Most interestingly, however, through its sustained appointment of female
cognati the foundation offered a model for endogamous political consolidation of power, one that afforded noble women an opportunity to exercise their political skills as rulers of a small fiefdom rather than consigning them to socially inferior marriages where their political capital might lead to factional rivalries that would leave them permanently separated from their families.
The Dimessa will be do wisely to flee these temptations.") See also ibid., 14: "E molto a proposito, che la Dimessa abbia custodia all'orecchie, non ascolti ne fratelli, ne sorelle, ne
cognati, ne parent) che parlino cose che non siano in onor di Dio." ("It is appropriate to note here that the Dimessa should keep a close guard on her ears and refuse to listen when her brothers or sisters or sisters-in-law or relatives are saying ungodly things.")
Tale concezione mondana dell'amore (fol amors) porterebbe ad esiti opposti a quelli auspicati dalle donne esemplari del Limbo, e cioe alla disgregazione civile: i due
cognati non a caso vengono accomunati a Semiramide, che "libito fe licito in sua legge" (Inf., V, 56).
(19) "Al tornar de la mente, che si chiuse / dinanzi a la pieta d'i due
cognati, / che di trestizia tutto mi confuse, / novi tormenti e novi tormentati / mi veggio intorno, come ch'io mi mova / e ch'io mi volga, e come che io guati.
Here, Baldelli's wide knowledge of the rich lode of critical glosses, from contemporary to fourteenth-century commentaries that have shaped readers' views and ignited academic controversies over many centuries since Dante first highlighted the fate of the "due
cognati," offers an invaluable source of in-depth critical commentary.