Durante deli Alighieri (May 26, 1265 - September 14, 1321) was a world-famous Italian thinker, poet, writer and theologian. Dante is considered not only a great writer of his time, who created the famous Divine Comedy, but also the founder of the Italian literary language, since it was he who first began to use stable literary expressions in his works.

Childhood

It is not known for certain to what a noble and aristocratic family Dante belonged, since only a few manuscripts of that time have survived, and scientists still cannot determine the origin of the writer. The only known fact is that the ancestors of Alighieri, most likely, were the founders of Florence. In the manuscripts that have survived to this day, there is a mention of Dante's great-grandfather - Kachchagvide, ─ who was knighted and participated in the crusade of Conrad III.

He died in one of the battles against the Muslims, after which he was posthumously ranked among the aristocrats. Little is known about the personal life of Kachchagvida. According to scientists, the surname "Alighieri" was taken precisely from his wife, who belonged to a family of Lombard aristocrats. Initially, the surname was in the form "Aldigieri", but later, most likely due to difficulty in pronunciation, it was transformed into "Alighieri".

The exact date of Durante's birth is also unknown. According to Boccaccio, the great writer and thinker was born on the night of May 13-14. Nevertheless, Alighieri himself never indicated the exact date of birth, but only casually mentioned that at birth he was under the sign of Gemini. That is why only the name given to the child at birth, Durante, is accurate.

From childhood, the child was taught everything necessary by the parents. At the age of five, a special teacher was hired - Brunetto Latini - who began to teach Dante not only reading and writing, but also a number of exact sciences. In addition to home schooling, Durante most likely attended ancient schools and adopted the experience of several teachers at once. But, unfortunately, it is also unknown what educational institutions the boy went to and who was his teacher.

Youth and early career as a public figure

In 1286, Dante, leaving his family, leaves for Bologna, where he settles in a small house with his best friend, the poet Guido Cavalcati. Initially, it remained a mystery how Alighieri was able to leave the family, which for many years cared for and patronized him.

However, then Durante's notes were found that in 1285 a friend asked him to move with him to Bologna, where he planned to enter the university. In order to keep up with his friend, the future poet decided not to notify his family of his departure, and on a summer night he simply disappeared from home, setting off on his first independent journey.

After graduating from university in 1296, Dante decides to become a public figure. At that time, he already had sufficient connections and repeatedly spoke to the general public, calling for certain actions. Many of Durante's friends testified that the young man had an exceptional talent for oratory, despite the fact that he himself never recognized such a gift. However, the violent and stubborn nature of Alighieri very often became the cause of conflicts between the speaker and the local authorities, which subsequently ended for Dante in exile from Florence, where he could no longer return.

In 1300, Dante Alighieri was elected prior. From that moment on, he receives quite extensive powers up to the writing of his own laws. The enthusiast decides to get down to business seriously and "slightly" alter the system that has existed for many years in Florence. Alighieri issues several decrees and laws, begins to actively collect complaints from the townspeople, which, of course, does not go unnoticed by the local authorities. A couple of months after the appointment, Dante and his party of white Guelphs, which consisted mainly of true friends and comrades of the writer, are expelled in disgrace and forbidden to return to the city.

Writing career

After Dante said goodbye to the career of a public leader and orator, the most difficult and depressing period in his biography begins. Being in exile, Dante feels not only humiliated, but also unnecessary to mankind. His poetry, which was previously light, airy and positive, acquires bitter notes of captivity, hatred and sadness for his native city (and even family).

At this time, an allegorical-scholastic commentary on the fourteen canons under the name "Feast" appears. In it, Dante not only openly criticizes the government system existing in Florence, but also blames the authorities for all the troubles of the people, mocking the stupidity and arrogance of officials. But, unfortunately, "Convivio" - that's how it was translated into Italian "Feast" ─ was never completed, since Alighieri considered it excessively pretentious and rude. The work ends at the 14th chapter, after which there are only a few lines and ellipsis.

In exile, the most famous work of the thinker, The Divine Comedy, was written. According to Boccaccio, Dante created it for a very long time, so there is no exact information and dating. The fact is that at that time Alighieri was forced to constantly travel around Italy in search of a better life. It is known that he created the beginning of the Comedy in Verona, under the auspices of Bartolomeo dei Scala, then moved to Bologna, where he heard good news for himself: Henry VII was going to Italy. Deciding that now his life will improve, Alighieri returns to his hometown and even manages to appear to the local authorities, declaring that now he will be able to return all his civil rights. However, in 1313, Henry VII suddenly dies, and the authorities, taking advantage of the situation, confirm Durante's exile, adding to it the death penalty for the repeated return to his homeland not only of the poet himself, but also of all his relatives.

Since 1316, Dante Alighieri has been under the patronage of the signor of the city of Ravenna. Here, the poet is allowed not only to create and create new songs of the Divine Comedy, but also to act as a public figure (naturally, under the supervision of the signor himself). Life begins to slowly improve, but in 1321, having gone as an ambassador to Venice to conclude a peace treaty with the Republic of St. Mark, Durante becomes very ill. Upon arrival in Ravenna, it turns out that the poet is ill with malaria, and on the night of September 13-14 of the same year, he suddenly dies.

Personal life

In 1274, at the age of nine, Dante Alighieri saw in the garden of the house the incredible beauty of Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of a gardener. The aspiring poet fell in love with the young beauty so much that he even dedicated poems to her, but all this remained the strictest secret, and the lovers met only nine years later, when Durante saw Peatrice already in the status of a married woman. Boccace often mentioned young lovers in his treatises, calling them Romeo and Juliet of his time.

Already at a more mature age, Alighieri married the daughter of his political opponent, Gemma Donati. The exact date of their marriage is unknown, so scientists do not undertake to claim that the couple has been married for many years. However, it is known that Gemma gave birth to three children to the poet, whom he loved very much, unlike his own wife (his wife was never even indirectly mentioned in Dante's works).

ital. Dante Alighieri , full name Durante degli Alighieri

Italian poet, thinker, theologian, one of the founders of the literary Italian language, politician

short biography

- the largest Italian poet, literary critic, thinker, theologian, politician, author of the famous "Divine Comedy". There is very little reliable information about the life of this person; their main source is an artistic autobiography written by him, in which only a certain period is described.

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, in 1265, on May 26, in a well-born and wealthy family. It is not known where the future poet studied, but he himself considered the education received insufficient, therefore he devoted a lot of time to independent education, in particular, the study of foreign languages, the work of ancient poets, among which he gave special preference to Virgil, considering him his teacher and "leader".

