Dante Alighieri, << DAHN tay ah leeg YEH ree >> (1265-1321), an Italian author, was one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem The Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature. Critics have praised it not only as magnificent poetry, but also for its wisdom and scholarly learning.
Dante was a great thinker and one of the most learned writers of all time. Many scholars consider The Divine Comedy a summary of medieval thought. Dante had a tremendous influence on later writers. Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton imitated his works. Dante influenced such writers as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Lord Tennyson, Victor Hugo, Friedrich Schlegel, and T. S. Eliot.
His life.
Dante was born in May 1265 in Florence. He received a rich education in classical and religious subjects. He may have studied at Bologna, Padua, and possibly Paris.
Dante’s idealized love for a beautiful girl, Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290), provided much inspiration for his literary works. He saw her only twice, once when he was almost 9 and again nine years later. Her death at a young age left him grief-stricken. Sometime before 1294, Dante married Gemma Donati. They had at least three children.
Dante was active in the political and military life of Florence. He entered the army as a youth and held several important positions in the Florentine government during the 1290’s. Dante became involved in a political dispute between two groups, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, who were fighting for control of Tuscany. A political group within the Guelphs gained control of Florence in 1301. This political group was hostile to the poet and banished him in 1302, condemning him to death if he returned to Florence. Dante spent the rest of his life in exile and died on Sept. 13 or 14, 1321, in Ravenna, where he was buried.
His works.
Among Dante’s early writings, the best known is La Vita Nuova (The New Life), written about 1293. It is a collection of 31 poems with prose commentary describing his love for Beatrice. The New Life shows the influence of troubadour poetry, a style that flourished in southern France in the 1100’s and 1200’s.
Dante began The Divine Comedy about 1308. The poem relates his spiritual development and focuses on the theme of life after death. For more information about this work, see Divine Comedy.
Dante also wrote several nonfiction works. About 1303 and 1304 he wrote De Vulgari Eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular). This work in Latin prose stresses the importance of writing in a common Italian language, rather than in Latin or a minor dialect. Dante hoped that the Italians would develop a national literary language to help unite the country.
Il Convivio (The Banquet, 1304-1307) is an unfinished work written in Italian, consisting of three odes, each followed by long, detailed commentaries on their meaning. The work is filled with Dante’s wide knowledge of philosophy and science. The Monarchia (On World-Government, 1313?) is a long essay in Latin prose. Dante called for the state, in the form of the Holy Roman Empire, to join with the church in guiding people to a better life on earth and joy in heaven. Other works include a group of poems and several letters.
See also Allegory; Virgil (His influence).
