Dante Alighieri (Italian: Dante Alighieri, 1265-September 14, 1321), an Italian poet in the Middle Ages, the founder of modern Italian, and the pioneer of the European Renaissance, is famous for his epic "Divine Comedy". In Italy, he was called il Sommo Poeta (the supreme poet) and il Poeta (the father of Italian).
Dante is the greatest poet in Europe and one of the greatest writers in the world. Engels commented: "The end of the feudal Middle Ages and the beginning of the era of modern capitalism are marked by a great man, who is Italian Dante, who is the last poet in the Middle Ages and the first poet in the new era". [1]
Dante, Petrac and Boccaccio are the pioneers of the Renaissance, known as the "three giants of the Renaissance", also known as the "three heroes of the literary world".

Early deeds
Full body of Dante
Full body of Dante
In late May 1265, he was born in Florence and claimed to be a Miao descendant of the ancient Romans. He was born in the city of a small aristocrat. His great grandfather, Cachagueda, accompanied the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III to participate in the Second Crusade (1147~1149). He was named a knight and died in the Holy Land. Grandmother Gao is from the Po River valley. Her surname, Aligieri, later became the surname of the family.
Dante was eager to learn and ponder when he was young. He learned the basic knowledge of Latin, logic and rhetoric in school. Later, he studied rhetoric with the famous scholar Bruneto Latini, including the art of public speaking and writing Latin letters, which is necessary for holding public office and participating in political activities. More importantly, through self-study, he was exposed to the works of Latin poets, the French knight legend and the Provence lyric poems. At the age of 18, he had learned to write poetry. At that time, Florence was the center of the "gentle new style" poetry school founded by the Bologna poet Guido Guinezeli. Dante and some of the poets of this poetic school exchanged gifts and formed a deep friendship with Guido Cavalcanti, the leader of the poetic school. The first poem Dante gave to Cavalcanti and other poets is a sonnet that expresses his love for Beatrice. Dante's love for Beatrice is spiritual and mysterious. After her death, Dante combined his love for her and other related poems in prose, which was his first literary work, named "New Life".
The love for Beatrice is one of Dante's profound life experiences as a poet. After her death, Dante devoted himself to studying philosophy in order to find spiritual sustenance. First, I read Boezius's "On the Comfort of Philosophy", then Cicero's "On Friendship" and other philosophical works and Seneca's "Moral Dialogue". In addition to the required reading of the Christian Bible, he also extensively read the works of the scholarly philosophers Albertus, Thomas Aquinas and the Arab philosopher Averoi. Then, we can see Aristotle from Thomas Aquinas. At the same time, he also read Horace's The Art of Poetry and Virgil, Ovid and Lucanus. He read widely and mastered extensive knowledge in the field of medieval culture, which provided favorable conditions for later creation.
political life
In June 1289, he participated in the battle of Campaldino, and in August of the same year, he also participated in the battle of Florence's capture of the castle of Capona in Pisa. Since 1295, he has actively participated in political activities and contributed to his hometown Florence.
In 1266, after the Guelph Party finally defeated the Gibering Party, the internal struggle in Florence was still fierce. In 1293, the guild democratic regime was established. The executive organ was composed of six executives, with a term of two months, and was re-elected at the end of the term. It represented the ruling class, namely, the seven guilds of wool merchants, silk merchants, wool farmers, fur merchants, silver merchants, lawyers, doctors and pharmacists, known as "fat men". The guild democratic regime does not allow nobles to serve as administrators. According to the "Law of Justice" revised in 1295, the nobles who are not rich can hold public office as long as they join a guild. Dante joined the guild of doctors and pharmacists in order to participate in political activities. From November 1285 to April 1286, he was a member of the special meeting of the people's leaders. From May to September 1296, he was a member of the Hundred People's Congress (municipal council). In May 1300, he served as a special envoy and invited San Gimigiano to participate in the joint meeting of the Tos Cona Guelph party city. He was then elected Administrator for a term of office from 15 June to 15 August 1300.
Dante's Tomb
Dante's Tomb
At that time, the party of Florence Saguerre had split into black and white parties. In addition to family hatred and class conflicts, the struggle between the black and white parties is also mixed with personal hatred, personal ambition, greed and other factors. The situation is extremely complex. The internal strife in Florence was also intensified by external interference. Pope Bonifacius VIII, on the pretext that the Holy Roman Emperor had not yet been crowned, tried to exercise the power of the emperor and put the whole territory of Toscona under his own control.
