Dante lived in a time of great upheaval, and his poem, particularly Inferno, mirrors the religious and political struggles of the 14th century. He fiercely criticizes corrupt clergy and popes, as well as condemning politicians, sentencing many to eternal punishment. However, it's important to note that Dante did not disdain the institutions of church or state themselves. As a political and religious conservative, he saw these institutions as crucial for upholding social and spiritual order. Dante wished for less political involvement by the papacy and hoped for the emergence of a strong Christian emperor to restore order to the disorderly world. He placed significant hope in Emperor Henry VII's ability to accomplish this. Sadly, Henry was unable to overcome political resistance or gain papal support, leading to the failure of his unification efforts.

While Dante supported institutions in principle, he was outraged by those who he felt abused their power or engaged in corruption. For example, he placed Pope Nicholas III (d. 1280) in hell, depicted upside-down in a hole with flames eternally "baptizing" his feet (Inferno 19). Dante further predicts that Boniface VIII (1217–1303) and Clement V (d. 1314) will join Nicholas in this fiery abyss, punished for corrupting the papacy. Politicians, particularly the Ghibellines who exiled Dante from Florence, also face severe condemnation. For instance, the Ghibelline leader Farinata degli Uberti is found among heretics in hell (Inferno 10). Dante even condemns members of his own faction, the Guelfs, as seen in the circle of violence where Guido Guerra and Tegghiaio Aldobrandi chase a green flag with other naked sodomites.

Dante’s Divine Comedy expresses his desire for the comfort that comes from order and stability. It appears that Dante, through the poem's structured form, sought to counteract the chaos he witnessed around him. As the last great hierarchical epic of the Middle Ages, this carefully organized poem attempts to blend and encapsulate the histories of both pagan and Christian thought, creating a unified system. However, the intricate complexity of this synthesis nearly undermines Dante’s pursuit of order and comfort, emphasizing the immense challenge—if not the impossibility—of constructing and maintaining such an elaborate system.