Real
Caorsa
Caorsa is the name used by Dante to indicate Cahors, a city in Guyenne, recalled as a symbol of usury, just as Sodom is the symbol of the sin against nature.
Description
In Canto XI of the Inferno Dante places Caorsa alongside Sodom in a celebrated simile: both are called upon to represent, as symbols, two distinct sins. If Sodom is remembered in the Bible for the sin against nature of its inhabitants, destroyed by a rain of fire, Cahors is indicated as the French city in Guyenne where, in Dante's time, usury was notoriously practiced, so much so that usurers were commonly called «caorsini». The juxtaposition makes it possible to place on the same level a biblical event and a contemporary one, typical of the Comedy. The mention of Caorsa also returns in Canto XXVII of the Purgatorio, where the recollection of men come from Caorsa and Gascony who prepare to drink the blood of the apostles is linked to the figures of Pope John XXII of Cahors and Clement V of Gascony.
In the text
Linked verses
1 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XI | 50 | del segno suo e Soddoma e Caorsa | Open verse |