Examples Of Simonies In Dante's Inferno

Dante Alighieri's first book in the divine comedy the Inferno is a religious epic that condemns those who are blasphemous towards the church but is also a careful condemnation of the power of the catholic church.Through the Pilgrim's journey through hell he sees and learns many things from his environment, the people he meets in hell, as well as his guide Virgil. However as he is traveling through the hellscape Dante is commentating about the state of affairs as he sees it in 12th century Europe. In the time that this was published it was heavily based in the figures of that era. With Pope Clement V being mentioned as well as several famous or infamous individuals from the northern Italian city states. Dante’s largest claim however is the pope has overreached his power ordained by God and because of that is going against God’s will. …show more content…
This particular part of the 8th circle is reserved for the simonist of the world. Being so deep into Hell it is obvious that Dante feels like these purchases of simonies was a terrible thing and was corrupting the church. Pope Nicholas’ first words to the pilgrim are “Is that you here already upright, Boniface? By many years the book has lied to me!” (Alighieri, canto XIX, 53-54). The significance of the first words to the pilgrim is that Pope Nicholas was already expecting another pope to follow him down into that circle. Showing Dante’s displeasure not just with his current pope but that he believed the corruption to be very deep rooted within the church and tracing back at least several