DANTE Alighieri (Dante Alighieri) (1265-1321), Italian poet, creator of the Italian literary language. In his youth, he joined the Dolce Style Nuovo school (sonnets praising Beatrice, autobiographical story “New Life”, 1292-93, edition 1576); philosophical and political treatises ("Feast", not completed; "On National Speech", 1304-07, edition 1529), "Epistle" (1304-16). The pinnacle of Dante's work is the poem "The Divine Comedy" (1307-21, edition 1472) in 3 parts ("Hell", "Purgatory", "Paradise") and 100 songs, a poetic encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. He had a great influence on the development of European culture.

DANTE Alighieri(May or June 1265, Florence - September 14, 1321, Ravenna), Italian poet, one of the greatest geniuses of world literature.

Biography

Dante's family belonged to the urban nobility of Florence. The poet's grandfather was the first to bear the family name Alighieri (in another vowel, Alagieri). Dante was educated at a municipal school, then, presumably, studied at the University of Bologna (according to even less reliable information, he also attended the University of Paris during the period of exile). He took an active part in the political life of Florence; from June 15 to August 15, 1300 he was a member of the government (he was elected to the position of prior), trying, while fulfilling the position, to prevent the aggravation of the struggle between the parties of the White and Black Guelphs (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). After an armed coup in Florence and the coming to power of the Black Guelphs, on January 27, 1302 he was sentenced to exile and deprived of civil rights; On March 10, he was sentenced to death for failing to pay a fine. The first years of Dante's exile are among the leaders of the White Guelphs, taking part in the armed and diplomatic struggle with the victorious party. The last episode in his political biography is associated with the Italian campaign of Emperor Henry VII (1310-13), to whose efforts to establish civil peace in Italy he gave ideological support in a number of public messages and in the treatise “Monarchy”. Dante never returned to Florence; he spent several years in Verona at the court of Can Grande della Scala, and in the last years of his life he enjoyed the hospitality of the ruler of Ravenna, Guido da Polenta. Died of malaria.

Lyrics

The bulk of Dante's lyric poems were created in the 80-90s. 13th century; with the beginning of the new century, small poetic forms gradually disappeared from his work. Dante began by imitating the most influential lyric poet of Italy at that time, Guittone d'Arezzo, but soon changed his poetics and, together with his older friend Guido Cavalcanti, became the founder of a special poetic school, which Dante himself called the school of the "sweet new style" ("Dolce stil Nuovo" ) Its main distinguishing feature is the extreme spiritualization of the feeling of love. Dante, providing biographical and poetic commentary, collected the poems dedicated to his beloved Beatrice Portinari in a book called “New Life" (c. 1293-95). The biographical outline itself is extremely sparse. : two meetings, the first in childhood, the second in youth, denoting the beginning of love, the death of Beatrice’s father, the death of Beatrice herself, the temptation of new love and overcoming it. The biography appears as a series of mental states leading to an increasingly complete mastery of the meaning of the feeling that befell the hero: in As a result, the feeling of love acquires the features and signs of religious worship.

In addition to the “New Life”, about fifty more poems by Dante have reached us: poems in the manner of the “sweet new style” (but not always addressed to Beatrice); a love cycle known as “stone” (after the name of the recipient, Donna Pietra) and characterized by an excess of sensuality; comic poetry (a poetic altercation with Forese Donati and the poem "Flower", the attribution of which remains doubtful); a group of doctrinal poems (dedicated to the themes of nobility, generosity, justice, etc.).

Treatises

Poems of philosophical content became the subject of commentary in the unfinished treatise "The Feast" (c. 1304-07), which represents one of the first experiments in Italy in creating scientific prose in the popular language and at the same time the rationale for this attempt - a kind of educational program along with the defense of the folk language. In the unfinished Latin treatise “On Popular Eloquence,” written in the same years, an apology for the Italian language is accompanied by the theory and history of literature in it - both of which are absolute innovations. In the Latin treatise "Monarchy" (c. 1312-13), Dante (also for the first time) proclaims the principle of separation of spiritual and temporal power and insists on the full sovereignty of the latter.

