The “Commune” of Florence has put up inscriptions from Dante’s Commedia
to mark all the places mentioned in the great epic and all the sites,
where stood the houses of the families alluded to.
Many of the verses convey but little or no meaning to one, who is not
familiar with every line and every word of the famous poem.
I have therefore compiled this little guide-book to explain the
“inscriptions from Dante in the streets of Florence” for those who
have not the time to study them themselves. In doing so I have
endeavoured to arrange the inscriptions--not in a topographical but
rather in a chronological order, stringing them upon a historical
thread, giving, as it were, a concise history of Florence up to the
time of Dante, and thus establishing between the inscriptions--which
may seem chosen at random to one who notices them, as he passes by
them in the streets--that connection, which shows their real purpose,
namely: to indicate what remains of the city, as Dante knew it, and
thus evoke in the Florence of to-day Dante’s life there and that of his
contemporaries.
Besides the arms put up by the Comune, I have given a few others; where
the coat of arms is omitted, I did so, because in that case heraldry is
uncertain.
Florence, October 1912.
[Illustration: FIORENZA {Florence’s shield: silver Florentine lily on
red field.}]
N. 1. - _Inscription put up in PALAZZO VECCHIO, First Court_:
_Vid’io Fiorenza in sì fatto riposo,
Che non avea cagion onde piangesse,
Con queste genti vid’io glorioso
E giusto il popolo suo tanto, che il giglio
Non era ad asta mai posto a ritroso,
Nè per division fatto vermiglio._”
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 149–154.
Florence beheld I in so great repose,
That no occasion had she whence to weep;
With all these families beheld so just
And glorious her people, that the lily
Never upon the spear was placed reversed,
Nor by division was vermilion made.”
Longfellow’s translation.
The above verses, as all those taken from the Paradise, Canto XVI, are
words assigned by the Poet to _Cacciaguida_, his ancestor, whom he
finds in the fifth Heaven, which is that of Mars, where are the souls
of those “who died fighting for the true faith.” Cacciaguida thus
greets Dante: “I am thy root _o_ leaf” and then describes Florence
at the time of his birth and its extent when he lived there, passes
in review the chief families of his day and speaks of the former
simplicity of the Florentines, since then much corrupted. Their
degeneracy and subsequent disgrace he attributes to the introduction
of families from the neighbouring country and their mixture with
the primitive citizens. Thus--through the mouth of his grandsire the
Poet lavishes praise or chastisement on his contemporaries and their
ancestors according to their deserts and his personal views.
The name of _Fiorenza_ was derived by the oldest chroniclers from
Fiorino, the Praetor of Metellus, who during a long siege of Fiesole
by the Romans commanded an entrenched camp between the River and the
Rock and was here surprised and slain by the enemy. Others derive it
from the flowers in which the meadows abounded, especially lilies, and
the ancient ensign: a white lily on a red ground, as well as the name
given to the Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore tend to show that the name
refers to the flowery mead rather than to the Roman Praetor. According
to another version the city was originally called Fluentia, because
situated between the Arno and the Mugnone, which name was afterwards
changed into _Fiorentia_ in allusion to the flourishing state of the
colony.
“The lily”--meaning the emblem of Florence--had never “_hung reversed_”
on the spear of her enemies in token of her defeat, nor been changed
from argent to gules, as it was, when after the long struggle between
the Ghibellines and the Guelphs, the latter gained the predominance.
The ensign of Florence, having first been a white lily on a red field,
was then changed to a red lily on a white field.
[Illustration: FIORENZA {Florence’s shield: red Florentine lily on
silver field.}]]
N. 2. - _Inscription to Commemorate the CERCHIA ANTICA, placed at the
entrance of the Church of the Badia in Via Dante Alighieri_:
_Fiorenza dentro della Cerchia Antica,
Ond’ella toglie ancora e terza e nona,
Si stava in pace, sobria e pudica._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XV, 97–99.
Florence within her ancient limit-mark,
Which calls her still to matin prayers and noon,
Was chaste and sober and abode in peace.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
The spirit of Cacciaguida speaks of ancient Florence, its peace and
simplicity.
The _Cerchia Antica_ was the first circle or wall of the new city,
which arose from the ruins of the Roman town destroyed by Totila, King
of the Goths, about the middle of the sixth century; it dates from the
ninth century.
The centre of it was the Mercato Vecchio, where stood the forum
(now Piazza Vittorio Emanuele). It ran from the Statue of Mars on
Ponte Vecchio (see N. 14) through the Uffizi building, following Via
Proconsolo, round Piazza del Duomo including the Baptistery, Via
Cerretani, Via Rondinelli, Via Tornabuoni, Piazza Santa Trinità, Borgo
SS. Apostoli, back to Ponte Vecchio.
The walls of Dante’s time were begun 1284, but not finished until nine
years after the Poet’s death. They are in part still visible. The city
then extended from Santa Croce to Santa Maria Novella.
“Terza” is the first division of the canonical day, from six to nine,
“Nona” the third, from twelve to three in the afternoon. The bells of
the Abbey within the old walls of Florence still rang these hours in
Dante’s time and measured the day for the Florentines. Villani says:
“The Florentines lived soberly on simplest food at little expense; men
and women were coarsely clad, many even wearing plain leather garments
without fur or lining; the most distinguished women were content with a
close gown of scarlet serge or camlet, confined by a leathern belt of
ancient fashion, and a hooded cloak lined with miniver; and the lower
classes wore a coarse green gown of the same form.”
