D

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian poet, theo-
logian, and political philosopher

Best known for his epic CHRISTIANpoem The Divine
Comedy,Dante expresses a profound understanding of
the political and religious problems of MEDIEVAL
Europe. Active in the government of Florence, Italy,
Dante saw both the political and ecclesiastical corrup-
tion of the Middle Ages. His literary depictions of Hell
(Inferno) and Purgatory (Purgatorio) represent the
social and church evils of his day. Specifically, Flo-
rence, the wealthiest and most cultured of the Italian
cities, is shown as corrupted by greed, materialism,
vanity, and jealousy among leading families. The
church of Rome is suffering from excessive worldly
power and prestige, which weakens and discredits its
spiritual leadership. The rise of political prominence of
the papacy is presented as the decline of the CATHOLIC
Church from its primary role to reflect the humility
and love of God through Christ. This leads Dante to
reassert the Augustinian insistence on the separation
of CHURCH AND STATE, each serving a distinct function
under divine providence. Dante advocates “two suns”
to lighten the human path—the religious and the
political realms serving distinct purposes but cooperat-
ing in a common love of God and humanity.

In his book On Monarchy(De Monarchia), Dante

argues for the solution to the world’s problems in a

“one world government,” or universal MONARCHY, that

could overcome the struggles among competing states.

He also sees the HOLY ROMAN EMPIREas the center of the

world empire. The secular emperor was to have direct

commission from God to rule, not mediated through

the Catholic Church or the pope. In this way, Dante

foreshadows the REFORMATIONideas of Martin LUTHER

and John CALVIN, seeing government officials as

directly responsible to God and not under the total

jurisdiction of the church. Still, Dante respects the

Catholic Church leadership and insists that it continue

to exercise an informal, advisory role vis-à-vis the

state; he says that the king should show the reverence

of an “eldest son to his father” to the bishop of Rome.

Dante fell out of favor with Pope Boniface VIII and

the new rulers of Florence, forcing him to leave his

home city and wander from town to town in Italy. He

was accused of corruption and had his PROPERTYcon-

fiscated.

Further Readings

D’Entrèves, A. P. Dante as a Political Thinker.Oxford, Eng.:

Clarendon Press, 1952.

Holmes, G. Dante.New York: Hill & Wang, 1980.

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