When Dante was only 9 years old, in 1274, an event occurred that became a landmark in his life, including his creative one. At the celebration, his attention was attracted by a peer, a neighbor's daughter - Beatrice Portinari. Ten years later, as a married lady, she became for Dante that beautiful Beatrice, whose image illuminated his whole life and poetry. The book entitled A New Life (1292), in which he spoke in poetic and prose lines about his love for this young woman who died untimely in 1290, is considered the first autobiography in world literature. The book glorified the author, although this was not his first literary experience, he began to write in the 80s.

The death of his beloved woman forced him to go headlong into science, he studied philosophy, astronomy, theology, turned into one of the most educated people of his time, although the baggage of knowledge did not go beyond the medieval tradition based on theology.

In 1295-1296. Dante Alighieri declared himself and as a public, political figure, participated in the work of the city council. In 1300 he was elected a member of the college of six priors that governed Florence. In 1298 he married Gemma Donati, who was his wife until her death, but this woman always played a modest role in his fate.

Active political activity was the reason for the expulsion of Dante Alighieri from Florence. The split in the Guelph party, in which he was a member, led to the fact that the so-called whites, in whose ranks the poet was, were subjected to repression. A charge of bribery was brought against Dante, after which he was forced, leaving his wife and children, to leave his native city so as not to return to it ever again. It happened in 1302.

Since that time, Dante constantly wandered around the cities, traveled to other countries. So, it is known that in 1308-1309. he visited Paris, where he participated in open debates organized by the university. The name of Alighieri was twice included in the list of persons subject to amnesty, but both times it was deleted from there. In 1316, he was allowed to return to his native Florence, but on the condition that he publicly admits the wrongness of his views and repents, but the proud poet did not do this.

Since 1316, he settled in Ravenna, where he was invited by Guido da Polenta, the ruler of the city. Here, in the company of his sons, the daughter of his beloved Beatrice, admirers, friends, the last years of the poet passed. It was during the period of exile that Dante wrote a work that glorified him for centuries - "Comedy", to the name of which several centuries later, in 1555, the word "Divine" will be added in the Venetian edition. The beginning of work on the poem dates back to about 1307, and Dante wrote the last of the three parts (“Hell”, “Purgatory” and “Paradise”) shortly before his death.

He dreamed of becoming famous with the help of the Comedy and returning home with honors, but his hopes were not destined to come true. Having fallen ill with malaria, returning from a trip to Venice on a diplomatic mission, the poet died on September 14, 1321. The Divine Comedy was the pinnacle of his literary activity, but his rich and versatile creative heritage is not limited to it alone and includes, in particular, philosophical treatises, journalism, and lyrics.

Biography from Wikipedia

In Florence

According to family tradition, Dante's ancestors came from the Roman family of the Elisei, who participated in the founding of Florence. Kachchagvida, Dante's great-great-grandfather, participated in the crusade of Conrad III (1147-1149), was knighted by him and died in battle with the Muslims. Cacchagvida was married to a lady from the Lombard family of Aldigieri da Fontana. The name "Aldigieri" was transformed into "Alighieri"; this was the name of one of the sons of Kachchagvidy. The son of this Alighieri, Bellincione, grandfather of Dante, who was expelled from Florence during the struggle of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, returned to his native city in 1266, after the defeat of Manfred of Sicily at Benevento. Alighieri II, Dante's father, apparently did not take part in the political struggle and remained in Florence.

The exact date of Dante's birth is unknown. According to Boccaccio, Dante was born in May 1265. Dante himself reported about himself (Comedy, Paradise, 22) that he was born under the sign of Gemini, which begins on May 21. In modern sources, the dates of the second half of May 1265 are most often given. It is also known that Dante was baptized on March 25, 1266 (on the first Holy Saturday) under the name of Durante.

Dante's first mentor was the then-famous poet and scholar Brunetto Latini. The place where Dante studied is unknown, but he received wide knowledge in ancient and medieval literature, in the natural sciences and was familiar with the heretical teachings of that time.

With a fairly high degree of certainty, it is assumed that in 1286-1287 Dante lived for several months in Bologna near the towers of Garisenda and Asinelli that have survived to this day. In the absence of any documentary evidence, the researchers assume that the most likely reason for his stay in this city could be studying at the famous university.

Dante's closest friend was the poet Guido Cavalcanti. Dante devoted many poems and fragments of the poem "New Life" to him.

The first act mention of Dante Alighieri as a public figure dates back to 1296 and 1297, already in 1300 or 1301 he was elected prior. In 1302, Dante was expelled from Florence along with his party of white Guelphs. He never saw his hometown again and died in exile.

Years of exile

Monument to Dante 1865 Florence. The work of the sculptor E. Pazzi

The years of exile were for Dante years of wandering. Already at that time he was a lyric poet among the Tuscan poets of the "new style" - Chino from Pistoia, Guido Cavalcanti and others. His "La Vita Nuova (New Life)" had already been written; exile made him more serious and strict. He starts his "Feast" ("Convivio"), an allegorical-scholastic commentary on the fourteen canzones. But the "Convivio" was never finished: only the introduction and interpretation of the three canzones were written. Not finished, breaking off at the 14th chapter of the second book, and a Latin treatise on the popular language, or eloquence ("De vulgari eloquentia").

During the years of exile, three canticles of the Divine Comedy were created gradually and under the same working conditions. The time of writing each of them can only be determined approximately. Paradise was completed in Ravenna, and there is nothing incredible in Boccaccio's story that after the death of Dante Alighieri, his sons could not find the last thirteen songs for a long time, until, according to legend, Dante dreamed of his son Jacopo and suggested where they lie.

There is very little factual information about the fate of Dante Alighieri; his trace has been lost over the years. At first, he found shelter with the ruler of Verona, Bartolomeo della Scala; the defeat in 1304 of his party, which was trying to achieve by force the settlement in Florence, doomed him to a long wandering in Italy. Later, he arrived in Bologna, in Lunigiana and Casentino, in 1308-1309. found himself in Paris, where he spoke with honor at public debates, common in universities of that time. It was in Paris that Dante found the news that Emperor Henry VII was going to Italy. The ideal dreams of his "Monarchy" resurrected in him with renewed vigor; he returned to Italy (probably in 1310 or at the beginning of 1311), tea for her renewal, for himself - the return of civil rights. His "message to the peoples and rulers of Italy" is full of these hopes and enthusiastic confidence, however, the idealist emperor died suddenly (1313), and on November 6, 1315, Ranieri di Zaccaria of Orvietto, viceroy of King Robert in Florence, confirmed the decree of exile in relation to Dante Alighieri, his sons and many others, condemning them to death if they fall into the hands of the Florentines.

