De Monarchia

De Monarchia is Dante Alighieri's main work on political theory, written in Latin. The work was probably written after the death of Emperor Henry VII (perhaps 1316), but must still be seen as a reaction to his policy of a Restauratio imperii.

The core point is Dante's view that the emperor must exercise world dominion so that the divine order can be realised. The Monarchia, which is divided into three books, was written by Dante along Aristotelian lines and its content opposed the papal claim to rule. Often branded an anachronism and naïve fantasy, the work nevertheless reflected medieval notions of the universal power of empire.

Contents

In the first chapter of the first book, Dante describes the intention of his work. Following the example of Aristotle, he describes that all human beings naturally strive for knowledge. This knowledge, which we are to acquire, has been made available to us by our ancestors. We have been enriched by their work and the same is to be done for us. We must work for posterity, otherwise we fail in our duty. But it is of no use to repeatedly re-record the old, that would be wasted time, but one must find out and research the new. Dante wants to go further in his work, he wants to reveal the truth, and specifically he wants to bring to light the truth of the temporal, worldly monarchy, because this has still been too little researched. This was because it was of no use to the researchers in the short term, there was no immediate profit. Dante, however, believes that it is useful to work for long-term successes, which, however, do not yield any short-term profit.

In the second chapter, he defines his work steps in more detail. He wants to study the temporal monarchy, that is, everything that is beyond time does not belong to the temporal monarchy, for example, God and souls belong to the beyond. Then, in the 3rd section, the doubtful questions have to be defined:

• Is monarchy necessary for the good of mankind?
• Did the Roman people claim the office of monarch by right?
• Does the authority of the empire depend on that of the papacy?

Section 5 is about recognising that there are things that cannot be influenced, that are not subject to our power, such as mathematics, physics and metaphysics. These things can only be observed. However, the things that can be influenced are needed by everyone for their own benefit. Aristotle raises the question there, "How shall we act?" This, in turn, is what the Bible takes into consideration. The Bible as an authority gives answers to the question of what is good and what is bad. Fundamentally, however, Dante says that activity alone is the goal of the human species. The prerequisite for the realisation of this goal is peace.

He still answers the first question in the affirmative in the first book and justifies it, among other things, by saying that everything is ordered towards One, that it is God's intention and self-expression on earth, that a supreme judge is necessary in worldly affairs and that people have the greatest freedom under the monarch.

In the second book he gives arguments why the Roman people hold the office of monarch by right. He holds that the Roman people are the most noble, were by nature appointed to rule, and have triumphed against all others.

The structure of the third book differs from the other two in that Dante first refutes the arguments of his opponents, who justify the dependence of the authority of the Empire on that of the Papacy through the Bible and history, e.g. the Donation of Constantine.

In the second part, Dante begins to expound his truth. The Church does not possess the power to install the Emperor, but imperial authority comes directly from God. Man has two overriding goals, the earthly paradise and the heavenly paradise. He gets there by different means, by reason (philosophical virtues) and by faith (theological virtues). The emperor and the pope, who are necessary because of human desires, take the lead in reaching the two goals. They are both appointed by God and are independent and equal to each other.

In the 15th century, the humanist Marsilio Ficino translated De Monarchia into Italian.

Literature

• Francis Cheneval, Die Rezeption der Monarchia Dantes bis zur Editio Princeps im Jahre 1559. München 1995.
• Hans Fenske: Geschichte der politischen Ideen. Frankfurt am Main 1997
• Jürgen Miethke, Arnold Bühler: Kaiser und Papst im Konflikt. Düsseldorf 1988
• Ulrich Prill: Dante. Stuttgart 1999