Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani was a Paduan

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

who lived in the late 13th century around the time of

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

and

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

. He is best known for being a wicked

usurer Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is c ...

according to

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 ...

Place in Dante's ''Inferno''

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: '' ...

poem ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

'', Dante says that he saw Vitaliano in the inner ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell, where the violent are eternally punished. The inner ring of the Seventh Circle is a burning hot desert with a continual rain of fire. The usurers are to be found sitting on the sand, swatting away fire the way that animals swat bugs, and crying. Vitaliano is the only usurious sinner to be named. However, around the necks of the other usurious sinners are found purses emblazoned with their family

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

. This, and a bit of research into Dante's time-period, make it possible to identify who the suffering sinners are meant to be. Usurers are considered violent because, as Dante's

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

explains in Canto XI, usurers sin against Art, and Art is the Grandchild of God.

Relevant lines from ''The Inferno'' with explanations (Mandelbaum translation)

So I went on alone and even farther (43) along the seventh circle's outer margin, to where the melancholy people sat. Despondency was bursting from their eyes; (46) this side, then that, their hands kept fending off, at times the flames, at times the burning soil: Not otherwise do dogs in summer-now (49) with muzzle, now with paw-when they are bitten by fleas or gnats or by the sharp gadfly. When I had set my eyes upon the faces (52) of some on who the painful fire falls, I recognized no one; but I did notice That from the neck of each a purse was hung (55) that had a special color or an emblem, and their eyes seemed to feast upon these pouches. Looking about-when I had come among them- (58) I saw a yellow purse with azure on it that had the face and manner of a lion. Then, as I let my eyes move further on, (61) I saw another purse that was blood-red, and it displayed a goose more white than butter. And one who had an azure, pregnant sow (64) inscribed as emblem on his white pouch, said io me: "What are you doing in this pit? Now be off; and since you're still alive, (67) remember that my neighbor Vitaliano shall yet sit here, upon my left hand side. Among these Florentines, I'm

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 ...

n; (70) I often hear them thunder in my ears, shouting, 'Now let the sovereign cavalier, The one who'll bring the purse with three goats, come!'" (73) At this he slewed his mouth, and then he stuck his tongue out, like an ox that licks his nose.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitaliano Di Iacopo Vitiliani People from the Province of Padua 13th-century Italian nobility