la Pia

Profile

In Canto V of the Purgatorio, among the souls of the negligent whom Dante and Virgil encounter, a figure introduces herself with the celebrated invocation: «ricorditi di me, che son la Pia» (Purg. V, 133). The woman appears in the choir of purging souls, turning directly to the pilgrim to obtain a memory among the world of the living. The critical tradition identifies this character with Pia de' Tolomei, but Dante's text offers only the name «la Pia» and the request to be remembered, without further biographical or historical elements derivable from the verses themselves. The standard notes relating to Canto V of the Purgatorio deal with the Battle of Campaldino, the figure of Buonconte da Montefeltro, and the course of the Archiano, without providing direct information about this character.