[Illustration: PERUZZI {Peruzzi shield: Six golden pears on blue
field.}]
N. 3. - _Inscription placed at the outlet of BORGO DEI GRECI near
Piazza Signoria_:
_Nel picciol cerchio s’entrava per porta
Che si nomava da quei della Pera._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 125–126.
One entered the small circuit by a gate
Which from the Della Pera took its name.
Longfellow’s translation.
_Picciol Cerchio_ (= Antica Cerchia see N. 2).
The circuit of the city walls differed at various epochs. To belong to
a family, whose houses were within the first or innermost and therefore
smallest circle was a title of highest nobility, indicating descent
from the original inhabitants of the city, whose blood was unmixed
with that of new-comers from the neighbouring castles and villages.
Cacciaguida says: “I tell a thing incredible but true: one entered the
small circuit by a gate, which from the _Della Pera_ took its name.”
The thing incredible being, that there should have been so little
jealousy among the citizens of Florence in those days, as to suffer one
of the city-gates, _Porta Peruzza_ to be named after one particular
family.
The Peruzzi--probably descendents from the Della Pera--still show the
pear in their arms, varying from one to six. It is to be supposed
however, that at Dante’s time, they showed but one pear, as indicated
in the name: Della Pera.
[Illustration: GALIGAI {Galigai shield: four blue chains, one from each
corner, linked in the center by an blue circle, all on a gold field.}]
N. 4. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the family of
the GALIGAI on the corner of the tower which forms a part of N. 9 Via
dei Cerchi facing Via dei Tavolini. This was one of the towers of the
Galigai who were proprietors of a whole square of houses, inside of
which was also built the ancient Church of San Michele, now San Carlo
in Via dei Calzaioli_:
_. . . . . . . . . ed avea Galigaio
Dorata in casa sua già l’elsa e il pome._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 101–102.
. . . . . . . . . and Galigaio showed
The golden hilt and pommel in his house.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
Cacciaguida mentions the _Galigai_ among the chief Florentine families
of his time; the _golden hilt and pommel_ were the symbols of
Knighthood.
[Illustration: LAMBERTI {Lamberti shield: six gold balls on a blue
field.}]
N. 5. - _Inscription and coat of arms commemorating the LAMBERTI Via
Pellicceria N. 10 on the side front, facing VIA LAMBERTI. Here stood
the houses that constituted the so called die of the Lamberti_:
_. . . . . . . . e le palle dell’oro
Fiorian Fiorenza in tutti i suoi gran fatti._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 110–111.
. . . . . . . . the balls of gold
Florence overflowered in all their mighty deeds.
Longfellow’s translation.
The _golden balls_ were in the arms of the _Lamberti_ and “the Poet
mentions them by their emblem,” writes the Ottimo, “meaning to say: as
the ball is the symbol of the universe, and gold surpasses all other
metals, so in goodness and valour these surpassed the other citizens
and embellished the city with their great deeds.” The family are
said to have come to Tuscany from Germany with the Emperor Otho the
Great, about the middle of the tenth century. They were a powerful but
turbulent family; one of them, Mosca dei Lamberti instigated the murder
of Buondelmonte (see N. 12).
[Illustration: CONSORTERIA OF THE VISDOMINI {Left half of shield:
Visdomini, top right and bottom left quarters have three black stripes
on silver, the other two quarters are gold. Right half: Cortigiani,
brown lion with a silver crozier and a small shield of the Florentine
people, a red cross on a silver field.}]
N. 6. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the VISDOMINI
placed in the ancient tower in Via dell’Oche underneath the
bridge-holes that still exist. The tower and adjoining palace (with
access from Via delle Scheletre N. 3) belonged from times immemorial
to the family of the Visdomini, the inner part facing the Corte and
PIAZZA DEI VISDOMINI. The yard and houses were afterwards incorporated
in the inclosure of the “Canonica del Duomo”_:
_. . . . Così facean li padri di coloro
Che, sempre che la vostra chiesa vaca
Si fanno grassi stando a consistoro._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 112–114.
So likewise did the ancestors of those
Who evermore, when vacant is your church,
Fatten by staying in consistory.
Longfellow’s translation.
These verses, following those of N. 5, refer to the _Visdomini_
and others who, being sprung from the founders of the bishopric of
Florence, were the curators of its revenues, which they did not spare,
whenever it became vacant. When a bishop died, they took possession of
the episcopal palace and, as custodians and defenders thereof, dwelt
and feasted in it, till the successor was appointed. The memory of the
Visdomini survives in the title of the little Church of S. Michele
dei Visdomini at the corner of Via Bufalini and Via dei Servi.--The
Visdomini, Tosinghi, Cortigiani and others all belonged to one
great parentage or “Consorteria” who backed each other in all their
interests, quarrels and struggles for power and influence, bearing one
common blazon, which showed the elements of the different emblems borne
by the various families, that made up the “Consorteria.” The coat of
arms, as given by the Commune, lacks the pastorale, evidently a mistake
according to the judgement of authorities on heraldry.
[Illustration: UGO DI TOSCANA {Hugo of Tuscany’s shield: three red
vertical stripes on a silver field.}]
N. 7. - _Inscription to commemorate HUGO OF TUSCANY (UGO DI TOSCANA)
put up at the entrance of the Badia in Via del Proconsolo_:
_Ciascun che della bella insegna porta
Del gran barone, il cui nome e il cui pregio
La festa di Tommaso riconforta,
Da esso ebbe milizia e privilegio._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 127–130.
