Dante probably took part in the subsequent events of the campaign; the wasting of the Aretine territory, the unsuccessful attack upon Arezzo, the surrender of the Pisan fortress of Caprona. “Thus once I saw the footmen, who marched out under treaty from Caprona, fear at seeing themselves among so many enemies” (_Inf._ xxi. 94-96). There appears to be a direct reference to his personal experiences of the campaign in the opening of _Inferno_ xxii.: “I have seen ere now horsemen moving camp and beginning the assault, and holding their muster, and at times retiring to escape; coursers have I seen upon your land, O Aretines! and seen the march of foragers, the shock of tournaments and race of jousts, now with trumpets and now with bells, with drums and castle signals.” He has sung of Campaldino in peculiarly pathetic strains in Canto V. of the _Purgatorio_. On the lower slopes of the Mountain of Purgation wanders the soul of Buonconte da Montefeltro, who led the Aretine cavalry, and whose body was never found; mortally wounded and forsaken by all, he had died gasping out the name of Mary, and his Giovanna had forgotten even to pray for his soul. DEATH OF BEATRICE.--In the following year, 1290, Beatrice died: “The Lord of justice called this most gentle one to glory under the banner of that blessed queen Mary virgin, whose name was in very great reverence in the words of this blessed Beatrice” (_V. N._ xxix.). Although Dante complicates the date by a reference to “the usage of Arabia,” she appears to have died on the evening of June 8th;[1] and the poet lifts up his voice with the prophet: “How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is she become as a widow, she that was great among the nations!” 3. _After the Death of Beatrice_ PHILOSOPHIC REFUGE.--It is not easy to get a very definite idea of Dante’s private life during the next ten years. With the completion of the _Vita Nuova_, shortly after Beatrice’s death, an epoch closes in his life, as in his work. From the _Convivio_ it would appear that in his sorrow Dante took refuge in the study of the _De Consolatione Philosophiae_ of Boëthius and Cicero’s _De Amicitia_; that he frequented “the schools of the religious and the disputations of philosophers,” where he became deeply enamoured of Philosophy. Cino da Pistoia addressed to him an exceedingly beautiful canzone, consoling him for the loss of Beatrice, bidding him take comfort in the contemplation of her glory among the saints and angels of Paradise, where she is praying to God for her lover’s peace. This poem is quoted years later by Dante himself in the second book of the _De Vulgari Eloquentia_ (ii. 6), where he couples it with his own canzone-- Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona, “Love that in my mind discourses to me,” with which Casella consoles the penitent spirits upon the shore of Purgatory: “The amorous chant which was wont to quiet all my desires.”