Ugolino della Gherardesca
Encyclopedia
Count
Ugolino della Gherardesca (c. 1220 – March 1289), count of Donoratico, was an Italian
nobleman
, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante
's Divine Comedy.
Pisa was controlled by the Ghibellines, while most of the surrounding cities were controlled by the Guelphs, most notably Pisa's trading rivals Genoa
and Florence
. Under the circumstances, Pisa adopted the "strong and vigilant government" of a podestà
"armed with almost despotic power"
Ugolino was born in Pisa
into the Gherardesca, a noble family of Germanic
origins whose alliance with the Hohenstaufen
Emperors
had brought to prominence in Tuscany
and made them the leaders of the Ghibellines in Pisa.
After King Enzio of Sardinia
, an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II
was captured in 1249, Ugolino was appointed governor of Sardinia
in 1252 and remained in this position until 1259, when the island was conquered by Genoa.
After his term in Sardinia, Ugolino inherited the title of a Count of Donoratico. As head of his family, the Ghibelline party and podestà of Pisa, Ugolino took action to preserve his power in the face of the political hostility of Pisa's neighbours. In 1271, through a marriage of his sister with Giovanni Visconti, judge of Gallura, he allied himself with the Visconti, the leaders of the Guelphs in Pisa. In doing so, he aroused the suspicions of his fellow Ghibellines.
The subsequent disorders in the city in 1274 led to the arrest of both Ugolino and Giovanni, who were accused of plotting to undermine Pisa's government and, with the support from Tuscany's Guelphs, share power among themselves. Ugolino was imprisoned and Giovanni banished from Pisa. Giovanni Visconti died soon afterwards, and Ugolino, no longer regarded as a threat, was set free and banished. In exile, Ugolino immediately began to intrigue with the Guelph cities of Florence
and Lucca
. With the help of Charles I of Anjou, he attacked his native city and forced it to make peace on humiliating terms, pardoning him and all the other Guelph exiles. After his return, Ugolino at first remained aloof from politics but quietly worked to reassert his influence.
In 1284, war broke out between Pisa and Genoa
and both Ugolino and Andreotto Saracini were appointed as captains of two divisions of fleets by Alberto Morosini, the Podestà of Pisa. The two fleets met in August in the Battle of Meloria
. The Genoese fought valiantly and destroyed seven Pisan galleys and captured twenty-eight. Among the eleven thousand captives was the Podestà. Ugolino and his division set the sign of surrender and withdrew, deciding the battle in favour of Genoa. This flight was later interpreted as treachery but not by any writer earlier than the 16th century.
When Florence
and Lucca
took advantage of the naval defeat to attack Pisa, Ugolino was appointed podestà
for a year and succeeded in pacifying them by ceding certain castles. When Genoa suggest peace on similar terms, Ugolino was less eager to accept, for the return of the Pisan prisoners, including most of the leading Ghibellines, would have diminished his power.
Ugolino, now appointed capitano del popolo for ten years, was now the most influential man in Pisa but was forced to share his power with his nephew Nino Visconti
, son of Giovanni. The duumvirate did not last, as Ugolino and Nino soon quarrelled. In 1287, Nino, striving to become Podestà, entered into negotiations with Ruggieri degli Ubaldini, Archbishop of Pisa, and the Ghibellines. Ugolino reacted by driving Nino and several Ghibelline families out of the city, destroying their palaces and occupying the town hall, where he had himself proclaimed lord of the city.
In April of that year, Ugolino again refused to make peace with Genoa, even though the enemy was willing to be content itself with financial reparations. Ugolino still feared the return of the captured Pisans, who saw Ugolino as the cause for their prolonged captivity and had sworn to get their revenge for this.
