| Dante Alighieri | |
|---|---|
 Dante Alighieri, painted by Giotto in the chapel of the Bargello palace in Florence. For the type of embroidery see Bargello (needlework. The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo This oldest portrait of Dante was painted during his lifetime before his exile from his native city. | |
| Born | 14 May 1265 Florence |
| Died | 13 September 1321 (aged 56) Ravenna, Italy |
| Occupation | Statesman, Poet, language theorist |
| Nationality | Italian |
Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (between May 14 and June 13[1] 1265 – September 13/14, 1321), was an Italian poet from Florence. Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany His central work, the Divina Commedia (originally called "Commedia" and later called "Divina" (divine) by Boccaccio hence "Divina Commedia"), is considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera) from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the best the greatest The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter In Italian he is known as "the Supreme Poet" (il Sommo Poeta). Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio are also known as "the three fountains" or "the three crowns". Francesco Petrarca ( July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar Dante is also called the "Father of the Italian language". The first biography written on him was by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), who wrote the Trattatello in laude di Dante.
Contents |
Life
The exact date of Dante's birth is unknown, although it is generally believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from self biographic allusions in La Vita Nuova, "the Inferno" (Halfway through the journey we are living, implying that Dante was around 35 years old, as the average lifespan according to the Bible (Psalms, 89, 10) is 70 years, and as the imaginary travel took place in the 1300 Dante must have been born around 1265). Some verses of "the Paradise" also provide information about the day he was born, stating that he was born under the Gemini sign, ie. the period between the 21st of May and the 21st of June ("As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious", Paradise XXII 151-154)
Dante pretended that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno, XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), of no earlier than about 1100. Cacciaguida degli Elisei (c 1091 &ndash c 1148 was an Italian Crusader the great-great-grandfather of Dante Alighieri. Dante's father, Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph (see politics section) who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the mid 13th century. The Battle of Montaperti was fought on September 4, 1260, between Florence and Siena in Tuscany as part of the conflict between This suggests that Alighiero or his family enjoyed some protective prestige and status.
Dante's family was prominent in Florence, with loyalties to the Guelphs, a political alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines, who were backed by the Holy Roman Emperor. The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states The poet's mother was Bella degli Abati. She died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. It is uncertain whether he really married her, as widowers had social limitations in these matters. This woman definitely bore two children, Dante's brother Francesco and sister Tana (Gaetana). When Dante was 12, in 1277, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Messer Manetto Donati. Contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. A notary public is an officer who can administer Oaths and Statutory Declarations Witness and authenticate documents Dante had already fallen in love with another girl, Beatrice Portinari (known also as Bice). Years after his marriage to Gemma he met Beatrice again. He had become interested in writing verse, and although he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice, he never mentioned his wife Gemma in any of his poems.
Dante fought in the front rank of the Guelph cavalry at the battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289). The Battle of Campaldino was a battle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines on June 11 1289. This victory brought forth a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in public life, one had to be enrolled in one of “the arts”. So Dante entered the guild of physicians and apothecaries. In following years, his name is frequently found recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic.
Dante had several children with Gemma. As often happens with significant figures, many people subsequently claimed to be Dante's offspring; however, it is likely that Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni, Gabrielle Alighieri, and Antonia were truly his children. Antonia became a nun with the name of Sister Beatrice.
Education and poetry
Not much is known about Dante's education, and it is presumed he studied at home. It is known that he studied Tuscan poetry, at a time when the Sicilian School (Scuola poetica siciliana), a cultural group from Sicily, was becoming known in Tuscany. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 The Sicilian School was a small community of Sicilian, and to a lesser extent mainland Italian poets gathered around Frederick II, most of them belonging to his court Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. His interests brought him to discover the Occitan poetry of the troubadours and the Latin poetry of classical antiquity (with a particular devotion to Virgil). Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan A troubadour ( IPA:, originally) was a composer and performer of Occitan Lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100&ndash1350 Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or
During the "Secoli Bui" (Dark Ages), Italy had become a mosaic of small states, Sicily being the largest one, at the time under the Angevine dominations, and as far (culturally and politically) from Tuscany as Occitania was: the regions did not share a language, culture, or easy communications. This article is about the phrase "Dark Age(s" as a characterization of the Early Middle Ages in Western Europe Angevin (ˈændʒəvɪn ( French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin Andegavinus from Andegavia Anjou, France) is the name applied Occitania ( Occitan: Occitània) refers to the lands where Occitan is the traditional language in use though more recently viewed as a minority language Nevertheless, we can assume that Dante was a keen up-to-date intellectual with international interests.
