The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-09-30

chief citizen of Ravenna to the house of the friars of St. Francis. Had fortune been willing, Guido would have honored his friend with tomb ] kept Dante's name alive. this me- morial would have done so- ,
 Boccaecio wrote his life of Dante about 134s. Already there was a desire among the more enlightened Florentines that justice should be done to the memory of the poet 1896, seventy-five years after Dante's death, the F1orentines made formal request to Ravenna for the return of all that remained of Dante, the man and 1476. Again in 1515 and 1519, two hundred years after Dante's death, Pope Leo x.. son of Lorenzo de Medfci, who had made the effort Ravenna should re1inquish its claim to the tomb of the great Florentine- Pope Leo x. was power in north ern Italy at that time and particular lord of the city by virtue of the League of Cambrai. He therefore sent a mission to Ravenna to bring back Dantes remains to Florence. A surprise was in store for the mis- sion. When the tomb was opened nothing was found except the wither- ed laurel which Guido de Polenta had laid upon Dante's bier two hun dred years before. The Florentine delegates reported that "as in his life l time Dante journeyed in soul and in
 body through bell: purgatory and | been received, body and soul, into
 one of those realms"
 For three hundred years the secret
 of the empty tomb was kept from the Italian public, in spite of the fact that | in 17S2 the tomb was restored and
 mausoleum built around it. The
 grave was even opened on the orders 1 1f al I official report was issued in terms
 which were obviously designed to
 hide the truth. A note made at the
 time by one of the Franciscan monT;
 certain people knew the truth. The
 entry ran: "Dante's sarcophagus 1 was opened and nothing was found
 inside, so it was sealed up again with l the Cardinals signet ring and strict
 silence was observed as to the mat ter"
 But the F1orentines did not aban-
 don their desire that the dead Dante
 should return to the city of his birth
 place. In 1865, when preparations were being made for the celebration
 of the sixth centenary of the poets birth, a fifth request was made to
 Ravenna and refused. The union of
 Italy had been accomplished. The authorities at Ravenna replied that the deposit of the sacred bones of
 Dante Alighieri in Ravenna could no
 longer be regarded as a perpetuation
 of his exile, inasmuch as all the cit | ies of Italy were now united. It
 may be that the writers knew that the sacred bones of Dante .A1ighieri were no longer in the tomb where they had been laid. Be that as it
 may be, while the sexcentenary cele- bra tions were still in preparation an astonishing discovery was made.
 A wooden coffin was found bricked up in a wall in Barcicioforte chapel. near the tomb. An overflow of water had necessitated the use of a pump. That the handle might work more
 readily, a hole was made in an old wall. As the mason used his pick
 a hollow sound. as of something hid
 were removed the sound was proved
 chest hidden in the wall. Within was human skeleton and on the lid
 of the chest was the inscription Dante ossa a me Ere Antonio Santi
 hic posita Ano 1877 die IS Octobris." :" , A second inscription in ink on the bottom plank recorded that Dante's S . bones were revisited anew on June 3, ! 1877.
 There could be no doubt that Dar te's body was hidden in the monas- tery when Pope Leo attempted to bring it to Florence in 1519. The se- cret was transmitted to each Francis can superior for one hundred and six ty years. Then the bones were plac-
 ed in the wooden chest and hidden , in the wall by Friar Antonio Santi on October IS. 1877.