Each one, who bears the sightly quarterings
Of the great Baron (he whose name and worth
The festival of Thomas still revives)
Through him knighthood and privilege retain’d.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
“_The great Baron_,” Marquis _Hugo of Brandenburg_ had come from
Germany with Otho III, and resided at Florence as Viceroy of the
Emperor. He gave five of the chief families permission to bear his
arms, and they had thereby titles and privileges of nobility. Those
families were the Pulci, Nerli, Giandonati, Gangalandi and the Della
Bella (see N. 19). _Hugo_ founded seven abbeys, in one of which his
memory was celebrated on _St. Thomas’ day_. The reason why he founded
those abbeys is this: Hugo, when hunting, once strayed away from his
people, and wandering through the forest came to a smithy, where he
saw black and deformed men tormenting others with fire and hammers;
and asking the meaning of this, he was told, that they were condemned
souls, who suffered this punishment, and that the soul of the Marquis
Hugo was doomed to suffer the same, if he did not repent. Struck with
horror he sold all his possessions in Germany and founded seven Abbeys.
He died on St. Thomas’ day 1006.
N. 8. - _Inscription to commemorate the SESTO DI BORGO, the section
of the Borgo, put up at the TOWER DEI BALDOVINETTI having its entrance
from Borgo SS. Apostoli N. 2._
_Già eran Gualterotti ed Importuni,
Ed ancor saria Borgo più quieto,
Se di nuovi vicin fosser digiuni._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 133–135.
In Borgo yet the Gualterotti dwelt
And Importuni; well for its repose,
Had it still lack’d of newer neighbourhood.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
The _Gualterotti_ and the _Importuni_ lived in the district or _sesto_
of the City called _Borgo_, meaning Village. New families coming to
Florence from the surrounding country built their houses just outside
the cerchio (city-wall), and when the town had thus grown larger and
a new and wider cerchio or wall was built, it took in all those new
houses--the division still retaining the name of Borgo. Thus also, when
Fiesole was conquered by the Florentines and destroyed in 1010 and
the Fiesolans were permitted to become Florentines, they erected their
houses just outside the Antica Cerchia. Cacciaguida here deplores the
introduction of new families, to whose mixture with the primitive stock
he attributes their degeneracy and disgrace.
N. 9. - _Inscription which commemorates BELLINCION-BERTI visible on
the palazzo Via del Proconsolo N. 9, side front, facing Via del Corso,
precisely where the houses of the Berti Bellicioni formerly stood_:
_Bellincion Berti vid’io andar cinto
Di cuoio e d’osso, e venir dallo specchio
La donna sua senza il viso dipinto;_
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XV, 106–108.
I saw Bellincion Berti walk abroad
In leathern girdle and a clasp of bone;
And without artful colouring on her cheeks
His lady leave the glass.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
_Bellincion Berti_ in whom Cacciaguida describes a type of the good
citizen of Florence in the olden times, was still living in 1266.
Villani calls him “the best and most honoured gentleman of Florence.”
He belonged to the noble family of the Ravignani, a branch of the
Adimari, and was the father of “the good Gualdrada” whose story is told
by Boccaccio as follows: “When the Emperor Otho IV, happening about
1208 to be in Florence, attended the festival of St. John to make it
more gay with his presence, to the church, with the other city-dames,
came the wife of Messer Berto and brought with her a daughter called
Gualdrada, who was still unmarried. And as they sat there with the
others, the maiden being beautiful in face and figure, nearly all
present turned round to look at her, among the rest the Emperor.
And having much commended her beauty and manners, he asked Messer
Berto, who stood near him, who she was. To which Messer Berto smiling
answered: “She is the daughter of one who, I dare say, would let you
kiss her, if you wished.” These words the young lady heard, being near
the speaker, and somewhat troubled by the opinion her father seemed
to have of her, that she would suffer to be kissed by any one in this
free way, rising and blushing with shame she said: “father, do not make
such courteous promises at the expense of my modesty, for certainly,
unless by violence, no one shall ever kiss me except him, whom you
shall give me as my husband.” The Emperor, on hearing this, much
commended the words of the young lady ... and calling forward a noble
youth named Guido Beisangue, afterwards called Guido the Elder, who as
yet had no wife, insisted upon his marrying her, and gave him as her
dowery a large territory in Casentino and made him Count thereof. It is
uncertain what arms Bellincion Berti bore.”
[Illustration: GIANFIGLIAZZI {Gianfigliazzi shield: blue rampant lion
on gold field.}]
N. 10. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the
GIANFIGLIAZZI were placed upon the house next to the TORRIONE in
Via Tornabuoni N. 1, being one of the oldest possessions of the
Gianfigliazzi_:
_. . . Com’ io riguardando tra lor vengo,
In una borsa gialla vidi azzurro,
Che di lione avea faccia e contegno._
DANTE, _Inferno_, XVII, 58–60.
And when amongst them looking round I came,
A yellow purse I saw with azure wrought,
That wore a lion’s countenance and port.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
The lines describe the arms of the _Gianfigliazzi_ who descended from
_Gian figlio di Azzo_. Dante finds one of the family as indicated among
those who have done violence to Art, their love of gold still haunting
them in the other world.
[Illustration: CAVICCIULI {Cavicciuli shield. Top half, laurel wreath
on gold field. Bottom half, blue.}]
N. 11. - _Inscription and coat of arms commemorating FILIPPO ARGENTI at
the house N. 14 Corso. Up to the XIIᵗʰ century this house belonged to
the family of the CAVICCIULI, of whom the ARGENTI were a branch_:
_Tutti gridavano: “A Filippo Argenti!”
