VIII. or, as Venturi supposes, to the coming of the Emperor Henry VII.

into Italy, or else, according to the yet more probable conjecture of Lombardi, to the transfer of the holy see from Rome to Avignon, which took place in the pontificate of Clement V. CANTO X v. 7. The point.] “To that part of heaven,” as Venturi explains it, “in which the equinoctial circle and the Zodiac intersect each other, where the common motion of the heavens from east to west may be said to strike with greatest force against the motion proper to the planets; and this repercussion, as it were, is here the strongest, because the velocity of each is increased to the utmost by their respective distance from the poles. Such at least is the system of Dante.” v. 11. Oblique.] The zodiac. v. 25. The part.] The above-mentioned intersection of the equinoctial circle and the zodiac. v. 26. Minister.] The sun. v. 30. Where.] In which the sun rises every day earlier after the vernal equinox. v. 45. Fourth family.] The inhabitants of the sun, the fourth planet. v. 46. Of his spirit and of his offspring.] The procession of the third, and the generation of the second person in the Trinity. v. 70. Such was the song.] “The song of these spirits was ineffable. v. 86. No less constrained.] “The rivers might as easily cease to flow towards the sea, as we could deny thee thy request.” v. 91. I then.] “I was of the Dominican order.” v. 95. Albert of Cologne.] Albertus Magnus was born at Laugingen, in Thuringia, in 1193, and studied at Paris and at Padua, at the latter of which places he entered into the Dominican order. He then taught theology in various parts of Germany, and particularly at Cologne. Thomas Aquinas was his favourite pupil. In 1260, he reluctantly accepted the bishopric of Ratisbon, and in two years after resigned it, and returned to his cell in Cologne, where the remainder of his life was passed in superintending the school, and in composing his voluminous works on divinity and natural science. He died in 1280. The absurd imputation of his having dealt in the magical art is well known; and his biographers take some pains to clear him of it. Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, by Quetif and Echard, Lut. Par. 1719. fol. t. 1. p. 162. v. 96. Of Aquinum, Thomas.] Thomas Aquinas, of whom Bucer is reported to have said, “Take but Thomas away, and I will overturn the church of Rome,” and whom Hooker terms “the greatest among the school divines,” (Eccl. Pol. b. 3. 9), was born of noble parents, who anxiously, but vainly, endeavoured to divert him from a life of celibacy and study; and died in 1274, at the age of fourty-seven. Echard and Quetif, ibid. p. 271. See also Purgatory Canto XX. v. 67. v. 101. Gratian.] “Gratian, a Benedictine monk belonging to the convent of St. Felix and Nabor, at Bologna, and by birth a Tuscan, composed, about the year 1130, for the use of the schools, an abridgment or epitome of canon law, drawn from the letters of the pontiffs, the decrees of councils, and the writings of the ancient doctors.” Maclaine’s Mosheim, v. iii. cent. 12. part 2. c. i. 6. v. 101. To either forum.] “By reconciling,” as Venturi explains it “the civil with the canon law.” v. 104. Peter.] “Pietro Lombardo was of obscure origin, nor is the place of his birth in Lombardy ascertained. With a recommendation from the bishop of Lucca to St. Bernard, he went into France to continue his studies, and for that purpose remained some time at Rheims, whence he afterwards proceeded to Paris. Here his reputation was so great that Philip, brother of Louis VII., being chosen bishop of Paris, resigned that dignity to Pietro, whose pupil he had been. He held his bishopric only one year, and died in 1160. His Liber Sententiarum is highly esteemed. It contains a system of scholastic theology, so much more complete than any which had been yet seen, that it may be deemed an original work.” Tiraboschi, Storia della Lett. Ital. t. iii. 1. 