La proposición I del Liber de Causis en la obra política de Egidio Romano y Dante Alighieri / The Proposition I of Liber de Causis in Egidio Romano’s and Dante Alighieri’s Political Treatises

Abstract

This paper argues that the Liber de Causis was a source for both Egidio Romano`s and Dante Alighieri`s philosophical and political treatises. Both authors used a Neoplatonic model of causality in order to sustein opposite theories on the relationship between temporal and spiritual powers. Egidio bases the direct intervention of the pope in temporalibus on the annulment of the second causes which operate in Creation. On the contrary, in Dante`s political theory, the intermediary powers between the emperor and the subjects are precisely that which allows —from a theoretical point of view— a certain independence of the temporal power from the spiritual one.