Dante, Firenze e la Norvegia. Nuove considerazioni sull’identità del re norvegese in Paradiso XIX, 139

• Autores: Francesco d'Angelo
• Localización: Nuova rivista storica, ISSN 0029-6236, Vol. 107, Nº. 1, 2023, págs. 137-156
• Idioma: italiano
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• Resumen

  • In Paradiso XIX, 139-141, in the context of Dante’s invective against the corrupt or unjust Christian princes, the Florentine poet also mentions a Norwegian king («E quel di ... Norvegia») without, however, providing any information useful to trace his identity and the nature of his fault. Since the first commentators, attempts have been made to identify the Norwegian monarch: most of the commentators and scholars have identified him with King Hákon V Magnússon (1299-1319), mainly because in his invective Dante calls into question only rulers who were alive at the time of the vision (March-April 1300). From the foreign and domestic policy of the Norwegian sovereign, nevertheless, no elements emerge that can convincingly explain Dante’s accuses, nor is there evidence of contact between Norway and the Florentine environment during his reign.

    On the contrary, the article argues the identification of «quel di Norvegia» with King Eiríkr II (1280-1299), brother of Hákon V, on the basis of two main elements: on the one hand, his devaluation monetary policy and his impending attitude in the question of the collection of the subsidies Terrae Sanctae, are both symptoms of avarice; on the other hand, the existence of direct and documented contacts between the Nordic kingdom and some Florentine companies of merchant-bankers, and between such companies and Dante, during the last years of Eiríkr II’s reign.