O BUONDELMONTE ... MOLTI SAREBBER LIETI CHE SON TRISTI. SE DIO T' AVESSE CONCEDUTO AD EMA LA PRIMA VOLTA CH' A CITTÀ VENISTI!
DANTE, PAR., XVI, 140-144.
O BUONDELMONTE …MANY WOULD BE REJOICING WHO ARE SAD, IF GOD HAD THEE SURRENDERED TO THE EMA THE FIRST TIME THAT THOU CAMEST TO THE CITY.
In these verses, Dante refers to the promise of marriage Buondelmonte Buondelmonti broke with a young woman from the house of Amidei. Instead of going to the Santo Stefano al Ponte Church where he was expected for the wedding, he headed to the Donati family and made the promise to Isabella who later became her wife. He paid heavily this affront as he was killed on Easter Day 1215, and the murder gave rise to hostilities between Guelfi and Ghibellini families in Florence. This is why Dante states that if the first ancestor of Buondelmonte had drowned in the Ema torrent, as he arrived for the first time in Florence, the city would not have suffered a so long internal struggle.
Another plaque is located in the exact position where Buondelmonti was killed. Click here to find out more.
Lapide Dantesca: case dei Buondelmonti
Borgo Santi Apostoli, Firenze
