27. ‘Il successor di Karlo, che la chioma’

Charlemagne’s scion, whose head is adorned

with the royal crown of his ancestor,

has taken up arms to bring Babylon down

and all that take their name from her.

and the Vicar of Christ returns to the nest

with the mantle and the burdensome keys,

and if no further accident deters him,

he’ll reach Bologna, and then noble Rome.

That mild and gentle lamb of yours

destroys the fierce wolves: and so may it be

with all who shatter lawful alliances.

Console her then, you whom she waits for,

and Rome who still complains of her spouse,

and take up the sword now for Christ.

Notes: Philip VI of France proclaimed a crusade in 1333 against Islam, symbolised here by Babylon. The Papacy is to return from Avignon to Rome. The poem may be addressed to Orso dell’Anguillara.

‘Catherine Asks Pope Gregory XI to Return to Rome’ - Pieter de Jode (I) (Flemish, 1570 – 1634), The Rijksmuseum