When St. Francis was dying, he desired to be buried among the malefactors at the place of execution, called the Colle d’ Inferno , or Hill of Hell. A church was afterwards built on this spot; its name was changed to Colle di Paradiso , and the body of the saint transferred thither in 1230. The popular tradition is, that it is standing upright under the principal altar of the chapel devoted to the saint. ↩

If St. Francis were as here described, what must his companion, St. Dominic, have been, who was Patriarch, or founder, of the Order to which Thomas Aquinas belonged. To the degeneracy of this Order the remainder of the canto is devoted. ↩