Provenzan Salvani

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Provenzan Salvani is a historical figure cited by Dante in the Purgatorio (XI, 121). The notes to the passage describe him as a Ghibelline of great prestige and authority in Siena at the time of Manfred, captain of the Sienese at the Battle of Montaperti (1260), and subsequently the unquestioned leader of the Ghibelline faction in Tuscany. He took part in the Council of Empoli, where the necessity of destroying Florence was upheld, an idea opposed by Farinata. After the Ghibelline defeats of Benevento and Tagliacozzo, the Sienese were disastrously defeated by the Florentines at Colle Val d'Elsa (1269): there Provenzano was taken, beheaded, and his head carried across the field fixed upon a lance. The note lists him among the proud (Purg. XI, 122-3) and qualifies his sin as praesumptio, offspring of vainglory according to the Church Fathers. From the ancient tenzoni (1262) there remains a trace of his pride, with words such as «Non ave di valenza / ki non è invediato».