In 1288, Pisa was hit by a dramatic increase in prices, resulting in food shortage and riots among the bitter populace. During one of these riots, Ugolino killed a nephew of the Archbishop, turning the latter against him. On 1 July 1288, after leaving a council-meeting discussing peace with Genoa, Ugolino and his followers were attacked by a band of armed Ghibellines. Ugolino withdrew into the town hall and repelled all attacks. The Archbishop, accusing Ugolino of treachery, aroused the citizens. When the town hall was set on fire, Ugolino surrendered. While his illegitimate son was killed, Ugolino himself - together with his sons Gaddo and Uguccione and his grand-sons Nino (surnamed "the Brigand") and Anselmuccio were detained in the Muda
, a tower belonging to the Gualandi
family. In March 1289, on orders of the Archbishop, who had proclaimed himself podestà, the keys were thrown into the Arno
river and the prisoners left to starve.
Their corpses were buried in the cloister of Saint Francis Church and remained there until 1902, when they were exhumed and transferred to the Gherardesca family chapel.
and other writers, it owes its fame entirely to Dante
's Divine Comedy. Dante's account has been paraphrased by Chaucer
in the Monk's Tale
of the Canterbury Tales, as well as by Percy Bysshe Shelley
. Irish poet Seamus Heaney
also recounts the legend in his poem "Ugolino" found in his 1979 book Field Work.
" (La espera) of Jorge Luis Borges
in the collection named The Aleph (El Aleph) (1949).
, which is reserved for betrayers of kin, country, guests, and benefactors.
Ugolino’s punishment involves his being entrapped in ice up to his neck in the same hole with his betrayer, Archbishop Ruggieri, who left him to starve to death. Ugolino is constantly gnawing at Ruggieri's skull
. As Dante describes it,
Ugolino's gnawing of Ruggieri's head has been interpreted as meaning that Ugolino's hatred for his enemy is so strong that he is compelled to "devour even what has no substance." Ugolino, though punished for his betrayal of his people, is allowed some closure for the betrayal that he himself was forced to suffer under Ruggieri, when he is allowed to act as Ruggieri's torturer for eternity. According to Frances Yates, both are "suffering the torments of the damned in the traitors' hell; but Ugolino is given the right to oppress ... Archbishop Ruggieri with a ghastly eternal punishment which fits his crime."
Ugolino's statement that hunger proved stronger than grief, has been interpreted in two ways, either that Ugolino devoured his offspring's corpses after being driven mad with hunger, or that starvation killed him after he had failed to die of grief. The first and more ghastly of these interpretations has proved the more popular and resonant. For this reason Ugolino is known as the "Cannibal Count" and is often depicted gnawing at his own fingers ("eating of his own flesh") in consternation, as in the sculpture The Gates of Hell
by Auguste Rodin
, in Ugolino and his Sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
and in other artwork, though this may also simply refer to Ugolino's own statement in the poem that he gnawed his fingers in grief.
Ugolino is referred to in José Saramago
's novel The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
, in which the protagonist opines that suitable name for a foxhound bitch that has been found eating its own young from two different litters, would be Ugolina, mentioning the History of the Guelphs and Ghibellines and the Divine Comedy as references to Ugolino della Gherardesca's having eaten his children and grandchildren.
testing on the recently excavated bodies of the Ugolino and his children. His analysis agrees with the remains being a father, his sons and his grandsons. Additional comparison to DNA from modern day members of the Gherardesca family leave Mallegni about 98 percent sure that he has identified the remains correctly. However, the Forensic analysis discredits the allegation of cannibalism
. Analysis of the rib bones of the Ugolino skeleton reveals traces of magnesium, but no zinc, implying he had consumed no meat in the months before his death. Ugolino also had few remaining teeth and is believed to have been in his 70s when he was imprisoned, making it further unlikely that he could have outlived and eaten his descendants in captivity. Additionally, Mallegni notes that the putative Ugolino skull was damaged; perhaps he did not ultimately die of starvation, although malnourishment is evident.