From 1316-1317 he settled in Ravenna, where he was summoned to rest by the lord of the city, Guido da Polenta. Here, in the circle of children, among friends and admirers, the songs of Paradise were created.

Death

In the summer of 1321, Dante, as the ambassador of the ruler of Ravenna, went to Venice to conclude peace with the Republic of St. Mark. On the way back, Dante fell ill with malaria and died in Ravenna on the night of September 13-14, 1321.

Dante was buried in Ravenna; the magnificent mausoleum that Guido da Polenta prepared for him was not erected. The modern tomb (also called the “mausoleum”) was built in 1780. The familiar portrait of Dante Alighieri is not credible: Boccaccio depicts him as bearded instead of the legendary clean-shaven one, however, in general, his image corresponds to our traditional idea: an oblong face with an aquiline nose, large eyes , wide cheekbones and a prominent lower lip; eternally sad and concentrated-thoughtful.

Brief chronology of life and work

• 1265 - birth.
• 1274 - first meeting with Beatrice.
• 1283 - second meeting with Beatrice.
• 1290 Death of Beatrice.
• 1292 - creation of the story "New Life" ("La Vita Nuova").
• 1296/97 - the first mention of Dante as a public figure.
• 1298 - marriage to Gemma Donati.
• 1300/01 - prior of Florence.
• 1302 - expelled from Florence.
• 1304-1307 - Treatise "Feast".
• 1304-1306 - treatise "On popular eloquence".
• 1306-1321 - creation of the "Divine Comedy".
• 1308/09 - Paris.
• 1310/11 - return to Italy.
• 1315 - confirmation of the expulsion of Dante and his sons from Florence.
• 1316-1317 - settled in Ravenna.
• 1321 - as the ambassador of Ravenna goes to Venice.
• On the night of September 13 to September 14, 1321 - he dies on the way to Ravenna.

Personal life

In the poem "New Life" Dante sang his first youthful love - Beatrice Portinari, who died in 1290 at the age of 24. Dante and Beatrice have become a symbol of love, like Petrarch and Laura, Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet.

In 1274, nine-year-old Dante admired an eight-year-old girl, the daughter of a neighbor, Beatrice Portinari, at a May holiday - this is his first biographical memory. He had seen her before, but the impression of this meeting was renewed in him when nine years later (in 1283) he saw her again as a married woman and this time was carried away by her. Beatrice becomes for life the "mistress of his thoughts", a wonderful symbol of that morally uplifting feeling that he continued to cherish in her image, when Beatrice had already died (in 1290), and he himself entered into one of those business marriages, according to political calculation which were accepted at the time.

The Dante family took the side of the Florentine Cerchi party, which was at enmity with the Donati party. But Dante married Gemma Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati. The exact date of his marriage is unknown. It is known that in 1301 he already had three children (Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia). When Dante was expelled from Florence, Gemma remained in the city with her children, preserving the remnants of her father's property.

Later, when Dante composed his Comedy in praise of Beatrice, Gemma was not mentioned in it in a single word. In his last years he lived in Ravenna; gathered around him were his sons, Jacopo and Pietro, poets, his future commentators, and Antonia's daughter; only Gemma lived away from the whole family. Boccaccio, one of the first biographers of Dante, summarized all this: as if Dante married under duress and persuasion, and therefore, during the long years of exile, he never thought to call his wife. Beatrice determined the tone of his feelings, the experience of exile - his social and political views and their archaism.

Creation

Dante Alighieri, a thinker and poet, constantly looking for a fundamental basis for everything that happened in him and around him, it was this thoughtfulness, the thirst for common principles, certainty, inner integrity, the passion of the soul and boundless imagination that determined the qualities of his poetry, style, imagery and abstractness .

Love for Beatrice took on a mysterious meaning for him; he filled every work with it. Her idealized image occupies a significant place in Dante's poetry. The first works of Dante date back to the 1280s. In 1292, he wrote a story about the love that renewed him, La Vita Nuova, composed of sonnets, canzones and a prosaic commentary on love for Beatrice. "New Life" is considered the first autobiography in the history of world literature. Already in exile, Dante wrote the treatise The Feast (Il convivio, 1304-1307).

Created Alighieri and political treatises. Later, Dante found himself in the whirlpool of parties, he was even an inveterate municipalist; but he had a need to understand for himself the basic principles of political activity, so he writes his Latin treatise "On the Monarchy" ("De Monarchia"). This work is a kind of apotheosis of the humanist emperor, next to which he would like to place an equally ideal papacy. In the treatise "On the Monarchy" Dante the politician had an effect. Dante the poet was reflected in the works "New Life", "Feast" and "The Divine Comedy".

"New life"

In this first psychological novel in Europe, the feeling of love acquires an unprecedented height and spirituality. This is the first incarnation of that simple and at the same time unusually complex feeling, fraught with many consequences, which determined the development of the most cherished sides of the Dante soul. Dante's love is touching in its naivety and freshness, but at the same time, one can feel in it the spirit of a stern and attentive spirit, the hand of an artist who thinks about many things at once, experiencing the most complex dramas of the heart. The figurative descriptions of the virtues and virtues of Beatrice, the penetrating analysis of Dante's ecstatic adoration for his beloved give brightness and spirituality to his schematic literary devices.

"Feast"

In the "Feast" (between 1304 and 1307) - and this is very characteristic of the historical originality of the Pre-Renaissance period, aesthetically realized in the work of Dante - politics is organically combined not only with ethics, but also with poetics and linguistics.

Dante's Renaissance theories of style are preceded by the idea of ​​the importance of spiritual reliance on "exemplary", "correct" poets. Dante, in a humanistic way, believed in the boundlessness of the creative forces of an individual creative person, drawing inspiration from folk culture and close to folk needs and worldview, embodying his true, “reasonable” aspirations in poetry, its style and language. The grammatically organized vernacular language of the new literature and culture, which in the treatise "On Folk Eloquence" is proclaimed "original" and called "brilliant Italian vernacular speech", had to be formed from the live colloquial speech of the regions of Italy under the influence of the cultural and literary activities of writers. The first treatise of the Feast ends with the thought that this language will become “a new light, a new sun that will rise where the usual sets; and it gives light to those who are in darkness and in darkness, since the old sun no longer shines on them ”(I, XIII, 12).

