Standing there with his famed ancestor, Dante admits that he took pride in his lineage. Using the formal form of “you” in Italian, he asks his great-great-grandfather to tell him about the old Florence he lived in and its citizens. In equally formal language, Cacciaguida obliges with a long and somewhat bittersweet retrospective, contrasting the old city’s great citizens with their present-day descendants who have lost their original nobility.
(To read a footnote, click the number in the text. To come back from a footnote, click the up arrow at the note number.)
To take pride in one’s noble blood is really a trivial thing! But I have to admit that it won’t surprise me in the future that we glory in our lineage here on earth. Here our appetites lead us astray, but in Heaven they are always rightly ordered. Yet even there I took glory in my blood! Nevertheless, noble blood is like a garment that quickly shrinks. Unless we nurture it continually, time will simply trim it all away.[1]Dante’s candor here is refreshing, and yet we can excuse him because the experiences of the last canto, especially meeting Cacciaguida, his great-great-grandfather, have overwhelmed him. … Continue reading
When I spoke again with my glorious ancestor I used the formal “voi” out of respect – a form first used by the Romans but used less often today. Beatrice, standing nearby, smiled when she heard me do this, and it reminded me of Guinevere’s maid who coughed when her mistress began to fall into temptation.[2]Dante has noted his use of the voi form of address several times in his Poem. In Italian, voi is/was the second person plural. And, as he points out, it was used as the respectful form of address to … Continue reading
“You are my father indeed,” I began. “You empower me to speak with boldness, and you raise me to such heights that I am more than I! My soul flows with joy and rejoices that it can still endure such happiness.[3]Dante now gives his enthusiastic affection for Cacciaguida free rein – so much so that he becomes “more than himself” in the presence of his great-great-grandfather. This is a wonderful idea … Continue reading But tell me now, O beloved source of my life, about your own ancestors. Who were they? What important events happened when you were young? Tell me about your Florence – the Baptist’s sheepfold, how many citizens it had, and who were the worthiest among them?”[4]Having shown his great affection for Cacciaguida, Dante moves quite naturally to find out, through four questions, what life was like for Cacciaguida “back in the old days”: (1) who were … Continue reading
Just as hot coals will burst into flame with a quick puff of air, so the light of my ancestor glowed brightly when he heard my many questions. And as he shone more brilliantly he began to speak with even more refinement, sweeter to the ear than our Florentine.[5]Even before speaking, Cacciaguida shows his willingness to answer Dante’s questions by flaming up brightly like a red coal when blown on. Cleverly, having asked Cacciaguida about Florence in the … Continue reading “From that day when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary with ‘Ave’ to the day my sainted mother gave birth to me, this red star has returned to its place within the constellation of Leo five hundred and eighty times.[6]Dante is being astronomical again. The day when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, announcing that she would be the mother of Jesus, is also known as the Annunciation, and is celebrated in the Church on … Continue reading The house of my family stood in the last district of old Florence – the first district reached by those who raced their horses in the annual games.[7]This “last district of old Florence” was known as the Porta San Piero. Cacciaguida’s people lived in this section which, nowadays, is near the heart of the city. At that time, it was most … Continue reading As for my own ancestors, I would rather leave their names unspoken than boast about them.[8]What appears as a rather curt statement is really an example of Cacciaguida following in the spirit of Dante’s aphorism about nobility, and setting a good example for his great-great grandson. He … Continue reading
“Within the confines of our walls, the population of those able to bear arms was only one-fifth of those who live there today.[9]Because of the vague way that Cacciaguida answers Dante’s third question here (about the population of Florence), estimates vary widely among commentators and historians relative to both the … Continue reading In my day, the bloodlines were pure down to the lowly artisan, whereas nowadays, your population is mixed with those who came there from nearby Campi, Certaldo, and Figline.[10]John Ciardi remarks in his commentary that “Dante is seldom temperate in his views of outsiders.” That is evident here and in what follows. Cacciaguida’s reference to pure blood lines, in which … Continue reading How much better it would be if your city had maintained its old borders and those outsiders, like the villains Aguglione and Morubaldini with the stench of their corruption, had stayed in their own towns![11]The “old borders” are a reference to Galluzzo, a few miles to the south on the road to Siena, and Trespiano, a few miles to the north on the road to Bologna. And Dante has a special reason for … Continue reading And if the leaders of the Church hadn’t treated the Emperor Henry so badly, a new kind of Florentine who buys and sells would be still be in Semifonte where his grandfather had to beg, Montemurlo would be in the hands of its Counts, the Cerchi would have stayed in Acone, and the Buondelmonti in Valdigreve.[12]As Dante has done on several occasions, Cacciaguida blames the Church for interfering with the temporal affairs of the Empire by financial scheming, and political meddling – the result of which led … Continue reading
