De Monarchia

Monarchia, often called De Monarchia (, ; "(On) Monarchy"), is a Latin treatise on secular and religious power by Dante Alighieri, who wrote it between 1312 and 1313. With this text, the poet intervened in one of the most controversial subjects of his period: the relationship between secular authority (represented by the Holy Roman emperor) and religious authority (represented by the Pope). Dante's point of view is known on this problem, since during his political activity he had fought to defend the autonomy of the city-government of Florence from the temporal demands of Pope Boniface VIII. The work was banned by the Catholic Church in 1585. Date According to most accepted chronology, De Monarchia was composed in the years 1312–13, that is to say the time of Henry VII of Luxembourg's journey to Italy; according to another, the date of composition has to be brought back to at least 1308; and yet another moves it forward to 1318, shortly before the author's death in 1321. Title and English editions The title found in the extant Dante manuscripts and the editio princeps is simply Monarchia. Michele Barbi pointed this out in his introduction to the 1921 centenary edition and urged editors to adopt it. Prue Shaw has urged likewise, and done so herself, since 1995, explaining how the mistake of 'de' has come about. An English translation by Frederick William Church was published in 1879, with Dante an Essay by his father, Richard William Church. A second translation by Philip Wicksteed was printed for private circulation in 1896. However, as neither of these editions was easily available in 1904, Aurelia Henry Reinhardt provided a new translation published by Cambridge University Press. This has been superseded by Shaw's translation, 1995.