“Esto perpetua!”: “Two Cities” of Paolo Sarpi

Abstract

The article examines the life path, the formation of the personality and ideas of the ideologist of the Venetian ecclesiastical independence, Paolo Sarpi. The main source for the study is Sarpi’s biography, “Vita del padre Paolo”, written by his secretary Fulgenzio Micanzio. Ac-cording to Sarpi, the ecclesiastical tradition of the Venetian Republic was based on the Byz-antine symphony of the authorities, which he sought to apply to contemporary circumstances related to the conflict between Venice and the Holy See in 1606–1607. After the Council of Trent, the “War of the Interdict” became a significant event for Christian Europe, and Father Paolo was the central figure of that “war”. The study aims to show, however, that Sarpi’s church ministry and public service were only one of the facets of his activity. They were of an antinomical character in relation to his spiritual and scientific aspirations. The logic of the thinker's choice is revealed in the philosophical credo, which allowed him to remain a whole person, despite the variety of spheres of his activities. For all his involvement in the affairs of church politics, Father Paolo practised “abstinence from judgment”, outwardly expressed in sceptical “ataraxia”. The article concludes that the duality of Sarpi's ethics is resolved through a clear separation of the areas of his life – spiritual, intellectual, and social – that he formulat-ed in the ethical principle of “indifferent participation.”