Word: confusus
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...great, grey basilica of St. John Lateran. Popes in bygone times used to make the short journey across the city on horseback, which sometimes enlivened the occasion with incident: Clement XIV (1769-74), for instance, fell from his horse on dismounting, only to assure alarmed aides that he was "confusus" but not "contusus." Sixtus V (1585-90) corrected the flattering observation of an ambassador that he had "mounted easily" with the admonition: "No, we are old and heavy because we have a world on our shoulders...
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