Francesco Ingoli’s Relazione delle Quattro Parti del Mondo: Charting New Pathways in the History of Political Thought

Abstract

In this paper, I explore new research paths to reevaluate the significance of Francesco Ingoli as a political thinker. This reassessment is conducted through a philosophical and conceptual analysis of his work as the General Secretary of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide. I focus particularly on his Relazione delle Quattro Parti del Mondo (circa 1631), a text where Ingoli merges data from missionary reports and scholarly treatises with his own insights on global geography, politics, and anthropology proposing an innovative perspective on newly discovered regions. Despite the importance of Ingoli’s work, attesting to the deep resemantisation of political space that resulted from 16th and 17th-century geographical discoveries, an in-depth assessment of his political thought from the perspective of political philosophy is still largely missing. In particular, by means of an enquiry into the Church’s efforts in adapting evangelization strategies across different regions of the world, including the development of a cosmopolitan and multilingual clergy, and the gathering of detailed information on the geographical, cultural, and ethnic characteristics of each area, sometimes even through indigenous correspondents, I intend to point out possible ways to explore the global interconnections that emerged at the dawn of early modernity. Finally, this paper aims to shed new light on the impact of extra-European contributions on Western culture, as well as on Early Modernity as a global and multipolar phenomenon, characterized by cultural hybridization and reciprocal transfer.