In Feast, there is a strong connection between new ideas and the search for a new style and language. When Dante creates a new Italian literary language and "beautiful style", he also takes care of their compliance with the requirements of the "noble lady", called by him (at the beginning of the third canzone) "Madona philosophy". In the canzone and in the discussions that accompany it, Dante deepens and democratizes the anti-class ideas about nobility as a kind of grace descending on a “well-disposed” soul; his concept of the "divinity" of man acquires, of course, a humanistic essence. Dante's nobility involves promoting the establishment of universal prosperity and social harmony on earth in a world and autocratic empire, for "in order to eliminate internecine wars and their causes, it is necessary that the whole earth and that everything that is given to the human race should be a Monarchy, that is, a single state , and had one sovereign who, owning everything and not being able to desire more, would keep individual sovereigns within their possessions, so that peace reigned between them, which cities would enjoy, where neighbors would love each other, in this love everyone the house received according to its needs and that, having satisfied them, each person lived happily, for he was born for happiness ”(“ Feast ”, IV, IV, 4).

The idea that happiness lies in the earthly existence of a person, and "that the goal of every virtue is to make our life more joyful" (ibid., I, VIII, 12) is undoubtedly revolutionary; we can recall that in the "Feast" the idea of ​​social world harmony - "every person is a friend to every other person by nature" (I, I, 8) - is justified by the idea of ​​harmony of an individual, an ordinary earthly person. True, spiritual nobility in Dante suggests bodily beauty, the nobility of the flesh (IV, XXV, 12-13). Such ideas anticipate the life-affirming worldview of the Italian Renaissance and also serve as prerequisites for the formation of the Renaissance style.

"The Divine Comedy"

Analysis

In form, the Divine Comedy is an afterlife vision, a common genre in medieval literature. Like the poets of that era, the poem seems to be an allegorical building. So, the dense forest, in which the poet got lost in the middle of his life, is a symbol of sins committed throughout his life and delusions experienced. The three beasts that attack him there: the lynx, the lion and the she-wolf are the three most powerful passions: respectively voluptuousness, pride, greed. These allegories are also given a political meaning: the lynx is Florence, the spots on the skin of which should indicate the enmity of the parties of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines; lion, a symbol of brute physical strength - France; the she-wolf, greedy and lustful, is the papal curia. These beasts threaten the national unity of Italy that Dante dreamed of, a unity held together by the rule of a feudal monarchy (some literary historians give Dante's entire poem a political interpretation). The narrator is saved from the animals by Virgil - the mind sent to the poet Beatrice (who appears here as a symbol of divine providence). Virgil leads Dante through hell to purgatory, and on the threshold of paradise gives way to Beatrice. The essence of this allegory is as follows: reason saves a person from passions, and divine grace (Beatrice in the lane with it. - graceful) leads to eternal bliss.

"Comedy" is imbued with the political predilections of the author. Dante never misses an opportunity to reckon with his ideological opponents and personal enemies; he hates usurers, condemns credit as "excess", his own age as a century of profit and avarice. In his opinion, money is the source of many evils. His dark present is contrasted with the bright past, bourgeois Florence - feudal Florence, when moderation, simplicity of morals, chivalrous "courageousness" were valued by everyone ("Paradise", Kachchagvida's story). The "Purgatory" tercinia accompanying the appearance of Sordello (Purgatory, Canto VI) is a laudatory hymn to Ghibelline. Further, Dante praises Constantine and Justinian as the greatest emperors, places them in paradise (Paradise, Canto VI); these most significant figures of the Roman state were supposed to serve as an example for the German emperors of that time, and in particular for Henry VII of Luxembourg, whom Dante urged to invade Italy and unite it on a feudal basis. The poet treats the papacy as an institution with the highest respect, although he hates some of its representatives, and especially those who contributed to the establishment of capitalism in Italy; some dads end up in hell. Dante's faith is Catholicism, although it is already invaded by a personal element hostile to the old orthodoxy, although mysticism and the Franciscan pantheistic religion of love, accepted with all passion, also sharply deviate from Catholicism proper. His philosophy is theology, his science is scholasticism, his poetry is allegory. The ideals of asceticism in Dante are not yet dead, and therefore he regards free love as a sin (Hell, Canto V, episode with Francesca da Rimini and Paolo). But it is not a sin for him to love, which attracts to the object of worship with a pure platonic impulse. This is a great world force that "moves the sun and other luminaries." And humility is no longer an absolute virtue. “Whoever in glory does not renew his strength with victory will not taste the fruit that he obtained in the struggle.” The spirit of inquisitiveness, the desire to expand one's horizons, to discover something new, combined with "virtue", inducing heroic daring, is extolled as an ideal.

Dante created his vision from pieces of real life. The design of the afterlife is made up of separate corners of Italy, placed in it with clear graphic contours. The poem depicts so many living human images, so many typical figures, so many vivid psychological situations, so many expressive and impressive scenes, episodes that art in subsequent centuries, and even in our time, continues to draw from there. Looking at the huge gallery of historical figures and persons depicted by Dante in the Comedy, one concludes that there is not a single image that would not be faceted by the poet’s unmistakable plastic intuition. In the era of Dante, Florence experienced an era of intense economic and cultural prosperity. That unusually acute sense of man and landscape in the Comedy, which the world learned from Dante, was possible only in the social atmosphere of 14th-century Florence, which was then at the forefront of European progress. Separate episodes, such as Francesca and Paolo, Farinata in his red-hot grave, Ugolino with children, Capaneus and Ulysses, very different from ancient images, the Black Cherub with subtle devilish logic, Sordello on his stone, and now make a strong impression ..

Impact on culture

As indicated in the Newest Philosophical Dictionary, Dante's poetry "played a big role in the formation of Renaissance humanism and in the unfolding of the European cultural tradition as a whole, having a significant impact not only on the poetic and artistic, but also on the philosophical spheres of culture (from the lyrics of Petrarch and the poets of the Pleiades to sophiology of V.S. Solovyov).

SAINT PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY

CULTURE AND ARTS

ESSAY

at the rate: FOREIGN LITERATURE

Subject: "Dante Alighieri and his "Divine Comedy" as a standard of Italian Renaissance literature"

PERFORMED:

2nd YEAR STUDENT

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION

OFFICES

CORRESPONDENCE TRAINING

A. V. FOMINYKH

TEACHER: KOZLOVA V. I.

