Political activitiy (1294-1302)

After acquiring a certain intellectual standing, Dante began to take part in Florentine public life, remaining true throughout to his uncompromising defence of the city’s autonomy in the face of external interference. In March 1294 he met Prince Charles Martel of Anjou, perhaps as a member of an official delegation, but it was only in 1295, after changes to the Ordinances of Justice, that Dante, a member of the Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries, undertook an active political career. After late 1295 he served on the special People’s Council, the Council for the election of the Priors, and on the Council of the Hundred, the Commune’s most important administrative body. In May 1300, he was sent as ambassador to San Gimignano. The success of his embassy probably helped his election, of the same year, for the two-month period from 15 June to 15 August, to the position of Prior, the highest state office. From this point on, his political activity was intense. These are the years in which the conflict between Florence’s Black and White Guelfs and Pope Boniface VIII’s interference in Florentine affairs intensified. Dante, who sided with the Whites, was forced into decisions with dire consequences: he banished the more turbulent members of both factions, including the White Guelf Guido Cavalcanti; he put forward the idea of refusing economic support for Charles II of Anjou; he voted against a request for military support from Boniface VIII. When Charles de Valois arrived in Tuscany as “peacemaker”, in the second half of October 1301, Dante was sent to the Pope in Rome to ascertain his real intentions. The situation deteriorated. Charles entered Florence, and in the first few months of 1302, the Blacks, who had meanwhile taken control of the city, pronounced numerous sentences upon the most active Whites, including, as attested in the Libro del Chiodo, Dante, who was never to return to Florence. This intense political activity did not bring Dante’s literary pursuits to a complete standstill, however, for during these years he produced several important cycles of lyric poetry, including the Tenzone with Forese and the Petrose.