Dante Alighieri was a very well known and influential poet in early literature. "He was not only a poet, he was also a philosophical thinker, an active politician, and a religious visionary" (Holmes 1). Dante was born in Florence in 1265, into the Guelph political party, one of the two main parties in Florence. The Guelphs were aristocrats and nobles. They supported the church and papacy and were against the Renaissance. Their opposition was the Ghibellini Party who consisted of the rising merchant class. They supported the emperor and wanted to gain power from the pope (Holmes 22). During his earlier years Dante was neutral politically, but he eventually rose to become a high political figure in the Florentine government. He joined the White Guelphs, who split from the Black Guelphs. When the Blacks took over, Dante was banished from political office and exiled from Florence (Parish Internet). His life changed drastically during his exile, enabling him to concentrate on his writing.

Dante was one of the most influential individuals in early European literature, language, and politics. He influenced Italian society and culture through his poetry and his prose (Dante Internet).

Dante gave the world new ideas on politics, changed the style of poetry, and unified the Italian language. His effect can be seen in the writings that are prominent in Western culture today. Given his wide span of influence, it is easy to see why he is said to be "The greatest Italian poet and one of the most important writers of European literature" (Dante: 1265-1321).

Dante was very involved in politics and his strong political opinions were expressed in his writings. He was active in Florentine politics from 1295-1302 serving on city council and holding high public office until his exile in 1303 (Wilkins 54). He was exiled because of his political opposition to the Pope. Dante didn't agree with the nobility way of government and he held a stand against the Pope's intervention (Holmes 1). Many of his views were ahead of his time. For example, one topic that was commonly used by Dante was the relation between the authority of the Church and the authority of the State. He believed that the Church and the State should be separate (Holmes 3). This is a common idea in contemporary politics, one on which the United States was founded many centuries after Dante. Politics were a reoccurring topic throughout his writings. He wrote about them with a very skeptical and negative viewpoint. "For the rest of his life politics was always to be an important factor in

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