An Early Theory of Institutional Bi-Partyism: Bartolus’ De Guelphis et Gebellinis

• In Event: Historical Perspectives on the Meanings and Challenges of Pluralism (1355-1752)

Abstract

Jurist Bartolus de Saxoferrato (1313/14-57) has a distinctive place in the history of political and legal thought. His treatises “De regimine civitatis” and “De tyrannia” distinguished influentially between monarchs and tyrants, theorizing the legitimacy of the former and offering a typology of the latter. However, Anglo-American scholars have never explored one of Bartolus’ most innovative writings: the treaty “De guelphis et gebellinis” (c. 1355). My paper suggests that this specific treaty deserves more attention among historians of political thought and political theorists alike for two main reasons.
First, against the ancients’ well-known despise for divisions and the countless examples of factionalism in his own times, Bartolus did not automatically reject the legitimacy of partisan politics. Rather, he examined the extent to which political parts (“partialitates”) could contain their holistic ambition and thus be distinguished from factions. Second, he articulated a distinctive – and, to my knowledge, original and unprecedented – theory of the legitimacy of political parts inside representative institutions. Drawing on the example of Todi and applying it to the other Italian city-states, he called for a form of institutional bi-partyism wherein both “partialitates” (Guelphs and Ghibellines) rule together, rather than in turn. He also argued that partisans must declare their political identity while governing in concert and can govern only as members of either part.

Author

• David Ragazzoni, Columbia University