"The Divine Comedy"

Dante began working on the poem "The Divine Comedy" during the years of exile and completed it shortly before his death. Written in terzas, containing 14,233 verses, it is divided into three parts (or cantics) and one hundred cantos (each cantic has thirty-three cantos and another is the introductory one to the entire poem). It was called a comedy by the author, who proceeded from the classification of genres developed by medieval poetics. The definition of “divine” was assigned to her by her descendants. The poem tells about Dante's journey through the kingdom of the dead: the right to see the afterlife during his lifetime is a special favor that frees him from philosophical and moral errors and entrusts him with a certain high mission. Dante, lost in the “dark forest” (which symbolizes the specific, although not directly named, sin of the author himself, and at the same time the sins of all humanity, experiencing a critical moment in its history), comes to the aid of the Roman poet Virgil (who symbolizes the human mind, unfamiliar with divine revelation) and leads him through the first two afterlife kingdoms - the kingdom of retribution and the kingdom of redemption. Hell is a funnel-shaped hole ending in the center of the earth; it is divided into nine circles, in each of which execution is carried out on a special category of sinners (only the inhabitants of the first circle - the souls of unbaptized babies and righteous pagans - are spared from torment). Among the souls that Dante met and entered into conversation with him, there are those familiar to him personally and others known to everyone - characters from ancient history and myths or heroes of our time. In the Divine Comedy they are not turned into direct and flat illustrations of their sins; the evil for which they are condemned is difficult to combine with their human essence, sometimes not devoid of nobility and greatness of spirit (among the most famous episodes of this kind are meetings with Paolo and Francesca in the circle of voluptuaries, with Farinata degli Uberti in the circle of heretics, with Brunetto Latini in circle of rapists, with Ulysses in the circle of deceivers, with Ugolino in the circle of traitors). Purgatory is a huge mountain in the center of the uninhabited, ocean-occupied southern hemisphere, with ledges it is divided into seven circles, where the souls of the dead atone for the sins of pride, envy, anger, despondency, stinginess and extravagance, gluttony, and voluptuousness. After each of the circles, one of the seven signs of sin inscribed by the gatekeeper angel is erased from the forehead of Dante (and any of the souls of purgatory) - in this part of the “Comedy” it is felt more acutely than in others that Dante’s path is not only educational for him , but also redemptive. At the top of the mountain, in the earthly paradise, Dante meets Beatrice (symbolizing divine revelation) and parts with Virgil; here Dante fully realizes his personal guilt and is completely cleared of it. Together with Beatrice, he ascends to heaven, in each of the eight heavens surrounding the earth (seven planetary and eighth starry) he becomes acquainted with a certain category of blessed souls and strengthens in faith and knowledge. In the ninth, the sky of the Prime Mover, and in the Empyrean, where Beatrice is replaced by St. Bernard, he is awarded initiation into the secrets of the trinity and the incarnation. Both plans of the poem finally come together, in one of which the path of man to truth and goodness is presented through the abyss of sin, despair and doubt, in the other - the path of history, which has approached the final frontier and is opening towards a new era. And The Divine Comedy itself, being a kind of synthesis of medieval culture, turns out to be its final work.

As a poet, Dante begins by imitating the most influential lyric poet of Italy at that time, Guittone d'Arezzo, but soon changes his poetics and, together with his older friend Guido Cavalcanti, becomes the founder of a special poetic school, which Dante himself called the school of the “sweet new style” (Dolce style nuovo Its main distinguishing feature is the utmost spiritualization of the feeling of love.

1292 - autobiographical story in verse and prose “New Life” (La vita nuova), telling about Dante’s love for Beatrice (it is believed that this was Beatrice, daughter of Folco Portinari) from the moment of their first meeting, when Dante was nine years old and she was eight , and until the death of Beatrice in June 1290. The poems are accompanied by prose inserts explaining how this or that poem appeared. In this work, Dante develops the theory of courtly love for a woman, reconciling it with Christian love for God. After the death of Beatrice, Dante turned to the consolation of philosophy and created several allegorical poems in praise of this new “lady.”

