Know the story of Boniface VIII
Nice transitional first sentence: "When it had finished speaking, the great flame / stood tall and shook no more" (1-2).
Note how they appeal to the sinner with the following words of dialog:
"'Now, I beg you, let us know your name; / do not be harder than one has been to you; / so, too, you will preserve your earthly fame'" (52-54).
Note the sinner's answer: "'If I believed that my reply were made / to one who could ever climb to the world again, / this flame would shake no more. But since no shade / ever returned--if what I am told is true--/ from this blind world into the living light, / without fear of dishonor I answer you" (58-63).
Note how the sinner blames others for his plight. This is a repeated theme in Inferno.
"'I was a man of arms: then took the rope / of the Franciscans, hoping to make amends: / and surely I should have won to all my hope / but for the Great Priest--may he rot in Hell!--/ who brought me back to all my earlier sins; / and how and why it happened I wish to tell / in my own words: while I was still encased / in the pulp and bone my mother bore, my deeds / were not of the lion but of the fox: I raced / through tangled ways; all wiles were mine from birth, / and I won to such advantage with my arts / that rumor of me reached the ends of the earth.* / But when I saw before me all the signs / of the time of life that cautions every man / to lower his sails and gather in his lines, / that which had pleased me once, troubled my spirit, /and penitent and confessed, I became a monk'" (64-80).
"'It was he abused his sacred vows and mine: / his Office and the Cord I wore, which once / made those it girded leaner.** As Constantine / sent for Silvestro to cure his leprosy, seeking him out among Soracte's cells; / so this one from his great throne sent for me / to cure the fever of pride that burned his blood. / He demanded my advice, and I kept silent / for his words seemed drunken to me. So it stood / until he said: "Your soul need fear no wound; / I absolve you of your guilt beforehand; and now teach me / how to smash Penestrino to the ground.*** / The Gates of Heaven, as you know, are mine / to open and shut, for I hold the two Great Keys/ so easily let go by Celestine." / His weighty arguments led me to fear / silence was worse than sin'" (88-104).
* He sounds proud of himself!
** Franciscans, an order named after St. Francis of Assisi, were known for their self-denial. St. Francis is known for more than a love of animals. He had been a rich nobleman, who, after "seeing the light" (and much to his parents' dismay), gave all his riches away--including the clothes he wore. Assisi is in the mountains, and it's pretty cold some days. He finally agreed to wearing clothes, at least.
*** You cannot be absolved of a sin beforehand because first you have to have sinned, and then regretted that sin. You cannot regret what you have not done.
