The essay reconstructs the role of Political Philosophy and the History of Political Thought in the evolution of the ‘Cesare Alfieri’ Institute in Florence, from its foundation to the present day. Through a historical and institutional analysis, it shows how these two fields of research occupied a hidden, albeit significant, role in the development of the Institute, later acquiring centrality in the political and cultural education of its students. The text traces the stages of academic autonomisation of the ‘History of Political Doctrines’ and ‘Political Philosophy’, highlighting methodological tensions, ideological influences and changes in the relationship with the other social sciences. Along this trajectory, key figures, institutional transformations and a constant confrontation with the European dimension of political knowledge emerge. The boundary between Philosophy and the History of Thought thus proves to be a fertile space, in dialogue with the major cultural and political changes that Higher Education has had to face.