Cacciaguida

And it chanced that when he had accomplished the main purpose for which he had come, drawn by love of the city newly regulated by himself, or by the pleasantness of the sight, to which perhaps he saw that heaven must needs be propitious in the future, or by whatsoever cause it may have been, he became a permanent citizen therein, and left behind him a family of children and of descendants neither small nor unworthy of praise.

The which, abandoning the ancient surname of their ancestors, took as their patronymic the name of him who had given them their beginnings in that place, and all called themselves the Elisei, of whom, as age succeeded age and one descended from another, there was born and lived, amongst others, a cavalier, valiant and conspicuous in arms and in wit, whose name was Cacciaguida, to whom in his youth was given by his parents, as his bride, a damsel sprung from the Aldighieri of Ferrara, esteemed no less for her beauty and her character than for the nobility of her blood, with whom he lived certain years and begat certain children with her.

And whatever the others may have been called, it pleased her, as women often love to do, to recall in one of them the name of her own forebears, and she called him Aldighieri, although the name survived in a form corrupted by dropping this letter D as Alighieri.

This man's worth was the cause of his descendants dropping the title degli Elisei and taking the cognomen degli Alighieri, which still remains to this day.

Dante's forebears were a very ancient stock in Florence, insomuch that he seems in certain passages to imply that his ancestors were of those Romans who founded Florence.

But this is a matter of much uncertainty, and, in my opinion, no more than mere conjecture.

Of those of whom I find a notice, his great-grandfather was Messer Cacciaguida, a Florentine cavalier, who served under the Emperor Conrad.

This Messer Cacciaguida had two brothers, the one named Moronto and the other Eliseo.

The which, abandoning the ancient surname of their ancestors, took as their patronymic the name of him who had given them their beginnings in that place, and all called themselves the Elisei.

Of whom, as age succeeded age and one descended from another, there was born and lived amongst others a cavalier, valiant and conspicuous in arms and in wit, whose name was Cacciaguida, to whom in his youth was given by his parents as his bride a damsel sprung from the Aldighieri of Ferrara, esteemed no less for her beauty and her character than for the nobility of her blood, with whom he lived certain years and begat certain children with her.

And whatever the others may have been called, it pleased her, as women often love to do, to recall in one of them the name of her own forebears, and she called him Aldighieri, although the name survived in a form corrupted by dropping this letter D as Alighieri.

This man's worth was the cause of his descendants dropping the title degli Elisei and taking the cognomen degli Alighieri, which still remains to this day.

Dante's forebears were a very ancient stock in Florence, insomuch that he seems in certain passages to imply that his ancestors were of those Romans who founded Florence.

But this is a matter of much uncertainty, and, in my opinion, no more than mere conjecture.

Of those of whom I find notice, his great-grandfather was Messer Cacciaguida, a Florentine cavalier, who served under the Emperor Conrad.

This Messer Cacciaguida had two brothers, the one named Moronto and the other Eliseo.

And it chanced that when he had accomplished the main purpose for which he had come, drawn by love of the city newly regulated by himself, or by the pleasantness of the site, to which perhaps he saw that heaven must needs be propitious in the future, or by whatsoever cause it may have been, he became a permanent citizen therein, and left behind him a family of children and of descendants neither small nor unworthy of praise: the which, abandoning the ancient surname of their ancestors, took, as their patronymic, the name of him who had given them their beginnings in that place, and all called themselves the Elisei.

Of whom, as age succeeded age and one descended from another, there was born and lived, amongst others, a cavalier, valiant and conspicuous in arms and in wit, whose name was Cacciaguida: to whom in his youth was given by his parents, as his bride, a damsel sprung from the Aldighieri of Ferrara, esteemed no less for her beauty and her character than for the nobility of her blood: with whom he lived certain years, and begat certain children with her; and, whatever the others may have been called, it pleased her, as women often love to do, to recall in one of them the name of her own forebears, and she called him Aldighieri, although the name survived in a form corrupted by dropping this letter d, as Alleghieri.

This man's worth was the cause of his descendants dropping the title degli Elisei and taking the cognomen degli Alleghieri, which still remains to this day.

And whereas there descended from him certain children, and grandchildren, and grandchildren's children, it came to pass that in the reign of Emperor Frederick the Second one of them was born whose name was Alighieri, and who was destined to become illustrious rather by the son he was to have than by himself.

Dante's forebears were a very ancient stock in Florence, insomuch that he seems in certain passages to imply that his ancestors were of those Romans who founded Florence.

But this is a matter of much uncertainty, and, in my opinion, no more than mere conjecture.

Of those of whom I find a notice, his great-grandfather was Messer Cacciaguida, a Florentine cavalier who served under the Emperor Conrad.

This Messer Cacciaguida had two brothers, the one named Moronto and the other Eliseo.