When Dante served as an administrator, he put the interests of the Republic first. When there was a bloody conflict between the black and white parties, he handled the incident impartially and suggested that the government should exile the leaders of the two parties to the border, including his friend, the leader of the white party Guido Cavalcanti. During his tenure, he resisted the pressure of the Holy See and defeated the intrigue of the Pope's envoys. The strong attitude of the Florentine government infuriated the Pope. He ordered the incumbent administrator to be expelled from the church. Because the papal envoy had not been executed, Dante was not punished until his term of office had expired.
After leaving the post of administrator, he continued to participate in the political struggle. In March 1301, at the advisory meeting, he objected to allocating funds to King Charles II of Naples, who colluded with the Pope, so that he could reconquer Sicily. From April 1 to September 30 of the same year, he was a member of the 100-member conference again; At the two meetings on June 19, Dante opposed supporting the papal expansion. At the same time, the mafia tried to gain power through the power of the Pope. Dante was forced by the situation and had to close to the white party, which was more moderate and concerned about the future of the Republic. The White Party sent Dante and two other representatives to Rome to save the situation. During this period, the mafia, supported by the power of the Pope, seized the political power and persecuted the opposition parties. On January 27, 1302, Dante was sentenced to a fine of 5000 small Florins for embezzlement of public funds, opposition to the Pope and Charlie, and disturbance of the peace of the Republic. He was exiled outside Tosconna for two years, and was never allowed to hold public office. Dante refused to admit the charges imposed. He was sentenced to permanent exile on March 10 of the same year for failing to pay a fine and returning to his hometown to plead guilty.

Exile career
In order to maintain the independence of the Republic, he "considered it an honor to be exiled". At first, he tried to fight back home with the exiles of the White Party, but soon he left his "evil and stupid partner". He first went to the court of Verona's feudal lord Bartolomeo Drascara. During his long wandering, he lamented that he had to "as a traveller, almost begging, go around almost all the places where this language is spoken". The bitterness of the exile made him miss his hometown more and care about the fate of his family. According to the law, his sons who have reached the age of 14 will be exiled like him. He intends to write works of academic level to restore and improve the reputation damaged by poverty and exile, so as to realize the desire to return to his hometown. To this end, he wrote two works between 1304 and 1307.
During his exile, he saw the magnificent rivers and mountains of his motherland, contacted all social strata, enriched his life experience, deepened his patriotic ideology, and expanded his vision from Florence to the whole country of Italy and the whole Christian world. Realizing that he was responsible for exposing the reality, arousing the people's hearts and pointing out the historical mission of political and moral revival to Italy, he interrupted the writing of "On the Common sayings" and "Feast" and began to write "Divine Comedy" in about 1307.
Henry VII, who was newly elected in 1310, came down to Italy to be crowned, claiming to eliminate disputes between various cities and parties, so that all exiles could return to their hometown and achieve lasting peace. Dante, full of hope, wrote a letter to the Italian princes and people, calling on them to show their love and welcome to the emperor. But Florence joined forces with the princes of the Guelph Party to fight against Henry VII. To this end, on March 31, 1311, Ding Ding wrote a book to the "atrocious Florentines", angrily denounced their crimes, and then wrote a letter to the emperor on April 16, urging him to march into the expedition as soon as possible.
Henry VII died of illness in 1313. Dante was disappointed and still believed that there would be someone who could set things right. In 1311, Florence granted amnesty to the exiles, but he was not among them. In May 1315, in a letter to a friend, he resolutely refused to return to his hometown under the humiliating conditions of paying a fine and publicly pleading guilty. In November of the same year, the Florence government sentenced him to death together with his sons (who were convicted according to the descendants of the rebels). In the Cassentino region, he wrote a letter denouncing the Florence government. Shortly after the death of Henry VII, he went to the court of Verona's feudal lord, Camprand Drascara, and received preferential treatment. Later, Dante dedicated several chapters of the Divine Comedy - The Heavenly Kingdom to him, and attached a Latin letter explaining the theme, purpose and four meanings of the whole book. After the death of Pope Clement VII in 1314, Dante wrote to Italy's cardinal bishops urging them to choose Italians as popes and move the Holy See back to Rome from Avignon to get rid of the control of the French king. Finally, he accepted the invitation of Guido Novello da Polenta and settled in Ravena. During his stay in Verona and Ravena, he mainly devoted himself to the writing of Divine Comedy. As soon as the manuscript was finished, he was entrusted by Guido Novello to negotiate in Venice. Unfortunately, he contracted malaria and died on September 14, 1321, shortly after returning to Ravena.