Introduction ................................................ ................................................. .............3

Chapter 1. Biography of the poet............................................... ........................................4

Chapter 2. Dante's "Divine Comedy" .................7

Conclusion................................................. ................................................. ........fourteen

Bibliography............................................... ......................fifteen

INTRODUCTION

The study of the literature of the Italian Renaissance begins with an examination of the work of the great predecessor of the Renaissance, the Florentine Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri, 1265 - 1321), the first of the great poets of Western Europe.

By the whole nature of his work, Dante is a poet of transitional times, standing at the turn of two great historical eras.

The main work of Dante, on which his world fame is primarily based, is the Divine Comedy. The poem is not only the result of the development of Dante's ideological, political and artistic thought, but provides a grandiose philosophical and artistic synthesis of the entire medieval culture, while at the same time throwing a bridge from it to the culture of the Renaissance. Precisely as the author of the Divine Comedy, Dante is at the same time the last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of modern times.

Chapter 1. Biography of the poet

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265. The poet came from an old noble family. However, the Dante family has long lost its feudal appearance; already the poet's father belonged, like himself, to the Guelph party.

Having reached adulthood, Dante enrolled in 1283 in the guild of pharmacists and doctors, which also included booksellers and artists and belonged to the seven “senior” guilds of Florence.

Dante received an education in the volume of the medieval school, which he himself recognized as meager, and sought to fill it with the study of French and Provencal languages, which opened him access to the best examples of foreign literature.

Along with the medieval poets, the young Dante carefully studied the ancient poets and, first of all, Virgil, whom he chose, in his own words, as his "leader, master and teacher."

The main passion of the young Dante was poetry. He began to write poetry early and already in the early 80s of the XIII century. wrote many lyrical poems, almost exclusively of love content. At the age of 18, he experienced a great psychological crisis - love for Beatrice, daughter of the Florentine Folco Portinari, a friend of his father, subsequently

married to a nobleman.

The story of his love for Beatrice Dante outlined in a small book, New Life, which brought him literary fame.

After the death of Beatrice, the poet engaged in an intensive study of theology, philosophy and astronomy, and also learned all the subtleties of medieval scholasticism. Dante became one of the most learned people of his time, but his learning was typically medieval in nature, as it was subject to theological dogmas.

Dante's political activity began very early. Barely reaching adulthood, he takes part in the military enterprises of the Florentine commune and fights on the side of the Guelphs against the Ghibellines.

In the 90s, Dante sat in city councils and carried out diplomatic missions, and in June 1300 he was elected a member of the college of six priors that ruled Florence.

After the split of the Guelph party, he joined the Whites and vigorously fought against the orientation towards the papal curia. After the Blacks were defeated by the Whites, Pope Boniface VIII intervened in their struggle, calling for help from the French prince Charles of Valois, who entered the city in November 1301 and massacred the supporters of the White party, accusing them of all kinds of crimes.

In January 1302, the blow fell on the great poet. Dante was sentenced to a heavy fine on a trumped-up charge of bribery. Fearing the worst, the poet fled from Florence, after which all his property was confiscated. Dante spent all the rest of his life in exile, wandering from city to city, he fully learned “how bitter is the bread of a stranger”, and never again saw Florence dear to his heart - “a beautiful sheepfold where he slept like a lamb”.

Life in exile significantly changed political beliefs

Dante. Full of anger against Florence, he came to the conclusion that her citizens had not yet grown up to defend their interests on their own. More and more, the poet is inclined to believe that only the imperial power can pacify and unite Italy, giving a decisive rebuff to the papal power. He pinned the hope for the implementation of this program on Emperor Henry VII, who appeared in Italy in 1310, allegedly to restore “order” and eliminate the internecine strife of Italian cities, in fact, with the aim of robbing them. But Dante saw in Henry the desired "messiah" and vigorously agitated for him, sending Latin letters in all directions.

messages. However, Henry VII died in 1313 before he could occupy Florence.

Now Dante's last hopes of returning to his homeland have collapsed. Florence crossed his name twice from the amnestied list, because she saw him as an implacable enemy. The offer made to him in 1316 to return to Florence under the condition of humiliating public repentance, Dante resolutely rejected. The poet spent the last years of his life in Ravenna with Prince Guido da Polenta, the nephew of Francesca da Rimini, whom he sang.

Here Dante worked to complete his great poem, written during the years of exile. He hoped that poetic fame would bring him an honorable return to his homeland, but did not live to see it.

Dante died on September 14, 1321 in Ravenna. He remained faithful to the end of his mission as a poet of justice. Subsequently, Florence repeatedly made attempts to regain the ashes of the great exile, but Ravenna always refused her.

Chapter 2. Dante's Divine Comedy

The title of the poem needs clarification. Dante himself called it simply “Comedy”, using this word in a purely medieval sense: in the poetics of that time, any work with a happy beginning and a sad end was called a tragedy, and any work with a sad beginning and a happy, happy end was called a comedy. Thus, the concept of "comedy" in the time of Dante did not include the installation necessarily cause laughter. As for the epithet “divine” in the title of the poem, it does not belong to Dante and was established no earlier than the 16th century, and not with the aim of denoting the religious content of the poem, but solely as an expression of its poetic perfection.

Like other works of Dante, The Divine Comedy is distinguished by an unusually clear, thoughtful composition. The poem is divided into three large parts (“canticles”), dedicated to the image of the three parts of the underworld (according to the teachings of the Catholic Church) - hell, purgatory and paradise. Each of the three canticles consists of 33 songs, and one more song (the first) is added to the first canticle, which has the character of a prologue to the entire poem.

For all the originality of Dante's artistic method, his poem has numerous medieval sources. The plot of the poem reproduces the scheme of the popular in medieval clerical literature genre of "visions" or "walking through the torment", that is, poetic stories about how a person managed to see the secrets of the afterlife.

The task of medieval “visions” was the desire to distract a person from worldly fuss, show him the sinfulness of earthly life and encourage him to turn his thoughts to the afterlife. Dante, on the other hand, uses the form of “visions” in order to most fully reflect real, earthly life; he does judgment on human crimes and vices not for the sake of

denial of earthly life as such, but with the aim of correcting it. Dante does not lead a person away from reality, but immerses a person into it.

Depicting hell, Dante showed in it a whole gallery of living people endowed with various passions. He is perhaps the first in Western European literature to make the image of human passions the subject of poetry, and in order to find full-blooded human images, he descends into the afterlife. Unlike medieval “visions”, which gave the most general, schematic representation of sinners, Dante concretizes and individualizes their images.

