As Dante and Virgil approach the next valley, they are accosted by a disgusting stench accompanied by shrieks of pain. They then see thousands of souls sprawled out, dragging themselves through the filth. All of these souls are afflicted by horrible, eternal, painful diseases, many scratching the skin off their bodies. Dante compares the scene to all the sick who have ever been afflicted with Malaria in the hospitals of Italy in the summer. To emphasize the scope of Hell, Virgil tells Dante that this valley, packed with diseased sinners, wraps around for 22 miles.

This is the valley of the Falsifiers, including the alchemists, the falsifiers of things. The corruption of their bodies in Hell, mimics the corruption of God’s creation on earth. In another moment of dark humor, Dante has two of it’s residents from Florence mocking the residents from Sienna. Even in the depths of Hell, these sinners can’t get past political rivalries and pettiness. While Dante speaks to the alchemists the discussion is interrupted in an amazing sequence by two other sinners. …continue..  ...or go back...

Dante and Virgil arrive at the next circle of Hell and look down into the valley at a site of carnage.  Dante describes these souls who are dismembered and disfigured, comparing them to those of all the battles that have occurred over time.  These are the sinners who sewed schism and discord.  Their bodies are sliced open by a devil with a sword, causing their their entrails to spill out, as they walk eternally through Hell.  However, just as their wounds finish healing, they return the the devil to be dismembered and mutilated again, forever repeating the process.

These sinners include those who sewed schism in religion, and political figures who sewed discord in Italian politics.  One of the most incredible characters is Bertrand De Born, who sewed discord between family members, separating father from son (causing a quarrel between King Henry II and his son Prince Henry).  Bertrand is decapitated by a devil and must travel carrying his head in his upraised hand like a lantern.  This is one of the best examples of Dante’s punishment of splitting the body open for the sin of splitting religion and society up.

As gruesome and bloody as this scene is, Dante and Virgil will encounter even more in the next valley. ...continue... …or go back…

Another sinner in a flame approaches Dante and Virgil. This sinner is Guido Da Montefeltro. Guido was a captain in a rival army to Dante’s party, who later became a monk. As a monk, Guido conspired with Pope Boniface VIII in fraudulent Italian politics. Dante compares the voice of Guido coming out of the flames to that of the cries coming out of an Italian instrument of torture where the victim was roasted alive inside a bronze bull.

When Pope Boniface plotted with Guido, the Pope agreed to absolve him of the sins he was about to commit. Since absolution cannot be done ahead of time, and the sinner must be repentant (which Guido was not), Guido was condemned to Hell. Guido tells Dante that he was originally destined to Heaven when he died since he was a Franciscan Friar, but Satan snatched him away from Saint Francis at the last minute for his lack of repentance.

Dante and Virgil leave the valley for the next group of sinners, a site of horror. …continue… …or go back…