When he was nine years old he met Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, with whom he fell in love "at first sight", and apparently without even having spoken to her. Beatrice Portinari, real name Bice di Folco Portinari (1266&ndash1290 was a woman from Florence Italy, who was the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri He saw her frequently after age 18, often exchanging greetings in the street, but he never knew her well; he effectively set the example for the so-called "courtly love". Courtly love was a Medieval European conception of ennobling love which found its genesis in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence It is hard now to understand what this love actually comprised, but something extremely important for Italian culture was happening. It was in the name of this love that Dante gave his imprint to the Stil Novo and would lead poets and writers to discover the themes of Love (Amore), which had never been so emphasized before. Love for Beatrice (as in a different manner Petrarch would show for his Laura) would apparently be the reason for poetry and for living, together with political passions. Francesco Petrarca ( July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar In many of his poems, she is depicted as semi-divine, watching over him constantly. When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante tried to find a refuge in Latin literature. Latin literature, the body of written works in the Latin language remains an enduring legacy of the culture of Ancient Rome. The Convivio reveals that he had read Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae and Cicero's De amicitia. Convivio is a work written by Dante Alighieri roughly between 1304 and 1307. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480&ndash524 or 525 was a Christian philosopher of the 6th century Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman He then dedicated himself to philosophical studies at religious schools like the Dominican one in Santa Maria Novella. Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy situated just across the main railway station which shares its name He took part in the disputes that the two principal mendicant orders (Franciscan and Dominican) publicly or indirectly held in Florence, the former explaining the doctrine of the mystics and of Saint Bonaventure, the latter presenting Saint Thomas Aquinas' theories. The mendicant orders are religious orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (San Bonaventura (1221 &ndash July 15, 1274) born John of Fidanza (Giovanni di Fidanza was the eighth Minister This "excessive" passion for philosophy would later be criticized by the character Beatrice, in Purgatorio, the second book of the Comedy.
At 18, Dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia, and soon after Brunetto Latini; together they became the leaders of Dolce Stil Novo ("The Sweet New Style"). Guido Cavalcanti (c 1255 – August 1300 was an Italian Poet who was a role model for and a very close friend of Dante. Lapo Gianni (died after 1328 was an Italian poet who lived in Florence in the 13th-14th centuries Cino da Pistoia (1270-1336/37 was an Italian jurist and poet He was born in Pistoia, Tuscany Brunetto Latini (c 1220&ndash1294 (signed his name Burnectus Latinus in Latin and Burnecto Latino in Italian was an Italian Philosopher, Dolce Stil Novo (Italian for "sweet new style" modern Italian nuovo) is the name given to the most important literary movement of 13th century Brunetto later received a special mention in the Divine 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. Some fifty poetical components by Dante are known (the so-called Rime, rhymes), others being included in the later Vita Nuova and Convivio. The Rime is a collection of lyrical poems written by Dante Alighieri in the Italian language. Other studies are reported, or deduced from Vita Nuova or the Comedy, regarding painting and music.
Florence and politics
Dante, like most Florentines of his day, was embroiled in the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict. The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting respectively the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire in central and northern Italy He fought in the battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289), with the Florentine Guelphs against Arezzo Ghibellines, then in 1294 he was among the escorts of Charles Martel d'Anjou (son of Charles of Anjou) while he was in Florence. The Battle of Campaldino was a battle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines on June 11 1289. Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. Arezzo ( Latin Arretium) is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Charles Martel ( September 8 1271 – August 12 1295, Naples) of the Angevin dynasty also known as Charles I Martel Charles I ( 21 March 1226 &ndash 7 January 1285) commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest
To further his political career, he became a pharmacist. He did not intend to actually practice as one, but a law issued in 1295 required that nobles who wanted public office had to be enrolled in one of the Corporazioni delle Arti e dei Mestieri, so Dante obtained admission to the apothecaries' guild. This profession was not entirely inapt, since at that time books were sold from apothecaries' shops. As a politician, he accomplished little, but he held various offices over a number of years in a city undergoing 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 by Corso Donati. Corso Donati was a leader of the Black Guelph faction in 13th- and early 14th- century Florence. Although initially the split was along family lines, ideological differences rose based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs, with the Blacks supporting the Pope and the Whites wanting more freedom from Rome. Initially the Whites were in power and expelled the Blacks.
