DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36582#0657
146
THE DORti GALLERY.
“ Were all my wish fulfill’d,
Thou from the confines of man’s nature yet
Hadst not been driven forth; for in my mind
Is fix’d, and now strikes full upon my heart,
The dear, benign, paternal image, such
As thine was, when so lately thou didst teach me
The way for man to win eternity:
And how I prized the lesson, it behoves
That long as life endures my tongue should speak.”
Inferno, Canto XV, lines 79—87.
In describing Plate CIX. of this series, we have remarked on the cruelty of Dante’s
putting his old preceptor and friend into the hopeless agonies of Tartarus, because of
accusations which may or may not have been true, and which, at any rate, the tenor
of his writings rather induces one to disbelieve.
Under this learned instructor Dante acquired a large amount of book-knowledge; and
this he afterwards increased by studying at the universities of Bologna, Padua, Florence, Paris,
and perhaps Oxford, giving special attention to natural and moral philosophy and theology.
But he did not neglect the martial exercises common to youths of good family in those
ages, though it is said he temporarily entered the order of the Frati Minori. When
a young man of twenty-four—that is to say, in 1289—he was present at the battle of
Campaldino. This was one of the numerous contests arising out of the dissensions of
the Guelphs and Ghibellines, two parties into which the Italians were divided for a very
long period. The Ghibellines were the adherents of the Emperor; the Guelphs, the
partisans of the Pope. Both names are held to be of German origin ; but a good deal
of obscurity involves the beginning and final extinction of these factions. At the date of
the battle of Campaldino, the Florentines were, for the most part, followers of the Guelph
or Papal interest. Their opponents were the people of Arezzo, who, after a severe
struggle, were totally defeated. Dante was also engaged in a battle (fought the following
year) between the Florentines and Pisans, in which the former were again victorious. In
his earlier years, the poet seems to have been an unquestioning adherent of the Pope;
but circumstances occurred to change his views, and to modify the whole course of his
life. A family quarrel among the people of Pistoia spread to the Florentines. The parties
to the quarrel were known respectively as the Neri and Bianchi, the former of whom were
generally supporters of the Guelphs, and the latter of the Ghibellines. Dante was at
that time chief of the Priors, a body exercising supreme authority in the Republic ; and
it was decided by this body, at the instigation of the poet, that the leaders of the two
factions should be banished from the city. This was in the summer of 1300., It is held
by the biographers of Dante that he exhibited great impartiality in the affair; but he was
accused by the Neri of favouring their opponents, and the charge received some colour of
probability from the fact that shortly afterwards the Bianchi were allowed to return from
THE DORti GALLERY.
“ Were all my wish fulfill’d,
Thou from the confines of man’s nature yet
Hadst not been driven forth; for in my mind
Is fix’d, and now strikes full upon my heart,
The dear, benign, paternal image, such
As thine was, when so lately thou didst teach me
The way for man to win eternity:
And how I prized the lesson, it behoves
That long as life endures my tongue should speak.”
Inferno, Canto XV, lines 79—87.
In describing Plate CIX. of this series, we have remarked on the cruelty of Dante’s
putting his old preceptor and friend into the hopeless agonies of Tartarus, because of
accusations which may or may not have been true, and which, at any rate, the tenor
of his writings rather induces one to disbelieve.
Under this learned instructor Dante acquired a large amount of book-knowledge; and
this he afterwards increased by studying at the universities of Bologna, Padua, Florence, Paris,
and perhaps Oxford, giving special attention to natural and moral philosophy and theology.
But he did not neglect the martial exercises common to youths of good family in those
ages, though it is said he temporarily entered the order of the Frati Minori. When
a young man of twenty-four—that is to say, in 1289—he was present at the battle of
Campaldino. This was one of the numerous contests arising out of the dissensions of
the Guelphs and Ghibellines, two parties into which the Italians were divided for a very
long period. The Ghibellines were the adherents of the Emperor; the Guelphs, the
partisans of the Pope. Both names are held to be of German origin ; but a good deal
of obscurity involves the beginning and final extinction of these factions. At the date of
the battle of Campaldino, the Florentines were, for the most part, followers of the Guelph
or Papal interest. Their opponents were the people of Arezzo, who, after a severe
struggle, were totally defeated. Dante was also engaged in a battle (fought the following
year) between the Florentines and Pisans, in which the former were again victorious. In
his earlier years, the poet seems to have been an unquestioning adherent of the Pope;
but circumstances occurred to change his views, and to modify the whole course of his
life. A family quarrel among the people of Pistoia spread to the Florentines. The parties
to the quarrel were known respectively as the Neri and Bianchi, the former of whom were
generally supporters of the Guelphs, and the latter of the Ghibellines. Dante was at
that time chief of the Priors, a body exercising supreme authority in the Republic ; and
it was decided by this body, at the instigation of the poet, that the leaders of the two
factions should be banished from the city. This was in the summer of 1300., It is held
by the biographers of Dante that he exhibited great impartiality in the affair; but he was
accused by the Neri of favouring their opponents, and the charge received some colour of
probability from the fact that shortly afterwards the Bianchi were allowed to return from