Tenth Heaven Trivia Quiz

Answer: Constance of Sicily

Constance of Sicily (1157-1198) was the Queen Regnant of Sicily and the wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. Spending much of her early life in a convent, it was believed by Dante that she had taken vows as a nun and forsaken those vows to marry her husband. He therefore places her among the inconstant, those who did not keep to their vows and lacked sufficient fortitude.

"But when she too was to the world returned / Against her wishes and against good usage, / Of the heart's veil she never was divested. / Of great Costanza this is the effulgence, / Who from the second wind of Suabia / Brought forth the third and latest puissance." (III, 115-120)

Answer: Justinian I

The Ambitious found in the second sphere are those who did good deeds that were caused more than they should be by a desire for fame and less by a desire for justice. One example is Emperor Justinian (482-565) of the Byzantine Empire. He may be best known for the Code of Justinian, a recodification of Roman Law that took place under his reign. His generals also attempted a reconquest of lands that had formerly been part of the Roman Empire.

"Caesar I was, and am Justinian, / Who, by the will of primal Love I feel, / Took from the laws the useless and redundant." (VI, 10-12)

Answer: Charles Martel of Anjou

Charles Martel (1271-1295) was the heir to the thrones of Naples and Hungary. One of the individuals in the "Commedia" personally known by Dante, he is generally referred to by Dante in positive terms. He married Klementia of Habsburg and had three children, including the future Charles I, King of Hungary. Those who were found here emphasized love a bit too much and temperance not quite enough. To me, it is a bit unclear exactly why Charles was placed here.

"Not through Typhoeus, but through nascent sulphur, / Would have awaited her own monarchs still, / Through me from Charles descended and from Rudolph. "(VIII, 70-72)

Answer: Thomas Aquinas

In the fourth sphere, Dante finds those souls who were well known for their wisdom in life. A circle of twelve bright lights that dance around Dante includes Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). A Dominican priest and philosopher, Thomas has had a large influence on Christian theology since. He may be best known for his work "Summa Theologica" (1265-1274). Thomas was canonized in 1323.

"Of the lambs was I of the holy flock / Which Dominic conducteth by a road / Where well one fattens if he strayeth not. / He who is nearest to me on the right / My brother and master was; and he Albertus / Is of Cologne, I Thomas of Aquinum." (X, 94-99)

Answer: Charlemagne

Mars is the home of Warriors of the Faith. Dante may have placed them here because of the association with Mars, the Roman god of war. Charlemagne (742-814), King of the Franks, was the first to be named Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope. He was known for his attempts to Christianize the population of Saxony through both laws and force, including the Massacre of Verden, where he ordered the death of 4,500 who resisted this conversion.

"Likewise for Charlemagne and for Orlando, / Two of them my regard attentive followed / As followeth the eye its falcon flying." (XVIII, 43-45)

Answer: Constantine

Constantine the Great (272-337) was the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire (though he only formally became so on his deathbed) and also created the division of the Empire that would become permanent over the next century. As Emperor he legalized the status of Christianity within the Empire though as a general toleration of religion rather than a unique favoring of Christianity. Constantine is considered a "just ruler".

"The next who follows, with the laws and me, / Under the good intent that bore bad fruit / Became a Greek by ceding to the pastor; / Now knoweth he how all the ill deduced / From his good action is not harmful to him, / Although the world thereby may be destroyed." (XX, 55-60)

Answer: Peter Damian

Peter Damian (c. 988-1073) was a reforming clergyman. As Prior of Fonte Avellana, his desire for reform led to much-stricter discipline. Though part of a monastic community, he was in constant communication with other high-ranking church officials on a variety of religious matters. Later in his life he would serve as Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. Dante placed Peter, canonized in 1828, amongst the Contemplatives.

"I in that place was Peter Damiano; / And Peter the Sinner was I in the house / Of Our Lady on the Adriatic shore. / Little of mortal life remained to me, / When I was called and dragged forth to the hat / Which shifteth evermore from bad to worse." (XXI, 120-125)

Answer: Saint Peter

The Eight Sphere is the home of the Church Triumphant and the three virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. Here Dante encounters Peter (First Century AD), first of the line of Popes. In the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is almost always listed first. In "Paradiso" Peter tests Dante on his faith which is ironic since Peter's faith was test more than once in the Gospels.

"O light eterne of the great man / To whom our Lord delivered up the keys / He carried down of this miraculous joy, /This one examine on points light and grave, / As good beseemeth thee, about the Faith / By means of which thou on the sea didst walk." (XXIV, 34-39)

Answer: Angels

Perhaps I cheat a bit here. Rather than meeting a person in the Primum Mobile, Dante encounters the angels, who are described as surrounding God in nine circles. Paradoxically, Dante describes himself as both looking at the circle from the inside and outside. In Dante's universe, God directly affects the Primum Mobile and the motion of the Primum Mobile sets the rest of the universe in motion.

"These substances, since in God's countenance / They jocund were, turned not away their sight / From that wherefrom not anything is hidden; / Hence they have not their vision intercepted / By object new, and hence they do not need / To recollect, through interrupted thought." (XIX, 76-81)

Answer: Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was the Abbot of Clairvaux whose ideas renewed the concept of monasticism. In "Paradiso" he guides Dante through the final verses of the poem, assisting in Dante's contemplation of God, by moving beyond theology to a more direct contemplation. In the final portion of the poem Dante perceives God as three circles occupying the same space.

"And she, the Queen of Heaven, for whom I burn / Wholly with love, will grant us every grace, / Because that I her faithful Bernard am." (XXXI, 100-102)