In response, Pope Boniface VIII planned a military occupation of Florence. Pope Boniface VIII (c 1235 &ndash October 11, 1303) born Benedetto Caetani, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1294 In 1301, Charles de Valois, brother of Philip the Fair king of France, was expected to visit Florence because the Pope had appointed him peacemaker for Tuscany. Charles of Valois ( March 12, 1270 &ndash December 16, 1325) was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence. It was believed that Charles de Valois would eventually have received other unofficial instructions. So the council sent a delegation to Rome to ascertain the Pope's intentions. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Dante was one of the delegates.
Exile and death
Boniface quickly dismissed the other delegates and asked Dante alone to remain in Rome. At the same time (November 01, 1301), Charles de Valois entered Florence with Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Charles de Valois is the name of several people Charles of Valois (1270&ndash1325 Charles of Valois Duc d'Orléans (1394&ndash1465 A new Black Guelph government was installed and Messer Cante dei Gabrielli di Gubbio was appointed Podestà of Florence. The Gabrielli (sometimes known as "Gabrielli di Gubbio " are an Italian feudal family from Gubbio, a town in Umbria. Gubbio is a town and Comune in the far northeastern part of the Italian Province of Perugia ( Umbria) It is located on the first slope of Mt For information on the phantom island of the same name see Podesta (island. Dante was condemned to exile for two years, and ordered to pay a large fine. The poet was still in Rome, where the Pope had "suggested" he stay, and was therefore considered an absconder. He 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, and if he returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could be burned at the stake.
The poet took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Dante, bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, also grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his erstwhile allies, and vowed to become a party of one. At this point, he began sketching the foundation for the Divine Comedy, a work in 100 cantos, divided into three books of thirty-three cantos each, with a single introductory canto. The Divine Comedy
He went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo I della Scala, then moved to Sarzana in Liguria. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. Bartolomeo I della Scala (died March 7 or March 8, 1304) was Lord of Verona from 1301 a member of the Scaliger family Sarzana is a Town and comune in the Province of La Spezia, of Liguria, Italy, 15 km east of Spezia, on the Railway to Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions Later, he is supposed to have lived in Lucca with Madame Gentucca, who made his stay comfortable (and was later gratefully mentioned in Purgatorio, XXIV, 37). Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on the Ligurian Sea Some speculative sources say that he was also in Paris between 1308 and 1310. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Other sources, even less trustworthy, take him to Oxford. Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire,
In 1310, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg, marched 5,000 troops into Italy. Henry VII ( Heinrich; c 1275 (or 1279 &ndash 24 August 1313) was the King of Germany (or Rex Romanorum) from 1308 and Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Dante saw in him a new Charlemagne who would restore the office of the Holy Roman Emperor to its former glory and also re-take Florence from the Black Guelphs. Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his He wrote to Henry and several Italian princes, demanding that they destroy the Black Guelphs. Mixing religion and private concerns, he invoked the worst anger of God against his city, suggesting several particular targets that coincided with his personal enemies. It was during this time that he wrote the first two books of the Divine Comedy.
In Florence, Baldo d'Aguglione pardoned most of the White Guelphs in exile and allowed them to return; however, Dante had gone too far in his violent letters to Arrigo (Henry VII), and he was not recalled.
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 assault 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. In 1313, Henry VII died, and with him any hope for Dante to see Florence again. He returned to Verona, where Cangrande I della Scala allowed him to live in a certain security and, presumably, in a fair amount of prosperity. Cangrande (christened Can Francesco) della Scala (9 March 1291 – 22 July 1329 was an Italian nobleman the most celebrated of the della Scala family Cangrande was admitted to Dante's Paradise (Paradiso, XVII, 76).
