Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265 to a family of ancient lineage. When Dante was twelve years old, his family arranged for him to marry Gemma Donati, the daughter of a prominent Florentine family. They married in 1285, and had several children Dante’s great love and muse, however, was Beatrice. Dante met Beatrice when he was nine years old and claims to have fallen in love with her immediately. While Dante’s love for Beatrice inspired him throughout his life, it was an example of “courtly” love, conducted at a distance with little interaction. They never knew each other well.

Beatrice’s early death in 1290 was a major event in Dante’s life, and La Vita Nuova (The New Life), composed in subsequent years describes his tragic love for her. During this time, Dante immersed himself in the study of philosophy, which he recounts in Convivio (The Banquet). In this work, he names Lady Philosophy his “second love after Beatrice.”

As a young man Dante was very involved in Florentine political life, occupying several important offices. Dante supported “the Whites,” against their rivals, “the Blacks.” While Dante was on a delegation to Rome, leaders of the Blacks charged him with corruption, embezzlement, and hostility towards the pope. Dante did not return to face these charges, resulting in heavy fines and his lifelong exile from Florence.

Dante spent the remaining two decades of his life moving among Bologna, Padma, Lucca, Verona, and other Italian cities. He may also have visited Paris during this time. Free of the obligations of civic life, Dante’s exile was his most poetically fruitful period, producing his greatest poem, the Divine Comedy, and other major works.

Although Dante was no longer directly involved in Florentine civic life, his interest in politics never waned. Henry of Luxembourg’s election as King of the Romans in 1308 filled Dante with the hope that Henry VII could unite Italy and return good government to Florence. These events inspired De Monarchia. This great work of political theory argues for a world government under the Holy Roman Emperor who receives authority directly from God.

Dante’s immediate political hopes were disappointed. Henry died before he could bring peace to the peninsula, and Dante died in Ravenna, never having returned to the city of his birth. His lasting bitterness against Florence is expressed in the full title of his masterpiece: The Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Florentine by Citizenship, Not by Morals.

Eventually, Florence regretted Dante’s loss, requesting the return of his remains from Ravenna on several occasions. In 1829, a tomb was built in the Basilica of Santa Croce, inscribed with a line from Inferno’s fourth canto: “onorate l’altissimo poeta,” “honor the most exalted poet.” In 2008, 700 years after the poet’s death, the city council of Florence rescinded the charges against Dante, and apologized publicly for his exile.