4. c. 2. v. 104. Who with the widow gave.] This alludes to the beginning of the Liber Sententiarum, where Peter says: “Cupiens aliquid de penuria ac tenuitate nostra cum paupercula in gazophylacium domini mittere,” v. 105. The fifth light.] Solomon. v. 112. That taper’s radiance.] St. Dionysius the Areopagite. “The famous Grecian fanatic, who gave himself out for Dionysius the Areopagite, disciple of St. Paul, and who, under the protection of this venerable name, gave laws and instructions to those that were desirous of raising their souls above all human things in order to unite them to their great source by sublime contemplation, lived most probably in this century (the fourth), though some place him before, others after, the present period.” Maclaine’s Mosheim, v. i. cent. iv. p. 2. c. 3. 12. v. 116. That pleader.] 1n the fifth century, Paulus Orosius, “acquired a considerable degree of reputation by the History he wrote to refute the cavils of the Pagans against Christianity, and by his books against the Pelagians and Priscillianists.” Ibid. v. ii. cent. v. p. 2. c. 2. 11. A similar train of argument was pursued by Augustine, in his book De Civitate Dei. Orosius is classed by Dante, in his treatise De Vulg. Eloq. I ii c. 6. as one of his favourite authors, among those “qui usi sunt altissimas prosas,”—” who have written prose with the greatest loftiness of style.” v. 119. The eighth.] Boetius, whose book De Consolatione Philosophiae excited so much attention during the middle ages, was born, as Tiraboschi conjectures, about 470. “In 524 he was cruelly put to death by command of Theodoric, either on real or pretended suspicion of his being engaged in a conspiracy.” Della Lett. Ital. t. iii. 1. i. c. 4. v. 124. Cieldauro.] Boetius was buried at Pavia, in the monastery of St. Pietro in Ciel d’oro. v. 126. Isidore.] He was Archbishop of Seville during forty years, and died in 635. See Mariana, Hist. 1. vi. c. 7. Mosheim, whose critical opinions in general must be taken with some allowance, observes that “his grammatical theological, and historical productions, discover more learning and pedantry, than judgment and taste.” v. 127. Bede.] Bede, whose virtues obtained him the appellation of the Venerable, was born in 672 at Wearmouth and Jarrow, in the bishopric of Durham, and died in 735. Invited to Rome by Pope Sergius I., he preferred passing almost the whole of his life in the seclusion of a monastery. A catalogue of his numerous writings may be seen in Kippis’s Biographia Britannica, v. ii. v. 127. Richard.] Richard of St. Victor, a native either of Scotland or Ireland, was canon and prior of the monastery of that name at Paris and died in 1173. “He was at the head of the Mystics in this century and his treatise, entitled the Mystical Ark, which contains as it were the marrow of this kind of theology, was received with the greatest avidity.” Maclaine’s Mosheim, v. iii. cent. xii. p. 2. c. 2. 23. v. 132. Sigebert.] “A monk of the abbey of Gemblours who was in high repute at the end of the eleventh, and beginning of the twelfth century.” Dict. de Moreri. v. 131. The straw-litter’d street.] The name of a street in Paris: the “Rue du Fouarre.” v. 136. The spouse of God.] The church. CANTO XI v. 1. O fond anxiety of mortal men.] Lucretius, 1. ii. 14 O miseras hominum mentes ! O pectora caeca Qualibus in tenebris vitae quantisque periclis Degitur hoc aevi quodcunque est! v. 4. Aphorisms,] The study of medicine. v. 17. The lustre.] The spirit of Thomas Aquinas v. 29. She.] The church. v. 34. One.] Saint Francis. v. 36. The other.] Saint Dominic. v. 40. Tupino.] A rivulet near Assisi, or Ascesi where Francis was born in 1182. v. 40. The wave.] Chiascio, a stream that rises in a mountain near Agobbio, chosen by St. Ubaldo for the place of his retirement. v. 42. Heat and cold.] Cold from the snow, and heat from the reflection of the sun. v. 45. Yoke.] Vellutello understands this of the vicinity of the mountain to Nocera and Gualdo; and Venturi (as I have taken it) of the heavy impositions laid on those places by the Perugians. For GIOGO, like the Latin JUGUM, will admit of either sense. v. 50. The east.] This is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Shakespeare. v. 55. Gainst his father’s will.] In opposition to the wishes of his natural father v. 58. In his father’s sight.] The spiritual father, or bishop, in whose presence he made a profession of poverty. v. 60. Her first husband.] Christ. v. 63. Amyclas.] Lucan makes Caesar exclaim, on witnessing the secure poverty of the fisherman Amyclas: —O vite tuta facultas Pauperis, angustique lares! O munera nondum Intellecta deum! quibus hoc contingere templis, Aut potuit muris, nullo trepidare tumultu, Caesarea pulsante manu? Lucan Phars. 