Canto
VI
The
soul who addressed Dante on arriving to Mercury delivers a monologue that lasts
the entire canto. This soul identifies
himself as heir to the line of Caesars that governed the Roman Empire. He is Justinian, the last of the Roman
Emperors that tried to reconstitute the empire after the western half
collapsed. He answers to why he is under
the sphere of Mercury with a long extended recapitulation of Roman
history. He cites Rome’s mythic
founding, it’s early monarchy, it’s subsequent overthrow to establish the
Republic, the defeat of foreign enemies, the collapse of the Republic, the
establishment of the empire through the Caesars which created the conditions
for the birth of Christ, the destruction of the Jewish Temple, and ultimately
the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne. Justinian then explains how the political
parties of Dante’s day, the Ghibellines and the Guelphs, are poor successors to
the Roman past. He explains how the
souls under the sphere of Mercury worked for justice during their lifetime but
fell short of charity. Justinian’s reign
was known for synthesizing and perfecting Roman law. Finally Justinian introduces a neighboring
spirit, Romeo di Villanove, a man who during his later years was cast into
exile.
Canto
VII
Justinian
still speaking breaks into a bilingual song intertwining Hebrew and Latin. He recedes into the group of dancing spirits,
leaving Dante (the character) unanswered two questions he was about to ask. Beatrice, glowing with a radiant smile,
answers them. The first question
pertains to the double nature of Christ’s crucifixion in that it was both
blasphemy to kill God and redemptive for mankind. The second question pertains to why God in
all His possibilities chose the death of His son as the means to
redemption. Since the Edenic fall was
the result of a man’s act (Adam), it was most fitting that the redemption
should come through the act of another man.
But since mankind lacked the ability to pay this exorbitant debt, God in
His generosity would pay it but would pay it through the sacrificial death of
His incarnate son, and thereby satisfy the fitting redemption through
mankind. Beatrice, anticipating a third
question, answers why what God creates degenerate and die, even though God
Himself is eternal and perfect. It is
because God creates things both directly and indirectly. Those that are created directly do not die
and those indirectly do. Man’s soul,
which is eternal, is a direct creation of God breathing into each individual.
Canto
VIII
Without
any sense of awareness, Dante is transported to the next sphere, Venus. This is the planet associated with the pagan
goddess of love. Once within the sphere
Dante sees that Beatrice glows brighter and even more beautiful than
before. A group of dancing lights come
before them singing “Hosanna,” and one light steps up to speak. He, Charles Martel, describes himself as
having died young, a man who Dante once knew and had affection for. In his short life, Charles was the ruler of
Hungary and other parts of southern Europe.
He contrasts his good rule against that of his brother, Robert, King of
Naples, who was a greedy ruler and a collaborator with the Pope against the
Holy Roman Emperor. Dante asks how such
a good father—that of Charles and Robert—produce such a bad son? Charles answers that God created and guides
the universe to influence the people on earth but also created diverse people
with free will. Children would be the
same as their parents but because God shapes their lives differently and
because they respond differently to stimuli, men become different than their
parents, and so yield different fruit. Not
all take up professions that fit one’s talents.
It behooves a person, then, to find a profession or state that fits their
natural gifts.
Canto
IX
Still
on Venus, Dante (the character) speaks to Clemenza, Charles’ wife or daughter
(it’s unclear) and says that time will bring retribution for those that did her
family wrong. Another splendor moves
forward to tell Dante she was from a “degenerate” part of Italy in the
northeast where her brother, Ezzelino da Romano scourged the region. She is Cunniza da Romano who had a long list
of love affairs and marriages and who ultimately found contrition and made up
for her indiscretions. She goes on to
provide three prophecies: the battle of Vicenza, the death of Riccardo de
Camino, and the betrayal of the Forrarese brothers by the bishop of
Feltre. As she fades back, another
spirit moves forward to speak, Folquet de Marseilles, known as Folco. A onetime love poet and perhaps a playboy who
renounced his worldly life to first become a friar, then an abbott, and finally
a bishop, he was deeply involved in the Albigensian crusade. He speaks of the brightest splendor who
resides under the influence of Venus, that is, the Old Testament prostitute,
Rahab, who aided Joshua in his conquest of the Holy Land. Folco goes on to lament the sad state of
Florence where churchmen all seek to enrich themselves. He goes on to prophesy that the Vatican will
soon be free of this sin.