“Mixing of peoples has always been a degenerating force in cities: already sick in their stomachs, they stuff themselves with more food! A blind bull will fall more often than a blind lamb, and it often happens that a single sword will slice better than five.[13]In writing this, Dante may have had in mind Aristotle’s Politics (5:iii.11):“Another cause of revolution is difference of races which do not at once acquire a common spirit; for a state is not … Continue reading Think of how Luni and Urbisaglia have disappeared, and how Sinigaglia and Chiusi are soon to follow them, and it will not seem strange to you that families fade away in time just like cities.[14]Luni (ancient Luna) was an Etruscan city to the west of Florence near the border of Tuscany and Liguria. It fell into ruin under the Romans. Urbisaglia (ancient Urbs Salvia), located about 30 miles … Continue reading Eventually, you will die, and all your works will die as well – even cities die, though they will often last longer than you. And just as the moon causes the tides that come and go, just so Fortune does with Florence. So, do not be concerned when you hear me speak about those noble Florentines of old whose fame has disappeared among the sands of time.[15]Cacciaguida’s point is obvious: like individuals and like families, even cities will eventually fade away and die. As Virgil noted about Fortune in Canto 7 in the Inferno, “Change is always in … Continue reading
“In my time[16]As we move through the rest of this canto, Cacciaguida will recall more than 30 mostly honorable families. Commentators do not always treat the rest of this canto politely, some noting that it is an … Continue reading I knew the Ughi and the Catellini, the Greci, Filippi, Alberichi, and the Ormanni – notable families even in their decline.[17]By Dante’s time, these families had almost completely faded away. The Catellini were Ghibellines and in Dante’s time that were expelled from Florence twice, and then repatriated. The Ormanni were … Continue reading And as great and old as they were, I knew the dell’Arca and Sannella, the Soldanieri, the Ardinghi, and the Bostichi as well.[18]The dell’Arca and Soldarini were Ghibellines and had been expelled from the city by Dante’s time. The Sannella at times sided with the White Guelfs and then with the Blacks. Not far from Porta San Pietro – today a place filled with such evil cargo that Florence will soon sink – lived the Ravignani, whose descendants were the Count Guido and all those who took the noble family name of Bellincione.[19]The Porta San Pietro was the main eastern gate of Florence. Though he doesn’t mention them in his list, the “place filled with such evil cargo” is a reference to the Cerchi family. They were … Continue reading
“The family of the della Pressa already governed well, and the noble Galigaio were honored as knights. The shield of the Pigli was now famous, and of note were the Galli, the Sacchetti, the Giuochi, the Fifanti, and the Barucci – and the Chiaramontese who carry the shame of the salt fraud.[20]The della Pressa and Galigaio families were prominent Ghibellines in Cacciaguida’s time, but both were expelled from Florence in 1258, a few years before Dante was born. A member of the Galigaio … Continue reading The descendants of the Calfucci had grown powerful, and the Arrigucci and Sizii families held high offices.[21]The now-extinct Calfucci family were Guelfs and were descended from the Donati family (as was Dante). The Arrigucci and Sizii families were Guelfs and held high office in Cacciaguida’s time. Like … Continue reading Those who are now ruined by their pride I knew when they were great. Look what became of the great deeds of the Lamberti, who had the gold balls on their shields.[22]Throughout this entire chronicle of famous families, Dante has benefitted from Cacciaguida’s heavenly ability to see their destinies (though we almost forget that Dante the Poet knew all of this … Continue reading
