Medieval echoes. Reflection on political theories and cultural trends from European Middle Ages during American Wars of Independence and Between the States

Abstract

This article examines the influence of formulations and lines of European medieval thought and culture during the two main processes of American political history: the American Wars of Independence and Between the States. In these moments of enormous significance, we can perceive a series of formulations alive since Middle Age centuries; principles with a no evident but relevant influence in mentality and perception during the conflicts. These are: federalism, constitutionalism, canon law, the concept of war, the reception of the work of Dante Alighieri and his ‘Divina Commedia’ and the reception of chivalric medieval culture and the Arthurian tradition.