In 1315, Florence was forced by Uguccione della Faggiuola (the military officer controlling the town) to grant an amnesty to people in exile, including Dante. Uguccione della Faggiuola (c 1250 &ndash November 1, 1319) was an Italian condottiero, and chief magistrate of Pisa, Lucca But Florence required that as well as paying a sum of money, these exiles would do public penance. Penance is repentance of Sins as well as the proper name of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession 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 that he would never enter the town again. Dante refused to go. His death sentence was confirmed and extended to his sons. Dante still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honourable terms. For Dante, exile was nearly a form of death, stripping him of much of his identity. He addresses the pain of exile in Paradiso, XVII (55-60), where Cacciaguida, his great-great-grandfather, warns him what to expect:
| . . . Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta | ". . . You shall leave everything you love most: |
| più caramente; e questo è quello strale | this is the arrow that the bow of exile |
| che l'arco de lo essilio pria saetta. | shoots first. You are to know the bitter taste |
| Tu proverai sì come sa di sale | of others' bread, how salty it is, and know |
| lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle | how hard a path it is for one who goes |
| lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale . . . | ascending and descending others' stairs . . . " |
As for the hope of returning to Florence, he describes it wistfully, as if he had already accepted its impossibility, (Paradiso, XXV, 1–9):
| Se mai continga che 'l poema sacro | If it ever come to pass that the sacred poem |
| al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, | to which both heaven and earth have set their hand |
| sì che m'ha fatto per molti anni macro, | so as to have made me lean for many years |
| vinca la crudeltà che fuor mi serra | should overcome the cruelty that bars me |
| del bello ovile ov'io dormi' agnello, | from the fair sheepfold where I slept as a lamb, |
| nimico ai lupi che li danno guerra; | an enemy to the wolves that make war on it, |
| con altra voce omai, con altro vello | with another voice now and other fleece |
| ritornerò poeta, e in sul fonte | I shall return a poet and at the font |
| del mio battesmo prenderò 'l cappello . . . | of my baptism take the laurel crown. A laurel wreath is a circular Wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the Bay Laurel ( Laurus nobilis Lauraceae) an aromatic . . |
Of course it never happened. Prince Guido Novello da Polenta invited him to Ravenna in 1318, and he accepted. Guido II da Polenta (also known as Guido Novello; died 1330 was lord of Ravenna from 1316 until 1322 Ravenna is a City and Comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. He finished the Paradiso, and died in 1321 (at the age of 56) while returning to Ravenna from a diplomatic mission to Venice, perhaps of malaria contracted there. Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including Dante was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice in 1483, took care of his remains by building a better tomb. Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities the commander of an Army, either before Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the
On the grave, some verses of Bernardo Canaccio, a friend of Dante, dedicated to Florence:
- parvi Florentia mater amoris
- "Florence, mother of little love"
Eventually, Florence came to regret Dante's exile, and made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body at Ravenna refused to comply, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a Minor basilica of the That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly. A cenotaph is a tomb or a Monument erected in honour of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere The front of his tomb in Florence reads Onorate l'altissimo poeta - which roughly translates as "Honour the most exalted poet". The phrase is a quote from the fourth canto of the Inferno, depicting Virgil's welcome as he returns among the great ancient poets spending eternity in Limbo. The continuation of the line, L'ombra sua torna, ch'era dipartita ("his spirit, which had left us, returns"), is poignantly absent from the empty tomb.
Recently, a recreation of Dante's face was made, showing that his features were much more ordinary than once thought. [2]
Works
The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and of another of his works, La Vita Nuova. The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Beatrice Portinari, real name Bice di Folco Portinari (1266&ndash1290 was a woman from Florence Italy, who was the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e. g. , when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).
Dante wrote the Comedy in a new language he called "Italian", based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, with some elements of Latin and of the other regional dialects. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante. Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin (the languages of liturgy, history, and scholarship in general). Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.
Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy". In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be more trivial in nature. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's 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.