E’l fiorentino spirito bizarro
In se medes mo si volgea coi denti._
DANTE, _Inferno_, VIII, 61–63.
“To Filippo Argenti!” cried they all:
And on himself the moody Florentine
Turned his avenging fangs.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
Dante, when crossing the Stygian lake, wherein the gloomy and
wrathful are tormented, finds _Filippo Argenti_, drenched in mire.
Boccaccio tells us, Filippo Argenti was a man remarkable for the large
proportions and extraordinary vigour of his bodily frame, and the
extreme waywardness and irascibility of his temper. The coat of arms,
which the commune has placed above this inscription, is that of the
Consorteria dei Cavicciuli (see “Consorteria” N. 6 Visdomini).
[Illustration: BUONDELMONTI {Buondelmonti shield: top half blue, bottom
half silver.}]
N. 12. - _Inscription and coat of arms commemorating the BUONDELMONTI
N. 5 Borgo SS. Apostoli, which was the principal palace of the family
and on the façade of which is still to be seen the emblem of the
People of Florence, placed there, when the family resigned their
privilege of nobility_:
_O Buondelmonte! . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Molti sarebber lieti che son tristi,
Se Dio t’avesse conceduto ad Ema
La prima volta che a città venisti._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 140–144.
O Buondelmonte! . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Many, who now are weeping, would rejoice,
Had God to Ema given thee, the first time
That near our city camest.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
[Illustration: POPOLO DI FIRENZE N. 12a. {The people of Florence’s
shield: red cross on a silver field.}]
_Buondelmonte_ was betrothed to a lady of the Amidei, but broke his
promise and united himself to one of the Donati. This was so much
resented by the former that they and their kinsmen met together to
consider the best means of revenging the insult. Mosca dei Lamberti
persuaded them to resolve on the assassination of Buondelmonte,
exclaiming to them, “cosa fatta testa ha” (the thing once done, there
is an end), and so, young Buondelmonte, clad in a white mantle, coming
on Easter morning from visiting beyond the Arno, riding a white horse,
had just reached the foot of Ponte Vecchio near the remains of
that broken statue of Mars (see N. 14), when the whole party issued
forth upon him and dragging him from his horse despatched him with a
thousand wounds. Villani, says: This was the cause and beginning of
the accursed Guelph and Ghibelline parties in Florence, the one siding
with the Buondelmonti, who placed themselves at the head of the Guelphs
or adherents of the papal power, the others embracing the cause of
the Amidei, who sided with the Ghibellines or those who supported the
authority of the Emperor.
This happened in 1215. And therefore Cacciaguida says: “O Buondelmonte!
it had been well for the city, if thy ancestor had been drowned in
the river Ema,” when he crossed that stream to come to Florence from
Montebuono, his castle in the rural district of Valdigrieve (see N. 13,
14, 15).
[Illustration: AMIDEI {Amidei shield: three red stripes on gold field,
with gold stripe at the top.}]
N. 13. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the AMIDEI on
the right hand side of the ancient tower in Via Por S. Maria N. 1,
which once belonged to the Amidei_:
_La casa, di che nacque il vostro fleto
Per lo giusto disdegno che v’ha morti
E posto fine al vostro viver lieto,
Era onorata essa e suoi consorti._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 136–139.
The house from which is born your lamentation
Through just disdain that death among you brought
And put an end unto your joyous life,
Was honoured in itself and its companions.
Longfellow’s translation.
Meaning the house of the _Amidei_, whose quarrel with the Buondelmonti
was the origin of the Guelph and Ghibelline parties in Florence,
and thus put an end to the joyous life of her citizens (see N. 12
Buondelmonte).
N. 14. - _Inscription on PONTE VECCHIO (in the middle)_:
_. . . . . . . in sul passo d’Arno._
DANTE, _Inferno_, XIII, 146.
. . . . . . . on the bridge of Arno.
“Florence”--says the suicide in Inferno XIII--“changed her first patron
Mars for St. John the Baptist, for which reason the vengeance of the
deity thus slighted will never be appeased: _and were it not that on
the Bridge of Arno some glimpses of him are remaining still_, the city
would already have been levelled to the ground, and thus the citizens,
who raised her from the ashes to which Totila, King of the Goths had
reduced her (550), would have laboured in vain.”
However the relic of antiquity, to which the superstition of Florence
attached so high an importance, was carried away by a flood, that
destroyed the bridge on which it stood, in the year 1337, without
the ill effects that were apprehended from the loss of the fancied
Palladium (see N. 15, 12).
N. 15. - _Inscription on PONTE VECCHIO--north side, where once stood
the maimed statue of Mars_:
_Conveniasi a quella pietra scema
Che guarda il ponte, che Fiorenza fesse
Vittima nella sua pace postrema._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 145–147.
But it behoved the mutilated stone
Which guards the bridge, that Florence should provide
A victim in her latest hour of peace.
Longfellow’s translation.
Buondelmonte was slain near the remains of the statue of Mars, as if he
and peace, which then departed from Florence, had been a sacrifice to
the god (see N. 12 and 14).
[Illustration: UBERTI {Uberti shield. Left half, black eagle on gold
field. Right half, blue and silver checks.}]
N. 16. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the UBERTI in
the first court of Palazzo Vecchio_:
_O quali vidi quei che son disfatti
Per lor superbia!_
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 109–110.
