Changes

One of the distinctive features of Middle Age culture was that Latin was considered to be the only language suitable for literary and philosophical works. Dante believed that the vernacular languages were valid vehicles for literary expression. The poet believed that the vernacular was suitable for certain genres such as comedy, poetry , and prose.<ref>Alighieri, Dante. Dante: De vulgari eloquenti. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996), p 11</ref> This was a very radical proposal at the time and was very influential in later centuries.

Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in Tuscan but borrowed from other Italian regional dialects and even Latin. The use of Tuscan persuaded other great writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio to write in this Italian dialect.<ref>Raffa, p 114</ref> Dante’s great work helped to make Tuscan the literary language of Italy and persuaded many writers and poets to abandon Latin and to write in their native tongue. Dante influence during the Renaissance spread beyond Italy and into in the rest of Europe. Dante’s demonstrated that literary works could be written in the vernacular.  As a result, the vast majority of Renaissance writers in Italy and beyond wrote in their native tongues. This shift had consequences that went far beyond the literary world. The language of Dante became the official language of many Italian states , and it helped to develop a national consciousness during the High Renaissance in particular, which is evident in the works of Machiavelli.