The Tumultuous Relationship Between Dante and the City of Florence

by Rachel McGinnis

Dante Alighieri, perhaps one of the greatest poets of the medieval period, was born in 1265 into an affluent Italian family.  Having nobility, ancient lineage, and a widely respected name, the only thing the Alighieri family lacked was money.  To compensate for this financial deficit, Alighieri's parents, Alighiero de Bellincione and Bella degli Abati, arranged for twelve-year-old Dante, to eventually marry Gemma di Manetto Donati, a distant relative from Corso, Italy.  Receiving a sizable dowry, Dante married Gemma as a young adult, had four children with her, studied at...