How mighty then I saw whom since their pride
Hath undone!
H. F. Cary’s translation.
The _Uberti_ like the Lamberti are said to have come into Tuscany with
Otho the Great about the middle of the tenth century; their houses
occupied the ground which now forms the eastern part of the Piazza
Signoria, north of Palazzo Vecchio.
They acquired riches and honours and became so powerful, that at
length, their arrogance and lack of civic spirit increasing, they
set the fatal example of intestine strife. In the quarrels between
the Guelphs and the Ghibellines they joined the latter. When after
60 years’ struggles the Guelphs remained masters of the city, the
_Uberti_ who had been exiled, were not allowed to return, and such was
the hatred with which they inspired the people, that the new Palace of
the Signoria (Palazzo Vecchio), decreed to be built in 1298, was not
allowed to touch the ground upon which their houses had stood; hence
the north front of Palazzo Vecchio bends inwards, instead of keeping
a straight line.--In spite of this old feud the present generation
granted to their memory a place of highest honour in that same Palazzo
Vecchio.
_N. 17. - Inscription commemorating FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI Palazzo
Vecchio--in the first court_:
_. . . . . fu’ io sol colà, dove sofferto
Fu per ciascun di torre via Fiorenza,
Colui che la difesi a viso aperto._
DANTE, _Inferno_, X, 91–93.
But singly I stood,--when, by consent
Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed,--
The one who openly forbade the deed.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
_Farinata_ was the most celebrated of this race. Born at the beginning
of the thirteenth century he became the head of the family in 1239,
was chosen captain of the Ghibellines of Tuscany and obtained a signal
victory over the Guelphs at Montaperto near the river Arbia. Dante
reproaching him with this fact, he answers as above. The event referred
to is this: Guido Novelli had assembled a council of the Ghibellines at
Empoli, where all agreed that, in order to maintain the ascendency of
the Ghibelline party in Tuscany, it was necessary to destroy Florence,
which--the people of that city being Guelphs--could serve only to
strengthen the party attached to the Church. This cruel sentence,
passed upon so noble a city, met with no opposition from any of its
banished citizens or friends, except Farinata degli Uberti, who openly
and without reserve forbade the measure, affirming that he had endured
so many hardships and encountered so many dangers in endeavouring to
reconquer his own country with no other view than that of being able to
pass his days in his native town, which he had never ceased to love,
and in whose defence he would die a thousand deaths rather than permit
her to be destroyed. Upon this he left the assembly. But he had made
such a strong impression on the minds of his fellow partisans, that the
cruel plan was abandoned.
As the stigma of free-thinking attached to Frederick II marks his
followers also, Dante places the Ghibelline Farinata, who supported
King Manfred, among the heretics in the Inferno, where he finds him
among the followers of Epicurus “who with the body made the spirit
die.”
[Illustration: ABATI {Abati shield: single central vertical silver
stripe on blue field.}]
N. 18. - _The inscription and coat of arms of the ABATI is placed in
Via dei Tavolini N. 10 near the corner of Via Calzaioli, on the spot
formerly covered by the houses of the ABATI, bordering on the houses
of the Della Bella and the grounds of the Church of San Bartolomeo al
Corso_:
_Piangendo mi sgridò: “Perchè mi peste?
Se tu non vieni a crescer la vendetta
Di Mont’Aperto, perchè mi moleste?”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quando un altro gridò: “Che hai tu, Bocca?
Non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
Se tu non latri? Qual diavol ti tocca?”_
DANTE, _Inferno_, XXXII, 79–81, 106–108.
“Wherefore dost bruise me?” weeping he exclaimed,
“Unless thy errand be some fresh revenge
For Mont’Aperto, wherefore troublest me?”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . when another cried,
“What ails thee, Bocca? Sound not loud enough
Thy chattering teeth, but thou must bark outright?
What devil wrings thee?”
H. F. Cary’s translation.
Stepping through the frozen circle containing all sorts of traitors,
Dante’s foot strikes against the face of one, who _weeping exclaimed:
“wherefore dost bruise me?”_ etc.--The Poet seizing his hinder scalp
says: “name thee or not a hair shall tarry here.”--He still refuses to
give his name--_when another cried: “What ails thee Bocca”_ etc.--It
was _Bocca degli Abati_ who had caused the defeat of the Guelphs at
Montaperto by cutting off during the engagement the hand of Giacopo del
Varca dei Pazzi, bearer of the Florentine standard. The event happened
in 1260.
[Illustration: DELLA BELLA {Della Bella shield. The silver and red
vertical stripes of Hugo of Tuscany, in a gold fringe, with the red
cross on silver of the people of Florence.}]
N. 19. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate GIANO DELLA BELLA
in Piazza dei Tavolini_:
_Ciascun che della bella insegna porta
Del gran barone . . . . . . . . . . .
Da esso ebbe milizia e privilegio;
Avvenga che col popol si rauni
Oggi colui che la fascia col fregio._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 127–132.
Each one, who bears the beautiful escutcheon
Of the great Baron . . . . . . . . . . .
Knighthood and privilege from him received,
Though with the populace unites himself
To day the man who binds it with a border.
Longfellow’s translation.
_The Della Bella_ derived their name from the beautiful escutcheon
“della bella insegna”, being one of the families whom the Great Baron
(see N. 7) Hugo of Brandenburg lieutenant of the Emperor Otho III had
allowed to bear his arms. _Giano Della Bella_ disguised the arms of
Hugo with a fringe of gold and later on added the ensign of the People
of Florence--the red cross on a white field. A nobleman by birth and
education, he was by conviction a friend of the people, and espoused
their cause against the nobles.
