THE DATING OF DANTE'S VOYAGE IN THE DIVINE COMEDY

One of the most fascinating, and debated, topics regarding Dante's immortal masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, concerns the date on which he imagines his journey to take place. Almost all commentators have placed it between March and April 1300, based on many apparently reliable historical and symbolic quotations. However, several astronomical references point in a completely different direction, and indicate a date around 25 March 1301. In addition to this, a closer examination of the historical and symbolic indications reveals that they are far from homogeneous: some provide no useful information, several give information congruent with 1301, and only a few are consistent with 1300. This paper also explores the reasons for the apparent contradictions between different references. The strong indication that seems to come from the present work in favour of 25 March 1301 represents an invitation to Dante scholars to reconsider the whole question.