1. v. 531. v. 72. Bernard.] One of the first followers of the saint. v. 76. Egidius.] The third of his disciples, who died in 1262. His work, entitled Verba Aurea, was published in 1534, at Antwerp See Lucas Waddingus, Annales Ordinis Minoris, p. 5. v. 76. Sylvester.] Another of his earliest associates. v. 83. Pietro Bernardone.] A man in an humble station of life at Assisi. v. 86. Innocent.] Pope Innocent III. v. 90. Honorius.] His successor Honorius III who granted certain privileges to the Franciscans. v. 93. On the hard rock.] The mountain Alverna in the Apennine. v. 100. The last signet.] Alluding to the stigmata, or marks resembling the wounds of Christ, said to have been found on the saint’s body. v. 106. His dearest lady.] Poverty. v. 113. Our Patriarch ] Saint Dominic. v. 316. His flock ] The Dominicans. v. 127. The planet from whence they split.] “The rule of their order, which the Dominicans neglect to observe.” CANTO XII v. 1. The blessed flame.] Thomas Aquinas v. 12. That voice.] The nymph Echo, transformed into the repercussion of the voice. v. 25. One.] Saint Buonaventura, general of the Franciscan order, in which he effected some reformation, and one of the most profound divines of his age. “He refused the archbishopric of York, which was offered him by Clement IV, but afterwards was prevailed on to accept the bishopric of Albano and a cardinal’s hat. He was born at Bagnoregio or Bagnorea, in Tuscany, A.D. 1221, and died in 1274.” Dict. Histor. par Chaudon et Delandine. Ed. Lyon. 1804. v. 28. The love.] By an act of mutual courtesy, Buonaventura, a Franciscan, is made to proclaim the praises of St. Dominic, as Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, has celebrated those of St. Francis. v. 42. In that clime.] Spain. v. 48. Callaroga.] Between Osma and Aranda, in Old Castile, designated by the royal coat of arms. v. 51. The loving minion of the Christian faith.] Dominic was born April 5, 1170, and died August 6, 1221. His birthplace, Callaroga; his father and mother’s names, Felix and Joanna, his mother’s dream; his name of Dominic, given him in consequence of a vision by a noble matron, who stood sponsor to him, are all told in an anonymous life of the saint, said to be written in the thirteenth century, and published by Quetif and Echard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum. Par. 1719. fol. t 1. p. 25. These writers deny his having been an inquisitor, and indeed the establishment of the inquisition itself before the fourth Lateran council. Ibid. p. 88. v. 55. In the mother’s womb.] His mother, when pregnant with him, is said to have dreamt that she should bring forth a white and black dog, with a lighted torch in its mouth. v. 59. The dame.] His godmother’s dream was, that he had one star in his forehead, and another in the nape of his neck, from which he communicated light to the east and the west. v. 73. Felix.] Felix Gusman. v. 75. As men interpret it.] Grace or gift of the Lord. v. 77. Ostiense.] A cardinal, who explained the decretals. v. 77. Taddeo.] A physician, of Florence. v. 82. The see.] “The apostolic see, which no longer continues its wonted liberality towards the indigent and deserving; not indeed through its own fault, as its doctrines are still the same, but through the fault of the pontiff, who is seated in it.” v. 85. No dispensation.] Dominic did not ask license to compound for the use of unjust acquisitions, by dedicating a part of them to pious purposes. v. 89. In favour of that seed.] “For that seed of the divine word, from which have sprung up these four-and-twenty plants, that now environ thee.” v. 101. But the track.] “But