Dante Alighieri was born in the San Martino quarter of Florence.

Not much is known about his

early life, but most scholars agree that he was born sometime in May or June of 1265. He was the
son of Alighiero di Bellincione Alighieri and Bella degli Abati. Dante’s mother died when he was
just six years old.

Dante studied at the University of Bologna, one of the most famous universities in the medieval
world.
Dante was devastated upon hearing of Beatrice’s untimely death at the age of 24. Consequently, his
poetry underwent a transformation whereby he began to attribute divine-like qualities to
Beatrice. In the Divine Comedy, her love purifies and guides Dante on the virtuous path, and
without her, he would have been forever lost in the dark wood of sin. This change in style is
representative of the dolce stil novo (The Sweet New Style),a literary movement that revolutionized
fourteenth century Italian poetry and explores the themes of love and virtue.
By 1295, Dante had enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali or the guild of doctors and
apothecaries. He soon became active in several governing councils, and championed the causes of
the Bianchi Faction. On June 13, 1300, Dante received his highest honor as he was elected to serve
as one of the six priors of the commune.
The poem, The Divine Comedy, is about a journey of the author himself,
towards God. It has three parts: Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and
Paradiso (Heaven). Each part consists of thirty-three cantos. Such division
reflects the medieval theology specific to Christianity. The purpose of
Dante’s Divine Comedy was to show people the horrors their souls would go
through if they did not obey God's laws, and did not live their lives
righteously.
The work is regarded as a comedy because, in a classical context, as
opposed to a contemporary one, a comedy is a work that deals with
explaining the beliefs of an ordered universe. The Divine Comedy is
considered one of the most important pieces of world literature. Many
writers and artists were so greatly inspired by it that in turn, they have
created their own masterpieces.
 Inferno Epic poem, religious allegory,
fantasy

Early fourteenth century (probably

Dante Alighieri begun around 1308 and completed
around 1314), throughout Italy

Narrative poem 1314

Medieval Italian vernacular

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