1295-1296 - Dante is called up several times for public service, including participation in the Council of the Hundred, which was in charge of the financial affairs of the Florentine Republic.

1300 - as an ambassador, he travels to San Gimignano with a call on the citizens of the city to unite with Florence against Pope Boniface VIII. In the same year, Dante was elected a member of the government council of priors, a position Dante held from June 15 to August 15. By fulfilling it, he is trying to prevent the escalation of the struggle between the parties of the White Guelphs (who advocated the independence of Florence from the pope) and the Blacks (supporters of papal power).

Around this time, Dante marries Gemma Donati, whose family belongs to the Black Guelphs.

1301 - from April to September, Dante again enters the Council of Sta. In the autumn of the same year, he was part of the embassy sent to Pope Boniface in connection with the attack on Florence by Prince Charles of Valois. In his absence, on November 1, 1301, with the arrival of Charles, power in the city passed to the black Guelphs, and the white Guelphs were subjected to repression.

January 27, 1302 - Dante, whose sympathies are on the side of the white Guelphs, is sentenced to exile and deprived of civil rights. He never returns to Florence again.

1304-1308 - treatise “The Feast” (Il convivio), written, according to Dante himself, in order to declare himself as a poet who had moved from the glorification of courtly love to philosophical themes. "The Feast" is intended as a kind of encyclopedia in the field of philosophy and art, intended for a wide range of readers; The title “Feast” is allegorical: scientific ideas presented simply and clearly should satiate not just a select few, but everyone. It was assumed that the Symposium would include fourteen poems (canzons), each of which would be equipped with an extensive gloss interpreting its allegorical and philosophical meaning. However, having written interpretations of the three canzones, Dante leaves work on the treatise. In the first book of the Feast, which serves as a prologue, he ardently defends the right of the Italian language to be the language of literature.

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Dante is also working on a treatise in Latin “On Popular Eloquence” (De vulgari eloquentia, 1304-1307), which was not completed: Dante wrote only the first book and part of the second. In it, Dante talks about the Italian language as a means of poetic expression, sets out his theory of language and expresses his hope for the creation in Italy of a new literary language that would rise above dialectal differences and would be worthy of being called great poetry.

1307 - Around this time, Dante begins to write the Divine Comedy, interrupting work on the treatises “The Feast” and “On Popular Eloquence.” Dante calls his poem “Comedy” because it has a dark beginning (Hell) and a joyful ending (Paradise and the contemplation of the Divine Essence). In addition, the poem is written in a simple style (as opposed to the sublime style inherent, in Dante’s understanding, of tragedy), in the vernacular language “as women speak.” The epithet “Divine” in the title was not invented by Dante, it was prefaced by Boccaccio’s Commedia, who expressed admiration for the artistic beauty of creation, and it first appears in the publication published in 1555. in Venice.

The poem consists of one hundred songs of approximately the same length (130-150 lines) and is divided into three cantics - “Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”, with thirty-three songs in each; The first song of “Hell” serves as a prologue to the entire poem. The size of the “Divine Comedy” is eleven syllables, the rhyme scheme, terza, was invented by Dante himself, who put deep meaning into it. “The Divine Comedy” is an unsurpassed example of art as imitation; Dante takes as a model everything that exists, both material and spiritual, created by the triune God, who left the imprint of his trinity on everything. Therefore, the structure of the poem is based on the number three, and the amazing symmetry of its structure is rooted in imitation of the measure and order that God gave to all things.

Although the narrative of the Comedy can almost always rest on the literal sense alone, this is far from the only level of perception. Following the medieval tradition, Dante puts four meanings into his work: literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical (mystical). The first of them assumes a “natural” description of the afterlife with all its attributes. The second meaning involves the expression of the idea of ​​being in its abstract form: everything in the world moves from darkness to light, from suffering to joy, from error to truth, from bad to good. The main idea can be considered the ascent of the soul through knowledge of the world. The moral meaning presupposes the idea of ​​retribution for all earthly deeds in the afterlife. The anagogical meaning presupposes the comprehension of the Divine idea through the perception of the beauty of poetry itself, as a language that is also Divine, although created by the mind of the poet, an earthly man.

