Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti (flourished c. 1250; died c. 1280) was a Florentine

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and father of

Guido Cavalcanti Guido Cavalcanti (between 1250 and 1259 – August 1300) was an Italians, Italian poet. He was also a friend of and intellectual influence on Dante Alighieri. Historical background Cavalcanti was born in Florence at a time when the comune was b ...

, a close friend of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

. Cavalcanti was a wealthy member of the

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

faction of Florentine aristocrats. He was a merchant banker who, with others, lent money under usurious conditions during the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

s with the consent and support of the papacy. In 1257 Cavalcanti served as

Podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

(chief magistrate) of the Umbrian city of

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

. Following the 1260 victory of the

Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centurie ...

over the Florentine Guelphs in the

Battle of Montaperti The Battle of Montaperti was fought on 4 September 1260 between Republic of Florence, Florence and Republic of Siena, Siena in Tuscany as part of the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Florentines were routed. It was the blood ...

, Cavalcanti went into exile in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

in Tuscany. He returned from exile in 1266 and married his son Guido to the daughter of

Farinata degli Uberti Manente degli Uberti (1212 – 11 November 1264), known as Farinata degli Uberti, was an Italian aristocrat, knight, and military leader of the Ghibelline faction in Florence. He was considered to be a heretic by some of his contemporaries, in ...

, a prominent Ghibelline. Despite Cavalcanti's alignment with the papacy-supporting Guelphs, he was denounced as a heretic. It is possible that he was an atheist, like his son. In lines 52-72 of the tenth canto of Dante's '' Inferno'', the poet converses with Cavalcanti about his son, Guido, and depicts the dead father as a doting parent. Dante represents Cavalcanti and Farinata as neighbors in the same tomb in Hell, but without any interaction between them.

Biography

A member of the noble

Guelphs and Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...

house of Cavalcanti, he was a rationalist and epicurean spirit. He did not believe in the immortality of the soul and maintained that the only reality was atoms.

meets him in the 10th canto of

Inferno (Dante) ''Inferno'' (; Italian for 'Hell') is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century narrative poem ''The Divine Comedy'', followed by and . The ''Inferno'' describes the journey of a fictionalised version of Dante himself t ...

, where

Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

and

Epicurus Epicurus (, ; ; 341–270 BC) was an Greek philosophy, ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy that asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain tranqui ...

, such as

, are placed in fiery arks to serve their eternal punishment. It was precisely with the latter, a

, that Cavalcante had become related, as often happened in those days between opposing families when they wanted to reconcile: after the return of the Guelphs to Florence (1267), Guido, Cavalcante's son, had been made to marry Farinata's daughter, Bice Uberti. Also in the 10th canto of the Inferno, Cavalcante asks Dante for news of his son Guido, marveling at not seeing him in the Poet's company, if it is true that Alighieri's transcendental journey was due to “height of wit.” Indeed, Guido Cavalcanti was among the finest intelligences of 13th-century Florence, and “first friend” of Dante himself. Cavalcanti father died around 1280, when Dante was just 15 years old. Altro figlio di Cavalcante fu Pazzo Cavalcanti, bisnonno del capostipite del longevo e prolifico ramo calabrese di questa famiglia, Filippo, primo barone di Sartano (oggi frazione di

Torano Castello Torano Castello is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Torano Castello - Chiesa di San Biagio - 2023-09-27 13-05-30 001
* 13th-century births Year of birth uncertain 1280s deaths Year of death uncertain 13th-century Italian philosophers Characters in the Divine Comedy 13th-century Italian nobility {{italy-philosopher-stub