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Simony In Dante's Inferno

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The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, follows the pilgrim as he travers through the three spheres of eternity: Hell, Purgatory, Heaven. Hell is described as a pit of rings, each containing a unique sin which increases in severity as one travels downward. Throughout the Inferno, Dante takes great care to highlight sins especially heinous to his particular historical context of the Medieval Ages. Canto XIX of Inferno looks to the sin of Simony, a sin common among the popes in Dante’s day. Simony is the selling a Church positions or misuse of Church authoritative offices for earthly wealth and gain. Dante places this sin in the third ditch of Malebolge, located in the eighth circle of Hell. The severity of this sin is shown not only by its location;
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