How Did The Pilgrim Punish Dante's Inferno?
Dante the Pilgrim visits many different people while on his journey through Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Each one of these tormented souls are punished for their crimes against themselves, society, and God. Most of these personalities bring no surprise as they are robbers, murderers, and blasphemers. However, the amount of Church authority figures in Hell is staggeringly high. The ironic revelation is never fully dissected by Dante but the implications of this writing may cause the public to turn a leery eye towards the Church. Throughout Dante’s Inferno, the sights of “Holy” men rotting in Hell create a rift between the teachings of the church and the common citizens. While in Hell, Dante meets and hears about many church officials that are now
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While in the seventh circle of hell where simonists are punished, Dante inquires the name of the sinner that is punished harsher than the rest; the identity of this sinner is Pope Nicholas III (19.33). Having a pope sell religious items may not seem particularly egregious but according to Michael Sherberg, “the simonist is a heretic because he claims ownership of something that in fact belongs to God” and that “it involves an element of fraud ... specifically consisting of the simonist’s self-representation as having something to sell” (13) Traveling in the same level, they learn that the sinners are awaiting another pope, Clement V, to join them in Hell (19.82). Since they are waiting for Clement, that would suggest that he is presently in power and spreading his apparently evil words and deeds upon the people without worldly repercussions. The worst example of pope corruption is the story of Pope Boniface VIII; Dante happens upon a man named Guido da Montefeltro that tells them that Pope Boniface VIII put him “back among [his] early sins” by promising him saviour if he repented and confessed to the sins he committed. The deeds Guido did for Pope Boniface VIII has damned his soul and the pope’s as well as Boniface’s only concern was to retain papacy (27.70-71). It is fairly concerning that the ultimate living Christian figure is advocating deception under lies of eventually being saved.
While in the seventh circle of hell where simonists are punished, Dante inquires the name of the sinner that is punished harsher than the rest; the identity of this sinner is Pope Nicholas III (19.33). Having a pope sell religious items may not seem particularly egregious but according to Michael Sherberg, “the simonist is a heretic because he claims ownership of something that in fact belongs to God” and that “it involves an element of fraud ... specifically consisting of the simonist’s self-representation as having something to sell” (13) Traveling in the same level, they learn that the sinners are awaiting another pope, Clement V, to join them in Hell (19.82). Since they are waiting for Clement, that would suggest that he is presently in power and spreading his apparently evil words and deeds upon the people without worldly repercussions. The worst example of pope corruption is the story of Pope Boniface VIII; Dante happens upon a man named Guido da Montefeltro that tells them that Pope Boniface VIII put him “back among [his] early sins” by promising him saviour if he repented and confessed to the sins he committed. The deeds Guido did for Pope Boniface VIII has damned his soul and the pope’s as well as Boniface’s only concern was to retain papacy (27.70-71). It is fairly concerning that the ultimate living Christian figure is advocating deception under lies of eventually being saved.