Pietro della Vigna

Pietro della Vigna (also Pier delle Vigne, Petrus de Vineas or de Vineis; Capua, ca. 1190 – San Miniato, 1249) was an Italian jurist and diplomat, who acted as chancellor and secretary (logothete) to Emperor Frederick II. Falsely accused of lèse-majesté, he was imprisoned and blinded, committing suicide soon after.[1] He appears as a character in the Inferno of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

Dante and Virgilius meet Pietro della Vigna in the forest of Self-Murderers, in Canto XIII of Hell, ca. 1866
The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides, c. 1824–7. William Blake, Tate. 372 × 527mm. Shown is a scene from the Divine Comedy: Dante and Virgil discover Pietro's body encased in a tree.
  1. ^ Richard Barrie Dobson (2000). "Pietro della Vigna". Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Vol. 2. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. ISBN 9781579582821.