Wikipedia

Dante Alighieri

"Dante" redirects here. For other uses, seeDante (disambiguation).

Dante Alighieri(Italian:[ˈdantealiˈɡjɛːri];c. May 1265– September 14, 1321), most likely baptizedDurante di Alighiero degli Alighieri[note 1]and widely known and often referred to in English mononymously asDante(English:/ˈdɑːnteɪ,ˈdænteɪ,ˈdænti/,[3][4]US:/ˈdɑːnti/[5]), was an Italian[a]poet,writer, and philosopher.[7]HisDivine Comedy,originally calledComedìa(modern Italian:Commedia) and later christenedDivinabyGiovanni Boccaccio,[8]is widely considered one of the most important poems of theMiddle Agesand the greatest literary work in the Italian language.[9][10]

Dante Alighieri
head-and-chest side portrait of Dante in red and white coat and cowl
Posthumousportrait intempera
bySandro Botticelli,1495
Bornc. May 1265[1]
Florence,Republic of Florence
Died(1321-09-14)September 14, 1321
(agedc. 56)
Ravenna,Papal States
Resting placeTomb of Dante
OccupationStatesman, poet, language theorist,political theorist
LanguageItalian
Tuscan
Latin
NationalityFlorentine
PeriodLate Middle Ages
Literary movementDolce Stil Novo
Notable worksDivine Comedy
SpouseGemma Donati
Children4, includingJacopo
ParentsAlighiero di Bellincione(father)
Bella (mother)

Dante is known for establishing the use of thevernacularin literature at a time when most poetry was written inLatin,which was accessible only to educated readers. HisDe vulgari eloquentia(On Eloquence in the Vernacular) was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of theFlorentine dialectfor works such asThe New Life(1295) andDivine Comedyhelped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. By writing his poem in the Italian vernacular rather than in Latin, Dante influenced the course of literary development, making Italian the literary language in western Europe for several centuries.[11]His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such asPetrarchandBoccacciowould later follow.

Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy, and is considered to be among the country'snational poetsand the Western world's greatest literary icons.[12]His depictions ofHell,Purgatory,andHeavenprovided inspiration for the larger body ofWestern artandliterature.[13][14]He influenced English writers such asGeoffrey Chaucer,John Milton,andAlfred Tennyson,among many others. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or theterza rima,is attributed to him. He is described as the "father" of the Italian language,[15]and in Italy he is often referred to asil Sommo Poeta( "the Supreme Poet" ). Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio are also called thetre corone( "three crowns" ) of Italian literature.

Early life

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Dante's house museum in Florence. The house has been significantly altered since Dante’s time.[16]
Alleged Dante portrait attributed toGiotto,in the chapel of theBargellopalace, Florence.[17]It was paintedc. 1335and has been restored.[18]

Dante was born inFlorence,Republic of Florence,in what is now Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around May 1265.[19][20][21]This can be deduced fromautobiographicallusionsin theDivine Comedy.Its first section, theInferno,begins,"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita"( "Midway upon the journey of our life" ), implying that Dante was around 35 years old, since the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalm 89:10, Vulgate) is 70 years; and since his imaginary travel to the netherworld took place in 1300, he was most probably born around 1265. Some verses of theParadisosection of theDivine Comedyalso provide a possible clue that he was born under the sign ofGemini:"As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed, from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious" (XXII 151–154). In 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11 (Julian calendar).[1]

Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno,XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was his great-great grandfatherCacciaguidadegli Elisei (Paradiso,XV, 135), born no earlier than about 1100. Dante's father wasAlighiero di Bellincione,a businessman and moneylender,[22]and Dante's mother was Bella, probably a member of the Abati family, a noble Florentine family.[23]She died when Dante was not yet ten years old. Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. It is uncertain whether he really married her, since widowers were socially limited in such matters, but she definitely bore him two children, Dante's half-brother Francesco and half-sister Tana (Gaetana).[23]

