Page:The Contrasts in Dante.djvu/29

 "farsi frate," and is derived from the Provencal se rendre, with the same meaning. In the fourth book of the Convivio, cap, 24, Dante asaigns four agea to the life of a man, namely:—

Guido here means that he had reached the fourth period of his life, Senility or Decrepitude. In Convivio, IV., cap, 28, there are continual allusions to the metaphor of an aged man lowering his sails that he may enter the Heavenly Port.

Guide now tells Dante the strange combination of events which brought him into the counsels of Boniface. Martin IV. was dead, and the timid Celeatine V. had given way to Boniface VIII,, who now aat upon the Papal Throne. His election had been opposed by the Cardinals Giacomo and Pietro Colonna, and the new Pope's wrath culminated in a fierce civil war, in which he proclaimed a Crusade against them. He succeeded in depriving them of all their possessions, with the exception of the mountain stronghold of Paleatrina (the mediseval name for which was Peneatrino, from the ancient name Praeneate). Being baffled in his attempts to take it by force, the Pope suddenly bethought him of the well-known cunning and strategy of the Franciscan Friar, who had been the most astute statesman and military leader of his day, and we shall hear how he sought him out, and partly by persuasion and partly by intimidation, obtained from him the counsel he required.