Jacopo del Cassero (

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

, 1260 - Oriago, 1298) was a magistrate and condottiero from late medieval Italy. He appears as a character in

Dante Alighieri 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: '' ...

's ''

Purgatorio ''Purgatorio'' (; Italian for "Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', following the '' Inferno'' and preceding the '' Paradiso''. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of D ...

''.

Life

Jacopo del Cassero was born in

around 1260. He was the son of Uguccione and was part of the powerful

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

family of Berarda. He was a

magistrate of

, and between 1288 and 1289 he participated with the

Guelphs 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 ...

of the Marche region allied with

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

in the Battle of Campaldino against the

Ghibellines 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, ri ...

of Arezzo. Here is where he probably met Dante.Maria Grazia Paolini
DEL CASSERO, Iacopo
in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 36, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1988. Jacopo defended

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

, a city of which he was mayor from 1296 to 1297, from the expansionist aims of

Azzo VIII d'Este Azzo VIII d'Este (died 31 January 1308) was lord of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1293 until his death. He inherited the family lands from his father, Obizzo II, whom Dante suggested in the '' Inferno'' he had assassinated. The Florentine poet ...

, lord of Ferrara. In 1298, Jacopo was elected mayor of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and to reach the city he prudently decided to pass through

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

by sea and continue by land, thus avoiding the territories of the Este family.Maria Grazia Paolini
DEL CASSERO, Iacopo
in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 36, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1988. Despite this, while he was in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

on the banks of the Brenta, near the marshes that surrounded the castle of Oriago, he was reached by assassins sent by Azzo VIII and was wounded in the leg and groin. He sought shelter in a swamp where he bled to death.Maria Grazia Paolini
DEL CASSERO, Iacopo
in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 36, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1988. Today his remains rest in the Church of San Pietro in Episcopio in

after being kept until 1994 at the Church of San Domenico under the protection of the Madonna del Latte.

In Dante's ''Divine Comedy''

Jacopo del Cassero appears as a character in the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

, composed between 1308 and 1321, where he is featured in canto 5 of ''

'' alongside

Pia de' Tolomei Pia de' Tolomei was an Italian noblewoman from Siena identified as "la Pia," a minor character in Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' who was murdered by her husband. Her brief presence in the poem has inspired many works in art, music, literature, and cin ...

and Bonconte da Montefeltro. Dante the pilgrim meets Jacopo among the souls who were victims of violent deaths and repented for their sins in the very last moments of their lives.Maria Grazia Paolini
DEL CASSERO, Iacopo
in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 36, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1988. When these souls first take notice of the pilgrim, they are amazed by his mortal status, and thus flock around him to tell him of their stories. When Jacopo steps forward, he asks Dante to make the truth known to his relatives so that they pray for him and thus his time spent in Ante-Purgatory is shortened. He then proceeded to tell the pilgrim of the moment of his death.Dante Alighieri, ''Purgatorio'' 5.79-84.

References

{{Divine Comedy navbox 1260 births 1298 deaths People from le Marche Characters in the Divine Comedy Deaths from bleeding Assassinated Italian people