1310 – Emperor Henry VII invades Italy for “peacekeeping” purposes. Dante, who had by that time found temporary shelter in Casentino, responded to this event with an ardent letter “To the rulers and peoples of Italy,” calling for support for Henry. In another letter, entitled “The Florentine Dante Alighieri, unjustly expelled, to the wicked Florentines who remained in the city,” he condemns the resistance shown by Florence to the emperor.

1312-1313 – treatise-research “On the monarchy” (De monarchia). Here, in three books, Dante seeks to prove the truth of the following statements:

1) only under the authority of a single universal monarch can humanity come to a peaceful existence and fulfill its destiny;

2) God chose the Roman people to rule the world (hence this monarch should be the Holy Roman Emperor);

3) the emperor and pope receive power directly from God (hence, the first is not subordinate to the second).

These views were expressed before Dante, but he brings to them the fervor of conviction. The Church immediately condemns the treatise and condemns the book to be burned.

1313 - After an unsuccessful three-year campaign, Henry VII suddenly dies at Buonconvento.

1314 - after the death of Pope Clement V in France, Dante issues another letter addressed to the conclave of Italian cardinals in the city of Carpentra, in which he calls on them to elect an Italian as pope and return the papal throne from Avignon to Rome.

For some time, Dante finds refuge with the ruler of Verona, Can Grande della Scala, to whom he devotes the final part of the Divine Comedy - “Paradise”.

The poet spent the last years of his life under the patronage of Guido da Polenta in Ravenna.

In the last two years of his life, Dante wrote two eclogues in Latin hexameter. This was a response to Giovanni del Virgilio, professor of poetry at the University of Bologna, who urged him to write in Latin and come to Bologna to be crowned with a laurel wreath. The study “Questio de aqua et terra” (Questio de aqua et terra), dedicated to the much controversial question of the relationship between water and land on the surface of the Earth, Dante may have read publicly in Verona. Of Dante's letters, eleven are recognized as authentic, all in Latin (some have been mentioned).

September 13, 1321 - Dante dies in Ravenna, having completed the Divine Comedy shortly before his death.

The article talks about a short biography of Dante Alighieri, the famous medieval Italian poet. His main work, “The Divine Comedy,” is included in the golden fund of world literature. Quotes from it have become popular and are used in the works of many poets and writers around the world.
Dante became one of the greatest cultural figures, whose work marked the transition to a new historical era. Medieval ascetic society was in decline, and global changes were approaching. The poet became one of the first to promote humanism, which significantly brought the beginning of the New Age closer.

Biography of Dante: early years

Dante was born in 1265 in Florence. His family was of aristocratic origin, although not very noble or rich. The boy received compulsory education, which, by his own admission, was insufficient. Dante was actively engaged in self-education, giving preference to literature and art. He begins to try his hand as a poet. The poems of the young Dante are still very weak, but new sensual motives are already noticeable in them, running counter to classical ideas.
Already in childhood, the boy found the first source for his future creativity. It turned out to be a neighbor girl named Beatrice. Dante developed a serious passion and love in his youth. Beatrice died young, which was a serious blow for Dante and became his tragedy for the rest of his life. The result was the work "New Life", which received enormous success and brought great fame to the poet. The author's creation was a collection of poems with extensive comments by the author. The artistic value of the work attracted attention to Dante's personality. Independent acquisition of knowledge led to the fact that the poet became one of the most versatile educated people of the era. His knowledge covered a wide range of sciences, from history to astronomy. Dante had an excellent understanding of ancient art and was interested in Eastern culture and philosophy.
The poet did not marry for love in 1291. Family life was still successful: the couple had seven children.
Respect for Dante led to his constantly occupying the highest honorary positions in the government of Florence. However, the prosperous existence did not last long. In Florence at that time there was a fierce political struggle between various aristocratic parties, which escalated into armed clashes. The so-called party came to power. "Black Guelphs", who, with the support of the Pope, began severe reprisals against their political opponents.

