Gherardo da Camino

Profile

Gherardo da Camino, of Treviso, was born around 1240 and was captain general of his city from 1283 until his death, which occurred in 1306. He was a wise and generous man, known for the hospitality that his court reserved for the troubadours, and was of the Guelph faction, supporting Corso Donati in Florence. Dante, who perhaps knew him personally and experienced his courtesy — possibly as a guest in the early years of his exile — also praised his nobility of soul in the Convivio. In the Purgatorio (XVI, 124) Marco recalls him alongside Currado da Palazzo and Guido da Castel as an example of that extinct people, of noble and courteous lords who no longer exist, whose memory serves as a reproach to the present age. The appellation "good," attributed to him by Marco, indicates the full range of civil virtues, generally said of princes or lords.