During Dante's time, most Northern-Italian city states were split into two political factions: theGuelphs,who supported thepapacy,and theGhibellines,who supported theHoly Roman Empire.[24]Dante's family was loyal to the Guelphs. The Ghibellines took over Florence at theBattle of Montapertiin 1260, forcing out many of the Guelphs.[25]Although Dante’s family were Guelphs, they suffered no reprisals after the battle, probably because of Alighiero’s low public standing.[26]The Guelphs later fought the Ghibellines again in 1266 at the Battle of Benevento, retaking Florence from the Ghibellines.[25][24]

Portrait of Dante,c. 1375–1406,from a fresco in the Palazzo dei Giudici, Florence[17]

Dante said he first metBeatrice Portinari,daughter ofFolco Portinari,when he was nine (she was eight),[27]and he claimed to have fallen in love with her "at first sight",apparently without even talking with her.[28]When he was 12, however, he was promised in marriage toGemma di Manetto Donati,daughter of Manetto Donati, member of the powerful Donati family.[23]Contracting marriages for children at such an early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before anotary.[23]Dante claimed to have seen Beatrice again frequently after he turned 18, exchanging greetings with her in the streets of Florence, though he never knew her well.[29]

Years after his marriage to Gemma, he claims to have met Beatrice again; he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. He refers to other Donati relations, notably Forese and Piccarda, in hisDivine Comedy.The exact date of his marriage is not known; the only certain information is that, before his exile in 1301, he had fathered three children with Gemma (Pietro,Jacopoand Antonia).[23]

Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at theBattle of Campaldino(June 11, 1289).[30]This victory brought about a reformation of theFlorentineconstitution. To take part in public life, one had to enroll in one of the city's many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians' and Apothecaries' Guild.[31]His name is occasionally recorded as speaking or voting in the councils of the republic. Many minutes from such meetings between 1298–1300 were lost, so the extent of his participation is uncertain.

Education and poetry

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Mural of Dante in theUffizi,Florence, byAndrea del Castagno,c. 1450

Not much is known about Dante's education; he presumably studied at home or in a chapter school attached to a church or monastery in Florence. It is known that he studiedTuscanpoetry and that he admired the compositions of the Bolognese poetGuido Guinizelli—inPurgatorioXXVI he characterized him as his "father" —at a time when theSicilian School(Scuola poetica Siciliana), a cultural group fromSicily,was becoming known in Tuscany. He also discovered theProvençalpoetry of thetroubadours,such asArnaut Daniel,and the Latin writers ofclassical antiquity,includingCicero,Ovidand especiallyVirgil.[32]

Dante's interactions with Beatrice set an example of so-calledcourtly love,a phenomenon developed in French and Provençal poetry of prior centuries. Dante's experience of such love was typical, but his expression of it was unique. It was in the name of this love that Dante left his imprint on thedolce stil nuovo( "sweet new style", a term that Dante himself coined), and he would join other contemporary poets and writers in exploring never-before-emphasized aspects of love (Amore). Love for Beatrice (asPetrarchwould express for Laura somewhat differently) would be his reason for writing poetry and for living, together with political passions. In many of his poems, she is depicted as semi-divine, watching over him constantly and providing spiritual instruction, sometimes harshly. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante sought refuge in Latin literature.[33]TheConviviochronicles his having readBoethius'sDe consolatione philosophiaeand Cicero'sDe Amicitia.

Dante and Beatrice,byHenry Holiday,inspired byLa Vita Nuova,1883

He next dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one inSanta Maria Novella.He took part in the disputes that the two principalmendicantorders (FranciscanandDominican) publicly or indirectly held in Florence, the former explaining the doctrines of the mystics and of St.Bonaventure,the latter expounding on the theories of St.Thomas Aquinas.[29]

At around the age of 18, Dante metGuido Cavalcanti,Lapo Gianni,Cino da Pistoiaand, soon after,Brunetto Latini;together they became the leaders of thedolce stil nuovo.Brunetto later received special mention in theDivine Comedy(Inferno,XV, 28) for what he had taught Dante:Nor speaking less on that account I go With Ser Brunetto, and I ask who are his most known and most eminent companions.[34]Some fifty poetical commentaries by Dante are known (the so-calledRime,rhymes), others being included in the laterVita NuovaandConvivio.Other studies are reported, or deduced fromVita Nuovaor theComedy,regarding painting and music.[citation needed]

Florence and politics

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Further information:Guelphs and Ghibellines
Statue of Dante at theUffizi

Dante, like most Florentines of his day, was embroiled in theGuelph–Ghibelline conflict.He fought in theBattle of Campaldino(June 11, 1289), with the Florentine Guelphs againstArezzoGhibellines;[30][35]he fought as afeditore[it],responsible for the first attack.[36]To further his political career, he obtained admission to the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries around 1295.[37]He likely joined the guild due to association between philosophy and medicine,[38][39][40]but also may have joined as apothecaries were also booksellers.[41][42]His guild membership allowed him to hold public office in Florence.[39]As a politician, he held various offices over some years in a city rife with political unrest.

