Canto VII

Summary of Canto VII

• Sordello asked Virgil who he is (line 3)
• Virgil humbly explains who he is (line 4-
9)
• Sordello lowers his head to the Roman
poet, and asks where Virgil came
from…hell or elsewhere (lines 13-21)
• Virgil answers that he is indeed from
Hell but that God is allowing him to
move beyond Hell and into Purgatory
(lines 22-36)
Summary of Canto VII
• Virgil asks Sordello to point them to
the path that would take them most
easily to the entry to Mount
Purgatory (lines 37-39)
• Sordello decides to guide them but
not at night (lines 40-44; 52-60)
• Sordello leads them to a lush valley
from the “lap” of the mountain
where they encounter the negligent
rulers singing “Salve Regina”(67-84)
Summary of Canto VII
The Negligent Rulers

• Sordello points out the highest-

seated penitent and identifies him as
Emperor Rudolph, who is the only
one not singing (lines 91-95)
• Beside him is Ottocar, who (Sordello
says) is much better than his son,
Wenceslaus (lines 97-102)
Summary of Canto VII
The Negligent Rulers

• The “small-nosed man” nearby is Philip

III, a disgrace to France because he lost
a big battle (lines 103-106)
• Henry I (lines 104; 107-108)
• Sordello calls Phillip III and Philip IV The
Plague of France (lines 109-111)
• Then there is the duo of Charles of
Anjou, who has a “nose so manly,” and
Pedro III of Aragon (lines 112-114)
Summary of Canto VII
The Negligent Rulers
• Seated behind them is Alfonso III, Pedro
III’s youngest son, who might’ve
brought virtue to the throne had he
succeeded in gaining it. (lines 115-117)
• Only Henry III of England, “who led the
simple life,” had a worthy son (lines
130-133)
• Finally, the ruler seated lowest in the
valley is William the Marquis, whose
son brought on war between
Monferrato and Canavese (lines 134-
137)
Sins and Corresponding Punishment
• Negligence of salvation in life (The Negligent Rulers)
• They (The Negligent Rulers) must pray and wait there until they are
admitted to Purgatory proper.
• Original sin- Unbaptized infants have not yet been taken to Christ and
have not, accordingly, been cleaned of their part in Adam’s guilt
• They must share the fate of the virtuous pagans whom they resemble
in being sinless but lacking Christ’s sacrament
Characters
• Dante

• Virgil

• Sordello
Characters
The Negligent Rulers
• Emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg
• Ottocar II, King of Bohemia
• Philip III of France
• Henry of Navarre
• Pedro III of Aragon
• Charles I of Anjou
• Alfonso III of Aragon
• Henry III of England
• William VII, Marquis of Monferrato
References
• https://www.shmoop.com/purgatorio/canto-vii-summary.html
• http://www.clockworksky.net/rp_dante_purgatory.html
• https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Inferno/canto-7-summary/
• https://davidbruceblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/dantes-
purgatory-canto-7-retelling-prepurgatory-the-negligent-princes/