Giani de Soldanier or Giovanni de Soldanieri was an Italian politician, born in Florence to a

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

family. He is best known for being found in the 9th circle of hell (canto 32), reserved for those who sin by treachery, by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

in his epic ''Inferno''.

*Gianni de' Soldanier credo che sia ''I think Gianni de' Soldanier is farther on,'' *più là con Ganellone e Tebaldello, ''with Ganelon and Tebaldello,'' *ch'aprì Faenza quando si dormia. ''who opened up Faenza while it slept.''

Historians hold that while serving as potesta or lord of

Faenza Faenza (, , ; rgn, Fènza or ; la, Faventia) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed eart ...

, with the help of Tribadello di Zambrasi, he betrayed the town to the

Guelfs The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

.Dizionario biografico universale
Volume 5, by Felice Scifoni, Publisher Davide Passagli, Florence (1849); page 122.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soldanier Gi Politicians from Florence Characters in the Divine Comedy 13th-century births 13th-century deaths 13th-century people of the Republic of Florence