New Life
Dante in Florence Cathedral
Dante in Florence Cathedral
"New Life" is Dante's love work for Beatrizzi, including 31 lyric poems, which are connected in prose and explain the origin and significance of each poem. In the book, Dante first met Beatrice when she was 9 years old, and her image was like a "young angel". When she reappeared in front of him nine years later, love dominated his heart. He was afraid that others would see his love for her, pretended to love some other women, and wrote poems to express his love for them. Beyatri ignored him. At first, he was immersed in a sad mood. Later, with spiritual love, he concentrated on writing poems to praise her and regarded her as an angel sent by God to save his soul. After her death, Dante was heartbroken. He was moved by the pity of a "young and beautiful" noble woman, and a new love was born. But the image of Beyatriazi reappeared in his memory, and he felt ashamed and regretful. Finally, after experiencing some "magical dreams", he "decided not to talk about the person who enjoys the bliss of heaven until he is more worthy to talk about her". At that time, about her to "talk about what people have never said about any woman", this is the end of the book.
The poems in the book are from 1283 to 1292. The original poems followed the style of Guitone Darezzo and were stiff and rough. Later poems, influenced by Guido Cavalcanti, described love as a fierce and terrible force. The disadvantage of these works is that they lack internal passion. In the poem eulogizing Beatrizzi, Dante describes her as an angel in the way of Guido Guiezelli, full of spiritual beauty and noble moral power. These poems have religious mysticism, and their artistic style is more fresh and natural than that of Guinezeli, which is the highest achievement of the "gentle new style" poetry school.
The prose part is also adapted to poetry, full of lyrical charm, simple and pure language, concise and fluent writing, which is unparalleled in Italian prose in the 13th century. The formation of prose style is influenced by Latin, especially by the Bible.
New Life also has significance and value in the history of literature: it clearly shows the love and artistic views of the "gentle new style" poetic school; As a work of memoirs and confessions, it also has a certain origin with French knight legends and Provence knight lyrics.
In addition to Divine Comedy, New Life is Dante's most important literary work.
Collection of Poems
Dante's poems eulogizing Beatrizzi and expressing his love for other women, as well as some poems given by other poets, as well as some allegorical and moral poems, are scattered in the transcripts of ancient Italian poems. It is difficult to verify the authenticity and age of the poems. There are more than one hundred poems that are determined to be Dante's works. The love poems not included in "New Life" can be used as supplementary materials to "New Life", understand Dante's spiritual life in his youth, and see some other features of his lyric poems. The poems presented by Guido Cavalcanti and other poets, especially the poems presented by Guido Cavalcanti, are helpful to understand the ideal of the "gentle new style" poetic school for life and art, and the position of poetry in the life of Florence in the 13th century.
The theme of Dante's allegorical poems is to eulogize "philosophy". First of all, "philosophy" is described as a gentle woman, who comforts the poet's sad soul after the death of Beatrice; Later, she was described as a frosty woman to symbolize the difficulties encountered in the process of learning philosophy. Moral poetry eulogizes virtue and regards virtue as the external expression of the beauty of philosophy itself. These poems set the precedent for the philosophical part of Divine Comedy.
There are also four unique so-called "stone poems" in the Book of Songs, which describe the love for a cold and charming woman named Pietra (that is, stone). This love is no longer a tender love, but a strong passion. In order to express this new content, Ding imitated the Provencal poets, especially Arnault Daniel, who used complicated and complicated rules. Some people think that what is written in the poem is true love, some people think it is purely allegorical, and some people think it is a new exploration and attempt in poetics. There are also arguments about the year of writing, but it can almost be determined as the exile of previous works. In terms of art, these four poems are bold and vigorous in style. They are unique in expressing strong passion and describing natural scenery, marking the end of the "tender new style" period of Dante's poetry creation.
After exile, Dante gradually changed from a poet who wrote about love to a "singer of justice". The most representative work is the allegorical and moral poem "Three Women Come to My Heart". In the poem, justice and other virtues are abandoned by the world, but are always respected by kind-hearted people. The poet realizes that justice and virtue are in his own right, so he feels it is glorious to be exiled, but at the same time he feels the pain of being away from his hometown. This psychological state was later reflected many times in Divine Comedy, and the style of the poem also bears some characteristics of Divine Comedy.
