Guido da Castel

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According to the established note on verse 125 of Canto XVI of Purgatorio, Guido da Castel belonged to the Guelph family of the Roberti of Reggio Emilia and was born between 1233 and 1238; his name still appears in a document of 1315. The same note reports that a sixteenth-century historian recalls him, together with Dante, among the noble exiled figures hosted by Cangrande della Scala in Verona, and that other documents present him as one of the "grandi" of the Black Guelphs of Reggio. In verse 125 of Purgatorio, spoken by Marco Lombardo, Dante names him together with Currado da Palazzo and Gherardo da Camino, praising his reputation for being sincere and liberal, a quality for which — like Gherardo — he is also mentioned in the Convivio (IV, XV). The note further points out that Dante, in this survey, disregards political allegiance, given that the other two characters named are also Guelphs.