DANTE ALIGHIERI 



1699 



DANTON 



Dante was born in Florence, of a family 

 which probably belonged to the lower nobility, 

 and though little is known of his youth and 

 education it seems certain that he was asso- 

 ciated with the poets and learned men of his 

 time. In 1292, when he had recovered from 

 the grief into which the death of Beatrice 

 plunged him, he married Gemma Donati, who 

 bore him two sons and two daughters. Shortly 

 after his marriage he entered political life, and 

 in the Florence of those days this promised 

 anything but a peaceful life. The Guelphs (see 

 GUELPHS AND GHiBELLiNEs) , shortly afterward 



DESTROYED FOR GUN METAL, 

 This imposing bronze statue of Dante, at Trent, 

 Austria, was demolished in 1916 to furnish mate- 

 rial for the manufacture of cannon. 



split up into two rival factions known as the 

 Whites and the Blacks, and Dante allied him- 

 self with the former, the more moderate branch. 

 The BJacks, or Papal party, coming to power 

 in 1302, the leaders of the Whites were ban- 

 ished, and with them, Dante. For the rest of 

 his life he was an exile, and his history during 

 that time is semi-mythical. He visited several 

 cities, but certainly not all that have since put 

 forward claims to that honor, and in Septem- 

 ber, 1321, died at Ravenna, where he was 

 buried. 



His Great Work. Dante wrote other things 

 The New Life, mentioned above, The Ban- 

 quet and a treatise On Monarchy but his fame 

 rests on the Divine Comedy. This he called 



Comedy, in accordance with the custom of the 

 time, because it ends cheerfully, and appre- 

 ciative readers added the epithet Divine. In 

 large part, at least, it was written during his 

 exile, and shows the firm grasp and keen in- 

 sight of a mature man. It represents the poet 

 as traveling through hell and purgatory under 

 the guidance of Vergil, and through paradise 

 with the radiant, glorified Beatrice as his 

 guide. In hell, over the gate of which appear 

 the words, "All hope abandon, ye who enter 

 here," he sees the hosts of guilty souls, whose 

 sin and punishment he pictures in few words 

 but with passionate force; in purgatory there 

 are like scenes, but the gloom is not so deep, 

 as the punishments are merely temporary. 



With entrance into the earthly paradise all 

 that is sordid and evil disappears, and the 

 poet moves with Beatrice through beautiful 

 flowers, soft breezes and sweet sounds. Finally 

 he emerges into the celestial paradise, where 

 he feels himself in the presence of God, but can- 

 not see Him because of the excess of light. So, 

 in a burst of triumph, ends this greatest poem 

 which the Middle Ages produced. It has been 

 translated into many languages, Longfellow 

 having made an excellent poetical translation 

 into English, and an enormous number of books 

 have been written about it. Interest in it bids 

 fair to remain unflagging as long as men love 

 great poetry. A.MCC. 



Consult Fletcher's Dante Aliffhieri, in "Home 

 Library" Series ; Toynbee's Dante in English Lit- 

 erature. 



DANTON, dahNtoN', GEORGES JACQUES 

 (1759-1794), a French Revolutionary leader, 

 born at Arcis-sur-Aube. In 1780 he went to 

 Paris and attached himself to Mirabeau, and 

 after the latter's death, to Robespierre and 

 Marat. It was he who uttered the fierce words, 

 "To the kings, we will fling down the head of 

 a king as the gage of battle," meaning that 

 Louis should be beheaded. Danton was known 

 among* the Revolutionary leaders as terrible 

 and fearless, but later he would have joined 

 those who were striving for a republic, in order 

 to check further bloodshed. The Girondists, 

 however, would not join with him and he was 

 forced to stay with the Jacobins, which party 

 had organized the Reign of Terror, but the 

 most cruel among this party finally gained the 

 upper hand and Danton was guillotined. 



Related Subjects. The reader Is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 French Revolution Marat, Jean Paul 



Girondists Robespierre, Maximilien 



Jacobins Marie Isidore 



