Italian poet Dante was exiled from Florence (Italy) in 1302 during an era of factionalism in the ruling party of the Guelfs. In the 1290s Florence was divided between the “Black” Guelfs and the “White” Guelfs. Dante aligned with the Whites, who briefly gained power and exiled the Blacks. A new alliance was then formed between Pope Boniface VIII, the French (the brother of King Philip IV, Charles of Valois, was acting in concert with Boniface), and the Blacks. When Charles wished permission to enter Florence, the city was thrown into political indecision. In 1301 Dante was part of an embassy to Rome to discuss matters with the pope, but he was outmaneuvered, and the Blacks reentered Florence and terrorized the city. Dante, meanwhile, had been detained in Rome and then Siena. While he was away, the new Florentine government condemned him for crimes he had not committed. In January 1302, he was condemned, and later, in March, he and other White Guelfs were sentenced to be burned to death. This banishment shaped Dante’s literary work. His epic poem The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–21) was begun during his years of exile, and it expresses the crisis that this rupture caused in his life.
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