Dante's Views of Chivalry and Warfare, Canto's XII and XXVIII

Throughout Dante Alighieri's Inferno, the warlike and the social concept behind chivalry is one of intense concern for this author from the Middle Ages. What makes Canto XII so important in terms of understanding Dante's feelings on chivalry and war is that the reader is seeing Dante's views on warfare not only from the perspective of an observer, but from the perspective of a participant. Later in the Inferno, Canto XXVIII proves to be very …

…either menacing, beast-like centaurs or demons wielding lethal swords Although the entire book the Inferno is an inner introspection for Dante, few cantos so personally move the author as XII and XXVIII. During Dante's lifetime, all men lived in constant fear of incumbent battle, and Dante, after having fought in a battle himself, realized that he was more adept at waging purposeful war on others through his writings than through the carnage of chivalric battle.