Caorsini

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In canto XXVII of the Paradiso, during Saint Peter's speech, the term «Caorsini» indicates men who have come from Cahors and who are preparing to drink the blood of the apostles, that is, to acquire wealth and power by making use of the sacred office founded by them. The authorized note on verse 58 identifies the allusion in Pope John XXII, a native of Cahors, accused of simony, and places the Caorsini alongside the Gascons, among whom Clement V is recalled, the «Guasco» already mentioned in canto XVII. The same note further recalls that in common opinion «caorsino» was synonymous with usurer, as can also be gathered from canto XI of the Inferno. The mention thus falls within the setting of the Heaven of the Sun, in the prophecy with which the apostle denounces the future corruption of the Church.