The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Shanti Gurung
History 101
Professor Montague
20 November, 2015
After disintegrative patterns of fourteenth century, a remarkable recovery of Europe took place that encompassed a revival of arts and letters in the fifteenth century, and a religious renaissance in the sixteenth century known as the Reformation. Machiavelli argues for the centralization of authority around a single figure through his book ‘The Prince’ which had a great impact in the Renaissance period and continues to hold same impact on today's politicians. However people have been debating its view points over time. Basically, Machiavelli is giving instructions to the principalities who are not hereditary prince, on how to …show more content…
Based on the Christian moral principles, many political theorists prioritized the ethical standard of the characteristics of prince and how the prince should behave in general. Machiavelli purely opposed this approach: “For the gap between how people actually behave and how they ought to behave is so great that anyone who ignores everyday reality in order to live up to an ideal will soon discover he had been taught how to destroy himself, not how to preserve himself.” He was one of the first western politician who didn’t believe in morality and traded it with politics. One of the main thing he stressed is that the prince should achieve great results regardless of the methods …show more content…
So, if we have to choose one or the other then it is better to be feared than loved. However, a prince has to keep in mind that he shouldn’t be hated. Queen Elizabeth I followed this exact rule. Queen Elizabeth I was protestant and the previous queen Mary, her half-sister was catholic. Elizabeth repealed the Catholic laws of Mary’s reign, implemented a new act of supremacy “the only supreme governor” of both church and state. Even though the Church of England was Protestant, the moderate bent of Queen kept most people happy. Intelligent, cautious, and self-confident Queen Elizabeth I was successful to rule for 45 years in
Shanti Gurung
History 101
Professor Montague
20 November, 2015
After disintegrative patterns of fourteenth century, a remarkable recovery of Europe took place that encompassed a revival of arts and letters in the fifteenth century, and a religious renaissance in the sixteenth century known as the Reformation. Machiavelli argues for the centralization of authority around a single figure through his book ‘The Prince’ which had a great impact in the Renaissance period and continues to hold same impact on today's politicians. However people have been debating its view points over time. Basically, Machiavelli is giving instructions to the principalities who are not hereditary prince, on how to …show more content…
Based on the Christian moral principles, many political theorists prioritized the ethical standard of the characteristics of prince and how the prince should behave in general. Machiavelli purely opposed this approach: “For the gap between how people actually behave and how they ought to behave is so great that anyone who ignores everyday reality in order to live up to an ideal will soon discover he had been taught how to destroy himself, not how to preserve himself.” He was one of the first western politician who didn’t believe in morality and traded it with politics. One of the main thing he stressed is that the prince should achieve great results regardless of the methods …show more content…
So, if we have to choose one or the other then it is better to be feared than loved. However, a prince has to keep in mind that he shouldn’t be hated. Queen Elizabeth I followed this exact rule. Queen Elizabeth I was protestant and the previous queen Mary, her half-sister was catholic. Elizabeth repealed the Catholic laws of Mary’s reign, implemented a new act of supremacy “the only supreme governor” of both church and state. Even though the Church of England was Protestant, the moderate bent of Queen kept most people happy. Intelligent, cautious, and self-confident Queen Elizabeth I was successful to rule for 45 years in