Dante Alighieri

c. 1265 – 1321 · died at about 56^[1][2]

Literature

Fun Facts About Dante Alighieri

• Dante Alighieri was condemned to perpetual exile from Florence and could have been burned at the stake if he returned. In June 2008 the city council of Florence rescinded his sentence.^[1]
• Dante called his masterpiece simply the Comedìa. The word "Divine" was added later by Giovanni Boccaccio.^[1]
• Dante said he fell in love with Beatrice at first sight when he was nine and she was eight, though he never knew her well. He wrote sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned his wife in his poems.^[1]
• To further his political career, Dante joined the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries, possibly because apothecaries were also booksellers.^[1]
• Florence built Dante a tomb in 1829, but it has stayed empty. Ravenna refused Florence's requests for his remains and once hid his bones in a false wall of the monastery.^[1]
• Before he was a famous poet, Dante fought in the cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino in 1289 as a feditore, one of the soldiers responsible for the first attack.^[1]
• Dante Alighieri was alive at the same time as Thomas Aquinas — their lives overlapped for about 9 years (c. 1265–1274).^[1][2][3][4]
• Dante Alighieri and Grace Kelly died on the same day of the year, September 14.^[1][2][5][6]

Dante Alighieri, widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.^[1]

Contemporaries

Marco Polo

56 yr overlap

Mansa Musa

41 yr overlap

Kublai Khan

29 yr overlap

Ibn Battuta

17 yr overlap

Thomas Aquinas

9 yr overlap

Rumi

8 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Dante Alighieri

When was Dante Alighieri born?

Dante Alighieri was born about 1265 and died on September 14, 1321.

How old was Dante Alighieri at death?

Dante Alighieri died in 1321 at about 56 years old (c. 1265–1321).

What was Dante Alighieri known for?

Dante Alighieri was known for: Author of The Divine Comedy. Dante Alighieri, widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.

Who was alive at the same time as Dante Alighieri?

Dante Alighieri's closest contemporary was Marco Polo. Their lives overlapped for 56 years.