Jacopo Alighieri (1289–1348; sometimes written as Iacopo Alighieri) was an Italian poet, the son of

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: '' ...

, whom he followed in his exile. Jacopo's most famous work is his sixty-chapter ''Dottrinale''. He is represented by the father in the ''Paradiso'' of the Divine Comedy as Saint James along with Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist, representing his brothers Pietro and Giovanni.

Biography

Born in 1289 in

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 ...

, Jacopo was the son of Dante Alighieri and his wife, Gemma di Manetto Donati. He was exiled from Florence with his father and brothers Giovanni and Pietro in 1315. He subsequently traveled to

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

, where he may have lived with his father. Dante died in 1321, and Jacopo sent a copy of the ''Divine Comedy'' to Guido da Polenta, the lord of the city. In 1325, he returned to Florence, where he took

minor orders Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lec ...

, making it possible for him to become a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. At home, he took charge of his family's financial affairs; in 1343, he was able to retake possession of his father's confiscated property. In his later years, he had a troubled relationship with Jacopa di Biliotto degli Alfani, with whom he had a daughter named Alighiera and a son named Alighiero. Jacopo died in 1348, likely in Florence from the Black Death.

Works

* The ''Dottrinale'' has 60 chapters in seven-syllable rhyming couplets; each chapter consists of ten stanzas. It treats matters of astronomy and astrology, faith, the virtues of the Church and the State, love and hate, family, human beauty, and free will. The work is inspired by ancient authors, and sometimes imitates Dante. Divided into two sections, the ''Dottrinale'' first deals with the physical order, and then the moral. * The ''Commento'' is virtually a terzina-by-terzina commentary of the text of the ''Inferno'', which is the first of the three parts of the ''Divine Comedy''. ante's_poem_is_in_''terza_rima'',_the_form_he_created_as_the_poem's_poetic_vehicle._The_form's_three-line_stanzas_are_called_terzinas..html" ;"title="terza_rima.html" ;"title="ante's poem is in ''terza rima">ante's poem is in ''terza rima'', the form he created as the poem's poetic vehicle. The form's three-line stanzas are called terzinas.">terza_rima.html" ;"title="ante's poem is in ''terza rima">ante's poem is in ''terza rima'', the form he created as the poem's poetic vehicle. The form's three-line stanzas are called terzinas.Jacopo was one of the first to write a work of this kind. By 1340, less than two decades after Dante's death, six major commentaries were enlightening, guiding, and informing the work's ever-larger readership. (See Hollander's "Dante and his commentators" in ''The Cambridge Companion to Dante''). The ''Commento'' accompanied the copies of the ''Comedy'' sent to Guido da Polenta.

Additional bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

* *
''Chiose alla cantica dell'Inferno''
(Florence, 1848)
''Il dottrinale di Jacopo Alighieri''
(Città di Castello, 1895)
''Jacopo's ''Inferno'' commentary, on the Dartmouth Dante Project site''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alighieri, Jacopo 1289 births 1348 deaths Writers from Florence 14th-century Italian poets Dante Alighieri Donati