Out of State, Out of Mind

Dante wrote his Inferno in the early 14th century. His thoughts and works, as I have described earlier in my blogs, ridiculed the church, what the church did, and what the church represented. The mere fact that Dante wrote "the Inferno" in Italian rather then Latin was some what blasphemous to the church of the time. As I have pondered my way through why Dante's impact was so important I have stumbled upon the historic significance and influence Dante's "Inferno" has had on The European Middle Ages. It seems to me that "The Inferno" was simply the mustard seed that grew into what soon became the Protestant revolution. A century and a half after Dante finished his work Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis. No, I don't think that the Protestant Reformation took its ideas from Dante, rather in fact I think much of what Dante wrote was simply ignored. But, I do think that Dante's public display of blasphemy, and his somewhat heroic existence did encourage other dissenters who played a part in the Revolution that was marked by Martin Luther.

What I do find from Dante is an utter disgust towards the catholic church at the time. In fact I think I counted 4 different specifically church representatives. 1- the pope, 2-the Archdiocese, 3-the friar, 4-the man who was chewing off the Archdiocese's ear--it was obvious that he in some way a representative of the church. In fact Dante spends a good amount of time refering to people he knows by the fact that "he was a good churchgoer," or "he attended church with me," yet every single one of these people were in hell. In fact, Dante himself, is headed for hell; the very reason Dante is walking through hell is so that he can be convinced to change his ways. In this way Dante disconnects the church with the good of heaven, and connects it rather with the evil of hell, the same evil that he will face if he does not change his ways.

One thing that struck me as odd and important, was the simple fact that Dante never gives himself a sin. I have talked about everything that he does include, but I think it is equally important to point out what he chose not to include. In this case what he chose not to include is the sin that he would be punished for. Maybe he did this to remove himself from the horror of what he was writing, but that does not make sense because he tells the reader that he is condemned to hell and only walking through hell to be convinced out of his old ways. Maybe the reason he does this is because his entire book is supposed to be satirical, there is certainly evidence of that nature. Or, maybe the reason Dante chooses to exclude his own sin is because Dante's sin that he was banished for is what he wants the reader to assume, and by making fun of hell/catholic church he is simply making fun of the fact that the church was wrong in accusing him of the sin.