Dante alighieri biography florence

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 (probably in the latter part of May), in the quarter of San Martino al Vescovo. Judging from his allusions in the D. C. and from the position of their house in the heart of the city, the Alighieri would seem to have been a family of modest means.

They belonged to the Guelph party; the poet has Farinata affirm that D.'s ancestors were fierce adversaries of the Ghibellines and twice suffered exile in consequence; but no mention of his maggiori appears anywhere in the records of those struggles.

Dante alighieri biography florence

Indeed, nothing is known of any of D.'s ancestors further back than his great-great-grandfather, Cacciaguida, who (probably) was knighted by the Emperor Conrad III, as he himself relates ([Par. xv. 139-141]) [Cacciaguida:Currado_1].

D.'s father and greatgrandfather were both named Alighiero, this name being derived from Cacciaguida's wife, Aldighiera degli Aldighieri [Alighieri]. His father, who may have been a judge and a notary, married