the rule of St. Francis is already deserted and the lees of the wine are turned into mouldiness.” v. 110. Tares.] He adverts to the parable of the taxes and the wheat. v. 111. I question not.] “Some indeed might be found, who still observe the rule of the order, but such would come neither from Casale nor Acquasparta:” of the former of which places was Uberto, one master general, by whom the discipline had been relaxed; and of the latter, Matteo, another, who had enforced it with unnecessary rigour. v. 121. -Illuminato here, And Agostino.] Two among the earliest followers of St. Francis. v. 125. Hugues of St. Victor.] A Saxon of the monastery of Saint Victor at Paris, who fed ill 1142 at the age of forty-four. “A man distinguished by the fecundity of his genius, who treated in his writings of all the branches of sacred and profane erudition that were known in his time, and who composed several dissertations that are not destitute of merit.” Maclaine’s Mosheim, Eccl. Hist. v. iii . cent. xii. p. 2. 2. 23. I have looked into his writings, and found some reason for this high eulogium. v. 125. Piatro Mangiadore.] “Petrus Comestor, or the Eater, born at Troyes, was canon and dean of that church, and afterwards chancellor of the church of Paris. He relinquished these benefices to become a regular canon of St. Victor at Paris, where he died in 1198. Chaudon et Delandine Dict. Hist. Ed. Lyon. 1804. The work by which he is best known, is his Historia Scolastica, which I shall have occasion to cite in the Notes to Canto XXVI. v. 126. He of Spain.] “To Pope Adrian V succeeded John XXI a native of Lisbon a man of great genius and extraordinary acquirements, especially in logic and in medicine, as his books, written in the name of Peter of Spain (by which he was known before he became Pope), may testify. His life was not much longer than that of his predecessors, for he was killed at Viterbo, by the falling in of the roof of his chamber, after he had been pontiff only eight months and as many days. A.D. 1277. Mariana, Hist. de Esp. l. xiv. c. 2. v. 128. Chrysostom.] The eloquent patriarch of Constantinople. v. 128. Anselmo.] “Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Aosta, about 1034, and studied under Lanfrane at the monastery of Bec, in Normandy, where he afterwards devoted himself to a religious life, in his twenty-seventh year. In three years he was made prior, and then abbot of that monastery! from whence he was taken, in 1093, to succeed to the archbishopric, vacant by the death of Lanfrane. He enjoyed this dignity till his death, in 1109, though it was disturbed by many dissentions with William II and Henry I respecting the immunities and investitures. There is much depth and precisian in his theological works.” Tiraboschi, Stor. della Lett. Ital. t. iii. 1. iv. c. 2. Ibid. c. v. “It is an observation made by many modern writers, that the demonstration of the existence of God, taken from the idea of a Supreme Being, of which Des Cartes is thought to be the author, was so many ages back discovered and brought to light by Anselm. Leibnitz himself makes the remark, vol. v. Oper. p. 570. Edit. Genev. 1768.” v. 129. Donatus.] Aelius Donatus, the grammarian, in the fourth century, one of the preceptors of St. Jerome. v. 130. Raban.] “Rabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mentz, is deservedly placed at the head of the Latin writers of this age.” Mosheim, v. ii. cent. ix. p. 2 c. 2. 14. v. 131. Joachim.] Abbot of Flora in Calabria; “whom the multitude revered as a person divinely inspired and equal to the most illustrious prophets of ancient times.” Ibid. v. iii. cent. xiii. p. 2. c. 2. 