5am thoughts

[dhampyresa]

Why is it (Victor) Hugo, (Miguel) Cervantès, etc, but Dante (Alighieri)? Why are we all on a first name basis with a poet from the 1300s?

Comments

[misbegotten]

Family names weren't set things in the medieval period. I don't know much about the evolution of surnames -- especially in 14th century Italy -- but Aligheri is a patronymic, a name that indicates Dante is the son of Alighiero (like Stephenson used to mean that the person was the son of Stephen).

Leonardo's "last name" isn't da Vinci, either. He was born near the town of Vinci.