Simony

[Courtney Givens]

Simony:  The buying or selling of ecclesiastical pardons, offices, or 
emoluments. [Middle English simonie, from Old French, from Late Latin 
simonia, after Simon Magus, a sorcerer who tried to buy spiritual powers 
from the Apostle Peter (Acts 8:9-24).]

Does P allude to appositeness in Dante's representation of simony in Inferno 
XIX? Symbol traced to simony and its figuration, going back to Acts?  The 
same symbolizing is seen capable of representing the positive or, 
parodically, its negative, e.g., tongues of fire as the gift of the Holy 
Spirit or the abuse of same; red as Charity or Evil. Its parodical tone set 
from the start, Inferno XIX depends for effect, mimetically and 
dramatically, on reversals of Pentecostal elements: Christ's vicar, Peter, 
with accompanying details of dignity, unction, etc., has been reversed into 
Dante's simoniac popes, with all the suggestive action, setting and imagery 
marshaled poetically to emphasize the reversals, even to Dante-wayfarer's 
assuming the role of preacher and pope. An additional detail of reverse 
symbolism can be seen in the soles of the upside-down popes glowing red with 
fire, for the red sandals were a traditional symbol of the evangelical 
preacher
spreading the Holy Spirit. In sum, "for the canto of Simony Dante had 
continually in mind a picture of the whole episode of the Pentecost and . . 
. from its central notion of descent of fire there are associations with 
unction and baptism, with predication, with papal attire and even with the 
imperial ambitions of the Papacy.

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