“Thus, we see the ancestors of those who now wait to fill some office in the Church and grow fat from the profits it will bring! Insolent and presumptuous, they act like dragons to those who fear them and like lambs to those who turn back and bare their teeth – or their purse![23]This is a reference to the evil offspring in Dante’s time of those Cacciaguida has been praising, namely the Visdomini and the Tosinghi families. In Dante’s time, these families controlled the … Continue reading Though they are on the rise they had humble origins, and Ubertin Donato was not happy when, through marriage, he became related to them.[24]We are becoming more used to Cacciaguida’s/Dante’s opaque references to various families and their deeds. In this case, his rebuke is aimed at the Admiari family. Again, Dorothy Sayers offers a … Continue reading By that time, the Caponsacchi had migrated from Fiesole down into your city, and the Guidi and the Infangati were noted citizens.[25]I can’t resist inserting here John Ciardi’s humorous remarks:“Three Ghibelline families, once well established, but much diminished by Dante’s time. Is it only coincidence that these three … Continue reading
“This might sound incredible to you, but when you entered Florence, one of its gates was named for the ancient and honored della Perra family.[26]There are several ways to interpret this, the most likely being that the Porta Peruzzi, one of the gates in the original city walls of old Florence, was named for the della Perra family, already … Continue reading Those who were knighted by Baron Hugh wore fancy adornments on their clothes and enjoyed their privileges, though today one of them takes up the cause against them.[27]Baron Hugh of Brandeberg was the Imperial vicar of Otto III and marquis of Tuscany. He died in 1001. His mother, the Countess Willa, founded the famous Church of the Badia in Florence in 978, where … Continue reading
“In those days, members of the Gualterrotti and the Importuni families could still be found, and their neighborhood would have remained peaceful and calm if outsiders had not moved in.[28]The Gualterrotti and Importuni were old Guelf families who lived in the Borgo Santi Apostoli, the area on the north side of the Arno between the Ponte Vecchio and the Ponte Santa Trinità. Notable in … Continue reading And the family that became the source of your grief and exile – who would have seen to your death – they were all highly honored citizens![29]A reference to the Amidei family, highly honored in Cacciaguida’s time, but in Dante’s time implicated in a terrible event that would change the future of Florence. O wicked Buondelmonte, what strife you let loose upon our city when – at the instigation of another – your son ran from his own wedding to marry a different bride! What evil your family brought to our city when they came there. How many there are now who wish that God had let the Ema flood and drown you when you first came to our peaceful city! It was fitting indeed that your son, who incited so many years of suffering, should be murdered near the old statue of Mars – a foul deed that put an end to our sacred peace![30]There is a story with terrible consequences behind this damning apostrophe. It is, according to Cacciaguida, the worst fall of any family he has mentioned. Here is that story. In 1215, 40 years … Continue reading
“So many of these families, and others like them, governed our city and fostered its prosperity in peace. Unlike now, there was no cause for grief and discord. Those families brought glory to the old Florence and ruled with justice. Never did we see the lily on our banners dragged through the dust; never because of civil strife was its color changed from white to that of blood.”[31]Here, Cacciaguida brings to an end his (long) answer to Dante’s fourth question: who were the chief families in old Florence, though some commentators suggest that there were actually more than are … Continue reading
Notes & Commentary
| ↑1 | Dante’s candor here is refreshing, and yet we can excuse him because the experiences of the last canto, especially meeting Cacciaguida, his great-great-grandfather, have overwhelmed him. Nevertheless, if he’s at fault here, his wise aphorism about noble blood redeems him. In Heaven, it isn’t human heredity that’s celebrated, but the nobility of the soul. Readers over the last seven hundred years can easily point out individuals in their own time who have maintained their noble “garments” and, sadly, those who have soiled or lost them. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Dante has noted his use of the voi form of address several times in his Poem. In Italian, voi is/was the second person plural. And, as he points out, it was used as the respectful form of address to someone higher in status or older than you. Otherwise, one would use the first person singular form, tu. In modern Italian, voi is hardly ever used, except in a few areas of the country. Nowadays, instead of voi, one would use the word lei. In English, we have only one second person pronoun, you. Is he being a bit snooty in telling us the history of the word’s usage, or just precise? It seems that the word vos came into Latin to address Julius Caesar and other officials of the state. And around the third century it came into the Italian as voi. (Dante uses voi when he speaks with Farinata, Cavalcante, and Brunetto Latini in the Inferno, with Corrado Malaspina, Pope Adrian V, and Guido Guinizelli in the Purgatorio, and Cacciaguida here in the Paradiso. He always addresses Beatrice this way, until the end of the Poem.) Dante’s mind may seem to be wandering at this point, perhaps because of his elation, but there is more than meets the eye in Beatrice’s smile here. She smiles because, like Dante, she recognizes that his