I am a graduate student currently doing research for a history
paper which deals with the reception of Dante's Commedia (particularly
by clergy) and possible political, social, intellectual, and theological
reasons for the Church's reaction or lack thereof.
Last semester, while taking a class on Dante and Medieval
English Literature, I became interested in learning what type of
critical response Dante's Commedia received in terms of whether it was
thought to be merely a work of fiction, a vision, or an actual "out-of
body" journey. In the context of the class I am currently taking, whose
instructor will not entertain the possibility that any work of
literature was ever taken as more than a fiction, I am forced to refine
this question somewhat.
Basically, from my limited knowledge of Church power and
influence in the Middle Ages, I would have assumed that Dante's
boldness: the mapping of the universe including the afterlife, and
especially his representation of Purgatory, and the assignment of
several Popes, including the canonized Celestine V, to Hell, would have
attracted a great deal of negative attention, since he was, after all,
imposing upon if not challenging the authority of the Church in
spiritual as well as temporal matters. At first it seemed that there
was no negative reaction. He was not, after all, excommunicated or
censured (that I know of) in his lifetime. This lead me to wonder, was
the fact of his exile enough? Did the clergy consider that this
limitation on his influence was enough to prevent his ideas from harming
them? Did the Pope have too many other political agendas to worry about
a provincial Italian poet (as was suggested by my Professor)? Or, was
there enough of an anti-papal spirit among intellectuals and politicians
of Dante's time for this to pass unnoticed?
Since formulating these question, I have found that during the
years of the Avignon Papacy, which only slightly overlaps Dante's
lifetime, there were many Italian nobles who felt quite comfortable
challanging papal authority, even on pain of excommunication. This,
however, only adds to my speculation without proving my point. I have
also read, in an obscure referance in the online version of the Catholic
Encyclopedia, that Dante's works were much debated in the Fourteenth
Century, that Dante was accused of heretical writing, and that De
Monarchia was burned by Papal decree. However, I cannot verfy this, as
my source does not cite any sources.
My inability to read Italian has proven to be a hinderance on
this topic. I would be grateful for any suggestions that might set me
on the right track, particularly books in English which might mention
this topic.
Thanks!
Nicole Mara duPlessis
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