Ciappo Ubriachi was a Florentine

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

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

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

and

Dante 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 ...

. In the Florentine Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, his family was a

Ghibelline 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 centu ...

. He is best known for being a wicked

usurer Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching 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 charged in ex ...

according to

in the

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

Place in Dante's ''Inferno''

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 ...

’s

poem '' Inferno'', Dante says that he saw Ciappo in the inner ring of the Seventh Circle of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, 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. Around their necks are found purses emblazoned with their

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

. 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 (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

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

Relevant lines from ''The Inferno'' with explanations (Mendelbaum 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. ''(This person is Ciappo, because a white goose on a field red was the arms of Ciappo’s family, the Ubriachi. )'' And one who had an azure, pregnant sow 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 ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

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:Ubriachi, Ciappo 13th-century people from the Republic of Florence Male characters in literature Nobility from the Republic of Florence Businesspeople from Florence Characters in the Divine Comedy