History Essay 2
Caitlin Kottenstette
4/18/13
His 101
Lester Felid
How Dante’s Inferno reflects Dante’s political beliefs
Dante’s Inferno is not just a story of a man’s journey through Hell, although, it paints a vivid picture of what Hell might look like through Dante’s point of view. Dante wrote the Divine Comedy as almost a commentary on the religion and politics of Italy in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. In this time period in Italy, the country lacked a stable and secure government. There was political turmoil and many competing factors. Many connections can be made between the religious and political policies in Florence and the message presented in Dante’s Inferno, and how Dante’s political beliefs are presented in the poem in which he wrote.
There were two groups that prevailed in Florentine politics during the lifetime of Dante; these groups were the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The Guelphs were a nationalist party that supported the pope and were divided into two groups within called the Neri (blacks) who remained tied with the pope, and the Bianchi (whites), who were independents, and in which was the group Dante was affiliated with. The Ghibellines supported the Holy Roman Emperor, which ruled along side of the pope over a vast collection of territory in Europe. The Guelph’s represented more of working class citizens and looked to the pope for guidance since they wanted more of a say for the working class and merchant citizens within the government. The Ghibellines were made up of mostly upper class citizens and aristocracy who rebelled against the church and pope and moved their support to the Holy Roman Emperor. With religion and politics being heavily connected with each other; there was minimal differences between Dante’s political and religious views.
Dante, born in Florence in 1265, came from a family of Guelph’s and therefore shared beliefs with the Guelph party for most of his life. Growing up
4/18/13
His 101
Lester Felid
How Dante’s Inferno reflects Dante’s political beliefs
Dante’s Inferno is not just a story of a man’s journey through Hell, although, it paints a vivid picture of what Hell might look like through Dante’s point of view. Dante wrote the Divine Comedy as almost a commentary on the religion and politics of Italy in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. In this time period in Italy, the country lacked a stable and secure government. There was political turmoil and many competing factors. Many connections can be made between the religious and political policies in Florence and the message presented in Dante’s Inferno, and how Dante’s political beliefs are presented in the poem in which he wrote.
There were two groups that prevailed in Florentine politics during the lifetime of Dante; these groups were the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The Guelphs were a nationalist party that supported the pope and were divided into two groups within called the Neri (blacks) who remained tied with the pope, and the Bianchi (whites), who were independents, and in which was the group Dante was affiliated with. The Ghibellines supported the Holy Roman Emperor, which ruled along side of the pope over a vast collection of territory in Europe. The Guelph’s represented more of working class citizens and looked to the pope for guidance since they wanted more of a say for the working class and merchant citizens within the government. The Ghibellines were made up of mostly upper class citizens and aristocracy who rebelled against the church and pope and moved their support to the Holy Roman Emperor. With religion and politics being heavily connected with each other; there was minimal differences between Dante’s political and religious views.
Dante, born in Florence in 1265, came from a family of Guelph’s and therefore shared beliefs with the Guelph party for most of his life. Growing up