Morbid Fact Du Jour For August 26, 2011
Today’s Blasphemous Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Future saint, Pope Pius V (1504-1572) had an elaborate new lavatory installed at the Vatican in 1570. At the time, even the slightest building project rated a formal dedication and Latin inscription. So, with mock solemnity, one Nicolo Franco scrawled the following bit of graffiti on the walls there: “Papa Pius Quintus, ventres miseratus onustos / Hocce cacatorum nobile fecit opus.” Which translates: “Pope Pius V, filled with compassion for our full bellies, has erected this noble monument of caca seats.” According to scholar Gustave Witkowski, Nicolo Franco was hanged for his blasphemy.
Culled from: An Underground Education
What a sourpuss. Then again, popes aren’t exactly known for their sense of humor, are they?
So obnoxious bathroom graffiti isn’t a recent invention.
Don’t know how Franco imagined he wouldn’t get into trouble for that. I hope it was worth it to him.