Dante & Petrarch — Key Points

Dante Alighieri (DAHN-tay al-lih-GAIR-ee) ( 1265-1321 )

Florentine noble family; exile from Florence in 1302 due to factional conflict; lifelong hope to return, never realized.
Divine Comedy: Italian vernacular masterpiece; written between 1313 and 1321; three realms of the afterworld: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso; story of the soul's progression to salvation.
Inferno: guided by Virgil, a symbol of human reason; Virgil can lead only so far.
Purgatorio: Beatrice (Dante’s true love) represents revelation; becomes guide into Paradiso; revelation explains the mysteries of heaven.
Paradiso: Beatrice presents Dante to Saint Bernard (symbol of mystical contemplation); Bernard turns Dante over to the Virgin Mary; grace is necessary to enter the presence of God, where one beholds "the love that moves the sun and the other stars."
Summary point: Dante’s work blends reason, revelation, and grace in a journey toward divine truth.

Florentine who spent much of his life outside his native city; pivotal in the revival of the classics and a seminal figure in the Italian Renaissance.
Primary contribution to the Italian vernacular: his sonnets; regarded as one of the greatest European lyric poets.
Sonnets inspired by Laura, a married lady whom he met in 1327; while honoring an idealized medieval tradition, Laura was a real, human figure with whom he was involved for a long time.
He poured forth lamentations in sonnet after sonnet, fueling a new vernacular lyric tradition.