The rumour is that part of an alley on the Esquilina hill collapsed, revealing a deep hole in the ground. It is said that the first men brave enough to go down there found a trove of silver coins from the days of the Ancients and some old parchments, that have elicited some interest from scholars.
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It seems that beyond the Bosphorous in far off Trebizond, King Basil has died and there is Civil War over the succession. This is likely to presage disruption to the Black Sea trade in which many Italian states are involved, most notably the Genoese.
Word comes from the North that the English King Edward, the Third of that Name, has made a case that his mother being the last remaining descendant of Phillip the Fair of France, he is the rightful heir to the throne of France. Needless to say, the French see it differently and war is in prospect between these two nations.
While this is of little matter to most in Italy, it is said that Edward is borrowing heavily from some of the great Banking Houses of Florence, notably the Bardi. In Rome sympathies tend to lie with the English, but this is simply because they are not French.
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