Dante Alighieri: Poet & Prior
On June 15, 1300, Italian Renaissance poet Dante Alighieri was named a prior of Florence. Exiled from Florence in 1302, he then wrote The Divine Comedy.
On June 15, 1300, Italian poet Dante Alighieri was named one of the priors of Florence. Exiled from Florence in 1302, he then wrote The Divine Comedy.
A native of Florence, Dante was known for writing in the vernacular Italian language rather than traditional Latin.
Dante was known for his love for Beatrice Portinari, a woman he met before he entered his teens. If Beatrice knew of Dante, she did return his ardor, and Dante married another woman in 1285. His greatest love poems were written for Beatrice, however, not his wife.
Dante's Divine Comedy--a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven--provided the modern world with some prevailing concepts.
Dante's quote relating to Hell, "Leave hope, ye who enter...", is still a part of modern lexicon. His descriptions of the horrors of Hades and Lucifer are still widely used.
From his love poetry to The Divine Comedy, Dante is considered by many as the greatest medieval poet of Western Europe.
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