Short biography of dante alighieri

Search more than 3, biographies of contemporary and classic poets. His mother died when he was seven years old, and his father remarried, having two more children. At twelve years old, Dante was betrothed to Gemma di Manetto Donati, though he had already fallen in love with another girl, Beatrice Portinari, whom he continued to write about throughout his life, though his interaction with her was limited.

In his youth, Dante studied many subjects, including Tuscan poetry, painting, and music. He encountered both the Occitan poetry of the troubadours and the Latin poetry of classical antiquity, including Homer and Virgil.

Dante alighieri contributions to the renaissance

Dante later turned his attention to philosophy, which the character of Beatrice criticizes in Purgatorio. He also became a pharmacist, and, in his twenties and thirties, took an active part in local public affairs. Like most Florentines during his lifetime, Dante was affected by the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, a political division of loyalty between the Holy Roman Emperor and the papacy.

On June 11, , he fought in the ranks at the battle of Campaldino on the side of the Guelphs, helping to bring forth a reformation of the Florentine constitution. While he was in Rome, the Black Guelphs destroyed much of the city, and established a new government. Dante received word that his assets had been seized and that he was considered an absconder, having left the city.

Condemned to perpetual exile, Dante never returned to his beloved Florence.