its Spiritual Head. The scenes that occurred then at Viterbo were terrible. It was during this vacancy that Henry of England[1], returning from the Crusade, was there stabbed to the heart at the very altar of the Cathedral by Guy de Montfort, in avengement of his own father's death. In vain did Charles of Anjou take up his residence at Viterbo in the hope of coercing the refractory Cardinals of the national party into electing a creature of his own. His presence only added fuel to the flames of this memorable contest. At last the burghers of Viterbo rose in fury against an intolerable state of things, which bade fair to convert their city into the standing cockpit for unquenchable passions, and made their streets the scene of daily bloodshed. Under the direction of the Town-captain, Rainer Gatti, the citizens proceeded to try the effect of physical hardship upon the party-spirit of the Cardinals. The episcopal palace wherein they resided was stripped of its roof, so that the inmates became exposed to wind and weather. There is preserved a
- ↑ Son of Richard of Cornwall. Dante, Inferno, Canto XII. 1. 119.
