Toynbee "Polenta"
castle near Bertinoro, in Emilia, a few miles S. of Forlì, whence the Guelph Polenta family took their name.

In reply to an inquiry from Guido da Montefeltro (in Bolgia 8 of Circle VIII of Hell) as to the condition of affairs in Romagna, D. states that the 'eagle of Polenta' still broods over Ravenna, as it had done for many years past (they having been lords of Ravenna since 1270), and that it now (1300) also covers Cervia with its wings, [Inf. xxvii. 40-42] [Cervia: Ravenna]. The head of the house at the time of which D. is speaking was Guido Vecchio da Polenta (d. 131O), father of Francesca da Rimini, and grandfather of D.'s future host at Ravenna. The arms of the Polenta family displayed an eagle, half argent on a field azure, half gules on a field or. Benvenuto says that D.'s metaphor implies, as was the fact, that the rule of the Polenta was beneficent:

Nunc autor descripturus specialiter statum Romandiolae, incipit a Ravenna, et sententialiter vult dicere quod nobilis et antiqua prosapia istorum de Polenta dominatur Ravennae et Cerviae. Unde debes scire, quod eo tempore regnabat Ravennae quidam dominus Guido Novellus de Polenta, vir quidem satis magnae intelligentiae et eloquentiae; qui multum honoravit Dantem in vita et in morte, ideo loquitur de eo valde honeste describens ipsum ab insignio suae domus. . . .illi de Polenta portant pro insignio aquilam, cuius medietas est alba in campo azurro, et alia medietas est rubea, in campo aureo. . . .Vult dicere, quod iste Guido Novellus fovet et protegit ravennates sub umbra alarum suarum sicut aquila filios suos. Et de rei veritate Ravenna tunc erat in fiorenti statu, quae nunc est in languido.

©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