ABSTRACT

Four centuries after their death, it is appropriate to take another look at the conception of the political community of two great thinkers such as Paolo Sarpi and Roberto Bellarmino. In fact, a view has been handed down of Sarpi as an assertor of the mutual independence of state and ecclesiastical orders, and of Bellarmine as a champion of papal supremacy. In reality, the Servite friar also argued in favour of the divine derivation of the authority of sovereigns, as well as of every ruler. While Bellarmine recognized only the Pontiff’s potestas indirecta in temporal affairs and went so far as to write that, if ‘political power emanates from God, ... it depends on the consent of the multitude to constitute a king, consul or other magistrate’.

In addition to the interest of a correct reconstruction of their thought, the reflections of these two illustrious intellectuals are still useful today. In fact, modern constitutional law presupposes the sovereign but is not able to establish it, but only to identify it. Therefore, in defining the connection between the constituent power of the consociates and the va- lues and principles they presuppose, outlining the modalities and limits of the exercise of sovereignty, Roberto Bellarmino and Paolo Sarpi – who opposed each other more on the exercise than on the foundation of sovereignty (a foundation that for them was divine, for us today is human) – can still provide us with precious suggestions.