Feast
Feast is an encyclopedia. The author used Quan to interpret some of his poems and introduced various aspects of knowledge to the readers in a popular way as spiritual food, hence the name "Feast". It was originally planned to write 15 papers, the first as the introduction of the book, and the remaining 14 interpreted 14 poems, but only 4 were completed.
The Feast shows Dante's profound knowledge and unique insights. What is noteworthy is the view of "nobility" in the book. Dante believes that "nobility" lies in the personal nature of loving virtue, not in the family status, and criticizes the feudal hierarchy and the idea of privilege.
The great significance of Feast is to emphasize rationality, pointing out that "without rationality, people will no longer be human beings, but only sentient things, that is, animals"; It is reason that makes people noble and close to God. This view shows the dawn of humanism.
Due to the limitations of the times, the discussion and reasoning of "Feast" is completely the way of scholarly philosophy, but it is the first academic work written in colloquialism in Italy, setting a brilliant example for later scholars. The book also praises the Italian proverb and expresses his love for the language of the motherland.
On the Common sayings
The Analects is the earliest work written in Latin on Italian and its style and rhyme. The book clarifies the advantages of colloquialism and the necessity of forming standard Italian, which is of great significance for solving the national language and literary language of Italy. From the book, we can see the theoretical basis for Dante to write Divine Comedy in Italian.
The book was originally planned to be written in at least four volumes, but only in chapter 14 of volume 2. In the book, starting from the origin and history of language, the views on problems are often biased in the Middle Ages. When talking about Italian, according to the characteristics of local dialects, the national dialects are divided into 14 types. This was commendable at that time and worthy of being one of the pioneers of modern linguistics.
The book focuses on solving the problem of Italian national language and literary language. He believed that only the language of Guido Cavalcanti, himself and other excellent writers could be used as standard language and literary language. This argument emphasizes the role of writers in the formation of national language and has far-reaching significance.
On Imperial System
The Imperial Theory is a Latin work that systematically expounds his political views in the way of scholastic reasoning, with the color of utopianism. The book has three volumes. Volume 1 demonstrates the necessity of empire. The second volume demonstrates that the right to establish an empire is destined to the Romans. Volume 3 points out that only human beings have both the perishable part (body) and the immortal part (soul), so life has two purposes: one is to enjoy the happiness of life in this world, and the other is to enjoy the eternal happiness of heaven in the next life. Heaven stipulates that two authorities should guide human beings to achieve these two different purposes: the emperor guided human beings to the path of happiness in the world according to philosophy; According to the truth of revelation, the Pope guided mankind on the way to enjoy the blessings of heaven in the afterlife. These two authorities are directly under the command of heaven and exist independently of each other. As a pioneer of humanism, Dante first affirmed that life in this world has its own value and does not belong to the religious purpose of eternal life in the afterlife. Taking this as the starting point, it is of great significance to clarify the view that the Pope has no right to interfere in politics because of the separation of politics and religion, and to challenge theocracy.
Divine Comedy
Divine Comedy "Heaven" Chapter
Divine Comedy "Heaven" Chapter
It is difficult to determine the specific year of writing Divine Comedy. According to textual research, it began around 1307, "Hell" and "Purgatory" were written around 1313, and "Heaven" was completed shortly before death. Before the release of "The Kingdom of Heaven", the first two articles had been copied. The original manuscript of Divine Comedy has been lost. There are many differences in the text of various transcripts, and the proofread version of the Italian Dante Society is generally used.
Divine Comedy takes the form of medieval fantasy literature. In the poem, Dante "found himself wandering in the forest because of losing his way in the middle of his life journey (1300 years)", and was stopped by three wild animals (leopard, lion and wolf) when he began to climb the mountain. At the critical moment, Virgil, the ancient Roman poet, appeared. He was entrusted to rescue Dante and guide him through hell and purgatory, and then he was guided to travel through heaven. Like many ancient Chinese literary works, the plot of the book is full of allegorical meanings and causes many disputes in interpretation, but the theme of the work is quite clear: in the era of the alternation of the old and the new, individuals and human beings have gone through suffering and testing from confusion and mistakes to reach the realm of truth and the best. Centering on this central idea, "Divine Comedy" widely reflects the reality, gives an artistic summary of the ancient culture, and also shows the dawn of the Renaissance humanism.