Biography of Dante: Life in Exile

In 1302, Dante was accused of spending public funds and fined. At the same time, the church sentenced him to death at the stake for his political beliefs. The poet is forced to hide and travel around Italy and France. The wife refused to follow her husband, and they never met again. Dante was everywhere accompanied by respect and honor in his wanderings, but this did not please the poet. He continued to yearn for Florence and took his exile hard. Dante rethinks his attitude towards life. He begins to notice that external prosperity is everywhere accompanied by a fierce struggle between various political groups and states. In this struggle, all means are used, both open violence and lies, deception, intrigue, flattery, etc.
In exile, the poet spends a lot of time creatively. A famous work is the scientific and philosophical treatise “The Feast”, the main feature of which is that it was written in Italian. This was a significant innovation, since all scientific works of that time were written in Latin.
At the same time, the poet takes an active part in public life: he gives public lectures and speaks in debates where pressing issues are discussed. Dante preaches his views, formed in exile, which are humanistic in nature.
Since 1316, Dante has lived in Ravenna.
Dante's greatest work, which glorified his name, was the "Comedy", later called "Divine". The poet wrote it over many years and finished it just before his death. A detailed description of the soul's wanderings in the afterlife immortalized the name of Dante. His "Comedy" has become a classic work, which any educated person must get acquainted with.
In 1321, Dante fell ill with malaria and soon died. The poet was never able to return to his hometown, although he dreamed about it all his life. After a long time, the government of Florence realized that it had lost its greatest citizen. Attempts were made to return the remains to their homeland. However, Dante’s ashes still remain in a foreign land.

The name of the classic of world literature Dante Alighieri, Italian poet, author of The Divine Comedy, humanist philosopher of the late Middle Ages, founder of the Italian literary language, is shrouded in mysticism. His whole life is a series of fatal events. On January 26, the birthday of the man who described the journey to the afterlife, we will talk about the secrets of his biography.

1. The exact date of birth of Dante is unknown, the official baptism record is May 26, 1265, recorded under the name Durante. The poet's ancestors came from the Roman family of Elisei, who participated in the founding of Florence. Cacciaguida, Dante's great-great-grandfather, participated in the crusade of Conrad III, was knighted by him and died in battle with the Muslims. Cacciaguida was married to a lady from the Lombard family of Aldighieri da Fontana. The name “Aldighieri” was transformed into “Alighieri” - this is how one of the sons of Cacciaguida was named. The poet’s parents were Florentines of modest income, but they were still able to pay for their son’s schooling, and then helped him improve in the art of versification.
2. In his childhood, Dante gained extensive knowledge of ancient and medieval literature, the basics of natural sciences, and was familiar with the heretical teachings of that time. He will carry his first love throughout his life. An 8-year-old boy, smitten by the beauty of the neighbor's girl Beatrice, becomes infatuated with her in his youth, calling the then already married woman “the mistress of the heart.”

This platonic love will last 7 years. Beatrice died in 1290, and this shocked the poet so much that his relatives thought that Dante would not survive it. “The days were like nights and the nights were like days. Not one of them passed without groans, without sighs, without copious tears. His eyes seemed to be two abundant sources, so much so that many wondered where he got so much moisture from to feed his tears... The crying and grief he felt in his heart, as well as the neglect of all concerns for himself, gave him the appearance of an almost wild man..." He delved into philosophy, seeking answers from the ancient Romans. You can read about Dante’s love for Beatrice in the poet’s autobiographical story “New Life,” and he dedicated his sonnets to her.

3. However, Dante did not become a reclusive monk. It is known that he entered into a marriage of convenience (political). His wife Gema belonged to the Donati clan, which was at enmity with the Cerchi party, whose supporters were the Alighieri family. It is unknown when Dante walked down the aisle; it is documented that in 1301 he was the father of three children (Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia). During these years, he showed himself in the public sphere, he was elected to the city council, openly opposed the Pope, for which he later paid.

4. In 1302, Dante was expelled from his hometown on a fabricated case of bribery and for participating in anti-state activities; his wife and children remained in Florence. A very impressive fine was imposed on Alighier - five thousand florins and his property was seized, and then a harsher verdict was handed down - “burning by fire to death.”
5. During the years of exile, the poet writes a “Comedy” of all human life, which later the no less famous writer Giovanni Boccaccio will call “Divine”. It was with this epithet that she entered the world classics. With his work, Dante wanted to help people, intimidated by medieval scholasticism, cope with the fear of death. The poet believed in the afterlife, in the existence of heaven and hell, in the possibility of purifying the soul.

