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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
CHAP. XI. DEPARTURE FROM ACRE WITH MARK
2I
Hermeilla caused a galley to be got ready for the Two
Ambassador Brothers, and despatched them to the Pope
at Acre.'
No.rE I.—The death of Pope Clement IV. occurred on St Andrew's Day (29th November), 1268 ; the electio:r of Tedaldo or Tebaldo of Piacenza, a member of the
Visconti family, and Archdeacon of Liége, did not take place till 1st September,
owing to the factions among the
cardinals. And it is said that
some of them, anxious only to get away, voted for Theobald in full belief that he was dead. The conclave, in its inability to agree, had named a committee of six with full powers which the same day elected Theobald, on the recommendation of the Cardinal Bishop of Portus (John de Toleto, said, in spite of his name, to have been an Englishman). This facetious dignitary had suggested that the roof should be taken off the Palace at Viterbo where thfy sat, to allow the divine influences to descend more freely on their counsels (lama neyueunt ad nos per it testa ingredi). According to some, these doggerel verses, current on the occasion, were extemporised by Cardinal John in the pious exuberance of his glee :—
I271,
Portrait of Pope Gregory X.
" Papatûs munus tulit Archidiaconus unus
Quem Patrem Patrum fecit discordia Fratrum."
The Archdeacon, a man of great weight of character, in consequence of differences with his Bishop (of Liége), who was a disorderly liver, had gone to the Holy Land, and during his stay there he contracted great intimacy with Prince Edward of England (Edward I.). Some authors, e.g. John Villani (VIII. 39), say that he was Legate in Syria ; others, as Rainaldus, deny this ; but Polo's statement, and the authority which the Archdeacon took on himself in writing to the Iiaan, seem to
show that he had some such position. '
He took the name of Gregory X., and 1)efore his departure from Acre, preached a moving sermon on the text, " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem," etc. Prince Edward fitted him out for his voyage.
Gregory reigned barely four years, dying at Arezzo loth January, 1276. His character stood high to the last, and some of the Northern Martyrologies enrolled Lim among the saints, but there has never been canonisation by Rome. The people of Arezzo used to celebrate his anniversary with torch-light gatherings at his tomb, and plenty of miracles were alleged to have occurred there. The tomb still stands in the
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