2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard (Habsburg), and his feet were as the feet of a bear (Orsini), and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (Judah): and the dragon (Draghi) gave him his power (Podesta), and his seat (Holy See), and great authority.
Podestà (pronounced [podeˈsta]) is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities beginning in the later Middle Ages. Mainly it meant the chief magistrate of a city state, the counterpart to similar positions in other cities that went by other names, e.g. rettori ("rectors"), but it could also mean the local administrator, who was the representative of the Holy Roman Emperor. Currently, Podestà is the title of mayors in Italian-speaking municipalities of Graubünden in Switzerland.
The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power. There is a similar derivation for the Arabic term Sultan: originally meaning "power" or "authority", it eventually became the title of the person holding power.[1]