Dante was born in Florence, Italy, to Donna Gabriella degli Abati and Alighiero di Bellincione Alighieri.
His mother died when he was around nine. Soon afterward, his father married Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi, who bore his half brother Fransesco and his half sister Tana
His father was a notary from a family that was loyal to the Guelphs. The Guelphs were one of two major factions in italy during the 12th and 13th century who were in constant conflict, the other faction being the Ghibellines.
Dante fought with the Guelphs in the battle of Campaldino in 1289 where the Ghibellines were defeated.
Dante married Gemma di Manetto Donati, a marriage that had been planned since Dante was 12, and had four children named Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni, and Antonia.
Before he was married, he was in love with Beatrice Portinari, who he writes about in The New Life, years before he was married. She was inspiration for several sonnets written by Dante, but Dante’s wife, Gemma, is never mentioned in any of his works.
Dante’s love for Beatrice lead him to give his imprint to what he called the Sweet New Style, and join other poets in exploring the themes of Love.
When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante looked Latin literature for refuge. Some of the works he read on philosophy led him to dedicate himself to philosophical studies at religious schools.
At 18, dante met Guido Cavalcanti, Lapo Gianni, Cino da Pistoia, and Brunetto Latini. Together they became leaders of the Sweet New Style.
Around 1295, Dante had to enroll in the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries as a student. This was so he could be active in government affairs as a diplomat and magistrate.
In 1300, the Guelphs were divided into the Black Guelphs and the White Guelphs, and in 1302,
Dante, being a White Guelph, was banished from Florence with the rest of the Guelphs when the Black Guelphs took over the city. Gemma remained in Florence.
Dante traveled all over itay and may have visited England and France as well.
Dante Alighieri died and was buried in Ravenna September 14, 1321.
He’s best known for writing the Divine Comedy, which is known as the best literary work to be written in the Italian language. The Divine Comedy was written between 1307 and 1321.
Dante’s studies of Tuscan poetry led him to discover Occitan poetry and Latin poetry by poets such as Cicero, ovid, and Virgil. Virgil became one of Dante’s major influences, and plays a major part in the Divine Comedy.
He was also inspired by writers like Aristotle and Homer. They also have mention in his works.
Dante was inspiration to poets like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Blake, and continues to be inspiration to poets into the 21st century.
The Divine Comedy can be considered one of Dante’s autobiographical works because it tells a lot about his life. The very first line in Inferno suggests he was middle aged when he wrote the poem, and there are many references to real life situations that happened during the time he was writing the Divine Comedy.
The divine comedy was written in terza rima.
Dante was the one who said that who you translate a work from one language to another, it either loses its rhyme or its reason. You can’t have both in a work read outside its own language. Ironically enough, Dante’s poems probably have more translations than any other piece of literature in the world.
