Facts about Dante
Often ranked with Homer and Virgil as one of the great epic poets, Dante is certainly the most modern.
In 1312, Henry VII assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelfs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved.
Regardless of whatever Dante's true purpose in writing it was, La Vita Nuova is essential for understanding the context of his other works; principally The Divine Comedy.
Dante had four children with Gemma; Jacopo, Pietro, Gabrielle, and Antonia Alighieri.
Dante wrote the work at the suggestion of his friend, the poet Guido Cavalcanti.
When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante, then 25, sought a refuge in Latin literature.
Dante was buried in the Church of San Pier Maggiore (later called San Francesco).
Dante was born in 1265 and by his own account, placed his birthday between May 18th and June 17th.
In 1313 Henry VII died, and with him any residual hope for Dante to see Florence again.
Dante saw in him the chance for revenge, so he wrote to Henry VII and to other Italian princes, several public letters attempting to incite them to destroy the Black Guelfs.
Dante's commentaries explicate each poem, placing it within the context of his life.
Brunetto later received a special mention in The Divine Comedy (Inferno, XV, 82), for his contributions to Dante's development.
Nevertheless, Dante was keenly aware of intellectual and international interests.
Dante, along with the rest of the Stil Nuevo poets, would lead the writers of the Renaissance to discover the themes of romantic Love (Amore), which had never been so emphasized before.
Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the Renaissance begins with Dante; he made the first steps out of the ancient world and into the modern world.
That tomb has been empty ever since, as Dante's body remains still in its tomb in Ravenna, far from the land he loved so dearly, but which never allowed his return.
Dante, like many Florentines of his day, became embroiled in the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
Terza rima has become so closely associated with Dante that the mere use of it is often enough to indicate that a poet is alluding to Dante's works.
When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Messer Manetto Donati.
Dante would use Beatrice to criticize his "excessive" passion for philosophy in the second book of The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio.
Upon the delegation's arrival, the pope summarily dismissed the representatives and asked Dante alone to remain with him in Rome.
Coincidentally, this patron would be, in Dante's poem, admitted to Paradise (Paradiso XVII, 76).
Dante's ideal guide through Purgatory and Heaven is his true love, Beatrice; and in many ways it was through Dante that the ideal of a true, romantic love would come to permeate Western culture.
Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice, in 1483 took care of Dante's remains, organizing and re-interring his body in a better tomb.
Divesting himself of any allegiance, Dante went to Verona as a guest of Bartolomeo Della Scala.
Dante was bitter at the treatment he had received in Rome at the hands of his enemies.
The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman epic poet Virgil and then by his beloved Beatrice.
Dante still hoped late in life that he might be invited back to Florence on more honorable terms.
Durante degli Alighieri, better known as Dante, (c. June 1, 1265 – September 14, 1321) was an Italian and Florentine poet.