Dominicans
in Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy)
by Dante Alighieri
May/14 June 1265-13/14 September 1321
A brief description.
Dante Alighieri, or simply Dante (14.05/13.06.1265- 13/14.09.1321) was an Italian poet from Firenze. His central work, the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), is considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. In Italy he is known as "the Supreme Poet" (il Sommo Poeta). Dante, Petrarcha and Boccaccio are also known as "the three fountains" or "the three crowns". Dante is "the Father of the Italian language".
The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Romen epic poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and of another of his works, La Vita Nuova. While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it. Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all' alta fantasia qui mancň possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).
Thomas Aquinas in Dante's Purgatory.
Dante describes in Purgatorio the state of the immaterial beings after Thomas Aquinas' views in canto 20, 49 etc.
In canto 20, 67 Dante tells about Charles of Anjou, who murdered Konradyn IV in Napoli and tried to poison Thomas Aquinas on his way from Napoli to Lyon to attend the council in 1274.
Saint Dominic, Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great in Dante’s Paradise.
Dante’s Paradise has 33 canto’s, each is divided in numbered lines.
In Canto 10 Thomas Aquinas meets Saint Dominic the founder of the Order (95),
and Albert the Great (98-99)..
Paradise Canto 10: 94-99.
94.
I then was of the lambs, that Dominic
95.
Leads, for his saintly flock, along the way,
96.
Where well they thrive, not sworn with vanity.
97..
He, nearest on my right hand, brother was,
98.
And master to me: Albert of Köln
99.
Is this: and of Aquinum, Thomas.
Bust of Dante, 15th century, preserved in Museo Nazionale in Napoli.
Italy 1965, Mi 1191, Sc 920.
Canto 11 The two princes Saint Francis and Saint Dominic.
Canto 11 is the first part of the diptych, which describes the two princes of the church: Saint Francis (Canto 11) and Saint Dominic (Canto 12). Dante describes God's decrees about the church (28) and the assistance of two princes (35): Saint Francis who radiates the profession of love of the Seraphs (37), and Saint Dominic the radiant light of the Cherubs (39).
35. Hath two ordain'd,
36. who should on either hand .
37. In chief escort her: one seraphic all
38. In fervency; for wisdom
upon
39. The other splendour of cherubic light.
After the ode to Saint Francis (r. 76-117) Dante calls Saint Dominic as the helmsman of the ship of Saint Peter (119) and as the shepherd of the flock, which turns away from him and gets lost (124-132).
Canto 12: The second prince: Saint Dominic.
Canto 12 is the the second part of the diptych in which the Franciscan Bonaventura trumpet forth Saint Dominic in 145 lines. He describes Saint Dominic in 1 as a mild westerly wind which regenerates the Christianity.
In
this Canto many details about Saint Dominic:
his birthplace (52: Calaroga),
his name (70-75), his parents (79-81),
his education (82-87), his request in Rome to combat the heresies (88-96), and his action (97-101).
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Dante in Paradise interrogated by Saint Peter on Faith; from an old
manuscript.
Italy 1965, Mi 1190; Sc 919.
Source: Wikipedia; De Goddelijke Comedie. Deel III: Paradiso. Vertaald door Rob Brouwer. Primavera Pers, Leiden 2002. English translation by H.F. Cary, M.A.
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