Durante degli Alighieri, simply referred to as Dante (UK pron.: /ˈdænti/, US /ˈdɑːnteɪ/; Italian: [ˈdante]; c. 1265–1321), was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, originally called Commedia and later called Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.