Dante the Champion

Dante is one of the most compelling figures in my mind. Amidst a sort of divided political civil war, with a significantly oppressive Catholic presence at the time, Mr. Alighieri decided to go and write one of the most religiously polarizing texts. This guy was a champion on so many fronts: religious expressionism, personal transcendence, common language (il volgare fiorentino, as it was known at the time). I mean, wow. This guy was bold. And he paid for it. Excommunication and exile from Florence were probably not on his bucket list. What amuses me perhaps even more is how the Catholic Church, I believe, post-humously re-instated Dante’s religious status.

As I ponder my personal relationship to this man, I think of the complexity of religious expressionism. I mean, are these ‘Women for the Priesthood’ groups the ‘Dante’s of our generation, willing to challenge the foundational ideas of their day, despite the inevitability of excommunication? I can hardly imagine so. It is a complex issue, and I think it is quite emotionally charged by members of the LDS community. I don’t know if I can really approach that one with a 10-foot pole.

On a deeper level I can find resonance with the principles that his actions demonstrate, rather than the actions themselves. Free thinking is so important, and yet so underrated, even at a university level. Dante challenged his circumstances, from theology to linguistics, and shaped the world in a way that will never be forgotten. He was willing to have a vision of a language of the common man, and didn’t waste his time trying to convince people to start using it – he just went for it. He wrote something that shaped humanity, and it could not be ignored. This is notably different from Petrarch, who advocated the use of ‘il volgare’, but somewhat ironically advocated it in Latin.

*The picture is of Dante's Ravenna tomb.