pride (by using voi) got away with him for an “un-noble” moment, threatening the purity of this happy reunion. As usual, however, and with a mind like an old-fashioned switchboard, something reminds him of something else and he then opens the connection for us. Seeing Beatrice’s smile reminding him of danger brings to his mind a scene in the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. Galehault, Lancelot’s friend and fellow knight, has arranged a meeting (assignation) between Lancelot and Guenivere. One evening, she and her handmaidens walk through a meadow where, not long after, Lancelot and Galehault also arrive, but stand apart from the women. Soon, and seeming harmless enough, Lancelot and Guinevere are seen together in deep conversation. The famous “cough” noted above was made by one of the women with Guinevere, Lady Malehault. In the Lancelot text, in the middle of a long conversation, Guinevere asks Lancelot when he first fell in love with her. It’s at this point that Lady Malehault coughs. Not a while later, when Lancelot and Guinevere kiss, as some interpreters of the story mistakenly claim. More than this, recall Dante’s opening aphorism about nobility. It can be increased by additional noble behavior, but, as in the case of Lancelot and Guinevere’s adultery, it can also be diminished. |
| ↑3 | Dante now gives his enthusiastic affection for Cacciaguida free rein – so much so that he becomes “more than himself” in the presence of his great-great-grandfather. This is a wonderful idea when one stops to think about the fact that each of us are not only a collection of genes and traits inherited from our ancestors, but we’re also a collection of stories, encounters, and memories that circulate through our families. Some are kept alive in photos and videos, others in letters and writings. And with some, when we meet them, the stories and memories become real, and we become something new, something more than we were. Imagine meeting for the first time an older relative from a different country, sharing family stories, learning about them things you never knew – and vice versa. At the highest spiritual level, as Dante would have known and experienced, this is an image of the Sacred Liturgy wherein the participant hears the Word of God and then eats the body and blood of the Lord. In this communion of Word and Sacrament we become more of who we are now and more of who we are destined to be. And just to be balanced here, depending on who one meets, this might be a negative experience. But for Dante, this is one of the highlights of his experience of Paradise. |
| ↑4 | Having shown his great affection for Cacciaguida, Dante moves quite naturally to find out, through four questions, what life was like for Cacciaguida “back in the old days”: (1) who were Cacciaguida’s relatives and ancestors, (2) what was it like in Florence when he was a young man, (3) how big (population) was Florence, and (4) who were its chief citizens? The “Baptist’s sheepfold” is a reference to St. John the Baptist, the Patron Saint of Florence. The sheepfold would be the population of the city. The image of St. John was stamped on one side of the gold florin of Florence, which was also the euro-currency in its day. |
| ↑5 | Even before speaking, Cacciaguida shows his willingness to answer Dante’s questions by flaming up brightly like a red coal when blown on. Cleverly, having asked Cacciaguida about Florence in the old days, the glowing spirit probably speaks in the older Florentine/Tuscan dialect which, to Dante’s ear, is even more refined than what he was used to a hundred or more years later. Dante’s consciousness of language has been subtly present since his first encounter with his great-great-grandfather. Remember that he was the author of De vulgari eloquentia, a short Latin treatise on the use of the vernacular language in poetry. There, among other things, he remarks about how language can change, not only over time, but, depending on circumstances, even from city to city and neighborhood to neighborhood. Dante could understand Cacciaguida’s first words in Latin, but he couldn’t understand him when he went on in ordinary “paradisial speech.” It took a while for his ear to become attuned to it. Robert Hollander notes: “Cacciaguida was not trying to hide his words from Dante but the language he employed simply overshot its human target, that is, Cacciaguida had momentarily forgotten that Dante was not yet “immortal,” that, in other words, his intelligence still was limited by his humanity.” That “paradisial speech” was probably twelfth-century Florentine/Tuscan. |
| ↑6 | Dante is being astronomical again. The day when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, announcing that she would be the mother of Jesus, is also known as the Annunciation, and is celebrated in the Church on March 25. The Latin word “Ave” is a greeting, like “Hello,” “Greetings,” “Hail,” “Salutations,” etc. Incidentally, in Dante’s time, March 25 was also the beginning of the Florentine New Year. Let’s do the math: take the original Annunciation as year 1, day 1. The planet Mars circled the sun 580 times. A Martian year is 687 days. Multiplying 687 by 580 and dividing that by 365 earth days equals 1091, the year Cacciaguida was born. We already know that he died in the Second Crusade (1147), so if we subtract 1091 from 1147 we get 56 – Cacciaguida’s age when he died. By the way, Dante did not ask a question to which all of this is the answer. |
