Leaving this, he came to Padua, beholding the manner of their academy, which is called the mother or nurse of Christendom; there heard he the doctors, and saw most of the monuments of the town, entered his name in the university of the German nation, and wrote himself Dr. Faustus, the insatiable speculator. Then saw he the worthiest monument in the world for a church, named St. Anthony's Cloister, which for the pinnacles thereof and the contrivement of the church, hath not the like in Christendom. The town is fenced about with three mighty walls of stone and earth, betwixt the which runneth goodly ditches of water. Betwixt every four-and-twenty hours passeth boats betwixt Padua and Venice with passengers, as they do here betwixt London and Gravesend, and even so far they differ in distance. Faustus beheld likewise the council-house and castle, with no small wonder.
Well, forward he went to Rome, which lay, and doth yet lie, on the river Tibris, the which divideth the city into two parts. Over the river are four great stone bridges, and upon the one bridge, called Ponte St. Angelo, is the Castle of St. Angelo, wherein are so many great cast pieces as there are days in the year, and such pieces as will shoot seven bullets off with one fire. To this castle cometh a privy vault from the church and the palace of St. Peter, through the which the pope (if any danger be) passeth from his palace to the castle for safeguard. The city hath eleven gates, and a hill called Vaticinium, whereupon St. Peter's church is built. In that church the holy fathers will hear no confessions without the penitent bring money in his hand. Adjoining to the church is the Campo Santo, the which Carolus Magnus built, where every day thirteen pilgrims have their dinners served of the best; that is to say, Christ and his twelve apostles. Hard by this he visited the churchyard of St. Peter, where he saw that pyramid that Julius Cæsar brought forth of Africa; it stood in Faustus's time leaning against the church-wall of St. Peter's; but Pope Sixtus hath erected it in the middle of St. Peter's churchyard. It is fourteen fathom long, and at the lower end five fathom four square, and so forth smaller upwards. On the top is a crucifix of beaten gold, the stone standing on four lions of brass. Then he visited the seven churches of Rome, that were St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Sebastian, St. John Lateran, St. Laurence, St. Mary Magdalen, and St. Mary Majora. Then went he without the town, where he saw the conduits of water that run level through hill and dale, bringing water into the town fifteen Italian miles off. Other mountains he saw, too many to recite.
But amongst the rest he was desirous to see the pope's court, and his manner of service at his table, wherefore he and his spirit made themselves invisible, and came to the pope's court and privy-chamber, where he was; there saw he many servants attending on his holiness, with many a flattering sycophant carrying his meat; and there he marked the pope, and the manner of his service, which he seeing to be so unmeasurable and sumptuous: "Fie," quoth Faustus, "why had not the devil made a pope of me?" Faustus saw there notwithstanding such as were like to himself, proud, stout, wilful gluttons, drunkards, whoremongers, breakers of wedlock, and followers of all manner of ungodly excess; wherefore he said to his spirit, "I thought that I had been alone a hog or pork of the devil's, but he must bear with me a little longer; for these hogs of Rome are ready fatted, and fitted to make him roast meat; the devil might do well to spit them all, and have them to the fire, and let him summon the nuns to turn the spits; for as none must confess the nun but the friar, so none should turn the roasting friar but the nun." Thus continued Faustus three days in the pope's palace, and yet had no lust to his meat, but stood still in the pope's chamber, and saw everything whatsoever it was.
On a time the pope would have a feast prepared for the Cardinal of Pavia, and for his first welcome the cardinal was bidden to dinner, and as he sate at meat the pope would ever be blessing and crossing over his mouth. Faustus would suffer it no longer, but up with his fist and smote the pope on his face, and withal he laughed that the whole house might hear him, yet none of them saw him, or knew where he was. The pope persuaded his company that it was a damned soul, commanding mass presently to be said for his delivery out of purgatory, which was done; the pope sat still at meat, but when the latter mess came to the pope's board, Dr. Faustus laid hands thereon, saying, "This is mine," and so he took both dish and meat, and flew into the Capitol or Campadolia, calling his spirit unto him, and said, "Come, let us be merry, for thou must fetch me some wine, and the cup that the pope drinks out of; and hereupon morte caval, we will make good cheer in spite of the pope and all his fat abbey lubbers."
