Dante Alighieri

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born

May 25, 1265 in Florence, Italy

died

September 06, 1321

gender

male

genre

Poetry, Politics, Philosophy

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Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (May 14/June 13 1265 – September 13/14, 1321), is one of the greatest poets in the Italian language; with the comic story-teller Boccaccio and the poet Petrarch, he forms the classic trio of Italian authors. Dante Alighieri was born in the city-state Florence in 1265. He first saw the woman, or rather the child, who was to become the poetic love of his life when he was almost nine years old and she was some months younger. In fact, Beatrice married another man, Simone di' Bardi, and died when Dante was 25, so their relationship existed almost entirely in Dante's imagination, but she nonetheless plays an extremely important role in his poetry. Dante attributed all the heavenly virtues to her soul and imagined...more Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (May 14/June 13 1265 – September 13/14, 1321), is one of the greatest poets in the Italian language; with the comic story-teller Boccaccio and the poet Petrarch, he forms the classic trio of Italian authors. Dante Alighieri was born in the city-state Florence in 1265. He first saw the woman, or rather the child, who was to become the poetic love of his life when he was almost nine years old and she was some months younger. In fact, Beatrice married another man, Simone di' Bardi, and died when Dante was 25, so their relationship existed almost entirely in Dante's imagination, but she nonetheless plays an extremely important role in his poetry. Dante attributed all the heavenly virtues to her soul and imagined, in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, that she was his guardian angel who alternately berated and encouraged him on his search for salvation.

Politics as well as love deeply influenced Dante's literary and emotional life. Renaissance Florence was a thriving, but not a peaceful city: different opposing factions continually struggled for dominance there. The Guelfs and the Ghibellines were the two major factions, and in fact that division was important in all of Italy and other countries as well. The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor were political rivals for much of this time period, and in general the Guelfs were in favor of the Pope, while the Ghibellines supported Imperial power. By 1289 in the battle of Campaldino the Ghibellines largely disappeared from Florence. Peace, however, did not insue. Instead, the Guelf party divided between the Whites and the Blacks (Dante was a White Guelf). The Whites were more opposed to Papal power than the Blacks, and tended to favor the emperor, so in fact the preoccupations of the White Guelfs were much like those of the defeated Ghibellines. In this divisive atmosphere Dante rose to a position of leadership. in 1302, while he was in Rome on a diplomatic mission to the Pope, the Blacks in Florence seized power with the help of the French (and pro-Pope) Charles of Valois. The Blacks exiled Dante, confiscating his goods and condemning him to be burned if he should return to Florence.

Dante never returned to Florence. He wandered from city to city, depending on noble patrons there. Between 1302 and 1304 some attempts were made by the exiled Whites to retrieve their position in Florence, but none of these succeeded and Dante contented himself with hoping for the appearance of a new powerful Holy Roman Emperor who would unite the country and banish strife. Henry VII was elected Emperor in 1308, and indeed laid seige to Florence in 1312, but was defeated, and he died a year later, destroying Dante's hopes. Dante passed from court to court, writing passionate political and moral epistles and finishing his Divine Comedy, which contains the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. He finally died in Ravenna in 1321.(less)

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Books by Dante Alighieri

Average rating: 3.95 · 67,311 ratings · 2,989 reviews · 346 distinct works

	Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Anthony Esolen (Translator ) 3.93 avg rating — 32,462 ratings — published 1313 — 371 editions	My rating:
	The Divine Comedy (Everyman's Library Classics, #183) by Dante Alighieri, Peter Armour (Editor), Sandro Botticelli (Illustrator) 3.98 avg rating — 24,892 ratings — published 1874 — 651 editions	My rating:
	Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, Robert M. Durling (Translator) 3.91 avg rating — 4,634 ratings — published 1307 — 208 editions	My rating:
	Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator), Barbara Reynolds (Translator) 3.79 avg rating — 2,584 ratings — published 1321 — 15 editions	My rating:
	Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa 3.85 avg rating — 976 ratings — published 1295 — 114 editions	My rating:
	The Portable Dante by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa (Translator, Editor, Notes) 4.14 avg rating — 280 ratings — published 1947 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Paradiso 4.05 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2001	My rating:
	De Monarchia 3.71 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 1957 — 22 editions	My rating:
	The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri by Dante Alighieri, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 4.17 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	My rating:
	La vita nuova 3.94 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2004 — 2 editions	My rating:

More books by Dante Alighieri…

Series by Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy (3 books)
by Dante Alighieri, Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator), Barbara Reynolds (Translator)

3.92 avg rating — 39,667 ratings

The Divine Comedy (3 books)
by Dante Alighieri, Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator), Barbara Reynolds (Translator)

3.92 avg rating — 39,667 ratings

Quotes by Dante Alighieri

“Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

tags: faith , fate , fear

446 people liked it

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

tags: afterlife , hell , morality , neutrality

311 people liked it

“In that book which is my memory,
On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you,
Appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life’.”
― Dante Alighieri, Vita Nuova

213 people liked it

See all Dante Alighieri's quotes »

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