Durante Degli Alighieri was born to a prominent Florentine family in 1265 somewhere between May 18th and June 17th. The name ‘Dante’ is believed to be a shortened version of his christened name Durante. At the age of 12, Dante was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati and had several sons with her. Later, because of his immense fame, many claimed to be his offspring but Jacopo, Pietro, Gabrielle Alighieri, and Antonia were most likely his children. Dante's schooling included Tuscan Poetry and at the age of nine, his love-at-first-site for a lady named Beatrice Portinari introduced his poetry and other Italian poets to the theme of love, which had not really been explored in poetry before. The Guelf-Ghibelline conflict was a major source of heated debate for most Florentines and Dante fought in the battle of Campaldino in 1289. Also, Dante became a doctor and pharmacist to further his political career. After the Guelfs split into the Black Guelfs and the White Guelfs, of which Dante was a part of, Messer Cante dei Gabrielli di Gubbio was appointed Podestà (mayor) of Florence and exiled Dante for two years. After being considered an absconder for remaining in Rome during his exile, the poet could not pay his fine and was sentenced to permanent exile. After several failed attempts to regain power with the White Guelfs, due to betrayal, Dante began work on his most famous work, the Divine Comedy (1308-1321). His most famous works also include Convivo (1294-1307), De vulgari eloquentia (1303-1305), and La Vita Nuova (1293). Dante died in 1321 from what was probably malaria.