Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet whose narrative poem the "Divine Comedy," describing an imagined journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, is regarded as one of the greatest works of world literature and the founding masterpiece of Italian-language literature. Exiled from his native Florence in 1302 amid the city's factional political conflicts, a sentence of death he never escaped, he wrote the "Divine Comedy" during his years of exile, populating its afterlife with historical and contemporary figures, including several of his own political enemies. His decision to write in Tuscan vernacular Italian rather than Latin helped establish Tuscan as the basis of standard modern Italian and demonstrated that a vernacular language could carry the highest literary ambitions. Dante died in Ravenna in 1321, having never returned to Florence.
Facts
Birth YearThe source gives only c. May 1265, no exact day; no birth-date fact is written to avoid inventing a day. RoleItalian poet, writer, and philosopher 1 Role
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Why was Dante exiled from Florence?
He was condemned in 1302 after the Blacks took control of Florence while he was away in Rome.
Dante was exiled because of a political struggle in Florence. Pope Boniface VIII detained him in Rome, which gave the Blacks in Florence time to take control and issue decrees of condemnation against Dante and others. He was first condemned to pay a large fine. Because he did not return to Florence to make the payment, he was then condemned in 1302 to be burned alive should he ever come under the power of the commune.
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Source Wikipedia: Dante Alighieri
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Dante Alighieri
Wikipediainfobox: Born
Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri c. May 1265 Florence
infobox: Died
September 14, 1321 (aged c. 56) Ravenna, Papal States
opening sentence
Dante Alighieri (Italian: [ˈdante aliˈɡjɛːri]; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; c. May 1265 - September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher.
Dante Alighieri: Gender
Exiled from his native Florence in 1302 amid the city's factional political conflicts, a sentence of death he never escaped, he wrote the "Divine Comedy" during his years of exile, populating its afterlife with historical and contemporary figures, including several of his own political enemies.
In Era: The Post-Classical and Medieval Period, lead paragraph, lifespan
Infobox: born c. May 1265|; died 1321-09-14
View the Source Wikidata: Dante Alighieri
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