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.