Chronology of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
1265 - Dante is born, probably May 29, under the sign of Gemini.
1274 - First meets, and falls in love with Beatrice Portinari, according
to the Vita nuova.
1283 - Dante's father dies. He is married shortly thereafter to Gemma
Donati, with whom he has four children (Jacopo, Pietro, Giovanni and Antonia).
1289 - Participates as a cavalryman in the battle of Campaldino.
The Guelf League (Florence and Lucca) defeats the Ghibellines ofArezzo.
Dante recalls this battle in Purgatorio.
1290 - Death of Beatrice.
1292 - Writes the Vita nuova.
1294 - Dante meets Charles Martel, King of Hungary and heir to the
kingdom of Naples and the country of Provence. Dante recounts their meeting
in Paradiso VIII.
1295 - Joins the guild of the apothecaries for the purpose of entering
public life.
1300 - Dante is prior for two months (15 June-15 August), one of
the six highest magistrates in Florence. Boniface VIII proclaims the Jubilee
Year. Fictional date (Eastertime) of the journey of the Divine Comedy.
1301 - Dante is sent to Rome as an envoy to Pope Boniface VIII, as
Charles of Valois approaches Florence.
1302 - The Black Guelfs seize power in Florence. Dante is banished
from the city for two years and forever excluded from public office. Later
in the same year his banishment is made perpetual, and he is condemned to
be burned alive if taken in the territory of the Florentine Republic.
1304 - Birth of Petrarch.
1304 - Dante writes De vulgari eloquentia, his path-breaking
history and rhetoric of vernacular literature. Of four books planned, only
the first and part of the second were written. During the same period he
writes the Convivio. Only four of a projected fifteen books of the
Convivio were completed.
1306 - Probably the year in which Dante interrupts the Convivio
and begins the Comedy.
1310 - Henry of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Emperor, descends into Italy
and Dante addresses an Epistle to him. Possible date of Dante Monarchia
(between 1310-1313).
1313 - Death of Henry. Birth of Giovanni Boccaccio.
1314 - Publication of Inferno.
1315 - Dante moves to Verona as a guest of Cangrande della Scala.
Works on Purgatorio and Paradiso, and composes the Questio
de acque et terra.
1319 - Dante moves to Ravenna, where he is the guest of Guido Novello
da Polenta, lord of that city. Latin correspondence with the humanist Giovanni
del Virgilio.
1321 - Dante falls ill on return from Venice, where he had been sent
as ambassador by Guido Da Polenta, and dies September 13 or 14.
