A Recent Discovery of Ivo Natali’s Essay on Despotism

Sa？etak The article examines a newly discovered essay on despotism, O na？inu na koji bi se mogao sprije？iti krajnji despotizam, written by a Ragusan patrician, Ivo Natali (1785-1853). Since the work has no date, the author assumes that it might have been written during Metternich’s regime, or under the influence of its fall. Fashioned in the manner of the European Enlightenment, Natali’s work appeared at the time when modern studies on this political phenomenon had already been published. It remains unclear to what extent Natali drew on other European traditions of political criticism of despotism. No doubt, the very emergence of this original study on autocracy, with Natali’s psychological portrait of a despotic ruler, represents a significant contribution to the history of political theory in Croatia