Return of Dante: the Guelphs and the Ghibellines

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/return-of-dante-the-guelphs-and-the-ghibellines-850012.html

             As I was searching for a post for this week, I stumbled upon an article, which discussed the political career of Dante, which eventually contributed to his exile. The article discusses a Florentine court, which called into the issue of Dante’s exile, almost 710 years after it happened. Pope Boniface VIII exiled Dante for his political beliefs and insisted Dante to appear before a Florentine court. When Dante refused to show up before the court, he was immediately banished from the city of Florence. However, on June 19, 2008, a Florentine court reopened the case and the Florence’s cultural committee revoked the poet's exile and conferred the city's highest honor, Il Fiorino D'oro (the Golden Florin) on his heirs.

            Dario Nardella, the city's cultural commissar, stated that the committee did not completely agree with such a decision. Most of the committee members said “it was superfluous, meaningless in today's world.” Five members voted against, and many others didn't show up for the vote at all, but Dario and his fellow members won the vote, with 19 votes, to publically revoke Dante’s exile. One of the opponents, Giovanni Varrasi pointed out that Dante clearly accepted his exile, since he did not ask to be rehabilitated. Had he asked for rehabilitation in his life, one would have probably granted it. However, this does not change the fact that though much time has passed, Dante did eventually receive the revocation of his exile.

             As we learned in Inferno in canto XI with Farinata, Dante belonged to the Guelfs party, which backed the power of the pope over that of the Roman Empire. Dante, as liberal believed that the pope should not be given too much power. His rise in politics was initiated in 1300, when he was appointed the ambassador to San Gimignano. It was his bad luck that his rise in politics coincided with the rise of Pope Boniface VIII. Dante did not reject the power of the pope; he simply did not believe in Florence’s contribution in the indulgences for the church. When Boniface sent his envoy to Florence to collect the indulgences, the city of Florence, led by Dante, rebelled against the pope. When the pope called in Dante to Rome to discuss the matters, he went to Rome with two of his fellow Florentines and was held in Rome and eventually exiled.

            Overall, I found the article very interesting – as it tells us how the city of Florence feels about Dante in today’s world. The cultural committee of Florence does care about their renowned poet, almost 710 years after his exile. Canto VII introduces us to the political aspects of Florence and those of Dante, but this article further explains the political life of Dante, as was not discussed in Inferno. It gives a brief overview of Pope Boniface VIII and his interactions with Dante, which eventually led to the exile. The article also discusses the corrupt aspects of the Holy Roman Empire, and how Dante’s stance against it determined his future.