Filippo is based on a Black Guelph, Charles of Valoi, Dante’s political enemy. Charles of Valoi entered Florence with the other Black Guelphs and destroyed much of the city within a few days. The harsh treatment that Filippo sufferers in The Inferno is payback for an earlier offense that the real life Charles of Valoi had done. In The Inferno Filippo’s violent temper is highlighted in the story as a man who had crossed Dante.