Dante Alighieri

Born

in Florence, Italy

May 14, 1265

Died

September 05, 1321

Genre

Poetry, Religion, Philosophy

Influences

Plato, Virgil, Ovid, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Boethius, Marcus Tulli ...more

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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 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. ...more

Combine Editions
Dante Alighieri’s books

Average rating: 4.02 · 272,789 ratings · 9,298 reviews · 813 distinct works • Similar authors

	Inferno (The Divine Comedy #1) 3.99 avg rating — 124,145 ratings — published 1320 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Allen Mandelbaum (Translator) , Eugenio Montale (Introduction) 4.07 avg rating — 99,619 ratings — published 1308 — 2308 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Purgatorio (La Divina Commedia #2) by Dante Alighieri, Robert M. Durling (Translator) 4.02 avg rating — 19,601 ratings — published 1320 — 525 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paradiso (The Divine Comedy, #3) by Dante Alighieri, Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator) , Barbara Reynolds (Translator) 3.95 avg rating — 14,402 ratings — published 1320 — 486 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa (Translator) 3.87 avg rating — 4,490 ratings — published 1292 — 435 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La Divina Comedia/La Vida Nueva 4.18 avg rating — 796 ratings — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Portable Dante by Dante Alighieri, Mark Musa (Translator, Editor, Notes) 4.23 avg rating — 953 ratings — published 1312 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circles of Hell 3.31 avg rating — 611 ratings — published 1320 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La divina comedia I 4.03 avg rating — 463 ratings — published 1472 — 157 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	De Monarchia 3.57 avg rating — 286 ratings — published 1313 — 77 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Dante Alighieri…

Series by Dante Alighieri

La Divina Commedia (3 books)
by

Dante Alighieri,

Dorothy L. Sayers (Translator)

Barbara Reynolds (Translator)

4.02 avg rating — 257,770 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

2842 likes

“My course is set for an uncharted sea.”
― Dante Alighieri

2777 likes

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

tags: afterlife, attributed-no-source, hell, morality, neutrality

1739 likes

See all Dante Alighieri's quotes »

Polls

December 2015: This poll will be of Bucketlist Classics under 250 pages. Books so short that you can quickly get them off of your "to-read" list. We are pickingonly the shortest on these lists to help members through the holiday month since it can be busy and difficult to read through the madness of buying, decorating, hosting, having family guests, etc.

These books are typically listed as:
•Books to Read Before You Die
•Bucketlist Books
•Books Everyone Should Read to be considered "Well Read"

you get the idea..

The poll will go live on 11/1/15 & will run until 11/14/15. You have the rest of this week to add books to the bookshelf to be considered for the poll.

The War of the Worlds
by H.G. Wells

3 votes, 42.9%

Slaughterhouse-Five +2 Votes
Votes in Comments (below)
by Kurt Vonnegut

3 votes, 42.9%

The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton

1 vote, 14.3%

The Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri

0 votes, 0.0%

I don't care

0 votes, 0.0%

7 total votes

4 comments

More...

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