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Biography
Filippo Argenti or Filippo Argente (13th century), a politician and a citizen of Florence, was a member of the Cavicciuoli branch of the aristocratic family of Adimari, according to Boccaccio. Filippo's children were Giovanni Argente & Salvatore Argente. Salvatore travelled to Spain and first was established in Barcelona and his descendents in Valencia, where his grandson Salvatore was established in the small village of Navarres and the surname changed as Argente. The Adimari family were part of the Black Guelph political faction.
Filippo is reputed to have received the nickname "Argenti" by having his horse shod with silver. He makes an appearance in the Decamerone, 9.8, where Boccaccio tells a story that involves his temper. The Firenze's storia talks about his silver hair. He was a very tall man, very burly, bizarre, famous for his iron fists.
Filippo Argenti appears as a character in the fifth circle of Hell in the Inferno, the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy. He is among the wrathful in the river Styx, and accosts Dante as the latter crosses the Styx. Filippo is then torn into pieces by the other wrathful in the river Styx after this encounter with Dante and Virgil, and then turns on himself biting fiercely.
Early commentators recount various incidents to explain the antipathy between Dante and Filippo:
- Filippo once slapped Dante,
- Filippo's brother had taken Dante's possessions after Dante's exile from Florence,
- Filippo's family had opposed Dante's return from exile