Dante wandered around Italy for a long time, finding refuge first with the ruler of Verona, Can Grande della Scala (he dedicated part of “Paradise” to him), visited France in 1308-1309, heated philosophical debates fascinated him. Dante writes a treatise “On the Monarchy” - a kind of “Message to the Peoples and Rulers of Italy”. Returning to Italy, he settled in Ravenna under the patronage of Guido da Polenta, where he completed his life's work.
6. Dante's death is shrouded in mysticism. As an ambassador of the ruler of Ravenna, Dante went to Venice to make peace with the Republic of St. Mark. Returning back, on the way he fell ill with malaria and died on the night of September 13-14, 1321. The poet was buried in the Church of San Francesco on the territory of the monastery “with great honors.”

And this is where the most mysterious thing begins. In 1322, eight months after his death, the poet made the return journey from the afterlife to ours. At that time, his family lived in poverty and hoped to earn at least some money for The Divine Comedy. Dante's sons could not find their father's manuscript, which he completed shortly before his death. The poet lived in exile and in constant fear of arrest, so he hid his creation in a safe hiding place. According to the memoirs of Jacopo Alighieri's eldest son: “Exactly eight months after my father’s death, at the end of the night, he himself appeared to me in snow-white robes... Then I asked... where are the songs hidden that we have been searching in vain for so long? And he... took me by the hand, led me into the upper room and pointed to the wall: “Here you will find what you are looking for!” Waking up, Jacopo rushed to the wall, threw back the mat and discovered a secret niche where the manuscript lay.
7. Years passed, and the Pope’s supporters remembered the worst apostate Dante. In 1329, Cardinal Bernardo del Poggetto demanded that the monks publically burn Alighieri’s body. How the monks got out of this situation is unknown, but the poet’s ashes were not touched.

8. When, two centuries later, Dante’s genius was recognized by the Renaissance, it was decided to rebury the poet’s remains in Florence. However, the coffin turned out to be... empty. Probably, the prudent Franciscan monks secretly buried Dante in another place, presumably in the monastery of their order in Siena. But nothing was found there either. In a word, Dante’s Florentine reburial had to be postponed. Pope Leo X was given two versions of what happened: the remains were stolen by unknown people or... Dante himself appeared and took his ashes. Incredibly, the enlightened dad chose the second version! Apparently, he also believed in the mystical nature of the poet Dante.

9. But the miracles did not end there. To celebrate the 600th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant Dante, it was decided to restore the Church of San Francesco in Ravenna. In the spring of 1865, builders broke through one of the walls and found a wooden box with a carved inscription: “Dante’s bones were placed here by Antonio Santi in 1677.” Who this Antonio was, whether he was related to the family of the painter Raphael (after all, he was also Santi, although he died back in 1520), is unknown, but the find became an international sensation. Dante's remains, in the presence of representatives from different countries, were transferred to Dante's mausoleum in Ravenna, where they still rest.

10. The mysticism continued in the twentieth century: during the reconstruction of the National Library in Florence in 1999, among rare books, workers discovered an envelope with... Dante’s ashes. It contained ashes and paper in a black frame with the seals of Ravenna confirming: “These are the ashes of Dante Alighieri.” This news shocked everyone. After all, if the poet’s body was not subjected to fire, then where would the ashes come from? How did this envelope get into the library in the first place? The workers swore that they went through this rack several times and did not see any envelope. World newspapers immediately trumpeted rumors that the mystical Dante himself had thus reminded of himself. Why did he plant the envelope, to joke or scare - here the versions differed. True, after an investigation it turned out that in the 19th century the burning took place, not of the body, but of the carpet on which the coffin stood. The ashes were sealed in six envelopes, on each of which the venerable notary Saturnino Malagola stamped and inscribed without hesitation: “These are the ashes of Dante Alighieri,” sending them from Ravenna to Florence, the poet’s hometown.

