Filippo Argenti or Filippo Argente (13th century), a politician and a citizen of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, was a member of the Cavicciuoli branch of the aristocratic family of Adimari, according to

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...

. Filippo's children were Giovanni Argente and Salvatore Argente. Salvatore later travelled to Spain and established himself in Barcelona and his descendants in Valencia, where his grandson Salvatore was established in the small village of Navarres and changed the spelling of his surname to Argente. The Adimari family were part of the Black

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, ...

political faction. Filippo is reputed to have received the nickname "Argenti" by having his horse shod with silver. He makes an appearance in the '' Decamerone'', 9.8, where Boccaccio tells a story that involves his temper. The Firenze's storia talks about his silver hair. He was a very tall man, very burly, bizarre, and famous for his iron fists. Filippo Argenti appears as a character in the fifth circle of Hell in the '' Inferno'', the first part of

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

.'' He is among the wrathful in the river

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

, and accosts Dante as the latter crosses the river. Filippo is then attacked by the other wrathful in the river Styx after this encounter with Dante and

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 ...

, and then turns on himself biting fiercely (Commedia, Inferno, VIII, 52-63). Early commentators recount various incidents to explain the antipathy between Dante and Filippo: # Filippo once slapped Dante # Filippo's brother had taken Dante's possessions after Dante's exile from Florence # Filippo's family had opposed Dante's return from exile

References

Politicians from Florence Characters in the Divine Comedy 13th-century births 13th-century deaths 13th-century people from the Republic of Florence {{Tuscany-politician-stub