Did Dante Alighieri ever meet Thomas Aquinas?

Dante very certainly knew lots of the content of Summa, whether from that book or because it was general culture (to which that book is our best access, perhaps not Dante’s), I don’t know. That they met on Earth is improbable; Olivier Garamfalvi noted Dante was nine years old when St Thomas died, and Dante was from Florence and I don’t think St Thomas went there. read more

Dante very certainly knew lots of the content of Summa, whether from that book or because it was general culture (to which that book is our best access, perhaps not Dante's), I don't know. read more

While Aquinas was certainly the New Aristotle of the 13th century, it was DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321) who was perhaps the new Virgil, or even the new Homer. Dante was born in Florence, a city synonymous with the Italian Renaissance. read more

That Dante was influenced by St. Thomas is incontrovertible. Dante was not, of course, a mere illustrator of the thought of Aquinas, and there are innumerable facets of The Divine Comedy that merit serious study: his use of Italian, 14th century history, its place in the genre of epic poetry, and many more. read more