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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence around the 11th of May 1265, a date deduced from the astronomical clues hidden within his own masterpiece. He claimed to be born under the sign of Gemini, a detail that aligns with the sun's position in the Julian calendar during that specific window of time. This birth year places him in a Florence that was a powder keg of political violence, where the Guelphs and Ghibellines fought for control of the city. His family, the Alighieri, were loyal Guelphs, yet they managed to survive the Ghibelline victory at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, likely due to his father Alighiero's low public standing. The young Dante would grow up in a city where the average lifespan was seventy years, a number that would later become the key to unlocking the timeline of his imaginary journey through the afterlife. His mother, Bella, died when he was not yet ten, leaving his father to remarry Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi, who bore him two half-siblings, Francesco and Tana. This early loss and the subsequent political instability set the stage for a life that would be defined by exile and the search for a higher order in a chaotic world.

The Girl Who Became God

At the age of nine, Dante met Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of Folco Portinari, and claimed to have fallen in love with her at first sight without ever speaking to her. This encounter would become the spiritual engine of his entire literary career, transforming a simple childhood infatuation into a theological force. When he was twelve, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, a member of the powerful Donati family, a union that was common for the time and involved formal contracts signed before a notary. Yet, years later, Dante wrote no poems to his wife, focusing all his poetic energy on Beatrice, whom he saw frequently after he turned eighteen but never truly knew. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante sought refuge in Latin literature, reading Boethius and Cicero, but his grief eventually gave way to a new kind of poetry. He coined the term dolce stil novo, or sweet new style, to describe a movement that emphasized the semi-divine nature of love. In his later works, Beatrice was no longer just a woman but a symbol of salvation, guiding him through the heavens and providing spiritual instruction that was sometimes harsh. Her death marked the end of his youth and the beginning of his journey into the philosophical and theological depths that would define his legacy.

The Politician Who Lost Everything

Dante's political life was as turbulent as his personal one, culminating in a catastrophic fall from grace that would exile him from his home for the rest of his days. He fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino on the 11th of June 1289, a victory that reformed the Florentine constitution and allowed him to enter the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries. This guild membership was crucial, as it enabled him to hold public office in a city rife with unrest. He eventually rose to become one of the six priors, the highest position in Florence, for two months in 1300. However, the Guelphs had split into two factions: the White Guelphs, led by Vieri dei Cerchi and including Dante, and the Black Guelphs, led by Corso Donati. The Whites wanted more freedom from Rome, while the Blacks supported the Pope. In 1301, Pope Boniface VIII planned a military occupation of Florence, and Charles of Valois, brother of King Philip IV of France, was sent as a peacemaker. Dante was part of a delegation sent to Rome to persuade the Pope not to send Charles, but the Pope dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante to stay. When Charles entered Florence on the 1st of November 1301, the Black Guelphs took power, destroyed much of the city, and installed a new government. Dante was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a large fine, accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing. He refused to pay the fine, believing he was innocent, and was subsequently condemned to perpetual exile. If he had returned to Florence without paying, he would have been burned at the stake.

Common questions

When was Dante Alighieri born and what is the source of this date?

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence around the 11th of May 1265, a date deduced from the astronomical clues hidden within his own masterpiece. He claimed to be born under the sign of Gemini, a detail that aligns with the sun's position in the Julian calendar during that specific window of time.

Who was Beatrice Portinari and what role did she play in Dante Alighieri's life?

Beatrice Portinari was the daughter of Folco Portinari whom Dante Alighieri met at the age of nine and claimed to have fallen in love with at first sight. Her death in 1290 transformed her from a woman into a symbol of salvation who guided him through the heavens in his literary works.

Why was Dante Alighieri exiled from Florence and what were the consequences?

Dante Alighieri was condemned to perpetual exile in 1301 after the Black Guelphs took power in Florence and he refused to pay a fine for corruption. If he had returned to Florence without paying the fine, he would have been burned at the stake.

Where did Dante Alighieri die and when did his death occur?

