14th September 1321 was the day on which Dante
Alighieri, usually referred to just as Dante, died in Ravenna, Italy. He has a
good claim to the title of Europe’s first post-classical poet of any substance.
He was a typical “Renaissance man” in that he was a man of
action as well as being a poet. He was born in Florence in 1265 (although this
date is disputed) and became deeply involved in Florentine politics as a
supporter of the “Guelph” faction that backed the Pope. He fought for the
Guelphs in the Battle of Campaldino against the Ghibellines of the city of
Arezzo who supported the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Guelphs later split into two factions. Dante backed the
wrong side and was exiled from Florence to spend the rest of his life in
various cities of Italy, with Ravenna being his home from 1318. It was while he
was in exile that he wrote the poem for which he is remembered today.
He gave his work the title “La Commedia” (“The Comedy”), and
it was only given the extra “Divine” some 200 years after his death. The word
“comedy” can confuse modern readers who might expect something humorous, but
all the term meant at the time was something that had a happy ending, as
opposed to a tragedy in which the main characters come to a sticky end.
The Divine Comedy is a massive work of more than 14,000
lines. It is divided into three books, featuring Hell, Purgatory and Paradise,
through each of which the poet is guided, first by the Roman poet Virgil and
then by Beatrice, who is Dante’s concept of ideal womanhood. The poem is full
of allegorical, historical and mythological references within a framework of
the soul’s journey towards Paradise.
The poem has been hugely influential on the literatures of
many countries, and it has also inspired artists including Botticelli,
Michelangelo and William Blake, and composers such as Rossini, Schumann and
Liszt. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of European literature.
© John Welford
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