De Monarchia

De Monarchia by Dante Alighieri was one tough slog for an amateur.  Don't believe the posers on Amazon reviews.  The translation's language was at times deep enough that I could've sworn I was reading a reprinted Renaissance translation. Close enough; it was 1902. That aside, it was a fascinating look into the mind of Dante's political thinking that would also be revealed in his more epic work that he had started a few years before.  

In essence, Dante argues first in favor of the single monarchy as the best form of government to benefit and unite mankind, then in his final chapter, sets out to destroy the prevailing beliefs that the Church should have temporal power as well as spiritual.  

If you're not steeped in Catholic history, at one time the Pope was not just head of the Church, but of Papal States and his own Papal Army.  They did much to wheel and deal in the politics of not just Italy, but in all of Europe. And let's just say some of them were not quite saintly when it came to greed, power, and lust (you'll see just who in Medieval times would be on Dante's naughty list when you read Inferno).

One of the more interesting points to me in this treatise is his belief that the growth and supremacy of the Roman Empire was God's will. He uses this to show that "Empire" and "Emperor" are the best benefit to mankind. The emperor in Dante's view is responsible for the well being of his subjects and best suited to provide for them... and the Roman Empire was the best example of this (which does tend to neglect a few aspects of both including the terrible dysfunction that led to the unnatural deaths of most Roman emperors). I would point out... the amount and type of knowledge about Ancient Rome that Dante had available to him may have been quite different than what we think we know today.

I do know that I am not near enough of an expert when it comes to Dante's brilliance, the brilliance of the scholars that study him (and political theory) today, and especially God's plans.  It has been said that the very existence of the Roman Empire with its vast trading and road networks made the rapid spread of Christianity possible, and some 300 years after the Crucifixion, there was that whole Constantine story to deal with. And Dante did bring in  Constantine's alleged donation of church land as part of his arguments. So maybe he was onto something here... 

Another interesting nuance to me was Dante had been a Guelph in Florence before his exile which meant at one time he had been on the side of Papal authority, however, by the time he wrote this book that was eventually burned and banned by the church, he had been exiled from Florence for several years partly due to the machinations of Pope Boniface. The "Black Guelphs" were then in charge in Florence. His own "White Guelphs" had been ineffective at launching any sort of return.  If you thought modern politics savage, you should take a glimpse at Italy after the fall of the Empire. Merde!  And that does raise one other note to keep in mind as Dante is arguing for this unity of empire and emperor - the constant jostling between princes, dukes, and the Pope for power and land... not just on the Italian peninsula, but all across Europe. Duchy's, kingdoms, city states.  It had to be exhausting all the intrigues and wars being fought over every excuse possible. One united empire at peace?  Not a terrible idea for the time. 

Dante saw the "new" Emperor as that stabilizing force that could come and set things right if would but do so, and he apparently tried every way from Sunday to impel action towards that end. Unfortunately for Dante (and northern Italy), Charles VII would ride into Italy and would retake Florence, only to die of a fever in 1313. All of Dante's dreams of unification and stability under the Holy Roman Empire would be dashed on the rocks. 

The church on the other hand, especially the papacy, had become quite greedy and corrupt. Dante would argue that the church was never meant to be a temporal power and never meant to have power over other princes.  Spiritual leader, yes.  Power broker, no.  Land and gold and silver, no. Quite a radical idea for his time. One that would land this book on the Index of Forbidden Books when it saw its first printing in 1559.  

Dante would of course be many centuries ahead of his time as the Papal States would limp along through history until 1870 when the emerging Italian state finally took their last territories. And ironically, it would be Mussolini's regime that would settle the Church's relationship once and for all in 1929. 

Lawd.  Glad I did it... don't really want to do it again.  :)