Dante Alighieri, painted byGiottoin
the chapel of theBargellopalace
in Florence. This oldest portrait of Dante was painted during his lifetime
before his exile from his native city.
Dante Alighieri(May/June
c.1265 – September 14, 1321), commonly known asDante,
was anItalianpoet
of theMiddle
Ages. The nameDanteis,
according to the words ofJacopo
Alighieri, ahypocorismforDurante.
In contemporary documents it is followed by thepatronymicAlagheriiorde
Alagheriis; it wasBoccacciowho
popularized the formAlighieri.
HisDivine
Comedy, originally calledCommediaby
the author and later nicknamedDivinabyBoccaccio,
is often considered the greatest literary work composed in theItalian
languageand a masterpiece of
worldliterature.[1]
In Italy he is known as "the Supreme Poet" (il Sommo Poeta) or justil
Poeta. Dante,PetrarchandBoccaccioare
also known as "the three fountains" or "the three crowns". Dante is also
called the "Father of the Italian language". The first biography written on
him was byGiovanni
Boccaccio(1313-1375), who
wrote theTrattatello in laude
di Dante.[2]
The exact date of Dante's birth is not known, although it is generally
believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions
inLa
Divina Commedia, "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, Vulgate) is 70 years, and as the imaginary travel took place in
1300 Dante must have been 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), but these
cannot be considered definitive statements by Dante about his birth. However,
in 1265 the Sun was in Gemini approximately during the period 11 May to 11
June. His birth date is listed as "probably in the end of May" by Robert
Hollander in "Dante" inDictionary
of the Middle Ages, volume 4. In summary, most students of Dante's
life believe that he was born between about the middle of May and about the
middle of June 1265, but there is little likelihood a definite date will ever
be known.
A portrait of Dante, from a fresco inPalazzo
dei Giudici, Florence
Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancientRomans(Inferno,
XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name wasCacciaguidadegli
Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), of no earlier than about 1100. Dante's
father, Alighiero di Bellincione, was a WhiteGuelphwho
suffered no reprisals after theGhibellineswon
theBattle
of Montapertiin the mid 13th
century. This suggests that Alighiero or his family enjoyed some protective
prestige and status.
Dante's family was prominent in Florence, with loyalties to theGuelphs,
a political alliance that supported thePapacyand
which was involved in complex opposition to theGhibellines,
who were backed by theHoly
Roman Emperor. 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, 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 anotary.
Dante had already fallen in love with another woman,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 on the Italian €2.00 coin based on a portrait byRaphael
Dante fought in the front rank of the Guelph cavalry at thebattle
of Campaldino(June 11, 1289).
This victory brought forth a reformation of theFlorentineconstitution.
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 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 studiedTuscanpoetry,
at a time when theSicilian
School(Scuola poetica siciliana), a cultural group fromSicily,
was becoming known in Tuscany. His interests brought him to discover theOccitanpoetry
of thetroubadoursand
theLatinpoetry
ofclassical
antiquity(with a particular
devotion toVirgil).
During the "Secoli Bui" (Dark
Ages), Italy had become a mosaic of small states, Sicily being the largest
one, at the time underAngevin
rule, and as far (culturally and politically) from Tuscany asOccitaniawas:
the regions did not share a language, culture or easy communications.
Nevertheless, we can assume that Dante was a keen up-to-date intellectual with
international interests.
When he was nine years old he metBeatrice
Portinari, daughter of Folco Portinari, with whom he fell in love "at
first sight", and apparently without even having spoken to her. 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". It is hard now to understand what this love actually consisted of,
but something extremely important was happening within Italian culture. It was
in the name of this love that Dante gave his imprint to the "Dolce
Stil Novo" (Sweet New Style) 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 mannerPetrarchwould
show for his Laura) would apparently be the reason for poetry and for living,
together with political passions. 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 inLatin
literature. TheConvivioreveals
that he had readBoethius'sDe
consolatione philosophiaeandCicero'sDe
amicitia. He then 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 doctrine of
the mystics and of SaintBonaventure,
the latter presenting SaintThomas
Aquinas' theories.
At 18, Dante metGuido
Cavalcanti,Lapo
Gianni,Cino
da Pistoiaand soon afterBrunetto
Latini; together they became the leaders of theDolce
Stil Novo. Brunetto later received a 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. Some fifty poetical components 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 a
President Obama errs Thomas Mifflin not
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The Founders convened the government in 11 different capitol buildings and
experienced 15 years of challenges that
included war,
hyper-inflation, a failed
constitution, judicial corruption, armed citizen and U.S. Army rebellions.
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