33. v. 134. A peer.] St. Dominic. CANTO XIII v. 1. Let him.] “Whoever would conceive the sight that now presented itself to me, must imagine to himself fifteen of the brightest stars in heaven, together with seven stars of Arcturus Major and two of Arcturus Minor, ranged in two circles, one within the other, each resembling the crown of Ariadne, and moving round m opposite directions.” v. 21. The Chiava.] See Hell, Canto XXIX. 45. v. 29. That luminary.] Thomas Aquinas. v. 31. One ear.] “Having solved one of thy questions, I proceed to answer the other. Thou thinkest, then, that Adam and Christ were both endued with all the perfection of which the human nature is capable and therefore wonderest at what has been said concerning Solomon” v. 48. That.] “Things corruptible and incorruptible, are only emanations from the archetypal idea residing in the Divine mind.” v. 52. His brightness.] The Word: the Son of God. v. 53. His love triune with them.] The Holy Ghost. v. 55. New existences.] Angels and human souls. v. 57. The lowest powers.] Irrational life and brute matter. v. 62. Their wax and that which moulds it.] Matter, and the virtue or energy that acts on it. v. 68. The heav’n.] The influence of the planetary bodies. v. 77. The clay.] Adam. v. 88. Who ask’d.] “He did not desire to know the number of the stars, or to pry into the subtleties of metaphysical and mathematical science: but asked for that wisdom which might fit him for his kingly office.” v. 120. —Parmenides Melissus Bryso.] For the singular opinions entertained by the two former of these heathen philosophers, see Diogenes Laertius, 1. ix. and Aristot. de Caelo, 1. iii. c. 1 and Phys. l. i. c. 2. The last is also twice adduced by 2. Aristotle (Anal Post. 1. i. c. 9. and Rhet. 1. iii. c. 2.) as 3. affording instances of false reasoning. v. 123. Sabellius, Arius.] Well-known heretics. v. 124. Scymitars.] A passage in the travels of Bertradon de la Brocquiere, translated by Mr. Johnes, will explain this allusion, which has given some trouble to the commentators. That traveler, who wrote before Dante, informs us, p. 138, that the wandering Arabs used their scymitars as mirrors. v. 126. Let not.] “Let not short-sighted mortals presume to decide on the future doom of any man, from a consideration of his present character and actions.” CANTO XIV v. 5. Such was the image.] The voice of Thomas Aquinas proceeding, from the circle to the centre and that of Beatrice from the centre to the circle. v. 26. Him.] Literally translated by Chaucer, Troilus and Cresseide. Thou one two, and three eterne on live That raignest aie in three, two and one Uncircumscript, and all maist circonscrive, v. 81. The goodliest light.] Solomon. v. 78. To more lofty bliss.] To the planet Mars. v. 94. The venerable sign.] The cross. v. 125. He.] “He who considers that the eyes of Beatrice became more radiant the higher we ascended, must not wonder that I do not except even them as I had not yet beheld them since our entrance into this planet.” CANTO XV v. 24. Our greater Muse.] Virgil Aen. 1. vi. 684. v. 84. I am thy root.] Cacciaguida, father to Alighieri, of whom our Poet was the great-grandson. v. 89. The mountain.] Purgatory. v. 92. Florence.] See G. Villani, l. iii. c. 2. v. 93. Which calls her still.] The public clock being still within the circuit of the ancient walls. v. 98. When.] When the women were not married at too early an age, and did not expect too large a portion. v. 101. Void.] Through the civil wars. v. 102 Sardanapalus.] The luxurious monarch of Assyria Juvenal is here imitated, who uses his name for an instance of effeminacy. Sat. v. 103. Montemalo ] Either an elevated spot between Rome and Viterbo, or Monte Mario, the site of the villa Mellini, commanding a view of Rome. v. 101. Our suburban turret.] Uccellatojo, near Florence, from whence that city was discovered. v. 103. Bellincion Berti.] Hell, Canto XVI. 38. nd Notes. There is a curious description of the simple manner in which the earlier Florentines dressed themselves in G. Villani, 1 vi. c. 71. v. 110. Of Nerli and of Vecchio.] Two of the most opulent families in Florence. v. 113. Each.] “None fearful either of dying in banishment, or of being deserted by her husband on a scheme of battle in France. v. 120. A Salterello and Cianghella.] The latter a shameless woman of the family of Tosa, married to Lito degli Alidosi of Imola: the former Lapo Salterello, a lawyer, with whom Dante was at variance. v. 125. Mary.] The Virgin was involved in the pains of child-birth Purgatory, Canto XX. 21. v. 130 Valdipado.] Cacciaguida’s