After defeating the Ghibellines, the Guelphs divided into two factions: the White Guelphs (Guelfi Bianchi)—Dante's party, led by Vieri dei Cerchi—and the Black Guelphs (Guelfi Neri), led byCorso Donati.Although the split was along family lines at first, ideological differences arose based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs. The Blacks supported the Pope and the Whites wanted more freedom from Rome. The Whites took power first and expelled the Blacks. In response,Pope Boniface VIIIplanned a military occupation of Florence. In 1301,Charles of Valois,brother of KingPhilip IV of France,was expected to visit Florence because the Pope had appointed him as peacemaker forTuscany.But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence. It was believed Charles had received other unofficial instructions, so the council sent a delegation that included Dante to Rome to persuade the Pope not to send Charles to Florence.[43][44]

Exile from Florence

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Statue of Dantein thePiazza Santa Crocein Florence,Enrico Pazzi,1865

Pope Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (November 1, 1301), Charles of Valois entered Florence with the Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. A new Black Guelph government was installed, andCante dei GabriellidaGubbiowas appointedpodestàof the city. In March 1302, Dante, a White Guelph by affiliation, along with theGherardini family,was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a large fine.[45]Dante was accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing by the Black Guelphs for the time that Dante was serving as city prior (Florence's highest position) for two months in 1300.[46]The poet was still in Rome in 1302, as the Pope, who had backed the Black Guelphs, had "suggested" that Dante stay there. Florence under the Black Guelphs, therefore, considered Dante an absconder.[47]

Dante did not pay the fine, in part because he believed he was not guilty and in part because all his assets in Florence had been seized by the Black Guelphs. He was condemned to perpetual exile; if he had returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could have been burned at the stake. (In June 2008, nearly seven centuries after his death, the city council of Florence passed a motion rescinding Dante's sentence.)[48]In 1306–07, Dante was a guest ofMoroello Malaspina[it]in the region ofLunigiana.[49]

Dante in Verona,by Antonio Cotti, 1879

Dante took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, he grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his former allies and vowed to become a party of one. He went toVeronaas a guest ofBartolomeo I della Scala,then moved toSarzanain Liguria. Later he is supposed to have lived inLuccawith a woman named Gentucca. She apparently made his stay comfortable (and he later gratefully mentioned her inPurgatorio,XXIV, 37).[50]Some speculative sources claim he visited Paris between 1308 and 1310, and other sources even less trustworthy say he went toOxford:these claims, first made inBoccaccio's book on Dante several decades after his death, seem inspired by readers who were impressed with the poet's wide learning and erudition. Evidently, Dante's command of philosophy and his literary interests deepened in exile and when he was no longer busy with the day-to-day business of Florentine domestic politics, and this is evidenced in his prose writings in this period. There is no real evidence that he ever left Italy. Dante'sImmensa Dei dilectione testanteto Henry VII of Luxembourg confirms his residence "beneath the springs of Arno, near Tuscany" in April 1311.[51]

In 1310, Holy Roman EmperorHenry VIIofLuxembourgmarched into Italy at the head of 5,000 troops. Dante saw in him a newCharlemagnewho would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor to its former glory and also retake Florence from the Black Guelphs. He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs.[52]Mixing religion and private concerns in his writings, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city and suggested several particular targets, who were also his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wroteDe Monarchia,proposing auniversal monarchyunder Henry VII.[53]

Dante Alighieri, detail fromLuca Signorelli's fresco in the Chapel of San Brizio,Orvieto Cathedral

