Nicola Spedalieri (né Spitaleri, born at Bronte, Catania, Sicily, 6 December 1740; died at Rome, 26 November 1795) was an Italian priest, theologian, and philosopher.

Notwithstanding the hearty reception given to this work by Pius VI who said, "For a long while rulers have been asking quid est papa.

Your book will teach them quid est populus", a storm of criticism and refutation burst on the head of its author.

While for Spedalieri this did not exclude the divine origin of the same sovereignty, this thesis was not acceptable to the theories of royal absolutism, Regalism, and Cartesian dualism then in vogue, which did not admit the existence of a natural moral law but made all depend on the arbitrary Will of God.

[2] In the next century, both liberals and republicans claimed Spedalieri as an early supporter of their political theories; although the reality would have been more complex.