The afterlife is not opposed to real life, but continues it, reflecting the relationships that exist in it. In Dante's hell, as on earth, political passions rage. Sinners have conversations and disputes with Dante on contemporary political topics. Proud Ghibelline Farinata degli Uberti, punished in hell among heretics, is still full of hatred for the Guelphs and talks with Dante about politics, although he is imprisoned in a fiery grave. In general, the poet retains in the afterlife all the political passion inherent in him and, at the sight of the suffering of his enemies, bursts into abuse against them. The very idea of ​​afterlife retribution acquires political overtones in Dante. It is no coincidence that many of Dante's political enemies reside in hell, and his friends live in paradise.

Fantastic in its overall design, Dante's poem is built entirely from pieces of real life. So, when describing the torment of the covetous, thrown into boiling tar, Dante recalls the marine arsenal in Venice, where ships are caulked in melted tar (“Hell”, canto XXI). At the same time, the demons make sure that sinners do not float up, and push them with hooks into the pitch, as cooks “heat meat with forks in a cauldron.” In other cases, Dante illustrates the described torment of sinners with pictures of nature. So, for example, he compares traitors immersed in an icy lake with frogs, who

from the pond” (Ode XXXII). The punishment of crafty advisers, enclosed in fiery tongues, reminds Dante of a valley filled with fireflies on a quiet evening in Italy (Canto XXVI). The more unusual the objects and phenomena described by Dante, the more he strives to visually present them to the reader, comparing them with well-known things.

So, “Hell” is characterized by a gloomy color, thick sinister colors, among which red and black dominate. They are replaced in “Purgatory” by softer, pale and misty colors - gray-blue, greenish, golden. This is due to the appearance in purgatory of wildlife - the sea, rocks, verdant meadows and trees. Finally, in "Paradise" dazzling brilliance and transparency, radiant colors; paradise is the abode of the purest light, harmonious movement and music of the spheres.

Particularly expressive is one of the most terrible episodes of the poem - the episode with Ugolino, whom the poet meets in the ninth circle of hell, where the greatest (from Dante's point of view) crime - betrayal - is punished. Ugolino furiously gnaws the neck of his enemy, Archbishop Ruggeri, who, having unjustly accused him of treason, locked him with his sons in a tower and starved him to death.

Horrible is Ugolino's story about the torments he experienced in the terrible tower, where before his eyes his four sons died of starvation one after another, and where he, in the end, mad with hunger, attacked their corpses.

Allegorism is of great importance.

So, for example, in the first song of his poem, Dante tells how “in the middle of his life's journey” he got lost in a dense forest and was nearly torn to pieces by three terrible beasts - a lion, a she-wolf and a panther. He is led out of this forest by Virgil, whom Beatrice sent to him. The entire first song of the poem is a solid allegory. In religious and moral terms, it is interpreted as follows: a dense forest - the earthly existence of a person, full of sinful delusions, three animals - three

the main vices that destroy a person (the lion - pride, the she-wolf - greed, the panther - voluptuousness), Virgil, delivering the poet from them, is earthly wisdom (philosophy, science), Beatrice - heavenly wisdom (theology), which is subject to earthly wisdom (mind - threshold of faith). All sins entail a form of punishment that allegorically depicts the state of mind of people covered by this vice. For example, the voluptuous are condemned to forever spin in a hellish whirlwind, symbolically depicting the whirlwind of their passion. Just as symbolic are the punishments of the angry (they are immersed in a stinking swamp in which they fiercely fight each other), tyrants (they wallow in boiling blood), usurers (heavy purses hang around their necks, bending them to the ground), sorcerers and soothsayers ( their heads are turned back, since during their lifetime they boasted of the imaginary ability to know the future), hypocrites (they are wearing lead robes, gilded on top), traitors and traitors (they are subjected to various tortures with cold, symbolizing their cold heart). Purgatory and paradise are filled with the same moral allegories. According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, those sinners who are not condemned to eternal torment and can still be cleansed of their sins are in purgatory. The internal process of this cleansing is symbolized by the seven letters P (the initial letter of the Latin word peccatum, "sin"), inscribed with an angel's sword on the forehead of the poet and denoting the seven deadly sins; these letters are erased one by one as Dante goes through the circles of purgatory. Dante's guide through purgatory is still Virgil, who gives him long instructions about the mysteries of divine justice, about the free will of man, etc. Having climbed with Dante along the ledges of the rocky mountain of purgatory to the earthly paradise, Virgil leaves him, because further ascent to him, as a pagan, inaccessible.

Virgil is replaced by Beatrice, who becomes

Dante's guide through the heavenly paradise, for in order to contemplate the divine reward given to the righteous for their merits, earthly wisdom is no longer sufficient: heavenly, religious wisdom is needed - theology, personified in the image of the poet's beloved. She ascends from one celestial sphere to another, and Dante flies after her, carried away by the power of his love. His love is now cleansed of everything earthly, sinful. It becomes a symbol of virtue and religion, and its ultimate goal is the contemplation of God, who himself is "love that moves the sun and other stars."

In addition to the moral and religious meaning, many images and situations of the Divine Comedy have a political meaning: the dense forest symbolizes the anarchy that reigns in Italy and gives rise to the three above-mentioned vices. Dante carries through his entire poem the idea that earthly life is a preparation for a future eternal life. On the other hand, he reveals a passionate interest in earthly life and reconsiders from this point of view a number of church dogmas and prejudices. So, for example, outwardly identifying with the teaching of the church about the sinfulness of carnal love and placing the voluptuous in the second circle of hell, Dante internally protests against the cruel punishment that befell Francesca da Rimini, who was deceived into marrying Gianciotto Malatesta, ugly and lame, instead of his brother Paolo, whom she loved.

Dante critically revisits the ascetic ideals of the church in other respects as well. Agreeing with the church teaching about the vanity and sinfulness of striving for glory and honors, at the same time, through the mouth of Virgil, he praises the striving for glory. He extols another property of a person, just as severely condemned by the church - the inquisitiveness of the mind, the thirst for knowledge, the desire to go beyond the narrow circle of ordinary things and ideas. A striking illustration of this trend is the wonderful image of Ulysses (Odysseus), who is executed among other evil

advisers. Ulysses tells Dante about his thirst to "explore the world's far horizons." He describes his journey and thus conveys the words with which he encouraged his weary companions:

O brothers, - so I said, - into the sunset

Those who came along the difficult road,

That short period, while they still do not sleep

Earthly feelings, their remnant is meager

Give in to the comprehension of novelty,

To follow the sun to see the deserted world!

Think about whose sons you are

You were not created for animal fate,

But they were born to valor and knowledge.

("Hell," Ode XXVI.)

