In this episode, we explore the life and legacy of Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321), the Florentine writer honored as the "Supreme Poet" (il Sommo Poeta) and the "father" of the Italian language. We trace his dramatic personal history, from his early years fighting in the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino to the political turmoil that led the Black Guelphs to condemn him to perpetual exile in 1302.

Discover how this banishment transformed Dante’s work, fueling the creation of the Divine Comedy—widely considered the greatest literary work in the Italian language and a cornerstone of Western literature. We discuss his revolutionary decision to break from scholarly Latin and write in his native Tuscan dialect, a move defended in his treatise De vulgari eloquentia which helped standardize modern Italian.

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