wife, whose family name was Aldighieri; came from Ferrara, called Val di Pado, from its being watered by the Po. v. 131. Conrad.] The Emperor Conrad III who died in 1152. See G. Villani, 1. iv. 34. v. 136. Whose people.] The Mahometans, who were left in possession of the Holy Land, through the supineness of the Pope. CANTO XVI v. 10. With greeting.] The Poet, who had addressed the spirit, not knowing him to be his ancestor, with a plain “Thou,” now uses more ceremony, and calls him “You,” according to a custom introduced among the Romans in the latter times of the empire. v. 15. Guinever.] Beatrice’s smile encouraged him to proceed just as the cough of Ginevra’s female servant gave her mistress assurance to admit the freedoms of Lancelot. See Hell, Canto V. 124. v. 23. The fold.] Florence, of which John the Baptist was the patron saint. v. 31. From the day.] From the Incarnation to the birth of Cacciaguida, the planet Mars had returned five hundred and fifty-three times to the constellation of Leo, with which it is supposed to have a congenial influence. His birth may, therefore, be placed about 1106. v. 38. The last.] The city was divided into four compartments. The Elisei, the ancestors of Dante, resided near the entrance of that named from the Porta S. Piero, which was the last reached by the competitor in the annual race at Florence. See G. Villani, 1. iv. c. 10. v. 44. From Mars.] “Both in the times of heathenish and of Christianity.” Hell, Canto XIII. 144. v. 48. Campi and Certaldo and Fighine.] Country places near Florence. v. 50. That these people.] That the inhabitants of the above- mentioned places had not been mixed with the citizens: nor the limits of Florence extended beyond Galluzzo and Trespiano.” v. 54. Aguglione’s hind and Signa’s.] Baldo of Aguglione, and Bonifazio of Signa. v. 56. Had not the people.] If Rome had continued in her allegiance to the emperor, and the Guelph and Ghibelline factions had thus been prevented, Florence would not have been polluted by a race of upstarts, nor lost the most respectable of her ancient families. v. 61. Simifonte.] A castle dismantled by the Florentines. G. Villani, 1. v. c. 30. The individual here alluded to is no longer known. v. 69. The blind bull.] So Chaucer, Troilus and Cresseide. b. 2. For swifter course cometh thing that is of wight When it descendeth than done things light. Compare Aristotle, Ethic. Nic. l. vi. c. 13. [GREEK HERE] v. 72. Luni, Urbisaglia.] Cities formerly of importance, but then fallen to decay. v. 74. Chiusi and Sinigaglia.] The same. v. 80. As the moon.] “The fortune of us, that are the moon’s men doth ebb and flow like the sea.” Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV. a. i. s. 2. v. 86. The Ughi.] Whoever is curious to know the habitations of these and the other ancient Florentines, may consult G. Villani, l. iv. v. 91. At the poop.] Many editions read porta, “gate.” -The same metaphor is found in Aeschylus, Supp. 356, and is there also scarce understood by the critics. [GREEK HERE] Respect these wreaths, that crown your city’s poop. v. 99. The gilded hilt and pommel.] The symbols of knighthood v. 100. The column cloth’d with verrey.] The arms of the Pigli. v. 103. With them.] Either the Chiaramontesi, or the Tosinghi one of which had committed a fraud in measuring out the wheat from the public granary. See Purgatory, Canto XII. 99 v. 109. The bullets of bright gold.] The arms of the Abbati, as it is conjectured. v. 110. The sires of those.] “Of the Visdomini, the Tosinghi and the Cortigiani, who, being sprung from the founders of the bishopric of Florence are the curators of its revenues, which they do not spare, whenever it becomes vacant.” v. 113. Th’ o’erweening brood.] The Adimari. This family was so little esteemed, that Ubertino Donato, who had married a daughter of Bellincion Berti, himself indeed derived from the same stock (see Note to Hell Canto XVI. 38.) was offended with his father-in-law, for giving another of his daughters in marriage to one of them. v. 124. The gateway.] Landino refers this to the smallness of the city: Vellutello, with less