Research Collections at Trinity
New tales from the Old Library, Trinity College Dublin
On Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April 2016, the Department of Italian here in TCD is hosting the Society for Italian Studies Interim Conference ‘Turning Points: Cultures of transition, transformation and transmission in Italy’. To coincide with this, Professors Corinna Salvadori-Lonergan and Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, in conjunction with the Department of Early Printed Books, have prepared an exhibition in the Long Room of some of our Italian treasures.
Durante degli Alighieri, usually known simply as Dante, was born in Florence, probably in 1265. He held various political posts and was among the White Guelphs exiled in 1302. An amnesty was offered in 1315 but Dante refused it as it involved a heavy fine and public penance. He died in 1321, never having returned to his native city and was buried in Ravenna. Florentines eventually came to regret his absence – an empty tomb was built in 1829 in the hope of repatriating his remains and in 2008 the city council finally passed a motion rescinding his sentence.
