14 September: Dante Alighieri

This date saw the death of Dante Alighieri in 1321, so here are 10 facts about him:

1. He was born in Florence. His date of birth isn’t known, but it estimated to be around 1265. It’s possible he was born under the star sign of Gemini. Both these guesses are based on things he wrote in his Divine Comedy – The Inferno section begins "Midway upon the journey of our life", which in terms of the Biblical threescore years and ten human lifespan, would mean he was about 35 when he wrote it in 1300. He also writes "As I revolved with the eternal twins” which is taken to be a reference to Astrology.
2. His name was Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri.
3. His mother, Bella, died before he was ten and his father found a new partner, Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi, who he may or may not have married, but the union produced Dante's half-brother Francesco and half-sister Tana.
4. Dante married Gemma di Manetto Donati. It was an arranged marriage, with Dante being 12 when he was betrothed. He and Gemma had three children, Pietro, Jacopo and Antonia, but Dante is believed to have been in love with another woman called Beatrice Portinari (known as Bice), who he first met when he was nine. She married someone else and died at the age of 24. Dante wrote several sonnets to Beatrice, and the character of Beatrice in Divine Comedy, who represents beauty and purity, is thought to have been based on her. He never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems.
5. He was a politician before he was a writer. He held a government post in Florence and was also a member of a group called the White Guelph political faction, which wanted to limit the powers of the Pope. Pope Boniface VIII set a trial for Dante on trumped up charges of taking bribes. Dante failed to show up for his trial and was sentenced to death in his absence. This meant he was forced to flee Florence, never to return.
6. It’s entirely possible that Dante wrote Divine Comedy to help him cope with the grief and anger he felt at being betrayed and forced to leave his beloved city. Perhaps he felt that was tantamount to going through hell and purgatory. Some of the characters in it are real people, his enemies of the time, including his nemesis Pope Boniface VIII, for whom a place was reserved in the lowest depths of hell.
7. In 2008, 700 years later, the city of Florence issued a pardon for his conviction on fraud and bribery charges.
8. Dante’s descriptions of purgatory and hell were so vivid that the church used them to scare people into compliance. Many medieval cathedrals, churches, and even illuminated manuscripts feature details taken straight from the Divine Comedy, rather than the Bible.
9. Dante is sometimes called the Father of the Italian language, and in Italy, is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta ("the Supreme Poet"). His Divine Comedy is widely considered the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
10. What was he like? He was described by Giovanni Boccaccio, who wrote: "the poet was of middle height, and in his later years he walked somewhat bent over, with a grave and gentle gait. He was clad always in most seemly attire, such as befitted his ripe years. His face was long, his nose aquiline, and his eyes big rather than small. His jaws were large, and his lower lip protruded. He had a Brown complexion, his Hair and Beard were thick, Black, and curly, and his countenance was always melancholy and thoughtful.”

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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