Inferno, Canto 19

The Text of Canto 19 (Open PDF)

Summary

In the Third Bowge of Malbowges, Dante sees the Simoniacs, plunged head-downwards in holes of the rock, with flames playing upon their feet. He talks to the shade of Pope Nicholas III, who prophesies that two of his successors will come to the same bad end as himself.  Dante rebukes the avarice of the Papacy.

The Prepatory Lecture

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Questions for Reflection

• Who is Simon Magus and how does Dante use him to make a prophetic denunciation of corruption in the Church?
• Does Dante overstep piety (or good taste) by condemning popes to hell for simony? How might he justify his temerity (see lines 16-21)?
• What is the punishment for simony and how is each aspect of this punishment a parody or perversion of biblical imagery?
• The year that Dante was exiled (1302), Pope Boniface VIII released Unam Sanctum on the unity of the Church. In it, the Pope discussed the importance of being in conformity with the papal office in order to be saved. In light of that, what risk is Dante running in this canto? Do you think Dante disdains or rejects the office and the authority of the pope?

Canto 19, © Jan Hearn

The Images

The Simoniacs. Simony is the sin of trafficking in holy things, e.g. the sale of sacraments or ecclesiastical offices. The sinner who thus made money for themselves out of what belongs to God are "pouched" in fiery pockets in the rock, head-down- wards, because they reversed the proper order of things and subordinated the heavenly to the earthly. The image here is ecclesiastical: we need not, however, suppose that, allegorically, the traffic in holy things is confined to medieval people or even to modem clergymen. A mercenary marriage, for example, is also the sale of a sacrament.

Mark Vernon's Lecture