73
sal of the haughty Amurath, with the miserable chaphope of being the last devoured by the savage. LXVI -In this abject state Pala;oIogus embraced the vLTt'If 'resolution of embarking for Venice, and casting J 01 '”himself at the feet of the pope: he was the first to Urban vof the Byzantine princes who had ever visited A t .u.°is69,the unknown regions of the West; yet in them 13 ’alone he could seek consolation or relief; andwdth less violation of his dignity he might appearin the sacred college than at the Ottoman Porte .
After a long absence the Roman pontiffs werereturning from Avignon to the banks of the Ty-ber: Urban the fifth, h of a mild and virtuouscharacter, encouraged or allowed the pilgrim-age of the Greek prince; and, within the sameyear, enjoyed the glory of receiving in the Vati can the two imperial shadows, who representedthe majesty of Constantine and Charlemagne .
In this suppliant visit the emperor of Constantin ople , whose vanity was lost in his distress, gavemore than could be expected of empty soundsand formal submissions. A previous trial wasimposed; and in the presence of four cardinals,he acknowledged, as a true catholic, the supre-macy of the pope, i ’ e double procession ofthe Holy Ghost. After this purification he wasintroduced to a public audience in the church of*$t. Peter; Urban, in the midst of the cardinals,was seated on his throne; the Greek monarch,
h See the two first original lives of Urban V. (iu Muratori, Script.
'rerum Italicarum, tom. iii, p. ii, p.623, 635), and the EcclesiasticalAnnals ofSpondanus (tom. i, p. 573, a. o. 1363, No 7) and Raynal-dus (Flemy, Hist. Eccles. tom. xx, p. 223, 224). Yel, from some va-riations, I suspect the papa! \\iiui\j of sligluly magnifying the genu-flexions of Pa!a?ologu*