probability, to the simplicity of the people in naming one of the gates after a private family. v. 127. The great baron.] The Marchese Ugo, who resided at Florence as lieutenant of the Emperor Otho III, gave many of the chief families license to bear his arms. See G. Villani, 1. iv. c. 2., where the vision is related, in consequence of which he sold all his possessions in Germany, and founded seven abbeys, in one whereof his memory was celebrated at Florence on St. Thomas’s day. v. 130. One.] Giano della Bella, belonging to one of the families thus distinguished, who no longer retained his place among the nobility, and had yet added to his arms a bordure or. See Macchiavelli, 1st. Fior. 1. ii. p. 86. Ediz. Giolito. v. 132. -Gualterotti dwelt And Importuni.] Two families in the compartment of the city called Borgo. v. 135. The house.] Of Amidei. See Notes to Canto XXVIII. of Hell. v. 102. v. 142. To Ema.] “It had been well for the city, if thy ancestor had been drowned in the Ema, when he crossed that stream on his way from Montebuono to Florence.” v. 144. On that maim’d stone.] See Hell, Canto XIII. 144. Near the remains of the statue of Mars. Buondelmonti was slain, as if he had been a victim to the god; and Florence had not since known the blessing of peace. v. 150. The lily.] “The arms of Florence had never hung reversed on the spear of her enemies, in token of her defeat; nor been changed from argent to gules;” as they afterwards were, when the Guelfi gained the predominance. CANTO XVII v. 1. The youth.] Phaeton, who came to his mother Clymene, to inquire of her if he were indeed the son of Apollo. See Ovid, Met. 1. i. ad finem. v. 6. That saintly lamp.] Cacciaguida. v. 12. To own thy thirst.] “That thou mayst obtain from others a solution of any doubt that may occur to thee.” v. 15. Thou seest as clear.] “Thou beholdest future events, with the same clearness of evidence, that we discern the simplest mathematical demonstrations.” v. 19. The point.] The divine nature. v. 27. The arrow.] Nam praevisa minus laedere tela solent. Ovid. Che piaga antiveduta assai men duole. Petrarca, Trionfo del Tempo v. 38. Contingency.] “The evidence with which we see the future portrayed in the source of all truth, no more necessitates that future than does the image, reflected in the sight by a ship sailing down a stream, necessitate the motion of the vessel.” v. 43. From thence.] “From the eternal sight; the view of the Deity. v. 49. There.] At Rome, where the expulsion of Dante’s party from Florence was then plotting, in 1300. v. 65. Theirs.] “They shall be ashamed of the part they have taken aga’nst thee.” v. 69. The great Lombard.] Either Alberto della Scala, or Bartolommeo his eldest son. Their coat of arms was a ladder and an eagle. v. 75. That mortal.] Can Grande della Scala, born under the influence of Mars, but at this time only nine years old v. 80. The Gascon.] Pope Clement V. v. 80. Great Harry.] The Emperor Henry VII. v. 127. The cry thou raisest.] “Thou shalt stigmatize the faults of those who are most eminent and powerful.” CANTO XVIII v. 3. Temp’ring the sweet with bitter.] Chewing the end of sweet and bitter fancy. Shakespeare, As you Like it, a. 3. s. 3. v. 26. On this fifth lodgment of the tree.] Mars, the fifth ot the @ v. 37. The great Maccabee.] Judas Maccabeus. v. 39. Charlemagne.] L. Pulci commends Dante for placing Charlemagne and Orlando here: Io mi confido ancor molto qui a Dante Che non sanza cagion nel ciel su misse Carlo ed Orlando in quelle croci sante, Che come diligente intese e scrisse. Morg. Magg. c. 28. v. 43. William and Renard.] Probably not, as the commentators have imagined, William II of Orange, and his kinsman Raimbaud, two of the crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon, (Maimbourg, Hist. des Croisades, ed. Par. 1682. 