<Tr> <Th> Period </Th> <Td> Late Middle Ages </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Literary movement </Th> <Td> Dolce Stil Novo </Td> </Tr> <P> Durante degli Alighieri (Italian: (duˈrante deʎʎ aliˈɡjɛːri)), simply called Dante (Italian: (ˈdante), UK: / ˈdænti /, US: / ˈdɑːnteɪ /; c. 1265--1321), was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages / Early Renaissance . His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language . </P> <P> In the late Middle Ages, the overwhelming majority of poetry was written in Latin, and therefore accessible only to affluent and educated audiences . In De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular), however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature . He himself would even write in the Tuscan dialect for works such as The New Life (1295) and the aforementioned Divine Comedy; this choice, although highly unorthodox, set a hugely important precedent that later Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio would follow . As a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy . Dante's significance also extends past his home country; his depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven have provided inspiration for a large body of Western art, and are cited as an influence on the works of John Milton, Geoffrey Chaucer and Alfred Tennyson, among many others . In addition, the first use of the interlocking three - line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him . </P>

Who was dante and what did he write