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On the 14th of September 1321
Sep. 14th, 2011 09:12 pmin Ravenna, returning from a diplomatic mission to Venice, Durante son of Alighiero of the Alighieri died, possibly of malaria.
He was born in Florence in or around 1265, was extremely active in the political landscape of the late 13th century, fought in the Guelph cavalry in the battle of Campaldino, was involved in the governement of Florence up to and including serving as a Prior (one of the member of the ruling council, here it's a lay title).
He was a political theoretician, a philosopher of science and language but first and foremost a poet. His poetry is the reason why Dante, (how he is usually know) is without doubt the greatest Italian writer and one of the world great ones.
With his Comedy, the allegorical account of a voyage through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, he raised the so called Volgare (the language of the commoners) to literary dignity, underscoring the reasons of his choice with a Latin treatise: De Vulgari Eloquentia ('about the common speech') so that it would not be seen as a 'publicity stunt', forcing the academic milieu of his age to take stock.
That's why in Italian he is known as il Sommo Poeta (the supreme poet), il Poeta, or, even more often Padre Dante (Father Dante), father of our language, father of our national sentiment, centuries before Italy became a unified nation.
When my mother was little, not a few people in our countryside where analphabets but always there was someone who knew by heart long excerpts of the Divine Comedy, stories from the Bible and stories and poems about the paladins of Charles the Great, and that was what was recited to the children in the evenings, outside (when the weather was warm) or in the stable (in winter) while the other adults sat spinning, sewing and mending.
(photo from http://dialetticon.blogspot.com/2009/07/filo.html)
He was born in Florence in or around 1265, was extremely active in the political landscape of the late 13th century, fought in the Guelph cavalry in the battle of Campaldino, was involved in the governement of Florence up to and including serving as a Prior (one of the member of the ruling council, here it's a lay title).
He was a political theoretician, a philosopher of science and language but first and foremost a poet. His poetry is the reason why Dante, (how he is usually know) is without doubt the greatest Italian writer and one of the world great ones.
With his Comedy, the allegorical account of a voyage through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, he raised the so called Volgare (the language of the commoners) to literary dignity, underscoring the reasons of his choice with a Latin treatise: De Vulgari Eloquentia ('about the common speech') so that it would not be seen as a 'publicity stunt', forcing the academic milieu of his age to take stock.
That's why in Italian he is known as il Sommo Poeta (the supreme poet), il Poeta, or, even more often Padre Dante (Father Dante), father of our language, father of our national sentiment, centuries before Italy became a unified nation.
When my mother was little, not a few people in our countryside where analphabets but always there was someone who knew by heart long excerpts of the Divine Comedy, stories from the Bible and stories and poems about the paladins of Charles the Great, and that was what was recited to the children in the evenings, outside (when the weather was warm) or in the stable (in winter) while the other adults sat spinning, sewing and mending.
(photo from http://dialetticon.blogspot.com/2009/07/filo.html)
