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Further Discussion on the “Two Suns Theory” and the Monarchia of Dante



Author(s)

Sabina Tuzzo

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DOI:10.17265/2159-550X/2015.02.003

The De Monarchia can be considered the summa of Dante’s political thought, of which we can also find some starting points in the Convivio, in the Epistles and in the Divine Comedy. Here, in Purgatorio XVI, Marco Lombardo, after stating that the misrule of the popes led the world to the sin, articulates Dante’s view of the Empire and Papacy as separate authorities and cites the instance of Rome at the pagan Age, when Rome used to possess two autonomous institutions to drive mankind both towards the material happiness and the spiritual one (vv. 106 ff. “soleva Roma, che ‘l buon mondo feo/ due soli aver, che l’una e l’altra strada/ facean vedere, e del mondo e di Dio”). The image of “two suns” also returns in the III Book of De Monarchia by Dante. Here Dante, inquiring into the relationship between “the two greatest luminaries”, that is the Roman Pontiff and the Roman Prince, wonders if the authority of the Roman ruler descends directly from God or from someone of His ministers. For Dante the Emperor, whose authority is given to him directly by God, does not depend on the Pope, but the Emperor is absolutely independent of the Pope.

Two Suns, Dante, De Monarchia, Empire and Papacy