Toynbee "Guido Guinizelli"
the most illustrious of the Italian poets prior to D.; he belonged to the family of the Principi of Bologna, in which city he was born c. 1230; his father was probably Guinizello di Bartolomeo de' Principi, who died before 1275, leaving five sons, though some think his father was Guinizello di Magnano; his mother was Guglielmina, daughter of Ugolino Ghisilieri, and first cousin of Upizzino, the father of the poet Guido Ghisilieri with whom Guido Guinizelli was thus connected [Ghisilieri, Guido: Table XXV]. Guido married Beatrice della Fratta, by whom he left a son Guido. In 1270, he was podestà of Castelfranco; in 1274, when the Ghibelline Lambertazzi were expelled from Bologna, Guido with the rest of the Principi, who belonged to the same party, was forced to leave his native city, it is not known where he took refuge, but it is supposed that he went to Verona; he died (probably before Nov.) in 1276; D. speaks of him in the D.C. ([Purg. xxvi. 92]) as already dead at the date of the Journey [See A. Bongioanni, 'Guido Guinizelli e la sua riforma poetica', GD, iv (1896), 161-172, 248-283.]

Guido Guinizelli, who at first was a great admirer of Guittone d'Arezzo but afterwards condemned him (cf. [Purg. xxvi. 124-126]), became the centre of a school of Bolognese poets, which included Fabruzzo de' Lambertazzi, Guido Ghisilieri, and Onesto Bolognese; and from him sprang subsequently the illustrious school of the dolce stil novo ([Purg. xxiv. 57]), the school of Lapo Gianni, Guido Cavalcanti, Cino da Pistoia, and of Dante himself, who acknowledges Guido as his father:

. . . il padre
mio e de li altri miei miglior che mai
rime d'amore usar dolci e leggiadre.
([Purg. xxvi. 97-99].)

The extant poems of Guido Guinizelli, several of which are quoted by D., consist of canzoni, sonnets, and ballate, dealing for the most part with love, some being of a satiric turn. [See G. Contini, PD, ii, pp. 447-485; E. Monaci, CI, pp 298-303; and A. D'Ancona and O. Bacci, Manuale della letteratura italiana (Firenze, 1911), i, pp. 105-110.]

Guido is mentioned by Oderisi (in Circle I of Purgatory as being surpassed by Guido Cavalcanti, [Purg. xi. 97-98] [Guido_4]; D. places Guido among the Lustful in Circle VII of Purgatory [Purg. xxvi. 92]; un [spirito], [Purg. xxvi. 25]; colei [anima], [Purg. xxvi. 74]; il padre mio, [Purg. xxvi. 97-98]; lui, [Purg. xxvi. 101], [Purg. xxvi. 112]; elli, [Purg. xxvi. 106] [Lussuriosi]. As D., in company with Virgil and Statius, proceeds through the Circle where the sins of lust are purged, certain of the spirits, noticing that D. casts a shadow, ask him by the mouth of one of their number (Guido) how it is that he has come there with his corporeal body ([Purg. xxvi. 7-25]); after an interval ([Purg. xxvi. 26-51]), D. replies that he is living and makes his journey through grace, and asks in his turn who they and their companions are ([Purg. xxvi. 52-66]); when they have recovered from their astonishment at hearing that D. is alive, Guido, acting as spokeman once more, informs D. of the nature of the sins which they are expiating, and concludes by naming himself ([Purg. xxvi. 67-93]); on hearing the name of Guido Guinizelli D. expresses his grief at finding him there, calling him his father, and after gazing at him fondly offers to serve him as he can ([Purg. xxvi. 94-105]); Guido, touched by D.'s affectionate expressions, asks the reason of his love for himself ([Purg. xxvi. 106-111]); D., in reply, refers to his admiration for Guido's poems ([Purg. xxvi. 112-114]) Guido rejoins that Arnaud Daniel was a better poet than himself, and adds that the reputation of Giraud de Borneil was exaggerated, as had been that of Guittone d'Arezzo ([Purg. xxvi. 115-126]); then, after begging for D.'s prayers, he disappears through the fire and D. sees him no more ([Purg. xxvi. 127-135]) [Arnaldo Daniello: Gerardus de Brunel: Guittone].

Guido is several times mentioned in D.'s other works, he is spoken of as quel nobile Guido Guinizelli, Conv. IV. xx. 7; dominus Guido Guinizelli, V.E. I. ix. 3; maximus Guido Guinizelli, V.E. I. xv. 6; maximus Guido, V.E. I. xv. 6, and simply named, V.E. II. v. 4, V. E. II. vi. 6; he is referred to as il saggio, V.N. xx. 3; his saying that 'love and the gentle heart are one', V.N. xx. 3; that an imperfect gem cannot receive the celestial virtue, Conv. IV. xx. 7 (see below); coupled with Guido Ghisilieri, Fabruzzo de' Lambertazzi, and Onesto Bolognese, as having rejected the Bolognese dialect, V.E. I. xv. 6; his employment of the hendecasyllabic line, an example being quoted, V.E. II. v. 4; his canzoni written in the most illustrious style, the first line of one of them being quoted, V.E. II. vi. 6, his canzone, Al cor gentil ripara sempre Amore, quoted, Conv. IV. xx. 7; V.E. I. ix. 3; V.E. II. v. 4; and alluded to, V.N. xx. 3; [Inf. v. 100] (see below); his cansone (now lost), Donna, lo fermo core, V.E. I. xv. 6; his canzone, Tegno de folle 'mpresa, a lo ver dire, V.E. II. vi. 6.

The famous canzone of Guido Guinizelli, to which D. so often refers, begins as follows:

Al cor gentil rempaira sempre amore
come l'ausello in selva a la verdura;
nè fe' amor anti che gentil core,
nè gentil core anti ch'amor, natura:
ch'adesso con' fu 'l sole
sì tosto lo splendore fu lucente,
nè fu davanti 'l sole,
e prende amore in gentilezza loco
così propïamente
come calore in clarità di foco.

Foco d'amore in gentil cor s'aprende
come vertute in petra prezïosa
che da la stella valor no i discende
anti che 'l sol la faccia gentil cosa;
poi che n'ha tratto fòre
per sua forza lo sol ciò che li è vile,
stella li dà valore:
così lo cor ch'è fatto da natura
asletto, pur, gentile,
donna a guisa di stella lo 'nnamora.
[G. Contini, PD, ii. pp. 460-461.]

Benvenuto says of Guido:

.. . iste fuit . . . miles bononiensis de clarissima familia principum.... Guinicelli enim fuerunt unum membrum de principibus pulsis de Bononia seditione civili, quia imperiales erant. Fuit ipse Guido vir prudens, eloquens, inveniens egregie pulcra dicta materna; sicut autem erat ardentis ingenii et linguae, ita ardentis luxuriae, quales multi inveniuntur saepe. O quot viri virtuosi caetera bona hac labe deformaverunt!

The Anonimo Fiorentino:

. . . fu valente uomo in scienzia, et grande et pulito et famoso dicitore in rima; et fu quelli che innovò il modo et lo stilo del dire in rima, et recollo almodo d'oggi; chè prima a lui si parlava con più grosso stilo et più materiale; et fu quelli a cui scrisse ser Bonagiunta Orbiciani da Lucca, riprendendolo, per che gli paressi, o per invidia, d'avere tratte le cose in rima fuori dell'uso antico, et per forza di scrittura et d scienzia parlare in rima. . .Fece messer Guido molte cose in rima, di grande ingegno et di gran sentenzia.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press