At some point during his exile, he conceived of theComedy,but the date is uncertain. The work is much more assured and on a larger scale than anything he had written in Florence; it is likely he would have undertaken such a work only after he realized his political ambitions, which had been central to him up to his banishment, had been halted for some time, possibly forever. It is also noticeable that Beatrice has returned to his imagination with renewed force and with a wider meaning than in theVita Nuova;inConvivio(writtenc. 1304–07) he had declared that the memory of this youthful romance belonged to the past.[54]

An early indication that the poem was underway is a notice byFrancesco da Barberino,tucked into hisDocumenti d'Amore(Lessons of Love), probably written in 1314 or early 1315. Francesco notes that Dante followed theAeneidin a poem called "Comedy" and that the setting of this poem (or part of it) was the underworld; i.e., hell.[55]The brief note gives no incontestable indication that Barberino had seen or read even theInferno,or that this part had been published at the time, but it indicates composition was well underway and that the sketching of the poem might have begun some years before. (It has been suggested that a knowledge of Dante's work also underlies some of the illuminations in Francesco da Barberino's earlierOfficiolum[c. 1305–08], a manuscript that came to light in 2003.[56]) It is known that theInfernohad been published by 1317; this is established by quoted lines interspersed in the margins of contemporary dated records fromBologna,but there is no certainty as to whether the three parts of the poem were each published in full or, rather, a few cantos at a time.Paradisowas likely finished before he died, but it may have been published posthumously.[57]

Statue of Dante in Verona

In 1312, Henry assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelphs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved. Some say he refused to participate in the attack on his city by a foreigner; others suggest that he had become unpopular with the White Guelphs, too, and that any trace of his passage had carefully been removed. Henry VII died (from a fever) in 1313 and with him any hope for Dante to see Florence again. He returned to Verona, whereCangrande I della Scalaallowed him to live in certain security and, presumably, in a fair degree of prosperity. Cangrande was admitted to Dante's Paradise (Paradiso,XVII, 76).[58]

During the period of his exile, Dante corresponded with Dominican theologian Fr. Nicholas Brunacci OP [1240–1322], who had been a student ofThomas Aquinasat the Santa Sabinastudiumin Rome, later at Paris,[59]and ofAlbert the Greatat the Colognestudium.[60]Brunacci became lector at the Santa Sabinastudium,forerunner of thePontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas,and later served in thepapal curia.[61]

In 1315, Florence was forced byUguccione della Faggiuola(the military officer controlling the town) to grant an amnesty to those in exile, including Dante. But for this, Florence required public penance in addition to payment of a high fine. Dante refused, preferring to remain in exile. When Uguccione defeated Florence, Dante's death sentence was commuted to house arrest, on condition that he go to Florence to swear he would never enter the town again. He refused to go, and his death sentence was confirmed and extended to his sons.[62]Despite this, he still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honorable terms, particularly in praise of his poetry.[63]

Death and burial

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Dante's tomb exterior and interior in Ravenna, built in 1780

Dante's final days were spent inRavenna,where he had been invited to stay in the city in 1318 by its prince,Guido II da Polenta.Dante died in Ravenna on September 14, 1321, aged about 56, ofquartan malariacontracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to theRepublic of Venice.He was attended by his three children, and possibly by Gemma Donati, and by friends and admirers he had in the city.[64]He was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later calledBasilica di San Francesco).Bernardo Bembo,praetorofVenice,erecteda tomb for himin 1483.[65][66]

On the grave, a verse ofBernardo Canaccio,a friend of Dante, is dedicated to Florence:

In 1329,Bertrand du Pouget,Cardinal and nephew ofPope John XXII,classified Dante'sMonarchiaas heretical and sought to have his bones burned at the stake.Ostasio I da Polentaand Pino della Tosa, allies of Pouget, interceded to prevent the destruction of Dante's remains.[67]

Recreated death mask of Dante in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Florence eventually came to regret having exiled Dante. The city made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body in Ravenna refused, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Florence built a tomb for Dante in 1829, in theBasilica of Santa Croce.That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna. The front of his tomb in Florence readsOnorate l'altissimo poeta— which roughly translates as "Honor the most exalted poet" and is a quote from the fourth canto of theInferno.[68]

