Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/49

 the corpse on the forehead with another mallet of silver, and falling on his knees before the motionless body, proclaims the Pope to be in truth no more. It is after this that he forwards to the Senator the notification for the ringing of the great bell in the Capitol, which is to announce to the Romans that their Sovereign has died. This bell, which is tolled only on this occasion and on the opening of the Carnival, has a curious history. It was originally the communal bell of Viterbo. Between this city and Rome a fierce enmity prevailed in the twelfth century, which after hot conflicts ended by the overthrow of the Viterbese in the year 1200. By the terms of capitulation, the Romans carried off, as trophies and signs of supremacy, besides the recovered bronze gate of St. Peter's, which the Viterbese had captured in 1167, a chain and city gate key, which were suspended at the arch of Gallienus, and the communal bell, which from that time has been hung in the Capitol. It was surnamed La Paterina, a denomination which has been derived, with apparent foundation, from the Paterini, Viterbo having been notorious for harbouring a quantity of these sectarians.