HIST 200 - Dante: Renaissance and Redemption

FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring 2014 and alternate years

A survey of the culture, society, and politics of early Renaissance Italy using the life of the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and his Divine Comedy. This period witnessed revolutions in Florence and Rome and the emergence of new artistic forms aimed at reconciling Christian beliefs with classical thought, notably that of the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Roman poet Virgil. It also generated conflicts between popes, kings, and emperors that issued ultimately in modern European states. First, we survey Dante’s historical setting using a chronicle by one of his contemporaries, Dino Compagni. We then follow Dante on his poetic pilgrimage of personal and collective redemption through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven as he synthesized the artistic, religious, philosophical and political challenges of his age. Peterson.