Minor Characters
Francis of Assisi
In the 1300s, St. Francis renounced his riches and founded a monastic order, the Franciscans, devoted to poverty and humility. Francis does not speak directly but is praised by Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican (member of a rival monastic order).
Dominic
In the 1300s, St. Dominic founded the Dominican monastic order. He was known for his great learning and zealous opposition to heresy. Dominic does not speak directly but is praised by Bonaventure, a Franciscan (member of a rival monastic order).
Bonaventure
In the sphere of the sun, Bonaventure, a 13th-century leader of the Franciscan order and theologian, speaks in praise of Dominic, founder of a rival monastic order.
King Solomon
Solomon, an Old Testament king of renowned wisdom, appears in the heavenly sphere of the Sun. He explains to Dante the nature of the future resurrection of the body.
Cacciaguida
Cacciaguida is Dante’s great-great-grandfather, who speaks to him in the heavenly sphere of Mars. He died a martyr’s death while fighting in the Second Crusade. Cacciaguida prophesies Dante’s exile but exhorts Dante not to back off from writing honestly about Florence’s moral decline.
Peter Damian
Peter Damian was an austere 11th-century monk, abbot, bishop, and monastic reformer. In the heavenly sphere of Saturn, Dante asks him a question about predestination, which Damian rebuffs as presumptuous for any human being to ask. He also castigates the corruption of the Church in Dante’s day.
St. Benedict
Benedict was the 6th-century founder of Monte Cassino, the first monastery in the Western Church, and author of its monastic Rule. Dante meets Benedict in the heavenly sphere of Saturn and, like Peter Damian, Benedict laments the decline in monastic discipline since his own day.
St. Peter
St. Peter was one of Christ’s apostles and is the founder of the Catholic Church. In Paradiso, he examines Dante in the articles of his faith in the sphere of the fixed stars. St. Peter also furiously denounces the corruption of the papacy.
St. James
St. James, one of Christ’s 12 apostles, examines Dante in the virtue of hope in the sphere of the fixed stars.
St. John
St. John, one of the 12 apostles, was especially loved by Christ. Because of this closeness, John’s brightness temporarily blinds Dante in the sphere of the fixed stars. He asks Dante questions about love.
The Virgin Mary
The Virgin Mary, the mother of God (Christ), shines brightest in the sphere of the Empyrean. Though she does not speak in the poem, Mary’s intercession enables Dante to have a direct vision of God.