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

, whom he followed in his exile. Jacopo's most famous work is his sixty-chapter ''Dottrinale''. He is represented by his father in the ''Paradiso'' of 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 ...

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 ( ; ) 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 ...

, 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 ; ) 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 during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, 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, making it possible for him to become a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, 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 The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

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.">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 1280s births 1348 deaths Writers from Florence 14th-century Italian poets Dante Alighieri Donati family Writers from the Republic of Florence