"Religion and liberty, each often considered the main enemy of the other, stand together in Maurizio Viroli's thoughtful and daring book. Writing with his usual convincing charm, Viroli studies three highlights of Italian republicanism and finds a common clue to their fame in the formula 'as if God existed.' A must for lovers of Machiavelli--and Italy."--Harvey C. Mansfield, author ofMachiavelli's Virtue
"Addressing a fascinating and controversial subject, this book is compellingly argued, brilliantly written, and provocative in the best sense of the word."--Eugenio Biagini, University of Cambridge
AS IF GOD EXISTED
RELIGION AND LIBERTY IN THE HISTORY OF ITALYBy Maurizio Viroli
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 2012 Princeton University Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-14235-7
Contents
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION..........................................xiIntroduction............................................................11 Republics Protected by God............................................152 Images of the Civil Religion..........................................213 Republican and Monarchical Religion...................................294 A Religion That Instills Virtue.......................................335 Sacred Laws and Sacred Republics......................................376 Republican Religion and Religious Reform..............................457 A Religion to Live Free...............................................528 Within the Soul.......................................................629 The Twilight of Republican Religion...................................7210 Without God..........................................................8911 After the Revolution.................................................10312 The New Alliance.....................................................11513 Literature and Hymns of the Religion of Liberty......................12614 Apostles and Martyrs.................................................14015 Masters..............................................................14516 Regrets and the Quest for New Faiths.................................15417 Two Clashing Religions...............................................17518 In the Name of Christ................................................18619 Inner Liberty........................................................20020 The Religion of Liberty..............................................21421 A Religion That Instills Hope........................................22622 The Religion of Duty.................................................23523 As If God Existed....................................................24924 Only a God Can Expel a God...........................................25925 Leaving Life.........................................................26826 Twilight.............................................................275NOTES...................................................................283INDEX...................................................................329
Chapter One
REPUBLICS PROTECTED BY GOD
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the assemblies of citizens that gave birth to the communes in northern and central Italy gathered in churches. Even when public authorities built their own palaces, public council meetings were always preceded by religious ritual. Furthermore, the communes contributed to consecrating the city through paintings and sculptures of the saints, especially those patron saints who had defended the community from external or internal enemies, and hence had an explicitly civic meaning. The cities were religious, and so were the communes.
The religious dimension of the Italian communes was further reinforced by the shift from a government of consuls and podestà to the experiment of real popular governments—that is, governments held by the people's councils. Whereas the first communal statutes, until the beginning of the twelfth century, contained few references to God, Christ, and the saints, the later ones offer plentiful mentions. In Vicenza, to cite but one example, the statutes of 1264 open with an oath invoking God, celebrating the divine creation that brought mankind into existence, and exalting the commune as the arrival point of God's project in the world. The religious, military, and professional associations that constituted the people scrupulously retained as well as promoted both religious and civic dimensions, and held their meetings in churches, after mass, diligently attending to the worship of the patron saints. The communes' religious identity and republicanism went hand in hand, and together engendered a republican religion.
One can already find evidence of this in the treatises that explained the functions and duties of the podestà. These texts insist on the virtues that the podestà and other communal magistrates must possess so that the city can live in peace and flourish in liberty. Although these texts often have the character of practical handbooks that teach the podestà how to speak on various occasions, and how to behave at home and in the public palace, their authors also emphasize the religious significance of the supreme magistrate's office and communal government. The most ancient of the handbooks for the podestà, the anonymous Oculus pastoralis, written around 1220, stresses the sacred dimension of the republican regime and the authority that administers justice. After quoting the canonical "There is no authority except from God" (Rom. 13:1), the author adds that such a principle also holds for the city's governor. He then adapts the verse "A king enthroned on the judgment seat / with one look scatters all that is evil" (Prov. 20:8) to the republican podestà, and finally paraphrases Paul's letter to the Romans, to argue that subjects must revere with sincere faith those who have been elected to govern. In his first speech, the podestà must invoke God's grace to discharge the task that the citizens have entrusted to him, and that he gladly accepted. The handbook also recommends that at the end of the speech, the podestà should utter words of praise and reverence for "our Lord Jesus Christ, true son of God, and to his holy mother, Our Lady Saint Mary" as well as the revered saints of the city. The republican government comes from God, and to God, to his glory and praise, it must be primarily dedicated. If the city that the podestà is going to rule is lacerated by civil strife, as was often the case in thirteenth-century Italy, he must appeal to the Gospel in order to urge peace and concord, and cite the famous passage "Glory to God in the highest heaven, / and on earth peace for those he favors" (Luke 2:14).
The republic needs God's help. Hoping to obtain it, the ruler must have a sincere fear of God and must observe the Catholic faith, remembering the scripture "But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, / to cut off the memory of them from the earth" (Ps. 34:16). From the Bible, the author of the Oculus pastoralis draws the admonition that the council must deliberate the weightiest issues and, once a decision has been made, must execute it firmly, despite any popular uproar. Within the council, he who rules must above all heed the advice of the wise and elderly, as again the Bible teaches us: "Do not dismiss what the old people have to say, / for they too were taught by their parents; / from them you will learn how to think" (Sir. 8:9). The ruler must also always recollect that wisdom keeps cities free: "There was once a small town, with only a few inhabitants; a mighty king made war on it, laying siege to it and building great siege-works round it. But there was in that town a poverty-stricken sage who by his wisdom saved the town" (Eccles. 9:14–15). If instead the ruler mistakenly trusts foolish councillors, he will bitterly regret it, for "sand and salt and a lump of iron / are a lighter burden than a dolt" (Sir. 22:15). Finally, the ruler must always remind the magistrates appointed to the civil tribunals, in the words of the Book of Wisdom, to "love uprightness you who are rulers on earth" (Ws 1:1).
One of the ruler's most...
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