In 1945, thefascist governmentdiscussed bringing Dante's remains to theValtellina Redoubt,the Alpine valley in which the regime intended to make its last stand against theAllies.The case was made that "the greatest symbol of Italianness" should be present at fascism's "heroic" end, but ultimately, no action was taken.[69]

A copy of Dante's so-called death mask has been displayed since 1911 in thePalazzo Vecchio;scholars today believe it is not a true death mask and was probably carved in 1483, perhaps byPietroandTullio Lombardo.[70]

Legacy

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Dante on the national side of the Italian 2 euro coin

The first formal biography of Dante was theVita di Dante(also known asTrattatello in laude di Dante), written after 1348 byGiovanni Boccaccio.[71]Although several statements and episodes of it have been deemed unreliable on the basis of modern research, an earlier account of Dante's life and works had been included in theNuova Cronicaof the Florentine chroniclerGiovanni Villani.[72]

Some 16th-century English Protestants, such asJohn BaleandJohn Foxe,argued that Dante was aproto-Protestantbecause of his opposition to the pope.[73][74]

The 19th century saw a "Dante revival", a product of themedieval revival,which was itself an important aspect ofRomanticism.[75]Thomas Carlyleprofiled him in "The Hero as Poet", the third lecture inOn Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History(1841): "He is world-great not because he is worldwide, but because he is world-deep.... Dante is the spokesman of the Middle Ages; the Thought they lived by stands here, in everlasting music."[76]Leigh Hunt,Henry Francis CaryandHenry Wadsworth Longfellowwere among Dante's translators of the era.

Statue of Dante atDante Parkin Manhattan, New York City

Italy's first dreadnought battleship was completed in 1913 and namedDante Alighieriin honor of him.[77]

On April 30, 1921, in honor of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death,Pope Benedict XVpromulgated an encyclical namedIn praeclara summorum,naming Dante as one "of the many celebrated geniuses of whom the Catholic faith can boast" and the "pride and glory of humanity".[78]

Bust of Dante by Luigi Casadio[79]atLa Alameda Park,donated in 1922 by the Italian community ofQuito,Ecuador[80]

On December 7, 1965,Pope Paul VIpromulgated the Latinmotu propriotitledAltissimi cantus,which was dedicated to Dante's figure and poetry.[81]In that year, the pope also donated a golden ironGreek Crossto Dante's burial site inRavenna,in occasion of the 700th anniversary of his birth.[82][83]The same cross was blessed byPope Francisin October 2020.[84]

In 2007, a reconstruction of Dante's face was undertaken in a collaborative project. Artists from theUniversity of Pisaand forensic engineers at theUniversity of BolognaatForlìconstructed the model, portraying Dante's features as somewhat different from what was once thought.[85][86]

In 2008, the Municipality of Florence officially apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier.[87][88][89][90]In May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to posthumously clear his name.[91]

A celebration was held in 2015 at Italy'sSenate of the Republicfor the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth. It included a commemoration fromPope Francis,who also issued the apostolic letterCando lucis aeternaein honor of the anniversary.[92][93]

Works

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See also:Category:Works by Dante Alighieri

Overview

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Divina Commedia(1472)

Most of Dante's literary work was composed after his exile in 1301.La Vita Nuova( "The New Life" ) is the only major work that predates it; it is a collection of lyric poems (sonnets and songs) with commentary in prose, ostensibly intended to be circulated in manuscript form, as was customary for such poems.[94]It also contains, or constructs, the story of his love forBeatrice Portinari,who later served as the ultimate symbol of salvation in theComedy,a function already indicated in the final pages of theVita Nuova.The work contains many of Dante's love poems in Tuscan, which was not unprecedented; the vernacular had been regularly used for lyric works before, during all the thirteenth century. However, Dante's commentary on his own work is also in the vernacular—both in theVita Nuovaand in theConvivio—instead of the Latin that was almost universally used.[95]

TheDivine Comedydescribes Dante's journey throughHell(Inferno),Purgatory(Purgatorio), andParadise(Paradiso); he is first guided by the Roman poetVirgiland then byBeatrice.Of the books,Purgatoriois arguably the most lyrical of the three, referring to more contemporary poets and artists thanInferno;Paradisois the most heavily theological, and the one in which, many scholars have argued, theDivine Comedy'smost beautiful and mystic passages appear.[96][97]