Dante Alighieri died on the 14th of September 1321 in Ravenna of quartan malaria contracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice. He was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore, later called the Basilica di San Francesco.

How did Dante Alighieri influence the Italian language and literature?

Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy in the vernacular Tuscan dialect, breaking with the dominance of Latin to help establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. He is considered the father of the Italian language and the Supreme Poet who influenced Western writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton.

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The Exile Who Wrote Hell

Stripped of his home and political ambitions, Dante wandered through northern Italy, seeking refuge with various patrons like Bartolomeo I della Scala in Verona and possibly living in Lucca with a woman named Gentucca. It was during this period of wandering, after he had accepted that his political dreams were indefinitely disrupted, that he conceived of his greatest work, the Divine Comedy. The poem was far more assured and ambitious than anything he had written in Florence, likely begun around 1314 or 1315, though the Inferno was published by 1317. Dante wrote the poem in a language he called Italian, an amalgamated literary language based on the Tuscan dialect, deliberately aiming to reach a readership throughout Italy, including laymen and clergymen. He wrote in the vernacular, breaking with the tradition of Latin scholarship, and established that a serious, lofty poem could be written in the language of the common people. The work describes his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice. The structure of the poem, with its interlocking three-line rhyme scheme known as terza rima, was a revolutionary invention. Dante's exile allowed him to deepen his engagement with philosophy and literature, and he wrote to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, demanding that he destroy the Black Guelphs and restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor. When Henry VII died in 1313, Dante's hope for returning to Florence died with him, and he returned to Verona, where Cangrande I della Scala allowed him to live in security.

The Death That Refused To Be Forgotten

Dante's final days were spent in Ravenna, where he had been invited to stay in 1318 by its prince, Guido II da Polenta. He died on the 14th of September 1321, aged about 56, of quartan malaria contracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice. He was attended by his three children, and possibly by his wife Gemma, and by friends and admirers he had in the city. He was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore, later called the Basilica di San Francesco. His death did not end the controversy surrounding him; in 1329, Bertrand du Pouget, a cardinal and nephew of Pope John XXII, classified his work Monarchia as heretical and sought to have his bones burned at the stake. Allies of the Polenta family interceded to prevent the destruction of his remains. Florence eventually came to regret having exiled Dante, making repeated requests for the return of his remains, but the custodians in Ravenna refused, at one point concealing the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Florence built a tomb for Dante in 1829 in the Basilica of Santa Croce, but it has remained empty ever since, with his body still in Ravenna. The front of his tomb in Florence reads, Honor the most exalted poet, a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno. In 1945, the fascist government discussed bringing Dante's remains to the Valtellina Redoubt, but no action was taken. A copy of his death mask, likely carved in 1483 by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo, has been displayed in the Palazzo Vecchio since 1911, though scholars believe it is not a true death mask.

The Father Of The Italian Tongue

Dante's influence on the Italian language and literature is immeasurable, earning him the title of the father of the Italian language. He wrote the Divine Comedy in the vernacular, specifically his native Tuscan dialect, breaking with the dominance of Latin and the traditions of French or Provençal poetry. His work helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language, setting a precedent that important Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would later follow. He is considered to be among Italy's national poets and the Western world's greatest literary icons. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature, influencing English writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson. The first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. In Italy, he is often referred to as the Supreme Poet, and Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are called the three crowns of Italian literature. The first formal biography of Dante was written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio, and the 19th century saw a Dante revival, a product of the medieval revival and Romanticism. Thomas Carlyle profiled him in The Hero as Poet, stating that Dante is the spokesman of the Middle Ages. In 1921, Pope Benedict XV promulgated an encyclical naming Dante as one of the many celebrated geniuses of whom the Catholic faith can boast, and in 1965, Pope Paul VI promulgated a Latin encyclical dedicated to Dante's figure and poetry. In 2008, the Municipality of Florence officially apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier, and in May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to posthumously clear his name.