Military experience: Campaldino and Caprona

While there is no evidence that Dante took part in the two military campaigns undertaken by Florence against the Ghibelline town of Arezzo in 1285 and 1288, it seems certain that on 11 June 1289 he fought in the fierce battle of Campaldino, in the Casentino, between the castles of Poppi and Romena, in which in which more than 1700 Ghibellines died and around 2000 were taken prisoner, and which marked the victory of the Florentines over the Ghibellines and the Arentines. The information is recorded by the fifteenth century historian Leonardo Bruni, who claims to have read a letter by Dante, no longer available, in which the poet stated that he had taken part in the battle as a feditore on horseback, namely, as a cavalryman. A reference to the fierce combat of this battle can be found in the Commedia, in the episode in Purg. V concerning Bonconte da Montefeltro, who died at Campaldino. In August of the same summer, Dante also took part in the siege on the castle of Caprona, on the banks of the Arno, near Pisa, which also ended with the victory of the Florentine army and the Guelf side, enabling Nino Visconti to retake possession of the castle. This episode is also mentioned in a passage in the Commedia in which Dante recalls the fear of the soldiers as they walked among their enemies following surrender: cosí vid’io già temer i fanti / ch’uscivan patteggiati di Caprona, / veggendo sé tra nemici cotanti (Inf., XXI 94-96: “so I saw the troops fearful as they left Caprona under treaty, finding themselves in the midst of their many enemies”). It is likely, however, that Dante’s military experience was fairly limited, for there is no further evidence of his direct involvement in any other battles.