Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Divine Political Commentary Renowned poet Dante Alighieri lived in a tempestuous political and religious era; Fourteenth century Italy was riddled with opposing political factions, most notably the Guelphs and Ghibellines, which were constantly engaged in conflict. This ongoing partisan upheaval would eventually result in Dante’s exile from Florence, after which he would go on to write The Divine Comedy, an epic poem that sets up a flawless system of punishment, redemption and salvation. The…

struggle. Dante was exiled because of the conflict between the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. The Ghibellines were a noble party in Europe who were for a Holy Roman Emperor and were clashing with the pope, whereas the Guelphs were mostly from the growing merchant class and aligned with the pope. The Guelph party split into the two groups after getting rid of the Ghibellines, White and Black, and Dante was a part of the White Guelphs who did not retain power. He was exiled from Florence in…

individual Dante wishes to highlight is Ezzelino III da Romano, a prominent leader of the opposing political party. Here it is clear that Dante is swayed by politics because he sentences a political rival to hell for his violent actions against the Guelph party. Those that were violent to themselves, or committed suicide, are turned into trees, only able to speak when a branch is cut off. A prominent belief of Dante’s is that Suicide is seen as equally sinful as murder. Pier delle Vigne, a man…

Durante Alighieri, also known as Dante (meaning “he who gives” ) was born in Florence on May, 1265. He was born into a family with small nobility and a history of involvement in Florence complex political scene. His mother, Bella degli Abbati, came from a family of wealthy landowners but died a few years later after his birth. His father, Alighiero di Bellincione, whom Dante seemed to have avoid mentioning as much as possible, soon remarried with Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. His father made…

military commander, Farinata was the leader of the Ghibelline faction in Florence. However, when the Holy Roman Emperor died, the other major faction in Florence (the Guelph faction) was able to take control of the city. Farinata fled to Sicily along with his supporters, before leading a successful military campaign to take back control of Florence. He then happily lived out the rest of his life, but when the city of Florence was taken over again by the Guelph, his corpse encountered some…

(The Life of Dante Alighieri) At the age of 35, Dante is exiled from the city of Florence. During this time, the political powers of Florence were divided into two parties. (Life of Dante) They were divided into Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Guelphs supported the Pope, whereas the Ghibellines supported the Emperor. In 1295, Dante became a part of a guild and soon became a prominent member of Heads of Arts council that chose the magistrates of Florence. Five years later, Dante became a Prior, a…

twelve years old. All Dante did when he married into the Donati family was to fulfil the contract. Guido Cavalcanti, Dante’s best friend in Florence, also a stilnovist, who had been engaged to the daughter of Farinata degli Uberti, the famous Ghibelline leader, at the…

2. The word “Gothic” originally carried a negative connotation. However, the Gothic style was able to heavily influence Christianity, and the relationship between the two became one of great benefit to the Church. The Gothic had many new ideas in the field of architecture. One of these was rib vaulting. The ribs replaced the large stones of the Romanesque style, and caused the arch to be pushed to a greater height. This increased height encouraged the worshippers to look to the heavens, further…

Inferno Essay Famous actor Tom Hanks takes on the important role of Professor Robert Langdon in the film Inferno. This thrilling film captivates you and transports you to the beautiful streets of Venice, Italy where professor Langdon wakes up in a hospital bed and encounters a doctor by the name of Sienna Brooks. After experiencing some heart racing events in the hospital, Dr. Sienna takes professor Langdon to her apartment. Upon running across a small bone cylinder containing a high tech…

In the Inferno, the lustful between Francesca and Paolo seems to completely contrast with that of hate between Ugolino and the Archbishop Ruggieri. There stories may be kept at two different spectrums, but are in fact parallels of one another. Therefore, the story of Francesca and Paolo in Canto V and the story of Ugolino and Ruggieri in Canto XXXIII of the Inferno demonstrate the thin line between love and hate. Francesca was a young woman of her time expected to be in an arranged marriage by…