Local Power in Dante's Inferno

This study explores the historical content of Dante’s Inferno by confronting his representations of local power both with those of his contemporaries and of modern historiography. It shows the originality and nuance of Dante’s vision of local power, in particular the concept of tyranny and the rise of signoria in the cities of the north eastern part of Italy and of Romagna. The final chapter attends to Dante’s response to the judicial concept of family co-responsibility. Dante’s representation of local power is examined by focusing on Ezzelino da Romano and Obizzo II d’Este in Inferno 12, Guido da Montefeltro in Inferno 27 and Ugolino della Gherardesca in Inferno 32 and 33