Monaldi

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The Monaldi are recalled by Cacciaguida in the prophecy of Canto VI of the Purgatorio, in a list of houses that represent the opposing factions in the Peninsula. The name appears alongside that of the Filippeschi to indicate the Ghibelline and Guelph parties that contested Orvieto, taken almost as a representative of central Italy. The critical notes to the passage specify that the Monaldi appear as a Ghibelline faction already «tristi», that is, defeated, since the cities contested by them had by then fallen into the hands of lords who had known how to exploit their internal wars. The definition that accompanies them in the verses, «uom sanza cura», meaning heedless of one's duties, is pronounced by Cacciaguida as a reproach to the listener for indifference toward his own noble houses and their internal conflicts.