In 2008, Paola Benigni, superintendent to the Archival Heritage of Tuscany, disputed Mallegni's findings in an article, claiming that the documents assigning the burial to Ugolino and his descendants were Fascist-era forgeries.
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Ugolino della Gherardesca (c. 1220 – March 1289), count of Donoratico, was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
nobleman
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Divine Comedy.
Biography
In the 13th century, Italy was beset by the strife of two parties, the Ghibellines and the Guelphs. While the conflict was local and personal in origin, the parties had come to be associated with the two universal powers: the Ghibellines sided with the Emperor and his rule of Italy, while the Guelphs sided with the Pope, who supported self-governing city-states.Pisa was controlled by the Ghibellines, while most of the surrounding cities were controlled by the Guelphs, most notably Pisa's trading rivals Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. Under the circumstances, Pisa adopted the "strong and vigilant government" of a podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
"armed with almost despotic power"
Ugolino was born in Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
into the Gherardesca, a noble family of Germanic
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
origins whose alliance with the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
Emperors
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
had brought to prominence in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and made them the leaders of the Ghibellines in Pisa.
After King Enzio of Sardinia
Enzio of Sardinia
Enzio was an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II and King of Sardinia.-Life:...
, an illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
was captured in 1249, Ugolino was appointed governor of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
in 1252 and remained in this position until 1259, when the island was conquered by Genoa.
After his term in Sardinia, Ugolino inherited the title of a Count of Donoratico. As head of his family, the Ghibelline party and podestà of Pisa, Ugolino took action to preserve his power in the face of the political hostility of Pisa's neighbours. In 1271, through a marriage of his sister with Giovanni Visconti, judge of Gallura, he allied himself with the Visconti, the leaders of the Guelphs in Pisa. In doing so, he aroused the suspicions of his fellow Ghibellines.
The subsequent disorders in the city in 1274 led to the arrest of both Ugolino and Giovanni, who were accused of plotting to undermine Pisa's government and, with the support from Tuscany's Guelphs, share power among themselves. Ugolino was imprisoned and Giovanni banished from Pisa. Giovanni Visconti died soon afterwards, and Ugolino, no longer regarded as a threat, was set free and banished. In exile, Ugolino immediately began to intrigue with the Guelph cities of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
. With the help of Charles I of Anjou, he attacked his native city and forced it to make peace on humiliating terms, pardoning him and all the other Guelph exiles. After his return, Ugolino at first remained aloof from politics but quietly worked to reassert his influence.
In 1284, war broke out between Pisa and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and both Ugolino and Andreotto Saracini were appointed as captains of two divisions of fleets by Alberto Morosini, the Podestà of Pisa. The two fleets met in August in the Battle of Meloria
Battle of Meloria (1284)
The Battle of Meloria was fought between 5 and 6 August 1284 near the Meloria islet, in the Tyrrhenian Sea between the Genoese and the Pisan fleet, as part of the Genoese-Pisan War...
. The Genoese fought valiantly and destroyed seven Pisan galleys and captured twenty-eight. Among the eleven thousand captives was the Podestà. Ugolino and his division set the sign of surrender and withdrew, deciding the battle in favour of Genoa. This flight was later interpreted as treachery but not by any writer earlier than the 16th century.
When Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
took advantage of the naval defeat to attack Pisa, Ugolino was appointed podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
for a year and succeeded in pacifying them by ceding certain castles. When Genoa suggest peace on similar terms, Ugolino was less eager to accept, for the return of the Pisan prisoners, including most of the leading Ghibellines, would have diminished his power.
Ugolino, now appointed capitano del popolo for ten years, was now the most influential man in Pisa but was forced to share his power with his nephew Nino Visconti
Nino Visconti
Ugolino Visconti , better known as Nino, was the Giudice of Gallura from 1275 or 1276 to his death. He was a son of Giovanni Visconti and nephew of Ugolino della Gherardesca. He was the first husband of Beatrice, daughter of Obizzo II d'Este...