| ↑7 | This “last district of old Florence” was known as the Porta San Piero. Cacciaguida’s people lived in this section which, nowadays, is near the heart of the city. At that time, it was most likely within the first walls of the city, erected in 1078, 13 years before Cacciaguida was born. The ancient horse race, also known as the palio, ran across the old city from west to east on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24. |
| ↑8 | What appears as a rather curt statement is really an example of Cacciaguida following in the spirit of Dante’s aphorism about nobility, and setting a good example for his great-great grandson. He was probably of the old Elisei family who, among other old families in Florence, claimed to be descended from the Romans when Florence was an ancient Roman city. Basically, what we end up knowing about Cacciaguida is what Dante tells us. And that may well have been the extent of his own knowledge about his family. |
| ↑9 | Because of the vague way that Cacciaguida answers Dante’s third question here (about the population of Florence), estimates vary widely among commentators and historians relative to both the overall population of the city and only those who were conscripted for military service. By the year 1300, Florence was one of the largest cities in Europe. Some estimates from that time put its population upwards of 120k. Others are much lower. However, following Cacciaguida’s math, several commentators arrive at this solution: If the population of Florence was 70k in 1300, of whom 30k were fit to bear arms, then in Cacciaguida’s day, the fighting population of Florence would have been about 6k and the total number of inhabitants about 14k, a rather large number considering the small area encompassed by the city walls of his day. |
| ↑10 | John Ciardi remarks in his commentary that “Dante is seldom temperate in his views of outsiders.” That is evident here and in what follows. Cacciaguida’s reference to pure blood lines, in which he includes all strata of society, recalls how his and much older generations of Florentines considered themselves to be descended from the ancient Romans. Campi is a few miles to the northwest of Florence, Certaldo is further to the southwest, and Figline is further south. In Dante’s time, Florentines would have considered these places to be in the boondocks, and their residents as country bumpkins. According to Cacciaguida, these outsiders had polluted both the city and its pure bloodlines. Recall in Brunetto Latini’s apostrophe against the coarse citizenry of nearby Fiesole (Inf. 15:61-78), how they would corrupt Florence, and become his enemies. |
| ↑11 | The “old borders” are a reference to Galluzzo, a few miles to the south on the road to Siena, and Trespiano, a few miles to the north on the road to Bologna. And Dante has a special reason for singling out the two villains with the “stench of corruption.” Baldo d’Aguglione was a swindler who became prominent in Florentine politics. After Dante was exiled, Aguglione became a Prior and signed a document granting amnesty to White Guelfs, except Dante, who was suspected of being a Ghibelline. Fazio de’Morubaldini was a swindler from the nearby town of Signa and was Prior several times in Florence. Dante had high hopes for the Emperor Henry VII and often praised him. Meanwhile, both Aguglione and Morubaldini were involved in major attempts to block the Emperor from visiting Florence and, as such, were enemies of Dante. |
| ↑12 | As Dante has done on several occasions, Cacciaguida blames the Church for interfering with the temporal affairs of the Empire by financial scheming, and political meddling – the result of which led to the disruptive influx of various new/outside families of merchants and traders into Florentine society who should have stayed in their native places. Among them he cites a nameless native of Semifonte (southwest of Florence) who probably came to Florence after the city attacked their castle; Montemurlo was a castle belonging to the Counts of Guidi northwest of Florence, again taken by Florence; the Cerchi family came from Acone, northeast of Florence, and became wealthy political figures; and, finally, the Buondelmonte family from Valdigreve (south of Florence) who moved to Florence when their castle was destroyed as a result of Florentine expansionism. More about them below. All this time, keep in mind, Cacciaguida is speaking of his own time, some 150 years before Dante. In his own time, Dante often had negative interactions with a much later generation of these same families. |
