Dante Alighieri

In or around 1265, Dante was born in Florence, Italy. He was most certainly born in that year, based on hints from his Divine Comedy, however the precise date is uncertain. Dante mentioned a cousin called Cacciaguida degli Elisei who was born about in 1100 and said that his family was derived from ancient Romans.

Alighiero di Bellincione, his father, was a White Guelph who suffered no retaliation even after the Ghibellines prevailed at the Battle of Montaperti. Dante's family opposed the Ghibellines, who were backed by the Holy Roman Emperor, by supporting the Guelphs, a political party associated with the Papacy. When Dante was a little boy, his mother Bella passed away, and his father remarried and had two more children with Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi.

When Dante was nine years old, he allegedly met Beatrice Portinari for the first time and fell in love with her right away. He was given a marriage pledge to Gemma di Manetto Donati when he was twelve. Dante never addressed Gemma in his works, although he eventually reconnected with Beatrice and penned poems to her. He took part in the renovation of the Florentine constitution and fought in the Battle of Campaldino in 1289. Before being expelled in 1301, Dante had three children with Gemma and joined the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries to pursue a career in public life.

Education

Although nothing is known about Dante's official schooling, it is thought that he attended Florence's churches or monasteries or studied at home. His primary interest was Tuscan poetry; he read the writings of troubadours, Ovid, and Virgil, as well as the works of Guido Guinizelli.

Dante's marriage to Beatrice inspired his works and popularized the idea of courtly love. He saw Beatrice as semi-divine, and his love for her became a major topic in his writing. After Beatrice passed away in 1290, Dante perused Latin literature, including "De consolatione philosophiae" by Boethius and "De Amicitia" by Cicero.

Dante began studying philosophy in monastic schools, such as the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella, when he was around eighteen. He took part in discussions over the doctrines of mystics, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas that took place at Florence between the Franciscan and Dominican orders.

In addition, Dante became a leading figure in the dolce stil nuovo movement via his associations with poets like as Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia, and Brunetto Latini. As stated in the Divine Comedy, Brunetto in particular was crucial to Dante's education. Dante studied art and other topics and produced a great deal of lyrical commentary.

Dante's Political Engagement in Florence and Its Difficulties

Dante participated in the Battle of Campaldino in 1289 as a member of the Florentine Guelphs against the Arezzo Ghibellines. Dante was a resident of Florence during the Guelph-Ghibelline struggle. As the one behind the first strike, he was a major player in the conflict. He accompanied Charles Martel of Anjou on his journey to Florence in 1294.

Dante studied to be a pharmacist even though he had no intention of becoming a pharmacist in order to further his political career. In 1295, a statute mandated that aspirant nobility be members of a guild, therefore Dante became a member of the Guild of Apothecaries. In a city that was experiencing unrest over politics, he held a number of posts but accomplished nothing.

Internal strife developed after the Guelph triumph between the Black Guelphs, under the leadership of Corso Donati, and the White Guelphs, Dante's group headed by Vieri dei Cerchi. Originally founded on familial allegiances, these conflicts later developed into ideological disagreements over the role of the pope in Florentine affairs. While the Blacks backed the Pope, Dante's faction, the Whites, wanted more autonomy from Rome.

Pope Boniface VIII intended to take over Florence after the Whites established their dominance and drove out the Blacks. The Pope sent Charles of Valois to arbitrate peace in 1301, but tensions increased as Florence sought independence. A mission led by Dante was despatched to Rome in order to ascertain the Pope's intentions.

Dante's Exile and Writing the Comedy

Because of political unrest, Dante was forced to leave Florence. When the Black Guelphs seized control in 1301, they sentenced White Guelph Dante to two years of exile and a hefty price. Dante remained in Rome despite the Black Guelphs' accusations of his wrongdoing. He was condemned to life in exile and threatened with being burned at the stake should he return for refusing to pay the fee.

Dante resided in many locations while in exile, including as Verona, Sarzana, and Lucca. He was in favor of the White Guelphs' vain efforts to seize control again. He wrote to Henry VII, the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1310, pleading for the Black Guelphs to be destroyed because he believed that he would be able to save Florence.