In the nineteenth canto of Inferno, talking about the punishment of popes who sell church positions, Dante compares them to the harlot of the Apocalypse and angrily exclaims:

Silver and gold are now God for you;

And even those who pray to the idol,

They honor one, - you honor a hundred at once.

But Dante condemned not only the greed and greed of the popes and princes of the church. He threw the same accusation against the greedy bourgeoisie of the Italian communes, in particular he reproached his Florentine compatriots for their thirst for profit, for he considered money to be the main source of evil, the main reason for the decline of morality in Italian society. Through the mouth of his ancestor, the knight of Kachchagvida, a participant in the second crusade, he paints in the XV song of Paradise a wonderful picture of ancient Florence, in which

simplicity of morals prevailed, there was no pursuit of money and the luxury and debauchery generated by it:

Florence within the ancient walls,

Where the clock still strikes terts, nones,

Sober, modest, lived without change.

This idealization of the good old days is not at all an expression of Dante's backwardness. Dante is very far from glorifying the world of feudal anarchy, violence and rudeness. But at the same time, he surprisingly sensitively discerned the basic properties of the emerging bourgeois system and recoiled from it with disgust and hatred. In this, he showed himself to be a deeply popular poet, breaking the narrow boundaries of both the feudal and bourgeois worldview.

CONCLUSION

Accepted by the people for whom it was written, Dante's poem became a kind of barometer of the Italian people's self-consciousness: interest in Dante either increased or fell according to the fluctuations of this self-consciousness. The Divine Comedy enjoyed particular success during the years of the national liberation movement of the 19th century, when Dante began to be praised as an exiled poet, a courageous fighter for the unification of Italy, who saw art as a powerful weapon in the struggle for a better future for mankind. This attitude towards Dante was also shared by Marx and Engels, who ranked him among the greatest classics of world literature. In the same way, Pushkin referred Dante's poem to the number of masterpieces of world art, in which "a vast plan is embraced by creative thought."

Dante is first and foremost a poet who still touches hearts. For us, the readers who today reveal the Comedy, what matters in Dante's poetry is poetry, not religious, ethical or political ideas. These ideas are long dead. But Dante's images live on.

Of course, if Dante had written only The Monarchy and The Feast, there would not have been a whole branch of science dedicated to his legacy. We carefully read every line of Dante's treatises, especially because they belong to the author of the Divine Comedy.

The study of Dante's worldview is essential not only for the history of Italy, but also for the history of world literature.

Bibliography:

Batkin, L. M. Dante and his time. Poet and politics / L. M. Batkin. - M. : Nauka, 1965. - 197 p.

Dante Alighieri. Divine Comedy / Dante Alighieri. - M. : Folio, 2001. - 608 p.

Dante Alighieri. Collected Works: In 2 vols. Vol. 2 / Dante Alighieri. - M. : Literature, Veche, 2001. - 608 p.

Dante, Petrarch / Translation. from Italian, foreword. and comment. E. Solonovich. - M.: Children's literature, 1983. - 207 p., ill.

History of world literature. In 9 vols. T. 3. - M .: Nauka, 1985. - 816 p.

History of foreign literature. Early Middle Ages and Renaissance / ed. Zhirmunsky V. M. - M .: State. study.-teacher. ed. Min. Enlightenment of the RSFSR, 1959. - 560 p.

Encyclopedia of literary heroes. Foreign literature. Antiquity. Middle Ages. In 2 books. Book 2. - M.: Olimp, AST, 1998. - 480 p.

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Dante Alighieri is the greatest and most famous person born in the Middle Ages. His contribution to the development of not only Italian, but also the entire world literature cannot be estimated. Today, people often look for Dante Alighieri's biography in brief. But to take such a superficial interest in the life of such a great man who made a huge contribution to the development of languages ​​is not entirely correct.

Biography of Dante Alighieri

Speaking about the life and work of Dante Alighieri, it is not enough to say that he was a poet. The area of ​​his activity was very extensive and multifaceted. He was interested not only in literature, but also in politics. Today Dante Alighieri, whose biography is filled with interesting events, is called a theologian.

Beginning of life

The biography of Dante Alighieri began in Florence. Family legend, which for a long time was the basis of the Alighieri family, said that Dante, like all his relatives, was a descendant of a great Roman family, which laid the foundation for the founding of Florence itself. Everyone considered this legend true, because the grandfather of Dante's father was in the ranks of the army that participated in the Crusade under the command of the Great Conrad the Third. It was this ancestor of Dante who was knighted, and soon died tragically during the battle against the Muslims.

It was this relative of Dante, whose name was Kachchagvida, who was married to a woman who came from a very rich and noble family - Aldigieri. Over time, the name of a well-known family began to sound a little different - "Alighieri". One of the children of Cacchagvid, who later became Dante's grandfather, often endured persecution from the lands of Florence in those years when the Guelphs constantly fought battles with the peoples of the Ghibellines.

Biography Highlights

Today you can find many sources that briefly talk about the biography and work of Dante Alighieri. However, such a study of the personality of Dante will not be entirely correct. A brief biography of Dante Alighieri will not be able to convey all those seemingly unimportant biographical elements that so strongly influenced his life.

Speaking about the date of birth of Dante Alighieri, no one can say the exact date, month and year. However, it is generally accepted that the main date of birth is the time that Bocaccio named, being a friend of Dante, - May 1265. The writer Dante himself wrote about himself that he was born under the Gemini zodiac, which suggests that the time of Alighieri's birth is the end of May - the beginning of June. What is known about his baptism is that this event took place in 1266, in March, and his name at baptism sounded like Durante.

Education Dante Alighieri

Another important fact that is mentioned in all the short biographies of Dante Alighieri was his education. The first teacher and mentor of the young and still unknown Dante was a popular writer, poet and at the same time a scientist - Brunetto Latini. It was he who laid the first poetic knowledge in the young head of Alighieri.

And today the fact remains unknown where Dante received his further education. Scientists studying history unanimously say that Dante Alighieri was very educated, knew a lot about the literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages, was well versed in various sciences, and even studied heretical teachings. Where could Dante Alighieri get such wide knowledge? In the biography of the poet, this has become another mystery that is almost impossible to solve.

For a long time scientists from all over the world tried to find the answer to this question. Many facts indicate that Dante Alighieri could have received such extensive knowledge at the university, which was located in the city of Bologna, since it was there that he lived for some time. But, since there is no direct evidence of this theory, it remains only to assume that it is so.

