Summary of Paul Strathern's The Florentines

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 In 1308, the exiled Florentine poet Dante Alighieri was lost in a dark wood, with no sign of a path. He had no idea how he had arrived where he was. He saw a ghostly form that said, I am not a man. I was a poet who sang of Troy.

#2 The Divine Comedy is the greatest poem in the western canon. It is written in the Tuscan dialect of Dante’s native Florence, and it is imbued with the spirit of the medieval era. Yet it is instantly recognizable as being of the modern era.

#3 Dante Alighieri was born around May 1265, and he wrote the Divine Comedy in 1300. The poem is set in the year 1300, when he was a serving signore. It is a constant reminder to him of how low he had fallen.

#4 Dante’s father was a small-time moneylender, who occasionally speculated in plots of land. His mother was from the distinguished, ancient Abati family, but died when he was still a child. This fact may explain a certain austerity and lack of emotion in his character.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822526204

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Insights on Paul Strathern's The Florentines

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1308, the exiled Florentine poet Dante Alighieri was lost in a dark wood, with no sign of a path. He had no idea how he had arrived where he was. He saw a ghostly form that said, I am not a man. I was a poet who sang of Troy.

#2

The Divine Comedy is the greatest poem in the western canon. It is written in the Tuscan dialect of Dante’s native Florence, and it is imbued with the spirit of the medieval era. Yet it is instantly recognizable as being of the modern era.

#3

Dante Alighieri was born around May 1265, and he wrote the Divine Comedy in 1300. The poem is set in the year 1300, when he was a serving signore. It is a constant reminder to him of how low he had fallen.

#4

Dante’s father was a small-time moneylender, who occasionally speculated in plots of land. His mother was from the distinguished, ancient Abati family, but died when he was still a child. This fact may explain a certain austerity and lack of emotion in his character.

#5

Florence was a republic, and its citizens were proud of their democratic government. The florin, a coin which was minted there, was a trusted item in trade. It was nominally a democracy, but in practice only a select number of citizens had the right to vote.

#6

Dante’s life was filled with passion, and his love life was no exception. He fell in love with a woman named Beatrice Portinari, and would remain so even after he married and had four children.

#7

Dante’s love for Beatrice was a purely spiritual one. He fell in love with her when he was nine years old, and nine years later, he had a dream in which he saw her being carried off to heaven by a male figure.

#8

Dante had a dream about Beatrice, and he was certain that she meant the world to him. He began to think about her and what she meant to him, and he realized that she was the guide and protector of his spiritual life.

#9

The pope claimed spiritual leadership over the faithful throughout western Christendom, and as the inheritor of the throne of St Peter saw himself as God’s representative on earth. The Holy Roman Emperor, on the other hand, claimed descent from Charlemagne, the powerful Frankish ruler who around 800 AD had established an empire spanning France, the German lands, much of Italy and northern Spain.

#10

The citizens of Florence would leave their homes and go about their business during the day. Groups of peasants would make their way out of the city to tend the fields, and the fishermen would leave through the river gate.

#11

The