List of Cultural References in Divine Comedy - F

F

• Fabii: Roman family of the Republican Age.
  • Cited as examples of dedication to the public life and to the glory of ancient Rome. Par. VI, 47.
• Fabricius: Caius Fabricius, famous Roman hero of the 3rd cent. B.C.E. He is remembered for his frugality and his refusal to accept substantial bribes from Pyrrhus.
  • Cited by Hugh Capet, who is repenting on the terrace of the greedy, as an example of life without greed. Purg. XX, 25–27.
• Falterona: Mountain in the Apennine Range
  • Mentioned as the source of the Arno River. Purg. XIV, 16.

• Farinata degli Uberti (d. 1264): Leader of the Florentine Ghibellines famous for his defeat of the Guelphs (Dante's faction), at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260, causing the Guelphs to be exiled from Florence, though he was able to argue successfully against the destruction of the city. Farinata was posthumously condemned as a heretic during the Franciscan inquisition of 1283. To make peace between the Black and White Guelphs, Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti, let his son Guido Cavalcanti, the future poet, marry Farinata's daughter.
  • One of a group of famous political Florentines, "who were so worthy … whose minds bent toward the good", asked about by Dante of Ciacco. Inf. VI, 77–81.
  • Found among the Epicurean heretics. Inf. X, 22–51, 73–123.
  • Predicts Dante's difficulty in returning to Florence after his exile. Inf. X, 79–81.
  • Explains that the damned can see the future but not the present. Inf. X, 97–108.
• Fiumicello: Tributary of Phlegethon. Inf. XIV, 77.
• Fleur-de-lis: Flower symbolizing the French crown. Purg. XX, 86.
• Florence: Dante's home city. He was exiled from Florence in 1302 and never returned. The Comedy was composed during the period of exile.
  • Condemned with angry sarcasm for its bad government. Purg. VI, 127–151.
• Folquet de Marseilles (c.1165–1231):Troubadour, then Cistercian monk, and later Bishop of Toulouse.
  • Pointed out by Cunizza da Romano. Par. IX, 37–42.
  • Speaks to Dante and points out Rahab. Par. IX, 67–142.
• Rampino Foresi: See Vanni Fucci.
• Forlì: City in Romagna. In 1282, under Guido da Montefeltro, it withstood a combined siege by French and Guelph forces, dealing the French a crushing defeat. After 1300 it was ruled by the Ordelaffi.
  • "The city that stood long trial". Inf. XXVI, 43–5.
• Fortuna: In Dante's cosmology, a power created by god to "guide the destinies of man on earth" (H. Oelsner, P.H. Wicksteed and T. Okey The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Vol I, p. 79). Inf. VII, 61–96, XV, 91–6.
• Fortuna major: figure formed by a combination of the last stars of Aquarius and the first of Pisces. Used by geomancers for divination.
  • Visible before dawn in Purgatory. Purg. XIX, 4.
• Fox: Animal often used to symbolize deceit or cunning.
  • In the Pageant of Church History, a fox, representing the early Christian heresies, leaps into the Chariot which represents the Church. Purg. XXXII, 118–123.
• Francesca da Rimini: See Paolo and Francesca.
• Francesco d'Accorso: Eminent jurist of Bologna who taught law at the universities of Bologna and Oxford. Son of the great Florentine jurist Accorsio da Bagnolo, author of the Glossa Ordinaria on the Corpus Iuris Civilis.
  • One of a group of sodomites identified by Brunetto Latini to Dante. Inf. XV, 110.

• Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226): Son of a wealthy merchant, he spurned his father's riches and founded the Franciscan Order, formally recognized by Pope Honorius III in 1223.
  • Arrives to bring Guido da Montefeltro into Heaven, but is forestalled. Inf. XXVII, 112–4.
  • Eulogised by Thomas Aquinas. Par. XI, 37–117.
• Franco Bolognese: Fourteenth-century manuscript illuminator.
  • Mentioned as the student of Oderisi of Gubbio.
• Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor: Was renowned for his Epicurean lifestyle, and alleged to have punished traitors by cloaking them in leaden capes and placing them into boiling cauldrons.
  • Among the Epicurean heretics. Inf. X, 119.
  • His capes compared to those of the hypocrites. Inf. XXIII, 66.
  • His government of Italy viewed favorably. Purg. XVI, 115–120.
• Vanni Fucci: Nicknamed Bestia, for his brutality, he was the Illegitimate son of Fuccio de' Lazzari. He took part in the vicious struggles that divided his city Pistoia, siding with the Black Guelphs, repeatedly sacked the houses of his political enemies. In 1293, he stole the reliquary of San Jacopo from the sacristy of the Cathedral of Pistoia, for which crime the innocent Rampino Foresi was arrested and nearly executed, before the guilt of Fucci and his accomplices was discovered.
  • Among the thieves, like the mythical phoenix, he is burned to ashes and restored. Inf. XXIV, 97–118.
  • Refers to himself as a "mule" meaning "bastard" ("mul ch'i' fui"). Inf. XXIV, 125.
  • Prophesies the triumph in Florence of the Black Guelphs over the Whites. Inf. XXIV, 143–151.
  • Swears against God while performing an obscene gesture (a "fig", the insertion of a thumb between the first and second fingers of a closed fist). Inf. XXV, 1–18.
• Furies: see Erinyes.