PROVOKED HIS MURDER BY HER HUSBAND, AND,
WHILE THE BELLS CALLED VESPERS, IT LED TO A CHAIN REACTION OF ANTI-FRENCH MASSACRES IN SICILY. PERE WAS ABLE
TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A POWER VACUUM & OUSTED CHARLES FROM SICILY. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETY-YEAR
‘WAR OF THE VESPERS’. HE & PETER (PERE) BOTH DIED IN 1285.
CHARLES REFUSED TO ACCEPT ONE OF POPE NICHOLAS III’S NIECES AS A WIFE FOR HIS NEPHEW & NICHOLAS DEPRIVED
CHARLES OF THE OFFICE OF SENATOR OF ROME & ACCEPTED MONEY FROM MICHAEL PALEOLOGUS, HELPING TO FUEL
CHARLES’S ANTI-BYZANTINE POLICY.
INF C19 100-102 / DANTE
E se non fosse ch'ancor lo mi vieta And were it not that I not am still restrained by
la reverenza de le somme chiavi reverence for the great keys that you held
che tu tenesti ne la vita lieta, in your hand in the joyful life,
INF C19 103-105 / DANTE
io userei parole ancor più gravi; I would use even more forceful words.,
ché la vostra avarizia il mondo attrista, since your avarice grieves the world,
calcando i buoni e sollevando i pravi. trampling the good, and raising the wicked.
INF C19 106-108 / DANTE
Di voi pastor s'accorse il Vangelista, John the Evangelist spoke of shepherds such as
quando colei che siede sopra l'acque you, when he saw “the great whore that sitteth
puttaneggiar coi regi a lui fu vista; upon many waters, with whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication”,
JOHN THE EVANGELIST: ST JOHN THE DIVINE, AUTHOR OF THE REVELATION. DANTE REFERS TO THE VISION OF THE GREAT
WHORE. THE SEVEN HEADS IN REVELATION 8 ARE INTERPRETED AS THE SEVEN VIRTUES OR SACRAMENTS & THE TEN HEADS
AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, KEPT AS LONG AS THE POPES WERE VIRTUOUS.
INF C19 109-111 / DANTE
quella che con le sette teste nacque, she that was born with seven heads and,
e da le diece corna ebbe argomento, as long as virtue pleased her spouse,
fin che virtute al suo marito piacque. had justification.
INF C19 112-114 / DANTE
Fatto v'avete dio d'oro e d'argento; You have made a god for yourselves of gold and
e che altro è da voi a l'idolatre, silver, and how do you differ from the idolaters,
se non ch'elli uno, e voi ne orate cento? except that he worships one image and you a
hundred?
INF C19 115-117 / DANTE
Ahi, Costantin, di quanto mal fu matre, Ah, Constantine, how much evil you gave birth
non la tua conversion, ma quella dote to, not in your conversion, but in that Donation
that
che da te prese il primo ricco patre!». the first wealthy Pope, Sylvester, received from
you!
THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE: A FORGED DOCUMENT OF THE MIDDLE AGES, IN WHICH POPE SYLVESTER I WAS SUPPOSED
TO HAVE CURED CONSTANTINE OF LEPROSY, HE THEN RESOLVING TO TRANSFER HIS CAPITAL TO CONSTANTINOPLE, LEAVING
THE POPE WITH TEMPORAL POWER IN ITALY. DANTE SAW THIS AS THE SOURCE OF THE FATAL INVOLVEMENT OF THE CHURCH
IN TEMPORAL POWER &, AS A CONSEQUENCE. THE EMPIRE’S INVOLVEMENT IN COVETING THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF THE
CHURCH. HE CONSIDERED THE DONATION INVALID AS THE EMPEROR COULD NOT RELINQUISH TEMPORAL POWER, NOR COULD
THE POPE RECEIVE IT. (SEE DANTE DE MONARCHIA 3 10 ETC)
INF C19 118-133 / KLINE
And while I sung these notes to him, he thrashed violently with both his feet, either rage or conscience gnawing him.
I think it pleased my guide, greatly, he had so satisfied an expression, listening to the sound of the true words I
spoke. So he lifted me with both his arms, and when he had me quite upon his breast, climbed back up the path he
had descended, and did not tire of carrying me clasped to him, till he had borne me to the summit of the arch, that