His spirit hearing this, departed towards the pope's chamber, where he found them yet sitting, quaking; wherefore he took from before the pope the fairest piece of plate, or drinking goblet, and a flagon of wine, and brought it to Faustus.
But when the pope and the rest of his crew perceived they were robbed, and knew not after what sort, they persuaded themselves that it was a damned soul that before had vexed the pope so, and that smote him on the face; wherefore he sent commandment through the whole city of Rome, that they should say a mass in every church, and ring all the bells, for to lay the walking spirit, and to curse him with bell, book, and candle, that so invisibly had misused the pope's holiness, with the Cardinal of Pavia, and the rest of their company.
But Faustus notwithstanding made good cheer with that which he had beguiled the pope of, and in the midst of the order of St. Bernard's, bare-footed friars, as they were going on procession through the market-place, called Campo de Fiore, he let fall his plate, dish, and cup, and withal for a farewell he made such a thunder-clap and storm of rain, as though heaven and earth would have met together, and left Rome, and came to Millain in Italy, near the Alps or borders of Switzerland, where he praised much to his spirit the pleasures of the place, the city being founded in so brave a plain, by the which ran most pleasant rivers on every side of the same, having besides within the compass of a circuit of seven miles, seven small seas: he saw also therein many fair places, and goodly buildings, the duke's palace, and the mighty strong castle, which is in a manner half the bigness of the town. Moreover, it liked him well to see the hospital of St. Mary, with divers other things: he did there nothing worthy of memory, but he departed back again towards Bologna, and from thence to Florence, where he was well pleased to see the pleasant walk of merchants, the goodly vaults of the city, for that almost the whole city is vaulted, and the houses themselves are built outwardly in such sort, that the people go under them as under a vault: then he perused the sumptuous church in the duke's castle, called Nostra Dama, our Lady's church, in which he saw many monuments, as a marble door most huge to look upon; the gates of the castle are bell-metal, wherein are graven the holy patriarchs, with Christ and his twelve apostles, and divers other histories out of the Old and New Testament.
Then went he to Siena, where he highly praised the church and hospital of Sancta Maria Formosa, with the goodly buildings, and especially the fairness and greatness of the city, and beautiful women: then came he to Lyons in France, where he marked the situation of the city, which lay between two hills, environed with two waters; one worthy monument pleased him well, that was the great church, with the image therein; he commended the city highly for the great resort that it had unto it of strangers.
From thence he went to Cullen, which lieth upon the river of Rhine, wherein he saw one of the ancientest monuments in the world, the which was the tomb of the three kings that came by the angel of God, and their knowledge they had in the stars, to worship Christ, which when Faustus saw, he spake in this manner: "Ah! alas, good men! How have you erred, and lost your way! You should have gone to Palestina, and Bethlehem in Judea; how came you hither? Or belike after your death you were thrown into Mare Mediterraneum, about Tripolis in Syria, and so you steered out of the Straights of Gibralterra, in the ocean seas, and so into the Bay of Portugal. And not finding any rest, you are driven along the coast of Gallicia, Biscay and France, and into the narrow seas: then from thence into Mare Germanicum, and taken up I think about the town of Dort in Holland: you were brought to Cullen to be buried, or else (I think) you came most easily with a whirlwind over the Alps, and being thrown into the river of Rhine, it conveyed you to this place where you are kept a monument." Then saw he the church of St. Ursula, where remains a monument of the thousand virgins; it pleased him also to see the beauty of the women.
Not far from Cullen lieth the town of Ach, where he saw the gorgeous temple that the Emperor Carolus Quartus built of marble-stone for a remembrance of him, to the end that all his successors should there be crowned.