Dante Alighieri Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), best known as a poet because of his Divine Comedy, was also an active participant and observer of late medieval Italian city-state politics and the writer of Monarchy, a substantial work on political theory.

Born in Florence, Dante embraced the active political life of his city. As a supporter of the White Guelf party, he served on several councils from 1295 and served in 1300 as one of six priors who constituted the executive body in Florence. In October 1301, Dante’s active political life ended when the rival Black Guelf party seized power in Florence through a coup. Dante was banished from the city and never returned to Florence. During the final twenty years of his life, Dante abandoned the White Guelf party and instead became an observer of Italian political culture as he traveled throughout northern Italy. Both through his experience in Florence and his travels in the region, Dante witnessed firsthand the coercive effects of factional strife and outside meddling on public order in Italian cities. While the exact date of its composition is uncertain, Monarchy, his response to the instability of the political system in Italy, was most likely completed in the final years of his life and almost certainly after 1314.

The chief purpose of Monarchy was to provide a solution to the endemic political instability that Dante viewed as the key scourge of his time. While the subject matter was undoubtedly inspired by his personal experiences, the text itself focuses on first principles. In Book One, Dante argues that for human society to thrive it required the establishment of a world ruler whose authority was supreme over all other sovereigns. Only such a ruler could ensure the peace that was a prerequisite for mankind’s fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity. Book Two turns to history to show that ancient Rome served such a role for humankind in the past and was serving God’s purpose at its height. The final book turns to the contemporary political system and makes the case that the Holy Roman Emperor’s power came directly from God and was independent of the pope. In making this case, Dante examines and refutes the key arguments in favor of papal authority in secular affairs. At their core, the three books of Monarchy argue that the key to peace in the thirteenth century and ultimately mankind’s ability to fulfill its role in God’s cosmic order depended on the reestablishment of a universal supreme political power through the institution of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Scholars have criticized Monarchy as unrealistically utopian in an age when imperial authority was in decline and the text as repetitive. It certainly is medieval in organization and structure. Written in Latin, it draws heavily on Aristotelian thought and is permeated with biblical examples. In some ways Monarchy might best be seen as complementing Dante’s better-known Divine Comedy. If Divine Comedy sought to provide readers with a path to salvation in the next life, Monarchy sought to provide readers with a model that would ensure peace in this life.

Bibliography:

Gilson, Etienne. Dante the Philosopher. Translated by David Moore. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1949.
Shaw, Prue, ed. and trans. Dante: Monarchy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.