Dante wrote the Comedy, which started with the Inferno, when he was living in exile. Though the exact beginning is unknown, the remark written in 1314 by Francesco da Barberino points to the early phases of the poem. By 1317, the publication of The Inferno was confirmed, and Dante's vivid vision of Beatrice reappeared.

Henry VII overthrew the Black Guelphs in 1312 by attacking Florence. Henry passed away in 1313, crushing Dante's dreams of going back to Florence. Dante chose not to participate. Cangrande I della Scala provided Dante with a stable life in Verona.

Dante had a correspondence with theologian Fr. Nicholas Brunacci while he was in exile. Florence offered pardon in 1315, but Dante opted for exile rather than public humiliation. Dante's death sentence was reduced to house detention when Uguccione beat Florence, but he declined to go back, believing he would get a formal invitation.

Dante's Final Days and Resting Place

Dante spent his last days in Ravenna, where he was invited by Prince Guido II da Polenta in 1318. He died on September 14, 1321, around the age of 56, from malaria he contracted during a diplomatic mission to Venice. His three children, possibly Gemma Donati, and friends were with him. Dante was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore, later named Basilica di San Francesco. A tomb was erected by Bernardo Bembo in 1483.

On Dante's grave, a verse by Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, is dedicated to Florence, calling it the "mother of little love." In 1329, Cardinal Bertrand du Pouget labeled Dante's Monarchia as heretical and wanted his bones burned, but allies prevented this.

Despite Florence's repeated requests, Dante's remains remained in Ravenna. In 1829, Florence built an empty tomb in the Basilica of Santa Croce. The front of the tomb reads "Honor the most exalted poet," a quote from the Inferno. In 1945, there was talk of moving Dante's remains to the Valtellina Redoubt during the fascist government, but it never happened.

A copy of Dante's supposed death mask has been displayed since 1911 in the Palazzo Vecchio, but scholars doubt its authenticity, believing it was likely carved in 1483 by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo.

Legacy

Dante, the famous Italian poet, has left a lasting impact on history. The first official biography of Dante was written by Giovanni Boccaccio after 1348. Some details in this biography and an earlier account by Giovanni Villani have been questioned.

In the 16th century, some English Protestants saw Dante as a precursor to Protestantism due to his opposition to the pope. In the 19th century, there was a "Dante Revival" as part of the medieval revival and Romanticism. Writers like Thomas Carlyle and translators like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow played a role.

Italy's first dreadnought battleship in 1913 was named Dante Alighieri in his honor. Pope Benedict XV, in 1921, praised Dante as a genius of the Catholic faith on the 600th anniversary of his death. Pope Paul VI, in 1965, dedicated a motu proprio to Dante, and Pope Francis blessed a golden iron Greek Cross at Dante's burial site in 2020.

In 2007, a reconstruction of Dante's face portrayed his features differently than previously thought. In 2008, the Municipality of Florence apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier. In 2015, Italy celebrated the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth with a Senate event and a commemoration from Pope Francis. In May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to clear Dante's name, and a public apology was issued in 2008.

Major Work

Dante, the renowned Italian poet, wrote most of his literary works after his exile in 1301. The only major work predating this period is "La Vita Nuova" ("The New Life"), a collection of lyric poems with commentary. It tells the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari, who later symbolized salvation in his epic poem, "The Divine Comedy."

"The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, guided first by Virgil and then by Beatrice. Purgatorio is considered the most lyrical, while Paradiso is highly theological. Dante aimed to create a unified literary language beyond Latin, contributing to the evolution of Italian as a literary language.

Dante wrote "The Comedy" in a language he called "Italian," based on the Tuscan dialect. This marked a departure from the tradition of using Latin, making literature more accessible to a wider audience. Dante's works gained prominence in the 19th century, solidifying his status as one of the greatest literary figures in the Western world.

Despite its title, "The Divine Comedy" it is called a "comedy" in the classical sense, as it reflects a belief in an ordered universe with a Providential will leading to a positive outcome. Dante's other works include "Convivio," an allegorical commentary on his longest poems, and "Monarchia," a treatise on political philosophy advocating for global monarchy. Other works discuss vernacular literature, theology, and miscellaneous poems.

Dante's contributions to literature broke free from traditional Latin standards, setting a precedent for wider literary access and increased literacy levels. While not widely recognized in his time, Dante's reputation grew, and by the 19th century, he became an iconic literary figure in the Western world.