THE DE MONARCHIA OF DANTE ALIGHIERI .'" .. :~ . " ;- ~ ... ,.': ::,~, ~...",~.. " ~.;-"'. ~,,;.-., .- , -..11,.. ,-<'_ , :... -....~~~.... ... ~~ .. .".. I;lJr ,'!.I:_ ~~~:~.:~f~ . 'THE JDE MONARCHIA OF DANTE .ALIGHIERI // '- . ~ - \ EDITED WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES BY . AURELIA HENRY Solen Roma, me iI buon mondo feo, Duo Soli aver, che l'una e l:altra strada Facean vedere, e del mondo e di Dec, PURGATORIO, XVI. 106 ., r.Lt' •, 3 ~.;t P BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY <€be LiitlerJjbe lflU;;, €amhribge 1904 .1 COPYRIGHT 1904 BY AURELIA HENRY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Publisl .. d Septembef' lQ04 TO MY MOTHER ,THIS LITTLE VOLUME OF FIRST FRUITS IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED • PREFACE THE De Monarchia is easily accessible in Latin editions, but an English version is practically un- obtainable, at least by the American student of Dante. To be sure, it has twice been done into English, once by Mr. F. J. Church (Macmillan, 1878), and again by Mr. P. H. Wicksteed (Hull, 1896). If the former translation had not been long out of print, and the latter had not been published for private circulation only, the present volume would have less excuse for being. But with the growing interest in Dante, and the increasing number of Dante students in this country, the demand for ready access to all the poet's work becomes imperative. It is in response to this demand of the American student of Dante in and out of college that this translation has been undertaken. In the notes which accompany the text the translator has had in mind chief!.y the needs and interests of the literary student. Although the purpose of the annotation is to make the treatise V11l PREFACE clear in whole and in part by explanation and citation, it includes the effort to indicate at every possible point the relation existing between the De Monarchia and the Divine Comedy, the Con- vito, and the Letters. Many of the notes may be of little use to the student of civil government or to the general reader, but it is believed their value to the literary student will prove sufficient reason for their presence. The source of Dante's theories is noted wherever practicable, his debt to Aristotle, to the Hebrew Scriptures, and to Thomas Aquinas needing most frequent men- tion. In the cross-references to Dante's other works the translator has endeavored to point out as exhaustively as possible the recurrence of favorite ideas, and even of favorite figures of speech, as in the case of the metaphor of the seal and the wax. I The references to Aristotle, and quotations from him, are almost without exception based on the Bohn translations of Aristotle. Biblical references are to the Authorized Version, except where indication is made to the contrary. In ci- I. See Professor Cook's list of the passages, and references to Aristotle, in Mod. Lang. Now 15 (1900). 256 (511, 512). PREFACE IX tations from the Summa Theologiae, the Latin text (Bloud and Barral, Paris, 1880) has been used, save in the few cases where the translation of the Ethics by Joseph Rickaby (New York, 1896) is indicated. In the quotations from the Divine Comedy, the edition and translation of A. J. But- ler (Macmillan, 1891-92) has invariably been made use of; in quotations from the Conoito, the translation of Miss Katharine Hillard (Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1889), and in those from the Letters, that of C. L. Latham (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891). The principal Latin texts of the De Monar- chia are those edited by Fraticelli, Florence, 1860; Witte, Vienna, 1874; Giuliani, Florence, 1878; and Moore, Oxford, 1894. The Oxford text has been followed without exception, though in a few cases variant readings have been given in the notes. The earliest edition of the De Monarchia was printed at Basle in 1559. It had been translated into Italian in the fifteenth century by Marsilio Ficino. There are two German versions, that of Kannegiesser, Leipzig, 1845, and that of H ubatsch, Berlin, 1872. The two English translations have already been men- tioned. Of them it only remains to add that a x . PREFACE part of Church's translation is reprinted in Old South Leaflets, No. 123. The Bibliography includes books likely to be helpful to the reader of the De Manarchia or the more general Dante student. In the notes I am indebted to many commen- taries and reference books. Moore's Studies in Dante, First Series, was indispensable for classi- cal sources, Witte's Latin edition of 1874 for mediaeval sources, and Toynbee's Dante Diction- ary for general reference. I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Charles Allen Dinsmore of Boston for his kindly inter- est and assistance in this translation, and to Dr. Albert S. Cook of Yale University, from whom came the first suggestion of the undertaking, and a continued encouragement and aid with- out which its completion would not have been possible. A. H. