demonstrator while the anatomist himself merely read
from a supposedly authoritative text. Given the conditions
under which they had to work, it is hardly surprising that
few Renaissance anatomists could feel sufficiently confi-
dent in their work to challenge the authority of their dis-
secting manuals.
See also: ANATOMY; GALENISM, RENAISSANCE
Further reading: Jonathan Sawday, The Body Embla-
zoned: Dissection and the Human Body in Renaissance Cul-
ture (London and New York: Routledge, 1997).
dissolution of the monasteries The closure of the reli-
gious houses in England under HENRY VIII. Monasteries,
nunneries, and friar houses were common in Catholic
England and large numbers of ascetics lived in them.
These religious communities had long attracted contro-
versy: critics lamented that members were morally lax,
that their Christianity was excessively contemplative, that
they venerated relics pointlessly, and that, as powerful
landowners, they were institutionally corrupt. These com-
plaints grew during the early years of Protestantism.
Henry VIII, who needed revenue, exploited discontent
with perceived monastic privilege to seize the assets of
abbeys. Under Thomas CROMWELL’s direction, the sup-
pression of the monastic orders became a crucial moment
in Protestant advancement.
The Suppression of Religious Houses Act was passed
by Parliament in 1536. This initial strike was intended to
remove smaller abbeys, without quashing major houses.
Within months, around a third of monastic holdings had
been confiscated. Anger at the state’s attack on the orders
partly inspired the 1536/7 PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. The in-
volvement of monks from large abbeys in the rebellion
added impetus to Henry’s drive against their orders. More
comprehensive suppression of monasteries ensued. The
Second Dissolution Act (1539) rubber-stamped additional
seizures of land by forces sent around the country by
Cromwell. Most orders had already been erased by the
time of this second Act. The state compensated members
of the orders, most of whom had surrendered meekly, with
varying degrees of generosity or meanness. Henry’s oblit-
eration of the monastic communities impacted hugely
upon his Catholic subjects. The dissolution left perma-
nent material scars, as it caused the loss of ecclesiastical
artefacts, buildings, manuscripts, and paintings through
both willful destruction and subsequent neglect (see ANTI-
QUARIANISM).
Further reading: Nicholas Doggett, Patterns of Re-use:
the Transformation of Former Monastic Buildings in Post-
Dissolution Hertfordshire (Oxford, U.K.: Archaeopress,
2002); David Knowles, Bare Ruined Choirs: The Dissolution
of the Monasteries (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1976); G. W. O. Woodward The Dissolution of
the Monasteries (Norwich, U.K.: Jarrold, 1990); Joyce A.
Youings, The Dissolution of the Monasteries (London: Allen
& Unwin and New York: Barnes & Noble, 1971).Divine Comedy (Italian La Divina Commedia) The poem
by DANTE, begun in exile in 1306 and allegorically de-
scribing the poet’s (by implication mankind’s) journey
through life to salvation. The Commedia (as originally en-
titled, “divine” being a later addition) is the central and
culminating literary work of medieval Europe. It is sys-
tematically structured in TERZA RIMA, with three cantiche
(Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), each having 33 canti (plus
an introductory canto to the Inferno), and with each of the
realms having nine subdivisions.
The action takes place in the year 1300. The poet is
lost in a wood and unable to escape. VIRGIL, representing
Reason, is sent by Beatrice, representing divine Revela-
tion, to guide the poet’s descent into Hell so that through
a knowledge of sin he may acquire humility and finally as-
cend to Paradise. Dante’s judgments on a number of peo-
ple and issues are reflected in the historical persons who
populate Hell and in the imaginative punishments meted
out to them. The penitential mood continues, but with re-
newed hope, in Purgatorio, at the end of which Virgil van-
ishes and Dante is reunited with Beatrice. Paradiso is
devoted to an exposition of religious life and the poetry is
gradually simplified to an imagery of light as the work
ends with a vision of divine love.
Manuscripts extant from the period up to Dante’s
death (1321) number 600. BOCCACCIOinstituted the first
public lectures on Dante in Florence (1373), and a vast
amount of critical commentary has accumulated since.
The first printed edition of the Divine Comedy (Foligno,
1472) was followed in the same year by others printed at
Mantua and Iesi. In all, just under 50 editions appeared
before 1600, and there was also a substantial second-
ary literature in both Latin and the vernacular. English-
speaking admirers of Dante, of which there were always
some from Chaucer onward, read the Divine Comedy in
Italian until the first complete translation in blank verse
by H. Boyd in 1802. It was soon superseded by Henry
Francis Cary’s version (1814), also in blank verse. The an-
notated translation by Dorothy L. Sayers (3 vols, Har-
mondsworth, U.K., 1955–62) is in terza rima. More recent
verse translations include highly praised versions by John
Ciardi (New York, 1977), Allen Mandelbaum (Berkeley,
Calif., 1987), and Robert Pinsky (New York, 1996). For an
Italian text with facing English translation and commen-
tary see the three-volume edition by J. D. Sinclair origi-
nally published in 1939 (New York, 1961, 1981).Divino, El See MORALES, LUÍS DEDDiivviinnoo,, EEll 1 14433