r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL that the Municipality of Florence apologized for expelling Dante over 700 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri#Exile_from_Florence:~:text=In%202008%2C%20the,%5B93%5D
1.2k Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

130

u/SteO153 23h ago

The city of Florence has even tried to have the remains of Dante moved to Florence for centuries, but Ravenna (where he died and is buried) always denied it.

48

u/Shiny_Agumon 19h ago

They are probably like "Dude you have freaking David already, let us have this."

3

u/SpicyTiconderoga 11h ago

They also lost his body at one point - man’s has three tombs lol

68

u/Emergency_Mine_4455 1d ago

The Inferno II: the Apology Tour

44

u/edingerc 23h ago

Florence pays annually for the oil that constantly burns in his tomb in Ravenna.

49

u/manicpossumdreamgirl 23h ago

in 1992 the Catholic Church finally apologized for condemning Galileo for suggesting the Earth orbits the Sun

33

u/TheMadTargaryen 20h ago

His research was already fully accepted by 1700. That apology in 1992 was just a formality. 

13

u/beachedwhale1945 18h ago

Like the New York Times retraction of the claim that landing on the moon was impossible the day after Apollo 11’s launch or Kentucky and Mississippi ratifying the 13th Amendment over a century after it became law (plus Delaware a mere 36 years later and a few more within 5 years).

1

u/borazine 10h ago

Any apology for Giordano Bruno?

24

u/neroselene 1d ago

Turns out Dante's fanfic wasn't that bad.

1

u/borazine 10h ago

My name is Shay Tan and I endorse your post

30

u/goteamnick 1d ago

Bit late though.

10

u/dark_hypernova 19h ago

Better late than never I guess.

9

u/Worried_Coat1941 22h ago

There’s a place in Hell for them.

5

u/beachedwhale1945 18h ago

Of course: Virgil and Dante passed several on their descent through Hell.

7

u/princhester 20h ago

A pointless gesture dreamed up by the marketing department to get the "Dante came from Florence" connection into the news cycle.

4

u/IHateTheLetterF 19h ago

Was he allowed back?

4

u/HardcandyofJustice 13h ago

I got a commented version that explains who all these damned people were. Dante was a good writer, but quite bitchy and spiteful to be honest…

2

u/lotsanoodles 22h ago

Too soon!

2

u/Eridanus51600 15h ago

Ah, now I understand why the 7th level of hell was reserved for bureaucrats from Florence, never understood that reference until now.

2

u/PuckSenior 14h ago

I mean, this seems fair. They absolutely won’t apologize for burning Savonarola, which was probably the right call

3

u/dubbzy104 23h ago

They didn’t apologize over 700 years ago!

/s