12mo. t. i. p. 96.) but rather the two more celebrated heroes in the age of Charlemagne. The former, William l. of Orange, supposed to have been the founder of the present illustrious family of that name, died about 808, according to Joseph de la Piser, Tableau de l’Hist. des Princes et Principante d’Orange. Our countryman, Ordericus Vitalis, professes to give his true life, which had been misrepresented in the songs of the itinerant bards.” Vulgo canitur a joculatoribus de illo, cantilena; sed jure praeferenda est relatio authentica.” Eccl. Hist. in Duchesne, Hist. Normann Script. p. 508. The latter is better known by having been celebrated by Ariosto, under the name of Rinaldo. v. 43. Duke Godfey.] Godfrey of Bouillon. v. 46. Robert Guiscard.] See Hell, Canto XXVIII. v. 12. v. 81. The characters.] Diligite justitiam qui judicatis terrarm. “Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth “ Wisdom of Solomon, c. i. 1. v. 116. That once more.] “That he may again drive out those who buy and sell in the temple.” v. 124. Taking the bread away.] “Excommunication, or the interdiction of the Eucharist, is now employed as a weapon of warfare.” v. 126. That writest but to cancel.] “And thou, Pope Boniface, who writest thy ecclesiastical censures for no other purpose than to be paid for revoking them.” v. 130. To him.] The coin of Florence was stamped with the impression of John the Baptist. CANTO XIX v. 38. Who turn’d his compass.] Compare Proverbs, c. viii. 27. And Milton, P. L. b. vii 224. v. 42. The Word] “The divine nature still remained incomprehensible. Of this Lucifer was a proof; for had he thoroughly comprehended it, he would not have fallen.” v. 108. The Ethiop.] Matt. c. xii. 41. v. 112. That volume.] Rev. c. xx. 12. v. 114. Albert.] Purgatory, Canto VI. v. 98. v. 116. Prague.] The eagle predicts the devastation of Bohemia by Albert, which happened soon after this time, when that Emperor obtained the kingdom for his eldest son Rodolph. See Coxe’s House of Austria, 4to. ed. v. i. part 1. p. 87 v. 117. He.] Philip IV of France, after the battle of Courtrai, 1302, in which the French were defeated by the Flemings, raised the nominal value of the coin. This king died in consequence of his horse being thrown to the ground by a wild boar, in 1314 v. 121. The English and Scot.] He adverts to the disputes between John Baliol and Edward I, the latter of whom is commended in the Purgatory, Canto VII. v. 130. v. 122. The Spaniard’s luxury.] The commentators refer this to Alonzo X of Spain. It seems probable that the allusion is to Ferdinand IV who came to the crown in 1295, and died in 1312, at the age of twenty four, in consequence, as it was supposed, of his extreme intemperance. See Mariana, Hist I. xv. c. 11. v. 123. The Bohemian.] Winceslaus II. Purgatory, Canto VII. v. v. 125. The halter of Jerusalem.] Charles II of Naples and Jerusalem who was lame. See note to Purgatory, Canto VII. v. 122, and XX. v. 78. v. 127. He.] Frederick of Sicily son of Peter III of Arragon. Purgatory, Canto VII. v. 117. The isle of fire is Sicily, where was the tomb of Anchises. v. 133. His uncle.] James, king of Majorca and Minorca, brother to Peter III. v. 133. His brother.] James II of Arragon, who died in 1327. See Purgatory, Canto VII. v. 117. v. 135. Of Portugal.] In the time of Dante, Dionysius was king of Portugal. He died in 1328, after a reign of near forty-six years, and does not seem to have deserved the stigma here fastened on him. See Mariana. and 1. xv. c. 18. Perhaps the rebellious son of Dionysius may be alluded to. v. 136. Norway.] Haquin, king of Norway, is probably meant; who, having given refuge to the murderers of Eric VII king of Denmark, A D. 1288, commenced a war against his successor, Erie VIII, “which continued for nine years, almost to the utter ruin and destruction of both kingdoms.” Modern Univ. Hist. v. xxxii p. 215. v. 136. -Him Of Ratza.] One of the dynasty of the house of Nemagna, which ruled the kingdom of Rassia, or Ratza, in Sclavonia, from 1161 to 1371, and whose history may be found in Mauro Orbino, Regno degli Slavi, Ediz. Pesaro. 1601. Uladislaus appears to have been the sovereign in Dante’s time, but the disgraceful forgery adverted to in the text, is not recorded by the historian v. 138. Hungary.] The kingdom of Hungary was about this time disputed by Carobert, son of Charles Martel, and Winceslaus, prince of Bohemia, son of Winceslaus