• Illustrations by Gustave Doré

Italy at this time was distracted between the factions of the Guelfs, or partisans of the pope, and the Ghibellines, the adherents of the emperor.
Dante belonged to the Guelf party, which after many revolutions had got the upper hand in Florence, and had completely defeated the Ghibellines in the battles of Campaldino and Caprona, in both of which actions Dante had distinguished himself. In 1300 he was appointed one of the priori, or supreme magistrates of Florence.

But prosperity was fatal to the Guelfs: they became torn by internal dissensions, and under the names of Bianchi and Neri, or Whites and Blacks, they continually fought against each other.

During Dante's absence he was con-demned by the Neri, in 1302, to two years' banishment and the payment of a large fine, and a few months later he was condemned to be burned alive if he should ever fall into the power of the Florentine community.
The poet now left the Guelfs and joined the Ghibelline party. In 1304 a great fire destroyed a large portion of Florence and gave Dante and the Bianchi an opportunity of attacking the city; the attack failed, however, and Dante, in despair, took up his abode in Verona, where he found a generous patron in Albunio della Scala, prince of Verona.

About this time he had written the greater part of his Commedia, which he had probably begun before his banishment, and which was completed about 1312.
From Verona, Dante went to Paris, in order to improve his knowledge in theology, and he disputed in the schools with great ability.
About this time he wrote a pathetic letter to Florence, in which he implored a revocation of his sentence, but in vain.