Dante Alighieri Research Paper

Dante Alighieri was a great man. During his life, he wrote many great works of literacy, including Divine Comedy. Along with being a writer, he was also a philosopher. After living in the 1300's, (more than 700 years ago), he is still viewed as one of the greatest writers ever to have lived ("Dante Alighieri." Poets.org). His works changed the world.

Dante's Early years were very simple, but included some very depressing events. His life began in 1265 (sometime between the months of May and July) in Florence, Italy to parents Alighiero di Bellincione and Donna Gabriella degli Abati. Seven years after his birth, his mother, Donna, sadly passed away. Soon after this terribly heartbreaking event, his father married Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi.

Dante's father and new mother then had two children together named Francisco and Gaetana (Shmoop Editorial Team).

At the age of nine, after the sad passing of his mother and remarriage of his father, Dante met Beatrice Portinari. They met each other at a party thrown by Folco Portinari (Shmoop Editorial Team). According to letters, stories, and his autobiographical they fell in love. Although they held love for each other, they were never married to one another. Following her unexpected death in 1290, he used her as inspiration for many of his characters in the stories and poems he wrote ("Dante." Bio.com.).

Between the time of his meeting Beatrice and the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, Dante went to school and learned multiple subjects including painting and poetry. He also studied many works of literature and authors, such as Boethius’s and Homer. Along with studying, he made acquaintances with many great poets such as Guido Cavalcanti Cino, da Pistoia, and Brunetto Latini (who went on to be a very important mentor to Dante). In addition to all of those things, he began writing at this time ("Dante." Bio.com.).

The conflict between the Papacy and Holy Roman Emperor (the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict) began the chain of events which lead to Dante's exile from Florence.

During the conflict, Dante sided with the Guelphs and even participated in the battle of Campaldino ("Dante Alighieri." - Biography and Works). After the Guelphs won the conflict, they split into 2 groups, the black Guelphs (were loyal to the Pope), and the white (didn't support the Pope) Guelphs which Dante was a high ranking member. When the blacks (under the direction of the Pope) decided to take control of Florence through military means, Dante along with a few others traveled to Rome and tried to convince the Pope to stop. When The blacks did Succeed in taking the city, they banished Dante from it, who was in Rome ("Dante Alighieri." Poets.org).

In 1277, Dante and Gemma di Manetto Donat were betrothed to each other. They were later married in 1283, which happened to be the same year as which his father sadly passed away. Together they had 4 children together. Their names were Pietro, Jacopo, Antonia and Giovanni (Shmoop Editorial Team). Although he was banished from the land, his wife remained in Florence rather than going with him ("Dante Alighieri." - Biography and

Works).

During his exile, he began his greatest work of literature, Divine Comedy. The first segment of his book, Inferno, was completed and published in the year (Shmoop Editorial Team). The next segments of the book, Purgatory and Heaven were completed in 1317 and 1321 (right before his death). Many parts of his story are actually based off of real things in his actual life. The three parts of the story describe a person's trip through the afterlife ("Dante." Bio.com.).

In 1321, Dante died in Ravenna, Italy. His death was caused by a sickness, which is believed to have been malaria (Shmoop Editorial Team). His legacy is that of a great man. He is considered to be one of the greatest writers ever to live. Throughout his life, he experienced many sad things, including the death of his mother, the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, and his banishment. Although he had all of those terrible things happen to him, he still wrote amazing literature, and it was so good that it is shared in modern day English classes.