The aristocratic families had been so long at the head of the State,
that they placed themselves above all law. Giano determined that their
nobility itself should be a title of exclusion from the “Signoria”,
that is from government, and when they troubled the public peace by
their arrogance, their quarrels and frequent battles in the streets,
they should be brought to order by summary justice, the execution of
which he proposed to entrust to the Gonfaloniere, whom he caused to
be elected. For this severity and the mighty influence he exercised,
though all for the good of the community, he was hated by the nobles
and envied by the wealthy and ambitious among the people, who were
jealous of his power.
In 1294 he went into voluntary exile--as Macchiavelli says “to deprive
his enemies of all opportunity of injuring him, and his friends of all
opportunity of injuring the country”.
Villani writes: “Gian Della Bella was condemned and banished in
contumacy ... and all his possessions confiscated ... whence great
mischief accrued to our city, and chiefly to the people, for he was the
most loyal and upright “popolano” and lover of the public good of any
man in Florence”.
When through his influence nobility had become a reason for exclusion
from the Signoria, many nobles followed his example and made themselves
“of the people”, that is: gave up the prerogative of nobility. All
those who did so added to their arms the sign of the People of
Florence: a red cross on a white field (see N. 6 Visdomini and N. 12
Buondelmonti).
[Illustration: CERCHI {Cherchi shield: three gold rings on a blue
field.}]
N. 20. - _The inscription placed at the corner of Via del Corso and
Via del Proconsolo commemorates the PORTA SAN PIERO. Here stood up to
the beginning of this century traces of the arch of the ancient Porta
San Piero, built at the same time as the first circle of the walls of
Florence_:
_. . . . . la porta, che al presente è carca
Di nuova fellonia di tanto peso,
Che tosto fia iattura della barca._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 94–96.
. . . . . the gate that is at present laden
With a new felony of so much weight,
That soon it shall be jetsam from the bark.
Longfellow’s translation.
_The Cerchi_ are hit with those verses. Having come to Florence from
Val di Sieve, they had lately succeeded to the houses over the _gate of
San Piero_, formerly inhabited by the Ravignani (see Bellincion Berti
N. 9). They were at the head of the Bianchi in the famous quarrels of
the Bianchi and the Neri; the latter being led by the Donati (see N. 22
e 27). Giovanni Fiorentino, a writer of the fourteenth century tells of
the origin of the two factions: “In the city of Pistoia, at the time
of its greatest splendour there flourished the noble family of the
Cancellieri. Messer Cancellieri was a rich merchant. He had numerous
sons by two wives. This family increased so fast, that in a short time
they were numbered by hundreds, all “cavalieri”, valiant and worthy
men. But a division arose among them for the sake of rivalry in the
affections of an enchanting girl.”
Those who descended from the first wife took the title of _Cancellieri
Bianchi_, and the offspring of the second marriage were called
_Cancellieri Neri_. Having come to action, the Neri were defeated, and
wishing to adjust the quarrel, they sent one young man of their party
to entreat forgiveness of their opponents, the Bianchi. These however,
heedless of the humble entreaties of the youth, cut off his right hand.
After this the feud was irreparable and the citizens of Pistoia, in
order to reconcile the fighting parties applied to the Florentines, who
took possession of the place and sent the adherents of both parties to
the confines of Florence, whence they carried dissension into the city,
the _White_ taking refuge with and being seconded by the _Cerchi_, and
the _Donati_ espousing the interests of the _Neri_, thus multiplying
the divisions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, formerly brought into
Florence by the murder of Buondelmonte. So rapidly did this pestiferous
spirit gain ground in Florence, that from a peaceable and flourishing
state it became a scene of rapine and devastation”.
Which evil Dante, next to the Buondelmonti and the Amidei, with the
above verses lays to the charge of the Cerchi.
[Illustration: ELISEI {Elisei shield: left half gold, right black, with
a silver horizontal across both halves.}]
N. 21. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the houses of
the ELISEI N. 3 Via degli Speziali. This locality corresponds to the
mouth of Vicolo della Coroncina, which was bounded on this side by the
houses of the Elisei, that extended towards Piazza del Mercato Vecchio
(Piazza Vittorio Emanuele)_:
_Gli antichi miei ed io nacqui nel loco,
Dove si trova l’ultimo sesto
Da quel che corre il vostro annual giuoco._
DANTE, _Paradiso_, XVI, 40–42.
My ancestors and I our birthplace had
Where first is found the last ward of the city
By him who runneth in your annual game.
Longfellow’s translation.
Cacciaguida’s words.--The city, as before mentioned, was divided into
sesti or sections.
_The Elisei_ resided near the entrance of that, named after the Porta
San Piero, which was the last reached by the competitors in the annual
Florentine race. Those races took place on the 24th of June, the
festival of St. John the Baptist.
“The prize was the Palio, or mantle of crimson silk velvet”, says
Villani, and the race was run from San Pancrazio, the western sesto
of the city, through the Mercato Vecchio, to the eastern sesto of San
Piero. These Florentine races, like those until the last century held
in Rome, were horseraces, horses running without riders.
