1376. Catherine receives Stefano Maconi as a disciple, and at his instance
reconciles the feud between the Maconi and the Tolomei. She attempts by
correspondence to reconcile Pope Gregory XI. and the Florentines. On April
1st the Divine Commission to bear the olive to both disputants is given
her in a vision. In May, at the request of the Florentines, she goes to
Florence. Sent as their representative to Avignon, she reaches that city
on June 18th. Gregory entrusts her with the negotiations for peace. The
Florentine ambassadors, however, delay their coming, and when they come
refuse to ratify her powers. Thwarted in this direction, she devotes all
her efforts to persuading the Pope to return to Rome, and triumphing over
all obstacles, succeeds. She leaves for home on September 13th, but is
retained for a month in Genoa, at the house of Madonna Orietta Scotta.
After a short visit at Pisa, she reaches Siena in December or January.

1377. Catherine converts the castle of Belcaro, conveyed to her by its
owner, into a monastery. She visits the Salimbeni in their feudal castle
at Rocca D'Orcia, for the purpose of healing their family feuds. While
here she learns miraculously to write. She also visits Sant' Antimo and
Montepulciano.

1378. Gregory, in failing health, perhaps regretting his return, becomes
alienated from Catherine. He sends her, however, to Florence, where she
stays in a house built for her by Niccolo Soderini, at the foot of the
hill of St. George. She succeeds in causing the Interdict to be respected,
but almost loses her life in a popular tumult, and keenly regrets not
having won the crown of martyrdom. After the death of Gregory, and the
establishment of the longed-for peace by Pope Urban, Catherine returns to
Siena, where she devotes herself to composing her "Dialogue." After the
outbreak of the Schism, Urban, whom she had known at Avignon, summons her