Dante Alighieri

About Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was a paramount Italian poet and political thinker, most famously the author of the Divine Comedy. This epic narrative poem, chronicling a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, is considered a masterpiece of world literature and was instrumental in establishing the modern Italian language. His profound influence on subsequent literature, theology, and philosophical thought secures his place as the 56th most historically important figure according to the Pantheon HPI ranking.

Dante's current digital footprint suggests a notable mismatch between historical weight and modern attention. Ranking just behind Joan of Arc (#79) in importance, Dante garnered 1.1 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This level of attention is nearly identical to his historical rank, giving him an attention gap of approximately 1x-suggesting parity. However, this stability contrasts with other medieval figures like Charlemagne (#113), who achieved 2.4 million views, or William the Conqueror (#934), who attracted 3.0 million views, indicating that Dante is relatively under-served by contemporary internet traffic compared to contemporaries and later figures.

While his attention is stable, the year-over-year data shows a decline of -8.3% in Wikipedia views, and the Q1 versus Q3 momentum measurement is also negative at -8%. This suggests that while the core audience remains, the figure is experiencing a slow bleed in general online interest across 2025.