Cacciaguida is the first ancestor of the Elisei concerning whom
anything certain is known. It is however doubtful if Cacciaguida’s
family-name was already _Elisei_, as family-names were not much used
in those days. It is supposed that from Cacciaguida’s brother _Eliseo_
the _Elisei_ took their name, as the _Alighieri_ took theirs from
Cacciaguida’s son Alighiero, so named after his mother’s family, the
Alighieri of Ferrara. Alighiero’s son was Bellincion degl’Alighieri,
Dante’s grandfather, whose son called Alighiero was Dante’s father.
Cacciaguida tells of himself, that he was born 1090 (or 1106) and
that he died fighting in the crusade under Emperor Conrad III 1147.
Some historians have tried to follow the ancestors of Dante up to the
days of Julius Caesar. But the Poet himself--through the mouth of
Cacciaguida--sums up his communications with the words:
_“Basti dei miei maggiori udirne questo;
Chi ei si furo, edonde venner quivi,
Più è tacer che ragionare onesto”._
(Suffice it of my elders to hear this,
But who they were, and whence they hither came,
Silence is more considerate than speech).
As much as to say, that he himself had no further knowledge of his
ancestors and that he neither cared, nor found it necessary for his
honour to prove his descent from a very ancient family.
N. 22.-_The inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the house of
DANTE ALIGHIERI is not yet in its place, but will probably be placed in
Via Dante Alighieri_:
_. . . . . . . . io fui nato e cresciuto
Sovra il bel fiume d’Arno alla gran villa._
DANTE, _Inferno_, XXIII, 94–95.
By Arno’s pleasant stream . . . . .
In the great city I was bred and grew.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
_Dante_ says this of himself. “Dante” is a name abbreviated, as was the
custom in those days, from Durante or Durando. (_Alighieri_ see N. 21
Elisei). He was born at Florence 1265. His mother’s name was Bella, of
what family is not known.
His father died in the Poet’s childhood, but with the assistance of his
preceptor Bruno Latini (see N. 23) “he studied literature and other
liberal arts and omitted no pursuit necessary for the accomplishment
of a manly character, and mixed in all honourable and noble exercises”
says Pelli. When he was nine years old, his passion for _Beatrice_,
whom he immortalised in the Commedia, arose. They first met at a
festival in the house of her father.--(See Portinari N. 24).--His first
poetic work, the “Vita Nuova” has this love for its subject. He also
took part in the battles of Campaldino and one year later in a battle
between his countrymen and the citizens of Pisa.--“But neither war
nor love prevented Dante from gratifying his desire for knowledge and
mental improvement”. He is said to have studied at the universities of
Bologna and Padua, as well as in his native city, and there is reason
to believe, that he also visited Paris and even Oxford. In 1300 he
held the highest office in the Florentine state, being elected chief
of the Priors (see Donati N. 26). He belonged by family-tradition to
the Guelph party until after his banishment, when he became a fierce
Ghibelline. While on a mission at Rome, his enemies prevailed against
him and pronounced his banishment.
The occasion of his exile was this: The city had been disturbed by
divisions between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the former remaining
in power after 60 years’ fighting. The quarrel of the Bianchi and the
Neri, having split the Guelph party into two factions again (see N.
20), the Neri determined to persuade the Pope Boniface VIII to send
Charles of Valois to pacify and reform the city;--a measure opposed
by the Bianchi. Both took up arms. Dante, who then possessed the
supreme authority of the state, called in the multitude to protect the
Priors and then proceeded to banish the heads of the two factions:
Corso Donati among the Neri; his friend, the poet Guido Cavalcanti,
Baldinaccio Adimari and Torrigiani dei Cerchi among the Bianchi. Dante
was accused of having treated the Neri with greater rigour--evidently
without reason, though their resolve to call in Charles of Valois might
have justified him in doing so. However this accusation afforded a
pretext to Boniface VIII for sending Charles of Valois to Florence,
by whose influence the Neri with Donati at their head were restored
to their possessions, and the whole of the Bianchi party driven into
exile. As this happened while Dante was not in Florence, having been
sent to Rome as an ambassador to the Pope, offering voluntary return to
peace and amity among the citizens, his enemies took advantage of his
absence on this pacific mission to decree his banishment and confiscate
his possessions. From that time Dante sided with the Ghibellines, the
Guelphs having imperilled the independence of Florence by inviting
Boniface VIII to interfere with their government. He died 1321 in
banishment at Ravenna, where after long wanderings and hardships he
enjoyed the hospitality of Guido Novello da Polenta, a protector of
learning, himself a poet and a kinsman of that unfortunate Francesca da
Rimini. It is uncertain what arms Dante bore.
N. 23. - _The inscription to commemorate BRUNETTO LATINI is placed
outside the Chapel of the Carnesecchi in Santa Maria Maggiore, inside
of which there is an inscription and part of an ancient tombstone of
Brunetto Latini._
_. . . in la mente m’è fitta, ed or mi accora,
La cara e buona imagine paterna
Di voi, quando nel mondo ad ora ad ora
M’insegnavate, come l’uom s’eterna._
DANTE, _Inferno_, XV, 82–85.
. . . in my mind is fixed and touches now
My heart, the dear and good paternal image
Of you, when in the world from hour to hour
You taught me, how a man becomes eternal.
Longfellow’s translation.
Dante finds _Brunetto Latini_ among those, who had sinned in the world
by doing violence to Nature. Ser Brunetto, a Florentine, the secretary
and chancellor of the city, was Dante’s preceptor. Villani sums up his
account of him by saying, that “he was himself a worldly man, but he
was the first to refine the Florentines from their grossness, and to
instruct them in speaking properly and in conducting the affairs of the
Republic on principles of policy”.