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction XV BOOK I WHETHER TEMPORAL MONARCHY IS NECES- SARY FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE WORLD CHAPTU 1. Introduction 3 II. To what end does government exist among all men? 5 III. To actualize the whole capacity of the possible in- tellect in speculation and action 8 IV. To attain this end humanity requires universal peace 15 V. When several things are ordained for one end, one must rule and the others obey 18 VI. The order which is found in the parts of the hu- man race should be found in the race as a whole z% VII. The relation of kingdoms and nations to the rnon- arch should be that of humanity to God zf VIII. Men are made in the image of God; but God is one %5 IX. Men, as the sons of Heaven, should follow in the footprints of Heaven %7 X. In order to settle all disputes a supreme judge is necessary %9 XI. The world is best ordered when in it Justice is preeminent 31 XII. Humanity is ordered for the best when most free fO xii CONTENTS XIII. He who is best adapted for ruling is the best di- rector of other men 46 XIV. What one agent can do is better done by one than by many 50 XV. In every sort of thing that is best which is most one 54 XVI. Christ willed to be born in the fullness of time when Augustus was Monarch 59 BOOK II WHETHER THE ROMAN PEOPLE RIGHTFULLY APPROPRIATED THE OFFICE OF MONARCHY I. Introduction 67 II. What God willsin human society is to be held as right 70 III. The Romans as the noblest people deserved pre- cedence before all others 76 IV. Because the Roman Empire was aided by mira- cles it was willed of God 84 V. The Roman people in subduing the world had in view the good of the state and therefore the end of Right 88 VI. He who purposes Right proceeds according to Right 96 VII. The Roman people were ordained for Empire by nature 100 VIII. The decree of God showed that Empire belonged to the Roman people 104 IX. The Romans were victorious over all contestants for Empire 110 X. That which is acquired by single combat is ac- quired with Right 116 CONTENTS xiii XI. The single combats of the Roman people 120 XII. Christ in being born proved that the authority of the Roman Empire was just 12f XIII. Christ in dying confirmed the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire over all humanity 128 BOOK III WHETHER THE AUTHORITY OF THE ROMAN MONARCH DERIVES FROM GOD IMMEDIATELY OR FROM SOME VICAR OF GOD I. Introduction 135 II. God wills not that which is counter to the inten- tion of nature I 37 III. Of the three classesof our opponents and the too great authority many ascribe to tradition If 0 IV. The opponents' argument adduced from the sun and moon If8 V. Argument from the precedence of Levi over Judah 157 VI. Argument from the election and deposition of Saul by Samuel I 58 VII. Argument from the oblation of the Magi 161 VIII. Argument from the prerogative of the keys con- signed to Peter 16f IX. Argument from the two swords 168 X. Argument from the donation of Constantine I 7f XI. Argument from the summoning of Charles the Great by Pope Hadrian 18I XII. Argument from reason 183 XIII. The Authority of the Church is not the source of Imperial authority 187 xiv CONTENTS XIV. The Church received power of transference neither from God, from herself. nor from any Emperor 190 XV. The prerogative of conferring authority upon the Empire is contrary to the nature of the Church 193 XVI. The authority of the Empire derives from God directly 196 BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 INDEX 213 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION HE who was" the spokesman of the Middle Ages," who saw and told of his fellow-men and their destiny, uttered a message not for one cen- tury of time only, nor of one significance. In each of Dante's larger works, the Vita Nuoua, the Canuito, the De Monarchia, and the Divine Comedy, this message is pronounced in one or all of its three phases, the religious, the philo- sophical, and the political. Because no author ever wrote with such singleness of purpose, nor through such diverse mediums carried to com- pletion a solemn intent, the series of his pro- ductions are bound together as inevitably as the links of a chain, lending to one another meaning and value. And because these productions are so similar in purpose, if various in manner of expression, we may call them a unified message, and may apply to them all the words of expla- nation the poet sent to Can Grande when he presented to him "the sublime Canticle of the Comedy which is graced with the title of Para- diso." "The aim of the whole and the part," XVlll INTRODUCTION he wrote, "is to remove those living in this life from a state of misery, and to guide them to a state of happiness." The recognition by the student of this desire to know and to help his brother man, which gives to Dante's writings a loftiness of tone and elevation of character that six centuries have failed to obscure, is the preventer of much mis- understanding, and the first essential to appre- ciative interpretation.