Dante Alighieri Timeline

(1265 - 1321)

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was an Italian poet, philosopher, and political thinker widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in world literature. Born in Florence, he is best known for his epic poem The Divine Comedy, a visionary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. His works, written in the Tuscan vernacular rather than Latin, helped establish Italian as a literary language. Dante's life was marked by political exile from Florence, his enduring love for Beatrice, and his profound influence on Western literature and culture. More Less

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Early Life and Family

Dante's family lineage traced to Cacciaguida degli Elisei

1100

Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans (Inferno, XV, 76), but the earliest relative he could mention by name was his great-great-grandfather Cacciaguida degli Elisei (Paradiso, XV, 135), born no earlier than about 1100.

Image source: Dante Alighieri

Ghibellines take over Florence at the Battle of Montaperti

1260

The Ghibellines took over Florence at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, forcing out many of the Guelphs, the faction to which Dante's family belonged. This shaped the turbulent political environment of Dante's childhood.

Image source: Battle of Montaperti

Birth of Dante Alighieri

May 1265

Dante Alighieri, most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri, was born in Florence around May 1265, though the exact date is unknown. The sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11 that year (Julian calendar).

Guelphs retake Florence at the Battle of Benevento

1266

The Guelphs fought the Ghibellines at the Battle of Benevento in 1266, retaking Florence from the Ghibellines and restoring their dominance in the city where Dante grew up.

Image source: Battle of Benevento

Guelphs retake Florence at the Battle of Benevento

Marriage to Gemma and children

1301

The exact date of Dante's marriage is not known; the only certain information is that, before his exile in 1301, he had fathered three children with Gemma: Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia.

Political Life and Exile

Dante fights at the Battle of Campaldino

Jun 11, 1289

Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry of Florence against the Arezzo Ghibellines at the Battle of Campaldino on June 11, 1289, serving as a feditore responsible for the first attack.

Image source: Battle of Campaldino

Dante joins the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries

1295

To further his political career, Dante obtained admission to the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries around 1295, a necessary step for holding public office in Florence.

Dante serves as city prior of Florence

1300

Dante served as city prior, Florence's highest position, for two months in 1300. He was later accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing by the Black Guelphs for his conduct during this term.

Charles of Valois enters Florence with the Black Guelphs

Nov 1, 1301

Charles of Valois, brother of King Philip IV of France, had been appointed peacemaker for Tuscany by the Pope. On November 1, 1301, he entered Florence with the Black Guelphs, who in the next six days destroyed much of the city and killed many of their enemies.

Image source: Charles, Count of Valois

Dante remains in Rome at the Pope's suggestion

1302

The poet was still in Rome in 1302, as the Pope, who had backed the Black Guelphs, had 'suggested' that Dante stay there, keeping him away from Florence during the coup.

Dante condemned to exile from Florence

Mar 1302

In March 1302, Dante, a White Guelph by affiliation, along with the Gherardini family, was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a large fine. He was accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing by the Black Guelphs.

Dante a guest of Moroello Malaspina in Lunigiana

1306 - 1307

In 1306–07, Dante was a guest of Moroello Malaspina in the region of Lunigiana during his years of exile from Florence.

Possible visits to Paris and Oxford

1308 - 1310

Some speculative sources claim Dante visited Paris between 1308 and 1310, and other, less trustworthy sources say he went to Oxford. These claims, first made in Giovanni Boccaccio's book on Dante several decades after his death, seem inspired by readers impressed with the poet's wide learning.

Henry VII marches into Italy

1310

In 1310, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg marched into Italy at the head of 5,000 troops, raising Dante's hopes of returning to Florence.

Image source: Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor

Dante's letter to Henry VII confirms his residence

Apr 1311

Dante's Immensa Dei dilectione testante to Henry VII of Luxembourg confirms his residence 'beneath the springs of Arno, near Tuscany' in April 1311.

Henry VII assaults Florence and defeats the Black Guelphs

1312

In 1312, Henry assaulted Florence and defeated the Black Guelphs, but there is no evidence that Dante was involved in the attack.

Death of Henry VII

1313

Henry VII died from a fever in 1313, and with him died any hope for Dante to see Florence again.

Florence grants amnesty to exiles, including Dante

1315

In 1315, Florence was forced by Uguccione della Faggiuola, the military officer controlling the town, to grant an amnesty to those in exile, including Dante.

Dante invited to stay in Ravenna by Guido II da Polenta

1318

Dante's final days were spent in Ravenna, where he had been invited to stay in the city in 1318 by its prince, Guido II da Polenta.

Literary Works

Death of Beatrice

1290

When Beatrice died in 1290, Dante sought refuge in Latin literature. His interactions with Beatrice set an example of so-called courtly love, a phenomenon developed in French and Provençal poetry of prior centuries.

Image source: Beatrice Portinari

Publication of The New Life (Vita Nuova)

1295

The New Life (1295) contains many of Dante's love poems in Tuscan, which was not unprecedented; the vernacular had been regularly used for lyric works before, all during the thirteenth century. His use of the Florentine dialect helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language.