[Illustration: PORTINARI {Portinari shield: gold field with two rampant
lions, one on each side of a door.}]
N. 24. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the PORTINARI in
Via del Corso, Palazzo Cepparello_:
_Sovra candido vel, cinta d’oliva
Donna m’apparve sotto verde manto
Vestita del color di fiamma viva._
DANTE, _Purgatorio_, XXX, 31–33.
In white veil with olive wreathed
A virgin in my view appeared, beneath
Green mantle robed in hue of living flame.
H. F. Cary’s translation.
In these words Dante describes the appearance of _Beatrice_, come down
from Paradise to become his guide in the place of Virgil, who then
vanishes. Pelli observes, that Dante makes Beatrice appear clothed in
the colours of the three theological virtues. The white veil being the
symbol of Faith, the green mantle of Hope, the red tunic of Charity.
This would justify the idea of those, who would see in Beatrice only
a theological, poetical symbol. But a few verses further on we read,
that at the sight of her he felt “the power sublime, that had already
pierced me through, ere from my boyhood I had yet come forth”. Meaning
his love for _Beatrice Portinari_, the daughter of _Folco Portinari_,
whom he first met and began to love at the end of his ninth and in the
beginning of her ninth year, as he tells us in his “Vita Nuova”, his
first poetic work, which is dedicated to this love, and at the end of
which he wrote the remarkable aspiration, that God would take him to
himself after he had written of Beatrice such things as were never yet
written of woman. It was literally fulfilled, when the Commedia was
finished, twenty-five years later. Beatrice had been dead ten years at
the date of the poem. Her father, Folco di Ricovero Portinari, founded
the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova and other charitable institutions in
1280 and died 1289.
[Illustration: CONSORTERIA OF THE CAVALCANTI {Cavalcanti shield: silver
crosses forming a diagonal grid on red field.}]
N. 25. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the CAVALCANTI.
Via dei Calzaioli near the entrance from Porta Rossa:_
_. . . “se per questo cieco
Carcere vai per altezza d’ingegno,
Mio figlio ov’è, e perchè non è teco?”
Ed io a lui: “Da me stesso non vegno:
Colui che attende là per qui mi mena,
Forse cui Guido vostro ebbe a disdegno”._
DANTE, _Inferno_, X, 58–63.
. . . “if through this blind
Prison thou goest by loftiness of genius,
Where is my son? and wherefore not with thee?”
And I to him: “I come not of myself;
He who is waiting yonder leads me here,
Whom in disdain perhaps your Guido had.”
Longfellow’s translation.
The spirit of _Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti_ rises up at the sight of
the Poet to look around, as eager to explore, if there were any other
person with Dante, expecting to see his son, _Guido Cavalcanti_, whom
Dante calls “the first of his friends” in his Vita Nuova, where the
commencement of their friendship is related. It began when Dante was
eighteen years of age and terminated only with the death of Guido. He
was a poet of mark, but being more given to philosophy than to poetry,
Guido was perhaps no great admirer of Virgil, Dante’s guide through
Hell and Purgatory, whom Dante designates with the words: “He who is
waiting yonder leads me here”.
The Cavalcanti also were a powerful family (see N. 22) and at the head
of a “Consorteria” (see Consorteria N. 6).
[Illustration: DONATI {Donati shield: top half red, bottom half
silver.}]
N. 26. - _Inscription and coat of arms to commemorate the DONATI at
the left side of the tower on the Corso N. 2 (with entrance from Piazza
Donati). The building is a remnant of one of the_ _Donati towers,
which rose by the side of the entrance to their Piazza and Corte_:
_. . . il luogo, u’fui a viver posto,
Di giorno in giorno più di ben si spolpa,
Ed a triste ruina par disposto”.
. . . “quei che più n’ha colpa
Vegg’io a coda d’una bestia tratto
In ver la valle, ove mai non si scolpa.”_
DANTE, _Purgatorio_, XXIV, 79–84.
. . . the place where I was set to live
From day to day of good is more depleted,
And unto dismal ruin seems ordained”.
. . . “him most guilty of it
At a beast’s tail behold I dragged along
Towards the valley where is no repentance.”
Longfellow’s translation.
The first three lines are Dante’s answer to _Forese_, a Tuscan poet,
who had been Dante’s friend on Earth, and whom he finds purifying
himself of the vice of gluttony. Forese’s question being: “When shall
I again behold thee?” Dante answers: “How soon soever I return--My
wishes will before me have arrived,--_because the place where I am set
to live etc._” This in reference to the political state of Florence. In
the latter three lines Forese _foretells_ (the fictitious date of the
Poem being about 1300) the death of _Corso Donati_, Dante’s political
enemy and the head of the Neri (see N. 20 and 22) who was the cause
of Charles of Valois’ being sent to Florence by Boniface VIII and
was suspected and finally formally accused of himself aiming at the
sovereignty.--To escape the fury of his fellow-citizens he fled away on
horseback, but falling, was overtaken and slain A. D. 1308, which fact
Forese’s prophecy alludes to. A contemporary annalist, after relating
the circumstances of his fate, adds that “he was one of the wisest and
most valorous knights, the best speaker, the most expert statesman, the
most renowned and enterprising man of his age in Italy, a comely man
of graceful carriage, but very worldly and had formed many scandalous
practices for the sake of attaining state and lordship”.
Dante’s wife Gemma was the sister of Corso Donati; notwithstanding this
he was greatly instrumental in obtaining the decree of exile against
the Poet.