Medieval and Modern Philologies

Series | Medieval and Modern Philologies
Review | Theologus Dantes
Chapter | Un eretico tra i «seminator di scandalo e di scisma»

Un eretico tra i «seminator di scandalo e di scisma»

Mito e storia di fra Dolcino nella Commedia (Inf. XXVIII, 55-60)

Abstract

The essay reconsiders the problem of fra Dolcino in the Commedia starting from the apparent contradiction of the placement of the medieval heretic in the ‘bolgia’ of the schismatics (Inf. XXVIII) rather than in the ‘cerchio’ dedicated to the punishment of heretics (Inf. X). There, instead, Dante places sinners who fall within the general definition of Epicureans, which partially satisfies the identification with the medieval concept of heresy. After an in-depth analysis of Dante’s ‘terzine’ (Inf. XXVIII, 55-60), the early glosses on the poem and the most ancient testimonies on the figure of Dolcino, including the indirect evidence of his writings, are examined with the aim of shedding light on the perception that Dante could have had of this major heretic of the early fourteenth century and the reasons for his condemnation as schismatic, which seems to transcend the mere guilt of heresy.


Open access

Published Dec. 17, 2018 | Language: it

Keywords Fra DolcinoDante AlighieriBernard GuiSchismHeresy


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