With its seriousness of purpose, its literary stature and the range—both stylistic and thematic—of its content, theComedysoon became a cornerstone in the evolution of Italian as an established literary language. Dante was more aware than most early Italian writers of the variety of Italian dialects and of the need to create a literature and a unified literary language beyond the limits of Latin writing at the time; in that sense, he is a forerunner of theRenaissance,with its effort to create vernacular literature in competition with earlier classical writers. Dante's in-depth knowledge (within the limits of his time) of Roman antiquity, and his evident admiration for some aspects of pagan Rome, also point forward to the 15th century.

Dante, poised between the mountain of purgatory and the city of Florence, displays theincipitNel mezzo del cammin di nostra vitain a detail ofDomenico di Michelino's painting, Florence, 1465.

He wrote theComedyin a language he called "Italian", in some sense an amalgamated literary language predominantly based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, but with some elements of Latin and other regional dialects.[98]He deliberately aimed to reach a readership throughout Italy including laymen, clergymen and other poets. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression. In French, Italian is sometimes nicknamedla langue de Dante.Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first in Roman Catholic Western Europe (among others such asGeoffrey ChaucerandGiovanni Boccaccio) to break free from standards of publishing in only Latin (the language ofliturgy,history and scholarship in general, but often also of lyric poetry). This break set a precedent and allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience, setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future. However, unlike Boccaccio,MiltonorAriosto,Dante did not really become an author read across Europe until the Romantic era. To the Romantics, Dante, likeHomerandShakespeare,was a prime example of the "original genius" who set his own rules, created persons of overpowering stature and depth, and went beyond any imitation of the patterns of earlier masters; and who, in turn, could not truly be imitated.[citation needed]Throughout the 19th century, Dante's reputation grew and solidified; and by 1865, the 600th anniversary of his birth, he had become established as one of the greatest literary icons of the Western world.[99]

Dante andVirgilvisiting Hell, as depicted inInferno,painted by Rafael Flores, 1855

New readers often wonder how such a serious work may be called a "comedy". In theclassical sensethe wordcomedyrefers to works that reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events tend toward not only a happy or amusing ending but one influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. By this meaning of the word, as Dante himself allegedly wrote in a letter toCangrande I della Scala,the progression of the pilgrimage from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.[100]

A number of other works are credited to Dante.Convivio( "The Banquet" )[101]is a collection of his longest poems with an (unfinished) allegorical commentary.Monarchia( "Monarchy" )[102]is a summary treatise of political philosophy in Latin which was condemned and burned after Dante's death[103][104]by the Papal LegateBertrando del Poggetto;it argues for the necessity of a universal or global monarchy to establish universal peace in this life, and this monarchy's relationship to the Roman Catholic Church as guide to eternal peace.[105]De vulgari eloquentia( "On the Eloquence in the Vernacular" )[106]is a treatise on vernacular literature, partly inspired by theRazos de trobarofRaimon Vidal de Bezaudun.[107][108]Quaestio de aqua et terra( "A Question of the Water and of the Land" ) is a theological work discussing the arrangement of Earth's dry land and ocean. TheEcloguesare two poems addressed to the poet Giovanni del Virgilio. Dante is also sometimes credited with writingIl Fiore( "The Flower" ), a series of sonnets summarizingLe Roman de la Rose,andDetto d'Amore( "Tale of Love" ), a short narrative poem also based onLe Roman de la Rose.These would be the earliest, and most novice, of his known works.[109]Le Rimeis a posthumous collection of miscellaneous poems.

List of works

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The major works of Dante's are the following.[110][111]

  • Illustration forPurgatorio(ofThe Divine Comedy) byGustave Doré
  • Illustration forParadiso(ofThe Divine Comedy) by Gustave Doré
  • Illustration forParadiso(ofThe Divine Comedy) by Gustave Doré

Collections

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Dante's works reside in cultural institutions across the world. Many items have been digitized or are available for public consultation.

