Dante was born in Florence in May 1265. His family was of an old lineage, of noble birth but no longer wealthy. His education was undoubtedly typical of all the youth of that time and station in life.
When he was only 12 years old, his marriage to the daughter of the famous Donati family was arranged, along with the amount of her dowry. These betrothals and marriages were family affairs, and Dante dutifully married her, some years later, at the proper time and had two sons and one daughter.
Dante studied at the University of Bologna, one of the most famous universities in the medieval world. There, he came under the influence of one of the most famous scholars of the time, Ser Brunetto Latini, who never taught Dante but advised and encouraged him. Latini appears in Canto XV of the Inferno.
When Dante was still very young, 10 to 12 years old, he met a 9-year-old girl at a prominent function. She wore a bright crimson dress, and to Dante, she radiated the celestial beauty of an angel. The girl was Beatrice, and there is no doubt that she was the great love of Dante's life, and the greatest single influence on his work. Dante loved her at a distance, and she was, most probably, totally unaware of Dante's devotion to her. He recorded this devotion in an early work Vita Nuova (A New Life). Her name appears only once in the Inferno, but she plays an important role in Purgatorio and Paradiso.
