Challenge: Dante becomes Pope?

Zioneer

Banned
Okay, I've got a challenge for the Italian Renaissance experts on this here forum.

Have a timeline were Dante, he of the Divine Comedy, become the Pope, preferably with Dante still writing the Divine Comedy. I mean, if the Borgias could become Pope, why not him?
 
Okay, I've got a challenge for the Italian Renaissance experts on this here forum.

Have a timeline were Dante, he of the Divine Comedy, become the Pope, preferably with Dante still writing the Divine Comedy. I mean, if the Borgias could become Pope, why not him?

After the defeat of the Ghibellines, wasn't Dante strongly anti-Rome, which led to his exile? I guess the POD would have to be in his youth: He takes up theology and goes in for ordination. He moderates his strongly Florentine stance, or at least - believes Florence and Rome should be allies.

The problem is how to get a Papal election AND have Dante be a contender. Boniface VIII has to die earlier, and Dante has to represent a faction that Rome wants to be allied with. Can the Florentines set up a new "Lombard League" for dealing with Henry VII's HRE invasion forces?

The problem is, if he becomes Pope, his views will change sufficiently for the Divine Comedy to be very different from OTL - maybe not published at all.
 
After the defeat of the Ghibellines, wasn't Dante strongly anti-Rome, which led to his exile? I guess the POD would have to be in his youth: He takes up theology and goes in for ordination. He moderates his strongly Florentine stance, or at least - believes Florence and Rome should be allies.

The problem is how to get a Papal election AND have Dante be a contender. Boniface VIII has to die earlier, and Dante has to represent a faction that Rome wants to be allied with. Can the Florentines set up a new "Lombard League" for dealing with Henry VII's HRE invasion forces?

The problem is, if he becomes Pope, his views will change sufficiently for the Divine Comedy to be very different from OTL - maybe not published at all.

Dante was a Guelph, so quite the opposite, he was of the pro-Papal party.
 

NomadicSky

Banned
The various levels of hell as described by Dante will become church doctrine. Just a deeper way for the Catholic church to tell people about how horrible hell is and how easy it is to get to.
 
Dante was a White Guelph. He was considerably less fond of the whole Papal rule thing. As is stated in the Commedia. Many times.
 
The Divine Comedy either is never written or is changed. If it is the latter, it'll become Church Doctrine and probably be a recommended read for clergy.
 
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