34 Ali ibn Abi Talib, Caliph
papal and GUELPHparty, then divided into the Blacks
and the Whites. The Blacks, with the backing of Pope
BONIFACEVIII, pursued a policy of territorial expansion
for the pope’s family and allies in TUSCANY. Dante, neu-
tral on this, assumed an important role in city politics
as a prior, or an administrator of the city. In a vain
attempt to enforce peace and public order, Dante ban-
ished the leaders of both factions but later became a
leader of the Whites and opposed the pope’s policies.
When Charles I (1270–1325) of Valois invaded Tuscany
at the pope’s request and threatened Florence, Dante
was dispatched to appease Boniface. He failed. Charles
entered the city and the Blacks gained control, then
took revenge on the Whites. The absent Dante was
tried in court, failed to appear, and was condemned to
death.
Dante then began a lifetime of exile, wandering, trav-
eling periodically through VERONAin 1303 and 1316,
BOLOGNAbetween 1304 and 1306, LUCCAin 1308, and
RAVENNAbetween 1318 and 1321. He withdrew from Flo-
rentine politics but sought unsuccessfully to have his
banishment lifted.
MAJOR OPERADuring the ensuing years of exile, Dante produced the
works that made him immediately famous. While at
Bologna he wrote The Banquetand On Vulgar Eloquence,
both unfinished. They reflected his return to philosophi-
cal and rhetorical studies. The latter work promoted the
Italian vernacular, regarded as not only a nationalistic
expression, but as an appropriate and worthy language
for poetry. The Banquetwas a discussion on Dante’s ideas
of the value of imperial authority, later more clearly
developed in his Latin treatise On Monarchy.There Dante
argues that a universal monarchy ruled by a secular
emperor backed by divine right was the only answer for a
divided and tormented CHRISTENDOM.
Spending his last years in Ravenna, he wrote his
great poetic work, The Divine Comedy,between 1307 and
- It was made up of three parts: Inferno(Hell) from
1310, Purgatorio(Purgatory) from 1314, and Paradiso
(Paradise) from between 1315 and 1321. They described
in poetry Dante’s allegorical and penitential journey into
an afterlife. Guided by Virgil at first, Dante passed
through a dark Inferno, where he encountered and spoke
with contemporary and classical historical figures,
including sinful emperors, popes, churchmen, politicians,
and women. He then passed on to and through purgatory.
At the entrance to PARADISE, Beatrice appears and takes
him through 10 heavens to the highest one. There,
through the intervention of SAINTBERNARD OFCLAIR-
VAUX, he is given a vision of divinity, or a BEATIFICVISION.
The Divine Comedyhas been read as reflecting the values
and people of a medieval world, where Dante passed
contemporary critical judgment on figures and events. He
died of malaria in Ravenna in 1321.
Further reading: George Holmes, Dante (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1980); William Anderson, Dante
the Maker(London: Hutchinson, 1980); Rachel Jacoff,
ed., The Cambridge Companion to Dante (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993); R. W. B. Lewis,
Dante: A Penguin Life (New York: Penguin Putnam,
2001).Ali ibn Abi Talib, Caliph(Haydara [the Lion], Turab
[the Dustman])(ca. 600–661)cousin and son-in-law of
Muhammad, courageous soldier, imam of the Shiites, fourth
caliph of the Sunni
When his father died in about 619, Ali became impover-
ished and was taken under his care by MUHAMMAD, who
himself had been supported by Ali’s late father as a child.
When Muhammad felt God’s call to become his prophet,
Ali, though a teenager, became one of the first converts to
Islam and remained a lifelong devoted follower of the
Prophet. As one of the strongest supporters of Muham-
mad, he protected the Prophet’s interests on several occa-
sions, even sleeping in his bed to impersonate him the
night that Muhammad fled in 622 from MECCAto MED-
INA. He married Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, who bore
him two sons, AL-HASANand AL-HUSAYN, and two daugh-
ters, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum. In the early years of
Islam he served in a military capacity as a courageous sol-
dier, as a secretary or scribe, as a diplomat, and as a
destroyer of idols in the KABA. He was a pious man, but
not an able politician. He had nine wives, 14 sons, and 19
daughters. He did not take another wife until Fatima died.
When Muhammad died on June 8, 632, some
believed that Ali had unequivocally been named as his
successor, but others thought that Muhammad had died
without naming a successor. At the last rites of the
Prophet, Ali found out that ABU BAKR, Muhammad’s
father-in-law, had already been chosen caliph. Ali did not
immediately submit to Abu Bakr’s authority but retired to
practice religious works and to compile a first version of
the QURAN.CALIPHATE AND DEATH
After the murder in 656 of Uthman ibn Affan, the third
caliph, Ali reluctantly accepted the offer to become the
fourth caliph. He ruled according to the neglected ideals
of Islam on social justice and equality among all believ-
ers. The Quraysh aristocracy of Mecca demanded that he
put the murderers of Uthman on trial, but when Ali
refused, a rebellion that became the first Islamic civil war
began, which Ali won at the Battle of the Camel in 656.
Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a kinsman of murdered Uth-
man and the governor of Syria, began a second rebellion
for vengeance. This was ended by a forced and failed
arbitration initiated by a trick during the Battle of Siffin.
Ali’s reputation continued to be damaged by all this vacil-
lation and hesitation. The KHARIJITES, disgusted by his