The first steps in creativity and tests

Like all people, the poet had friends. His closest friend was Guido Cavalcanti, who was also a poet. It was to him that Dante devoted a huge number of works and lines of his poem "New Life".

At the same time, Dante Alighieri is known as a fairly young public and political figure. In 1300 he was elected to the post of prior, but soon the poet was expelled from Florence along with his comrades. Already on his deathbed, Dante dreamed of being on his native land. However, throughout his life after his exile, he was never allowed to visit the city, which the poet considered his homeland.

Years spent in exile

The expulsion of their hometown made Dante Alighieri, whose biography and books are filled with bitterness from separation from his native land, a wanderer. At the time of such large-scale persecutions in Florence, Dante was already one of the famous lyric poets. His poem "New Life" had already been written by this time, and he himself worked hard on the creation of "Feast". Changes in the poet himself were very noticeable in his further work. Exile and long wandering left an indelible imprint on Alighieri. His great work "The Feast" was supposed to be the answer to the 14 canzones already accepted in society, but it was never completed.

Development in the literary path

It was during his exile that Alighieri wrote his most famous work, Comedy, which began to be called "divine" only years later. Alighieri's friend, Boccaccio, greatly contributed to the change of name.

There are still many legends about Dante's Divine Comedy. Boccaccio himself claimed that all three canticles were written in different cities. The last part, "Paradise", was written in Ravenna. It was Boccaccio who said that after the poet died, his children for a very long time could not find the last thirteen songs that were written by the hand of the great Dante Alighieri. This part of the "Comedy" was discovered only after one of the sons of Alighieri dreamed of the poet himself, who told where the manuscripts were. Such a beautiful legend is actually not refuted by scientists today, because there are a lot of oddities and mysteries around the personality of this creator.

The personal life of the poet

In the personal life of Dante Alighieri, everything was far from ideal. His first and last love was the Florentine girl Beatrice Portinari. Having met his love back in Florence, as a child, he did not understand his feelings for her. Meeting Beatrice nine years later, when she was already married, Dante realized how much he loved her. She became for him the love of his life, inspiration and hope for a better future. The poet was shy all his life. During his life, he spoke only twice with his beloved, but this did not become an obstacle for him in love for her. Beatrice did not understand, did not know about the feelings of the poet, she believed that he was simply arrogant, therefore he did not talk to her. This was precisely the reason that Portinari once felt a strong resentment towards Alighieri and soon stopped talking to him at all.

For the poet, this was a strong blow, because it was under the influence of the very love that he felt for Beatrice that he wrote most of his works. Dante Alighieri's poem "New Life" was created under the influence of Portinari's words of greeting, which the poet regarded as a successful attempt to attract the attention of his beloved. And Alighieri completely devoted his “Divine Comedy” to his only and unrequited love for Beatrice.

tragic loss

Alighieri's life changed a lot with the death of his beloved. Since at the age of twenty-one Bice, as the girl was affectionately called by her relatives, was married to a rich and influential man, it remains surprising that exactly three years after her marriage, Portinari died suddenly. There are two main versions of death: the first is that Bice died during a difficult childbirth, and the second is that she was very ill, which eventually led to her death.

For Alighieri, this loss was very big. For a long time without finding his place in this world, he could no longer feel sympathy for anyone. Based on the awareness of his precarious position, a few years after the loss of the woman he loved, Dante Alighieri married a very rich lady. This marriage was created solely by calculation, and the poet himself treated his wife absolutely coldly and indifferently. Despite this, in this marriage, Alighieri had three children, two of whom eventually followed the path of their father and became seriously interested in literature.

Death of a great writer

Death overtook Dante Alighieri suddenly. In 1321, at the end of the summer, Dante went to Venice to finally make peace with the famous church of St. Mark. During his return to his native land, Alighieri suddenly fell ill with malaria, which killed him. Already in September, on the night of the 13th to the 14th, Alighieri died in Ravenna, without saying goodbye to his children.

There, in Ravenna, Alighieri was buried. The famous architect Guido da Polenta wanted to build a very beautiful and rich mausoleum for Dante Alighieri, but the authorities did not allow this, because the poet spent a huge part of his life in exile.

To date, Dante Alighieri is buried in a beautiful tomb, which was built only in 1780.

The most interesting fact remains that the well-known portrait of the poet has no historical basis and authenticity. This is how Bocaccio represented him.

Dan Brown in his book "Inferno" writes a lot of biographical facts about the life of Alighieri, which are really recognized as reliable.

Many scholars believe that Beatrice's beloved was invented and created by time, that such a person never existed. However, no one can explain how, in this case, Dante and Beatrice could become a symbol of great and unhappy love, standing on the same level as Romeo and Juliet or Tristan and Isolde, no one can.

The article tells about the brief 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 winged and are used in the work 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, global changes were approaching. The poet was 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, however, not very noble and rich. The boy received a compulsory education, which, by his own admission, was insufficient. Dante was actively engaged in self-education, preferring 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 motifs are already noticeable in them that run 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. Serious passion and love arose in Dante already in his youth. Beatrice died at a young age, which was a serious blow to Dante and became his tragedy for the rest of his life. The result was the work "New Life", which was a huge success and brought great fame to the poet. The author's creation was a collection of poems with extensive commentary by the author. The artistic value of the work drew attention to the personality of Dante. Independent acquisition of knowledge led to the fact that the poet became one of the most versatile and educated people of the era. His knowledge covered a wide range of sciences, from history to astronomy. Dante was well versed in ancient art, was interested in Eastern culture and philosophy.
The poet married not for love in 1291. Family life nevertheless developed successfully: the spouses had seven children.
Respect for Dante led him to constantly hold 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 in his wanderings was accompanied everywhere by respect and honor, but this did not please the poet. He continued to yearn for Florence and took his exile hard. Dante rethinks his attitude to 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, deceit, intrigues, flattery, etc.
In exile, the poet spends a lot of time in his work. A well-known work is the scientific and philosophical treatise "Feast", the main feature of which was that it was written in Italian. This was a significant innovation, since all the 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, speaks in disputes, where acute problems are discussed. Dante preaches his humanistic views, which took shape in exile.
Since 1316 Dante has been living in Ravenna.
The greatest work of Dante, which glorified his name, was the Comedy, later called the Divine. The poet wrote it for many years and finished just before his death. A detailed description of the wandering of the soul through the afterlife immortalized the name of Dante. His "Comedy" has become a classic work, which every educated person is obliged to 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. The government of Florence, after a long time, realized that they had lost their greatest citizen. Attempts were made to return the remains to their homeland. However, until now, the ashes of Dante remain in a foreign land.