By reason of the aforesaid events and the factions of the White and Black parties, the captains of the Guelf party and their council were fearful lest through the said divisions and strifes the Ghibelline party might rise to more power in Florence, which under the plea of good government already seemed likely; and many Ghibellines held to be good men were beginning to be set in office; and moreover those which held with the Black party, to recover their estate, sent ambassadors to the court to Pope Boniface to pray him, for the good of the city and for the party of the Church, to take some action. For the which thing straightway the Pope appointed as legate to follow up this matter Brother Matteo d'Acquasparta, his cardinal bishop of Porto, of the Order of the Minor Friars, and sent him to Florence, which came there in the month of June following, in the said year 1300, and was received with great honour by the Florentines. And when he had taken some repose in Florence, he craved jurisdiction from the commonwealth to reconcile the Florentines together; and to the end he might take away the said White and Black parties he desired to reform the city, and to throw the offices open again; and those which were of one part and of the other which were worthy to be priors, their names were to be put into a bag together, in each of the sesti, and were to be drawn thence every two months, as chance would have it; forasmuch as through the ill-will which had arisen from the factions and divisions, there was never an election of priors by the colleges of Consuls of the Arts but that almost all the city was moved to uproar, and at times with great preparation of arms. They of the White party which were at the head of the government of the city, through fear of losing their estate, and of being deceived by the Pope and the legate by means of the said reformation, took the worse counsel, and would not yield obedience; for the which thing the said legate was offended, and returned to court, and left the city of Florence excommunicate and under interdict. Sec. 41.--_Concerning the evils and dangers which followed afterwards to our city._ [Sidenote: 1300 A.D.] [Sidenote: Sonnet xxxii. 1. Vita Nuova 3: 97-100; 24: 19, 45; 25: 111-113; 31: 21-24; 33: 4; De Vulg. El. i. 13: 37; ii. 6: 68; 12: 16, 62.]