Notes

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  1. ^The name 'Dante' is understood to be ahypocorismof the name 'Durante', though no document known to survive from Dante's lifetime refers to him as ‘Durante’ (including his own writings). A document prepared for Dante's son Jacopo refers to "Durante, often called Dante". He may have been named for his maternal grandfather Durante degli Abati.[2]
  1. ^Though anItalian nation statehad yet to be established, the Latin equivalent of thetermItalian(italus) had been in use for natives ofthe regionsince antiquity.[6]

Citations

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  1. ^abHis birth date is listed as "probably in the end of May" byRobert Hollanderin "Dante" inDictionary of the Middle Ages,volume 4. According toGiovanni Boccaccio,the poet said he was born in May. See "Alighieri, Dante" in theDizionario Biografico degli Italiani.
  2. ^Gorni, Guglielmo (2009). "Nascita e anagrafe di Dante".Dante: storia di un visionario.Rome: Gius. Laterza & Figli.ISBN9788858101742.
  3. ^"Dante".Collins English Dictionary.HarperCollins.Archivedfrom the original on September 9, 2019.RetrievedMay 20,2019.
  4. ^"Dante"[dead link](US) and"Dante".LexicoUK English Dictionary.Oxford University Press.Archived fromthe originalon March 22, 2020.
  5. ^"Dante".Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.RetrievedMay 20,2019.
  6. ^Pliny the Elder,Letters9.23.
  7. ^Wetherbee, Winthrop; Aleksander, Jason (April 30, 2018). Zalta, Edward N. (ed.).The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University – via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  8. ^Hutton, Edward(1910).Giovanni Boccaccio, a Biographical StudyArchivedFebruary 4, 2021, at theWayback Machine.p. 273.
  9. ^Bloom, Harold(1994).The Western Canon.Riverhead Books.ISBN9781573225144.
  10. ^Shaw 2014,p. xiii.
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References

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Further reading

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  • Allitt, John Stewart (2011).Dante, il pellegrino(in Italian). Villa di Serio (BG): Edizioni Villadiseriane.ISBN978-88-96199-80-0.
  • Anderson, William (1980).Dante the Maker.Routledge Kegan Paul.ISBN978-0-7100-0322-5.
  • Barolini, Teodolinda (ed.).Dante's Lyric Poetry: Poems of Youth and of the 'Vita Nuova'.University of Toronto Press, 2014.
  • Gardner, Edmund Garratt(1921).Dante.London: Oxford University Press.OCLC690699123.RetrievedMarch 7,2016.
  • Guénon, René (1925).The Esoterism of Dante,trans. by C.B. Berhill, in thePerennial Wisdom Series.Ghent, NY: Sophia Perennis et Universalis, 1996. viii, 72 p.N.B.: Originally published in French, entitled L'Esoterisme de Danté, in 1925.ISBN0-900588-02-0
  • Hede, Jesper (2007).Reading Dante: The Pursuit of Meaning.Lanham: Lexington Books.ISBN978-0-7391-2196-2.
  • Miles, Thomas (2008). "Dante: Tours of Hell: Mapping the Landscape of Sin and Despair". In Stewart, Jon (ed.).Kierkegaard and the Patristic and Medieval Traditions.Ashgate. pp. 223–236.ISBN978-0-7546-6391-1.
  • Musa, Mark(1974).Advent at the Gates: Dante's Comedy.Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0253301406.
  • Raffa, Guy P. (2009).The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Divine Comedy.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-70270-4.
  • Scartazzini, Giovanni Andrea(1874–1890).La Divina Commedia riveduta e commentata (4 volumes).OCLC558999245.
  • Scartazzini, Giovanni Andrea (1896–1898).Enciclopedia dantesca: dizionario critico e ragionato di quanto concerne la vita e le opere di Dante Alighieri (2 volumes).OCLC12202483.
  • Scott, John A. (1996).Dante's Political Purgatory.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0-585-12724-8.
  • Seung, T.K.(1962).The Fragile Leaves of the Sibyl: Dante's Master Plan.Westminster, MD: Newman Press.OCLC1426455.
  • Toynbee, Paget (1898).A Dictionary of the Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante.London: The Clarendon Press.OCLC343895.RetrievedMarch 7,2016.
  • Whiting, Mary Bradford (1922).Dante the Man and the Poet.Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons.OCLC224789.
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