, son of Giovanni. The duumvirate did not last, as Ugolino and Nino soon quarrelled. In 1287, Nino, striving to become Podestà, entered into negotiations with Ruggieri degli Ubaldini, Archbishop of Pisa, and the Ghibellines. Ugolino reacted by driving Nino and several Ghibelline families out of the city, destroying their palaces and occupying the town hall, where he had himself proclaimed lord of the city.
In April of that year, Ugolino again refused to make peace with Genoa, even though the enemy was willing to be content itself with financial reparations. Ugolino still feared the return of the captured Pisans, who saw Ugolino as the cause for their prolonged captivity and had sworn to get their revenge for this.
Torre dei Gualandi
The Torre dei Gualandi is a former tower in Pisa, central Italy, now included in the Palazzo dell'Orologio.It is located on the north part of the Piazza dei Cavalieri....
, a tower belonging to the Gualandi
Gualandi
Gualandi is an ancient family from Pisa.In the middle age This family supported the Ghibellines and it was one of the family that the archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini incited against Ugolino della Gherardesca....
family. In March 1289, on orders of the Archbishop, who had proclaimed himself podestà, the keys were thrown into the Arno
Arno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.- Source and route :The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve...
river and the prisoners left to starve.
Their corpses were buried in the cloister of Saint Francis Church and remained there until 1902, when they were exhumed and transferred to the Gherardesca family chapel.
Literary afterlife
The historical details of the episode are still involved in some obscurity, and although mentioned by VillaniGiovanni Villani
Giovanni Villani was an Italian banker, official, diplomat and chronicler from Florence who wrote the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. He was a leading statesman of Florence but later gained an unsavory reputation and served time in prison as a result of the bankruptcy of a trading and...
and other writers, it owes its fame entirely to Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Divine Comedy. Dante's account has been paraphrased by Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
in the Monk's Tale
The Monk's Prologue and Tale
The Monk's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.The Monk's tale to the other pilgrims is a collection of seventeen short stories, exempla, on the theme of tragedy...
of the Canterbury Tales, as well as by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
. Irish poet Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
also recounts the legend in his poem "Ugolino" found in his 1979 book Field Work.
Ugolino in Borges
The case of Ugolino and Ruggiero is behind the story of the short story "The WaitThe Wait (short story)
"The Wait" is a 1950 short story by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges....
" (La espera) of Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
in the collection named The Aleph (El Aleph) (1949).
Ugolino in Dante's Inferno
Dante placed Ugolino and Ruggieri in the ice of the second ring (Antenora) of the lowest circle of the InfernoHell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, which is reserved for betrayers of kin, country, guests, and benefactors.
Ugolino’s punishment involves his being entrapped in ice up to his neck in the same hole with his betrayer, Archbishop Ruggieri, who left him to starve to death. Ugolino is constantly gnawing at Ruggieri's skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
. As Dante describes it,
Ugolino's gnawing of Ruggieri's head has been interpreted as meaning that Ugolino's hatred for his enemy is so strong that he is compelled to "devour even what has no substance." Ugolino, though punished for his betrayal of his people, is allowed some closure for the betrayal that he himself was forced to suffer under Ruggieri, when he is allowed to act as Ruggieri's torturer for eternity. According to Frances Yates, both are "suffering the torments of the damned in the traitors' hell; but Ugolino is given the right to oppress ... Archbishop Ruggieri with a ghastly eternal punishment which fits his crime."
