Lunigiana

Situated between Tuscany and Liguria, in the valley of the river Magra and its affluents, the Lunigiana occupies a noteworthy place in Dante’s life and works. It may have been Cino da Pistoia who took him there in 1306, although Dante was in fact a guest of Franceschino Malaspina and also in contact with Franceschino’s brothers, Corradino and Moroello. On 6 August 1306, on behalf of Corradino and Moroello, Dante was in Val di Magra to sign a peace agreement with the Bishop of Luni, which some argue to be the first instance of Dante’s political thought. At the Malaspina courts, where the traditional courtly rules still operated, he enjoyed a period of relative tranquillity, as testified by his celebration of the House of Malaspina in Purg., VIII 122-32. Moreover, between 1307 and 1308, immediately after his visit to the Lunigiana, Dante sent Epistle IV to Moroello Malaspina, and in Moroello’s name wrote the sonnet Degno fa voi trovare ogne tesoro as a reply to Cino da Pistoia who had dedicated a composition of his own to Moroello. Although the information may well be legend rather than fact, Boccaccio reports that while Dante was in the Lunigiana, he was sent the first seven cantos of the Commedia from Florence, where they had fortunately shown up, leading to the conclusion that they had been composed before his exile. Boccaccio adds that it was also while in the Lunigiana that Dante completed his first cantica. Dante left the Malaspina Court for the Casentino in the early months of 1307, and, if the Letter by Ilaro the monk is genuine, returned to the Lunigiana only once more around 1308, meeting the monk Ilaro during a stop at the monastery of Santa Croce del Corvo while on a journey ad partes ultramontane.