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The poet was born into one of the leading families in Florence. His mother died when he was twelve , and he was contracted while still a young boy in marriage to a girl who belonged to another leading family. At some time, he saw and fell in love with a young girl called Beatrice , and she was the love of his life and became his muse. Dante married Gemma Donati, but he remained in love with Beatrice even after her untimely death. The death of his beloved led to the poet studying philosophy and theology, as he sought some meaning in life. Dante like his family belonged to one of the main factions in the city whose politics was often bloody. Florence was divided between the pro-Imperial Ghibellines and those who supported the Papacy known as the Guelfs. The origin of this dispute lay in the various conflicts between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope. The poet fought at the Battle of Campaldino (1289) when the city’s Guelph faction defeated the Arezzo Ghibellines. After the victory , the Guelph factions changed the constitution and Dante had to enroll in a Guild, an association of tradesmen to remain a citizen .<ref>Gilson, S.A., Dante and Renaissance Florence (Vol. 56) (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005), p 113</ref>.  However as was typical of the fractious politics in Late Medieval Italy, the Guelphs soon divided on into ideological lines, and they became two mutually hostile factions the White and Black Guelphs. The White Guelphs, the party of Dante eventually expelled their former allies and colleagues. However, the Whites returned with the support of Charles Valois and ousted the Black faction from the government of the city, and this led to the exiling of many prominent Florentines .<ref>Gilson, p 114</ref>.  Dante was exiled because of due to trumped up charges of corruption. Dante could have returned to his native city if he swore an oath to the Whites and paid a fine. He refused to do both, and this was typical of the poet who was a man of great unsurprising because he had integrity.<ref>Raffa, Guy P. The Complete Dante worlds: A Reader's Guide to the Divine Comedy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), p 5</ref>. Moreover, he was a party to several attempts to expel the Black Guelphs’ Guelphs,’ but these were all failures. Dante was now an became a permanent exile and he . He was forced to wander Italy and possibly beyond and he was . He became dependent on the generosity of powerful nobles.  In 1306 , he was in Bologna but was later forced to leave with the other Florentine exiles. It seems appears that he ended up in Padua for a time and after this, he may have even visited Paris. Dante found exile very hard daunting and he wrote ‘how hard a path it is for one who goes ascending and descending others' stairs’’ stairs.’’<ref> Dante, Paradiso, XVII (55–60)</ref>. It But it was during his period of exile that he was able to concentrate concentrated on his poetry and prose works. Despite Exile may have difficult, but it made him extremely productive.  In addition to his literary efforts , he remained active both as a politician and a diplomat and he . He was tireless in his efforts to return to his beloved Florence. All his endeavors to return to his believed home were thwarted. Dante accepted an invitation from the ruler of Ravenna to stay in that city. Here It was in Ravenna that the poet finished the last of his great works and he died in 1321 .<ref>Raffa, p. 7</ref>. He was buried with great high honors in Ravenna , and Ravenna has never returned his remains have not been returned to his native Florence.