| ↑13 | In writing this, Dante may have had in mind Aristotle’s Politics (5:iii.11): “Another cause of revolution is difference of races which do not at once acquire a common spirit; for a state is not the growth of a day, neither is it a multitude brought together by accident. Hence the reception of strangers in colonies, either at the time of their foundation or afterwards, has generally produced revolution. ” Already, we’ve seen this interesting sociological problem at work in Cacciaguida’s examples. Whether we consider mixing blood lines or people of different races, the key, according to Aristotle, seems to be in citizens’ ability to “acquire a common spirit.” In comparison between Cacciaguida’s time and Dante’s, the constant chaos of fighting between Guelfs and Ghibellines in Dante’s time made it almost impossible for a common civic spirit to survive. The image of eating and mixing food might seem strange to us in this context. However, it was a common belief in Dante’s time that adding fresh food to undigested food caused illness. So, in this case, problems occur when adding new citizens to an already established group. No doubt, when groups of citizens mingle, with nothing in common, problems do arise. Dante is probably banking on an ancient wisdom here. And so, the work (challenge) of the state or city is to maintain peace and justice by providing an amicable social infrastructure and a system of laws by which everyone agrees to live. Cacciaguida’s solution to the issue here seems to be everyone respecting each other’s dignity while living simply and modestly according to a long-held tradition among a fairly small group of like-minded citizens. In the end, Dante is probably painting an ideal picture of the past, energized by the affection and respect he has for a noble relative he has just met, but which is no longer sustainable in the Florence of his day. The images of the blind bull and the swords are simply images of simplicity. Bigger, larger, and more don’t necessarily mean stronger or better. Again, these are ways of suggesting that a smaller city generally runs more smoothly than a larger one. |
| ↑14 | Luni (ancient Luna) was an Etruscan city to the west of Florence near the border of Tuscany and Liguria. It fell into ruin under the Romans. Urbisaglia (ancient Urbs Salvia), located about 30 miles southwest of Ancona, was another ancient city gone to ruins in Dante’s time. Sinigaglia (ancient Sena Gallica) is located about 20 miles up the coast from Ancona, and Chiusi (ancient Clusium), another Etruscan city, is midway between Florence and Rome. In Dante’s time, these latter two cities were often plagued by malaria because of their locations in swampy regions. |
| ↑15 | Cacciaguida’s point is obvious: like individuals and like families, even cities will eventually fade away and die. As Virgil noted about Fortune in Canto 7 in the Inferno, “Change is always in motion with her.” |
| ↑16 | As we move through the rest of this canto, Cacciaguida will recall more than 30 mostly honorable families. Commentators do not always treat the rest of this canto politely, some noting that it is an arid or overstated, unpoetic chronicle. |
| ↑17 | By Dante’s time, these families had almost completely faded away. The Catellini were Ghibellines and in Dante’s time that were expelled from Florence twice, and then repatriated. The Ormanni were White Guelfs. A section of Florence, the Borgo de’Greci, behind the Palazzo Vecchio is named for the Greci mentioned here. |
| ↑18 | The dell’Arca and Soldarini were Ghibellines and had been expelled from the city by Dante’s time. The Sannella at times sided with the White Guelfs and then with the Blacks. |
| ↑19 | The Porta San Pietro was the main eastern gate of Florence. Though he doesn’t mention them in his list, the “place filled with such evil cargo” is a reference to the Cerchi family. They were wealthy and bought the house at the Porta San Pietro from the Conti Guidi (family of Count Guido). But they were also despised in Dante’s time. The “evil cargo” alluded to here is most likely their cowardice. In 1301, as leaders of the White Guelfs, they were ordered by the Priors of the city to prepare its defenses against an immanent attack by the Blacks. But they did hardly anything, which enabled the Blacks to ravage the city for several days. The Ravignani family were extinct by Dante’s time. In Cacciaguida’s time, the head of this family was Bellincione Berti. His great grandson was Count Guido Guerra, one of the famous sodomites Dante met in Canto 16 of the Inferno. |
| ↑20 | The della Pressa and Galigaio families were prominent Ghibellines in Cacciaguida’s time, but both were expelled from Florence in 1258, a few years before Dante was born. A member of the Galigaio family, Puccio Sciancato, is among the thieves in Canto 25 of the Inferno. Cacciaguida identifies the Pigli family by their shield or coat of arms, which had a red background with a band of fur running from top left to bottom right. The Galli were also Ghibellines, and their houses were destroyed by decree in 1293. The Sacchetti were Guelphs who fled to Lucca after the Ghibelline victory at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260. The Giuochi were Ghibellines, excluded from public office in 1293. The Fifanti family were a very old Ghibelline family. They were expelled in 1258. The Barucci, by Dante’s time, were an extinct Ghibelline family. Then we come to the Chiaramontese family and the salt fraud, also known as the stave affair. In 1299, Durante Chiaramontese was in charge of the customs office for salt in Florence. Salt was measured in wooden bushels of a standard size. He would take out a stave from the bucket, making it smaller, and profited from the difference. He was apparently beheaded for his crime. |