Dante's other works include the Convivio ("The Banquet")[3] a collection of his longest poems with an (unfinished) allegorical commentary; Monarchia,[1], which was condemned and burned after Dante's death[4][5] by the Papal Legate Bertrando del Poggetto and which serves as a monumental political philosophy treatise describing a monarchial global political organization and its relationship to the Roman Catholic Church; De vulgari eloquentia ("On the Eloquence of Vernacular"),[6] on vernacular literature, partly inspired by the Razos de trobar of Raimon Vidal de Bezaudun; and, La Vita Nuova ("The New Life")[2], the story of his love for Beatrice Portinari, who also served as the ultimate symbol of salvation in the Comedy. Convivio is a work written by Dante Alighieri roughly between 1304 and 1307. De vulgari eloquentia ( On Eloquence in the vernacular) is the title of an essay by Dante Alighieri, written in Latin and initially meant to consist Raimon Vidal de Bezaudu(n ( Catalan: Ramon Vidal de Besalú, French: Raymond Vidal de Besaudun; c Beatrice Portinari, real name Bice di Folco Portinari (1266&ndash1290 was a woman from Florence Italy, who was the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri The Vita Nuova 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 the Vita Nuova and in the Convivio - instead of the Latin that was almost universally used.
Note: References to Divina Commedia are in the format (book, canto, verse), i. e. , (Inferno, XV, 76).
In popular culture
Dante and the Divine Comedy have been a source of inspiration for countless artists for almost seven centuries. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Dante Alighieri and his masterpiece Divine Comedy, have been a source of inspiration for countless artists for almost seven centuries As one of the best-known and greatest artistic works in the Western tradition, its influence on culture is difficult to overestimate.
References
- ^ Birth date is listed as "probably in the end of May" by Robert Hollander in "Dante" in Dictionary of the Middle Ages, volume 4. The Dictionary of the Middle Ages is a 13-volume Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between
- ^ Pullella, Philip. "Dante gets posthumous nose job - 700 years on", Reuters, 12 January 2007. This article is primarily about Reuters prior to its 2008 merger with Thomson Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 2007-11-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany)
- ^ Banquet. danteonline. it. Retrieved on May 12, 2008. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common
- ^ Anthony K. Cassell The Monarchia Controversy. The Monarchia stayed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum from its inception until 1881. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books" was a list of publications prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church.
- ^ Giuseppe Cappelli,La divina commedia di Dante Alighieri, in Italian.
- ^ Dante Online - Le Opere
Published resources
- Gardner, Edmund Garratt (1921). Edmund Garratt Gardner, (1869-1935 was an English writer who specialised in Italian history related topics Dante, London, Pub. for the British academy by H. Milford, Oxford University Press. From Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and
- Scott, John A. Dante's Political Purgatory, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.
- Whiting, Mary Bradford (1922). Dante the Man and the Poet. Cambridge, England. W. Heffer & Sons, ltd. From Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and
External links
Biography
- Guardian Books: small "Author Page"
- LitWeb.net: Dante Alighieri Biography
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Biography, on his works and bibliography
Rich resources
- UT Austin: Danteworlds multimedia
- The Princeton Dante Project texts and multimedia
- The Dartmouth Dante Project searchable database of commentary
- Società Dantesca Italiana (bilingual site) manuscripts of Dante's works, images and text transcripts
- "Digital Dante" – Divine Comedy with commentary, other works, scholars on Dante
Works online
- Dante Alighieri's works: Italian and Latin texts, concordances and frequency lists
Divine Comedy online
- The Divine Comedy, Italian
- Side by Side English Translations of Dante by Longfellow, Norton, and Cary
- "The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Illustrated by Donald Newman after Doré", The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Illustrated by Donald Newman after Doré
- Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy in English on Read Print
- The Online Library of Liberty: Dante's Divine Comedy Italian text with English translation, Cambridge, 1918, image-based pdf
About Dante's works
- Danteide, portale di cultura dantesca aggiornato per cura della filologa dantesca Claudia Di Fonzo
- The Divine Comedy: A Study Guide
Other
- Henry Holiday's 'Dante and Beatrice' painting
- "Italian Scientists Give Dante a Makeover", Italian scientists reconstruct Dante's face. CBS News.
- DANTE ALIGHIERI -- In Tribute to the Century of Youth By Daisaku Ikeda
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alighieri, Dante |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Durante degli Alighieri; Dante |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Italian poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | c. 1 June 1265 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Florence, Italy |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 13-14, 1321 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Between Ravenna and Venice |
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