The term stil novo designates a loosely organized group of late-thirteenth-century poets who shared an innovative treatment of love poetry. Outstanding among poets connected with this new style were Guido Guinizzelli and Guido Cavalcanti, the first of whom was approximately two decades older than the second.
Two men by the name of Guido Guinizzelli are mentioned in documents from Bologna around the mid-1200s, one belonging to the noble class, the other to a family of skilled laborers. Most probably, Guinizzelli the poet was born around 1240 to a family originally involved in craftsmanship and, later on, in the practice of law. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Guinizzelli pursued a commercial and judicial career. He was working as a consulting lawyer in the mid-1200s, and also writing poetry. At the time, Bologna and the major cities in the Romagna region, as well as nearby Tuscany, were rent by fierce political struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Guinizzelli sided with the Ghibellines, supporters of the emperor. When they were defeated in 1274, he was sent from Bologna to Monselice, a small town in northern Italy.
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