| ↑21 | The now-extinct Calfucci family were Guelfs and were descended from the Donati family (as was Dante). The Arrigucci and Sizii families were Guelfs and held high office in Cacciaguida’s time. Like the Sacchettis (noted above) they also fled Florence after the Ghibelline victory at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260. |
| ↑22 | Throughout this entire chronicle of famous families, Dante has benefitted from Cacciaguida’s heavenly ability to see their destinies (though we almost forget that Dante the Poet knew all of this information when he wrote the Poem). At the same time, it is fascinating to wonder what research he might have had to do before he wrote this canto. And what he might have learned in the process. While Cacciaguida/Dante only mentions the Lamberti family in the second part of this passage, most commentators note that the sentence is also meant to include the famous Uberti family. The key to understanding this inclusion is pride. Either Cacciaguida was thinking of the most prideful of the old families, and these two were at the top of his list, or Dante does the same and adds the Uberti. The most famous of the Uberti we met in Canto 10 of the Inferno: Farinata. Perhaps Dante has had him in mind all along. Historically, the fact that the city of Florence was still standing in Dante’s day was due to Farinata. As the head of the victorious Ghibelline party after the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, it was all but decided among the victors that the Guelf city of Florence would be destroyed and its Guelf citizens be banished. During their meeting in Hell, Farinata reminds Dante that it was he (Farinata) who stood up and opposed the planned destruction. Dorothy Sayers fills in the historical picture here: “When banished from Florence in 1250, they [the Uberti] allied themselves to the Siennese and in1260 lured the Florentine Guelfs into an ambush and defeated them with great slaughter at Montaperti, near the river Arbia. The Guelfs, among whom were Dante’s ancestors, fled from Florence. They never forgave Farinata and when they returned to power they razed the Uberti palaces to the ground and pronounced relentless decrees of exile against the whole family.” As he did with the Pigli family (above), Cacciaguida identifies the Lamberti family with their coat of arms: three balls of gold on a blue background. This family is, perhaps, the most notorious of all because of the deed of one of its members. We met him among the Sowers of Discord with his hands cut off in Canto 28 of the Inferno: Mosca de’Lamberti. He instigated the murder of Buondelmonte de Buondelmonti which led to the rise of the Guelf faction (headed by the Buondelmonti) and Ghibelline faction (headed by the Uberti), resulting in generations of havoc in Florence and elsewhere. I will take up this story below where Cacciaguida apostrophizes against young Buondelmonte. |
| ↑23 | This is a reference to the evil offspring in Dante’s time of those Cacciaguida has been praising, namely the Visdomini and the Tosinghi families. In Dante’s time, these families controlled the episcopal diocese of Florence when there was a vacancy. But, they often prolonged the vacancies in order to enrich themselves on the resources of the diocese. |
| ↑24 | We are becoming more used to Cacciaguida’s/Dante’s opaque references to various families and their deeds. In this case, his rebuke is aimed at the Admiari family. Again, Dorothy Sayers offers a good summary of what’s behind Cacciaguida’s words: “The Adimari were a powerful Florentine family which was divided into three branches, the Argenti, the Aldobrandi and the Cavicciuli. They were Dante’s near neighbours and notoriously hostile to him. One member of the Cavicciuli branch, which, unlike the rest of the family, joined the Black faction of the Guelfs, took possession of Dante’s property when he was exiled and was always actively opposed to his being recalled. Filippo Argenti, another member of the Adimari family, tried to attack Dante as he crossed the Styx in Canto 8 of the Inferno. Cacciaguida alleges that they [the Admiari] were of such low extraction that Ubertino Donati, who had married a daughter of Bellincione Berti, [head] of the Ravignani family, was much displeased when his wife’s sister married one of them [one of the Adimari].” |
| ↑25 | I can’t resist inserting here John Ciardi’s humorous remarks: “Three Ghibelline families, once well established, but much diminished by Dante’s time. Is it only coincidence that these three names mean, at root, Head-in-a-sack, Judases (or Jews), and Covered-with-mud? Could Dante be suggesting that these Johnny-come-latelies were as outlandish as their names in comparison with the old line Florentines?” The Caponsacchi were Ghibellines and among the oldest families of that faction in Florence. They were expelled from Florence by the Guelfs in 1258 and again in 1302. The Guidi were also Ghibellines and held high positions in Cacciaguida’s time. Like the Ghibelline Caponsacchi they were expelled from Florence twice, but managed to return. And the Ghibelline Infangati family were also driven out in 1258. |