The famous poet, author of the well-known “Divine Comedy” Alighieri Dante was born in Florence in 1265 into a noble family. There are several versions of the poet's true date of birth, but the authenticity of none of them has been established.

He devoted a lot of time to self-development, in particular studying ancient literature and foreign languages. His first mentor was Brunetto Latini, a famous poet and scientist at the time.

At the age of 9, Dante meets his main muse in life. Beatrice Portinari, that was the name of the young lady, was his contemporary and lived next door. Being just a child, the poet was not aware of his feelings, and the next meeting between them occurred only 9 years later. It was then that he realized that he loved her, but it was too late, Beatrice was married. And the young man’s shyness did not allow him to admit his feelings. The girl did not suspect anything and completely considered Dante arrogant, since he did not talk to her. In 1290, his beloved died, this was a serious blow for the poet. A few years later, he married the daughter of the party leader Donati, with whom his family was at enmity. Of course, this alliance was created out of convenience. Beatrice remained his only love for the rest of his life. In the book “New Life,” he talked about his feelings for the woman who passed away so early in life, and it was this book that brought fame to the author.

In 1296, he began to actively participate in the political life of Florence, and 4 years later he became a member of the college of six priors governing Florence. It was his active political activity in 1302, as well as a fictitious story of bribery, that served as the reasons for his expulsion from his hometown. His property was seized, and later he was sentenced to death.

After such events, he was forced to wander around cities and countries. Once in Paris, he spoke at public debates. In 1316 he was allowed to return to his hometown, but on the condition that he accepted the wrongness of his views. Of course, the poet’s pride did not allow him to do this. From 1316 to 1317 he lived in Ravenna, at the invitation of the lord of the city.

It was during the period of exile that the work that glorified him for centuries appeared. Even at that moment, he thought only about his muse, because the Comedy was written in glorification of Beatrice. With the help of The Divine Comedy, he wanted to gain fame and return home, but this dream was not destined to come true. He completed the third part of the work shortly before his death.

In 1321, Alighieri went to Venice as an ambassador to conclude a peace treaty. On the way back he falls ill with malaria. The poet died on the night of September 13-14.

Biography 2

Dante Alighieri is an Italian writer and thinker born on June 1, 1265, whose full name is Durante degli Alighieri. He was born in the city of Florence into a Roman family. His great-grandfather went to the crusades, in one of which he died, and his grandfather was expelled from Florence due to political reasons, but Dante’s father was not a politician, so he had no problems in Florence.

Dante was a very well-read and intelligent man. He studied and studied natural sciences, even read the teachings of the “heretics” of that time. It is unknown at what period Dante Alighieri began to write his own works, but his first work is considered to be “New Life,” which was written in 1292. “New Life” was a collection of poems and prose that the writer accumulated during this time. Some poetry and prose refer to a friend of the author, but experts consider this work to be the first autobiography in the history of literature.

During the conflict between the two sides of power - the Pope and the Emperor, Dante chose the side of the Emperor. At first this was a success, but soon the Pope was in power, and Dante was expelled from the city. All his life he lived, moving from place to place, even visiting Paris. Philosophical works were written in 1304, but Dante never finished them, as he began working on his most popular work, The Divine Comedy. By the way, Dante himself called this work “Comedy”, and the word “divine” was already added by Giovanni Boccaccio.

Dante's first love was Beatrice Portinari. He had known her since she was 9 years old, but 9 years later he met her again, when she was already married, and realized what he had lost. But Beatrice died at the age of 24, but it is not known exactly why. There are versions that she died during childbirth, and there are versions. That she died of the plague. Dante later married Gemma Donati. It was a marriage of convenience, because the families represented different political parties and were constantly at odds. This marriage produced 2 boys and a girl.

Dante Alighieri died on the night of September 13-14, 1921 from malaria. He was buried, but in 1329 the cardinal ordered the monks of the monastery in the city of Ravenna, where Dante lived in his last years, to publicly burn the remains of the writer, but no one did this. Currently, this church has been restored and converted into the mausoleum of Dante Alighieri.