Dante Aligheri

In 1265, Dante Alighieri was born under the sign of Gemini in the San Piero quarter of Florence. Much of what we know about him is supplied by his own writings: although he disregards his immediate family, we know that he was nine, attending Candlemas,

when first the glorious Lady of my mind was made manifest to mine eyes; even she who was called Beatrice by many who know not wherefore.

Beatrice, however, went on to wed another, and died suddenly in 1290; Dante tried to forget his disappointment and grief in battle, fighting in the wars against Arezzo and Pisa, then in writing his revolutionary ‘autopsychology’ La Vita Nuova.

Like the other great poets of Florence’s literary awakening, Guido Calvacanti and Foreses Donati, Dante was a keen student of Bruneto Latini, who urged his followers to strive for excellence and fame and, with Aristotle and Cicero as their models, to use their talents to serve their city state, Florence.