Ugolino and his children
According to Dante, the prisoners were slowly starved to death and before dying Ugolino's children begged him to eat their bodies.Ugolino's statement that hunger proved stronger than grief, has been interpreted in two ways, either that Ugolino devoured his offspring's corpses after being driven mad with hunger, or that starvation killed him after he had failed to die of grief. The first and more ghastly of these interpretations has proved the more popular and resonant. For this reason Ugolino is known as the "Cannibal Count" and is often depicted gnawing at his own fingers ("eating of his own flesh") in consternation, as in the sculpture The Gates of Hell
The Gates of Hell
The Gates of Hell is a monumental sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from "The Inferno", the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 m high, 4 m wide and 1 m deep and contains 180 figures. The figures range from...
by Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
, in Ugolino and his Sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was a French sculptor and painter.Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1844 and won the Prix de Rome in 1854, and moving to Rome to find inspiration, he there studied the works of...
and in other artwork, though this may also simply refer to Ugolino's own statement in the poem that he gnawed his fingers in grief.
Ugolino is referred to in José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
's novel The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis is a 1984 novel by Portuguese novelist José Saramago, the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in literature...
, in which the protagonist opines that suitable name for a foxhound bitch that has been found eating its own young from two different litters, would be Ugolina, mentioning the History of the Guelphs and Ghibellines and the Divine Comedy as references to Ugolino della Gherardesca's having eaten his children and grandchildren.
Scientific analysis of the remains
In 2002, paleoanthropologist Francesco Mallegni conducted DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
testing on the recently excavated bodies of the Ugolino and his children. His analysis agrees with the remains being a father, his sons and his grandsons. Additional comparison to DNA from modern day members of the Gherardesca family leave Mallegni about 98 percent sure that he has identified the remains correctly. However, the Forensic analysis discredits the allegation of cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. Analysis of the rib bones of the Ugolino skeleton reveals traces of magnesium, but no zinc, implying he had consumed no meat in the months before his death. Ugolino also had few remaining teeth and is believed to have been in his 70s when he was imprisoned, making it further unlikely that he could have outlived and eaten his descendants in captivity. Additionally, Mallegni notes that the putative Ugolino skull was damaged; perhaps he did not ultimately die of starvation, although malnourishment is evident.
In 2008, Paola Benigni, superintendent to the Archival Heritage of Tuscany, disputed Mallegni's findings in an article, claiming that the documents assigning the burial to Ugolino and his descendants were Fascist-era forgeries.
Literature
- Paola Benigni, Massimo Becattini. Ugolino della Gherardesca: cronaca di una scoperta annunciata. Archeologia Viva n 128 (2008).
- Thomas Caldecot Chub. Dante and His World. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. (1996).
- Joan M. Ferrante. The Political Vision of the Divine Comedy. Princeton: Princeton University Press (1984).
- Robert Hollander. "Inferno XXXIII, 37-74: Ugolino’s Importunity". Speculum 59 (July 1984), p. 549–55.
- Robert Hollander. Circle 9 The Trustees of Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1997). - James Miller. Dante & the Unorthodox; The Aesthetics of Transgression. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid University Press (2005).
- Gilbert, Allan H. Dante’s Conception of Justice. Duke University Press, 1925.
- Francesco Mallegni, M. Luisa Ceccarelli Lemut. Il conte Ugolino di Donoratico tra antropologia e storia (2003). ISBN 88-8492-059-0.
- Nicole Martinelli, "Dante and the Cannibal Count", Newsweek (1 February 2007).
- Guy P. Raffa. Circle 9, Cantos 31–34. University of Texas at Austin (2002).
- Theodore Spencer. "The Story of Ugolino in Dante and Chaucer". Speculum 9 (July 1934), p. 295–301.
- Paget Toynbee, A Dictionary of the Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante, Oxford University Press (1968).http://www.archive.org/details/adictionaryprop00toyngoog
- Frances A. Yates. "Transformations of Dante's Ugolino". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 14 (1951), p. 92–117.
External links
- World of Dante Multimedia website that offers Italian text of Divine Comedy, Allen Mandelbaum's translation, gallery, interactive maps, timeline, musical recordings, and searchable database. The gallery contains numerous artistic renditions of Inf.33, the Ugolino episode.
- http://princeton.edu/dante/