Kelsen e Kantorowicz lettori del Monarchia: due studi su Stato e Sovranità nel pensiero di Dante a confronto

Both Hans Kelsen and Ernst Kantorowicz investigated Dante’s political thought at a particular moment of their lives, as they offered an interpretation of the Monarchia. While Kelsen approached Dante at the very beginning of his studies, Kanto- rowicz dedicated to the Italian poet a significant amount of his career as a historian: their research on State and sovereignty in Dante is still a landmark for scholars. Once given a brief retrospective of Dante’s life and his treatise, I will expose the cornerstones of Kel- sen’s and Kantorowicz’s readings, along with some relevant details of their biographies. Eventually, I will suggest that their respective stances might be influenced by their perso- nal experiences, as well as the historical period they were living in.