Nowhere has Dante offered more ample evidence of his faith in the Roman imperium and admiration of the Emperor Henry VII than in a brief passage of six lines in the thirtieth canto of the Paradiso. There, beyond the limits of the corporeal spheres in the heaven which is pure light, surrounded by the saintly splendors of the City of God, Beatrice directs the poet's gaze to a vacant seat among the thrones of the blessed:
E'n quel gran seggio a che tu li occhi tieni
Per la corona che già v' è su posta,
Prima che tu a queste nozze ceni
Sederà l' alma (che fia giù agosta)
De l' alto Arrigo, ch' a drizzare Italia
Verrà in prima che ella sia disposta.
(vv. 133–138)
And the power of these lines is consolidated by contrast with the bitter condemnation of Pope Clement V, which directly follows them.