Image source: La Vita Nuova

Writing of the Convivio

1304 - 1307

Dante wrote the Convivio around 1304–07, in which he declared that the memory of his youthful romance with Beatrice belonged to the past, though she would later return to his imagination with renewed force in the Divine Comedy.

Image source: Convivio

Francesco da Barberino notes the Divine Comedy underway

1314 - 1315

An early indication that the Divine Comedy was underway is a notice by Francesco da Barberino, tucked into his Documenti d'Amore (Lessons of Love), probably written in 1314 or early 1315.

Image source: Divine Comedy

Inferno published by 1317

1317

It is known that the Inferno had been published by 1317; this is established by quoted lines interspersed in the margins of contemporary dated records from Bologna, though it is uncertain whether the poem's parts were published in full or a few cantos at a time.

Image source: Inferno (Dante)

Death and Legacy

Death of Dante Alighieri

Sep 14, 1321

Dante died in Ravenna on September 14, 1321, aged about 56, of quartan malaria contracted while returning from a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice.

Monarchia classified as heretical

1329

In 1329, Bertrand du Pouget, Cardinal and nephew of Pope John XXII, classified Dante's Monarchia as heretical and sought to have his bones burned at the stake.

Image source: Monarchia

Boccaccio writes the first formal biography of Dante

1348

The first formal biography of Dante was the Vita di Dante (also known as Trattatello in laude di Dante), written after 1348 by Giovanni Boccaccio.

Bernardo Bembo erects a tomb for Dante

1483

Bernardo Bembo, praetor of Venice, erected a tomb for Dante in 1483. A copy of Dante's death mask, probably carved in 1483 perhaps by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo, has been displayed since 1911 in the Palazzo Vecchio.

16th-century Protestants hail Dante as proto-Protestant

1500 - 1600

Some 16th-century English Protestants, such as John Bale and John Foxe, argued that Dante was a proto-Protestant because of his opposition to the pope.

The 19th-century 'Dante revival'

1800 - 1900

The 19th century saw a 'Dante revival', a product of the medieval revival, which was itself an important aspect of Romanticism. Throughout the century, Dante's reputation grew and solidified.

Thomas Carlyle profiles Dante as 'The Hero as Poet'

1841

Thomas Carlyle profiled Dante in 'The Hero as Poet', the third lecture in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History (1841), declaring: 'Dante is the spokesman of the Middle Ages; the Thought they lived by stands here, in everlasting music.' Leigh Hunt, Henry Francis Cary and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were among Dante's translators of the era.

Image source: On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History

600th anniversary of Dante's birth

1865

By 1865, the 600th anniversary of Dante's birth, he had become established as one of the greatest literary icons of the Western world.

Henry Clark Barlow bequeaths Dante collection to Princeton

1876

Princeton University Library holds 160 volumes of Dante's works and books about his life, including two 15th-century editions of the Divine Comedy. The collection was bequeathed to the university by the scholar Henry Clark Barlow in 1876.

Italian battleship Dante Alighieri completed

1913

Italy's first dreadnought battleship was completed in 1913 and named Dante Alighieri in honor of the poet.

Image source: Italian battleship Dante Alighieri

Pope Benedict XV promulgates In praeclara summorum

Apr 30, 1921

On April 30, 1921, in honor of the 600th anniversary of Dante's death, Pope Benedict XV promulgated the encyclical In praeclara summorum, naming Dante the 'pride and glory of humanity' and highlighting the philosophical and theological debt of Dante to Thomas Aquinas and thomism.

Image source: In praeclara summorum

Dante's House Museum opens in Florence

1965

Dante's House Museum in Florence, Italy opened in Dante's residence in 1965 and was refurbished in 2020.

Image source: Dante Alighieri

Pope Paul VI promulgates Altissimi cantus

Dec 7, 1965

On December 7, 1965, Pope Paul VI promulgated the Latin motu proprio titled Altissimi cantus, which was dedicated to Dante's figure and poetry.

Reconstruction of Dante's face

2007

In 2007, a reconstruction of Dante's face was undertaken in a collaborative project.

Florence officially apologizes for expelling Dante

2008

In June 2008, nearly seven centuries after Dante's death, the city council of Florence passed a motion rescinding his sentence, and the Municipality of Florence officially apologized for expelling Dante 700 years earlier.

750th anniversary of Dante's birth celebrated

2015

A celebration was held in 2015 at Italy's Senate of the Republic for the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth.

Pope Francis blesses a cross dedicated to Dante

Oct 2020

A cross dedicated to Dante was blessed by Pope Francis in October 2020.

Symbolic re-trial posthumously clears Dante's name

May 2021

In May 2021, a symbolic re-trial was held virtually in Florence to posthumously clear Dante's name, seven centuries after his exile.

Key Facts

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 and is often called 'the Father of the Italian language' for choosing to write in the Tuscan vernacular instead of Latin.
His masterpiece, The Divine Comedy (completed around 1320), describes an allegorical journey through Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise).
Dante fell in love with Beatrice Portinari, who appears as his guide in Paradise; she served as his muse despite their limited real-life contact.
In 1302, Dante was exiled from Florence due to political conflicts between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions, and he never returned to his native city.
Dante died in Ravenna in 1321 from malaria shortly after completing his philosophical work Paradiso; Ravenna still holds his tomb today.

Source

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