| ↑26 | There are several ways to interpret this, the most likely being that the Porta Peruzzi, one of the gates in the original city walls of old Florence, was named for the della Perra family, already ancient in Cacciaguida’s time. Even in Dante’s time they were notable. |
| ↑27 | Baron Hugh of Brandeberg was the Imperial vicar of Otto III and marquis of Tuscany. He died in 1001. His mother, the Countess Willa, founded the famous Church of the Badia in Florence in 978, where Hugh was later buried. Those who were knighted were the heads of the Giandonati, the Pulci, the Nerli, the Gangalandi, the Alepri, and the della Bella families. They were also allowed to include his coat of arms as part of their own. During Dante’s lifetime, the one who “takes up the cause against them” was the son of the knighted della Bella, Giano. In 1293 he proposed the Ordinamenti di giustizia (Ordinances of Justice), which were designed to rein in the excessive privileges of the Florentine nobles. Unfortunately, he was banished in 1295. |
| ↑28 | The Gualterrotti and Importuni were old Guelf families who lived in the Borgo Santi Apostoli, the area on the north side of the Arno between the Ponte Vecchio and the Ponte Santa Trinità. Notable in Cacciaguida’s time, in Dante’s they were much reduced. By 1311 they were banned from holding public offices. Their neighborhood would have remained at peace if the Buondelmonte family had not moved there in 1135. Much more on this in a moment. |
| ↑29 | A reference to the Amidei family, highly honored in Cacciaguida’s time, but in Dante’s time implicated in a terrible event that would change the future of Florence. |
| ↑30 | There is a story with terrible consequences behind this damning apostrophe. It is, according to Cacciaguida, the worst fall of any family he has mentioned. Here is that story. In 1215, 40 years before Dante was born, during a banquet celebrating the knighthood of a young Florentine, one of the guests, Buondelmonte de’ Buondelmonti, a rich, handsome young man, stabbed a rival in the arm. In restitution for the injury and dishonor, the elders decided that young Buondelmonte should wed a girl from the Amidei family. With that agreed to, the powerful Amidei and Buondelmonti families arranged an engagement ceremony, where Buondelmonte was to pledge publicly to marry the Amidei girl, even though the Buondelmonti were below them. With the Amidei assembled in the piazza near their house in the Borgo Santi Apostoli, the young Buondelmonte rode past them, and asked instead for the hand of a girl from the Donati family. Furious, the Amidei and their allies met in council and plotted revenge. They debated whether they should scar Buondelmonte’s face, beat him severely, or kill him. Mosca de’ Lamberti (mentioned above, now in the Inferno among the Sowers of Discord) took the floor and argued that they should kill him at the place where he had dishonored them and get it over with. So, on Easter morning, on his way to marry the Donati girl, as Buondelmonte crossed the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, he was pulled from his horse and savagely murdered by the Amidei and their allies at the foot of the old statue of Mars (the pagan patron of Roman Florence). The Buondelmonte murder and the clan rivalry that grew from it became the legendary origin of the Guelf and Ghibelline conflict (later outright civil war) in Florence. Dante’s life, among countless others, was later ruined by this event. In Hell, Mosca de’Lamberti, continually mutilated and moving about with his hands cut off, admitted his role in the murder of Buondelmonte. If he had entertained the slightest hope of absolution by making his confession to Dante at that point, there wasn’t an ounce of it in Dante’s response: “Rot in Hell, you and all your family!” Without a doubt, these are the strongest words he speaks in the entire Poem. As it turned out, the Ghibelline Lambertis were later expelled from Florence on three different occasions and labeled as “enemies” of the Republic. After the final expulsion in 1280 (when Dante was 15), they disappeared from Florence entirely. The Ottimo Commento, the great Florentine Commentary on Dante’s Commedia, published a dozen years after his death in 1321, reports that “all the Lamberti, males and females, suffered some kind of punishment for Mosca’s crime, some by death, some by exile, some by the confiscation of their property.” Cacciaguida laments that young Buondelmonte wasn’t drowned when he crossed the River Ema just south of Florence en route to his wedding. |
| ↑31 | Here, Cacciaguida brings to an end his (long) answer to Dante’s fourth question: who were the chief families in old Florence, though some commentators suggest that there were actually more than are listed here. Cacciaguida tells Dante that Florence had never been defeated and had its flag disgraced. Yet in Dante’s time that was reversed by the Guelfs when they drove the Ghibellines out in 1251. The original Florentine flag (and to this day), is a white lily on a red background. |