Enacted laws, 'for civil arts renown'd, CANTO VII ARGUMENT. The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello conducts our Poet apart to an eminence, from whence they behold a pleasant recess, in form of a flowery valley, scooped out of the mountain; where are many famous spirits, and among them the Emperor Rodolph, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, Philip III of France, Henry of Navarre, Peter III of Arragon, Charles I of Naples, Henry III of England, and William, Marquis of Montferrat. FTER their courteous greetings joyfully A Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew Exclaiming, "Who are ye?"—" Before this mount By spirits worthy of ascent to God Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care Such he appear'd; then downward bent his eyes, Shows thee to me? If I to hear that voice orb 66 Of that sad region," he replied, “thus far Of that high Sun, whom thou desirest, and who Who by death's fangs were bitten, ere exempt Where Purgatory its true beginning takes." He answer'd thus: "We have no certain place The good Sordello then, along the ground "The rest." Prudence, Justice Fortitude, and Temperance. Thy going upward, save the shades of night. 66 My master straight, as wondering at his speech, Exclaim'd: Then lead us quickly, where thou sayst That, while we stay, we may enjoy delight." A little space we were removed from thence, Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path Where more than half the sloping edge expires. "Before the westering sun sink to his bed," Than, in the nether vale, among them mix'd. "Salve Regina." The beginning of a prayer to the Virgin. The wounds whereof fair Italy hath died, Who in his swaddling-clothes was of more worth Makes of one hand a couch, with frequent sighs. Of Gallia's bane: his vicious life they know "That country." Bohemia. who was killed in the battle of Marchfield, fought with Rodolph, August 26, 1278. Wenceslaus II, his son, who succeeded him in the Kingdom of Bohemia, died in 1305. The latter is again taxed with luxury in the "Paradise," xix. 123. 66 7 That one with the nose deprest." Philip III, of France, father of Philip IV He died in 1285, at Perpignan, in his retreat from Arragon 8" Him of gentle look." Henry of Navarre, father of Jane married to Philip IV, of France, whom Dante calls mal di Francia.""Gallia's bane." "Gallia's bane." G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. cxlvi, speaks with equal resentment of Philip IV. "In 1291, on the night of the calends of May, Philip le Bel, King of France, by advice of Biccio and Musciatto Franzesi, ordered all the Italians, who were in his country and realm, to be seized, under pretence of seizing the money-lenders, but thus he caused the good merchants also to be seized and ransomed; for which he was much blamed and held in great abhorrence. And from thence. forth the realm of France fell evermore into degradation and decline. And it is observable that between the taking of Acre and this seizure in France, the merchants of Florence received great damage and ruin of their property." Pe 10" He, so robust of limb." ter III, called the Great, King of Arragon, who died in 1285, leaving four sons, Alonzo, James, Frederick, and Peter. The two former succeeded him in the Kingdom of Arragon, and Frederick in that of Sicily. Him of feature prominent." "Dal maschio naso with the masculine nose.' Charles I, King of Naples, Count of Anjou, and brother of St. Louis. He died in 1284. The annalist of Florence remarks that "there had been no sovereign of the house of France, since the time of Charlemagne, by whom Charles was surpassed either in military renown and prowess, or in the loftiness of his understanding." And if that stripling," who behind him sits, Rarely into the branches of the tree Doth human worth mount up: and so ordains It may be call'd. To Charles 13 my words apply No less than to his brother in the song; Which Pouille and Provence now with grief confess. As, more than Beatrix and Margaret, Costanza" still boasts of her valorous spouse. 66 Behold the King of simple life and plain, Harry of England, sitting there alone: 15 He through his branches better issue spreads. "That one, who, on the ground, beneath the rest, Sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft, Is William, that brave Marquis," for whose cause, 12" That stripling." Either (as the old commentators suppose) Alonzo III, King of Arragon, the eldest son of Peter III, who died in 1291, at the age of 27; or, according to Venturi, Peter, the youngest son. The former was a young prince of virtue sufficient to have justified the eulogium and the hopes of Dante. 18" To Charles." "Al Nausto "Charles II, King of Naples, is no less inferior to his father, Charles I, than James and Frederick to theirs, Peter III." 14 "Costanza." Widow of Peter III. She has been already mentioned in the third Canto, v. 112. By Beatrix and Margaret are probably meant two of the daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provençe; the latter married to St. Louis of France, the former to his brother Charles of Anjou, King of Naples. See Paradise," Canto vi. 135. 66 Dante therefore considers Pe ter as the most illustrious of the three monarchs. 15 Harry of England." Henry III. The contemporary annalist speaks of this king in similar terms. G. Villani, lib. v. cap. iv. "From Richard was born Henry, who reigned after him, who was a plain man of good faith, but of little courage." 16 Better issue." Edward I, of whose glory our Poet was perhaps a witness, in his visit to England. "From the said Henry was born the good King Edward, who reigns in our times, who has done great things, whereof we shall make mention in due place."-G. Villani, ibid. 17" William, that brave Marquis." William, Marquis of Montferrat, was treacherously seized by his own subjects, at Alessandria in Lombardy, A. D. 1290, and ended his life in prison. A war ensued between the people of Alessandria and those of Montferrat and the Canavese, now part of Piedmont. |