A Change in Politics
Renaissance society was engaged in establishing a centralized sovereignty, which
would change the power relationships from the more personal relationships based on
homage and interdependence of feudal society to more impersonal ones based on
competition, centralization, and order.
The favourite type of government in the Renaissance was an absolute monarchy. It
followed the patriarchal political paradigm, in which a male is the head of state
(versus a patriarchy, where a female is head of state), and the structure, and the actions
of the ruler, is based on these three aspects:
Hierarchy – the belief that certain people and/or groups are believed to have special abilities
and responsibilities for the well being of society which in turn means that they should have
special powers and privileges to carry out these responsibilities.
Sovereignty – the power to make and enforce decisions about any matter that is recognized to
be within a defined jurisdiction (area of control).
Power – gaining and preserving power is the most significant goal a prince representing a state
can aspire to.
The theoretical view of political and social relationships during the Renaissance was
highly influenced by the writings of one political philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli.
Read the handout called “Niccolo Machiavelli: Renaissance Political Thinker,” and
respond to the following:
1. Why did Machiavelli write The Prince? What had been happening in Italy at the
time?
2. Summarize his theory of the nature of human beings.
3. What did he think was the best way to govern a state? What was his advice to
rulers?
4. Where did he get his ideas from? Was he a ruler himself?
5. Respond to the following in a detailed paragraph: If you were a ruler in the
Renaissance, would you be “Machiavellian” or not? What are your beliefs about
human nature? Use quotes from The Prince to discuss.
Theoretical View of Political and Social Relationships
The Renaissance perspective as laid out by Machiavelli (1469-1527):
“human beings are selfish and interested only in advancing their own interests;
because society is basically immoral, a prince may find it necessary to be immoral for
the good of the whole community”
"A prince, therefore, should not mind... cruelty, for a few displays of severity, will really
be more merciful than to allow, by an excess of clemency disorders to occur which...
result in rapine and murder; for these unsure a whole community, whilst the executions
ordered by the prince fall only upon a few individuals... It is much more safe to be feared
than to be loved... For it may be said about men that they are ungrateful and fickle..."
The sole test of good government was whether it was effective, whether the ruler
increased his power.
Definitions:
Homage - the formal public acknowledgment by which a feudal tenant or vassal
declared himself to be the man or vassal of his lord, owing him faithfulness and service.
Clemency - an act or deed showing mercy or leniency.
Rapine - the violent seizure and carrying off of another's property; plunder.
Fickle - likely to change; casually changeable. Ex: fickle weather. Synonyms: unstable,
unsteady, variable
Order: security based on order and predictability is a fundamental need of people.
Change: when a society undergoes fundamental change another set of social
relationships must be developed so that individuals understand their relationship to the
larger society.
Paradigms: are patterns of ideas, beliefs, and values which act as criteria for decision
making. Paradigms help people perceive and understand certain aspects of reality
more clearly and limit the perception and understanding of other aspects of reality.
Patriarchal Political Paradigm
Hierarchy – the belief that certain people and/or groups are believed to have special
abilities and responsibilities for the well being of society which in turn means that they
should have special powers and privileges to carry out these responsibilities.
Sovereignty – the power to make and enforce decisions about any matter that is
recognized to be within a defined jurisdiction.
Power – gaining and preserving power is the most significant goal a prince representing
a state can aspire to.
Reception and reaction
Francesco Guicciardini, Machiavelli's friend, read the book and wrote critical notes
(Considerazioni) on many of the chapters. Jean-Jacques Rousseau considered the Discourses (as
well as the Florentine Histories) to be more representative of Machiavelli's true philosophy:
Machiavelli was a proper man and a good citizen; but, being attached to the court of the
Medici, he could not help veiling his love of liberty in the midst of his country's
oppression. The choice of his detestable hero, Cesare Borgia, clearly enough shows his
hidden aim; and the contradiction between the teaching of the Prince and that of the
Discourses on Livy and the History of Florence shows that this profound political thinker
has so far been studied only by superficial or corrupt readers. The Court of Rome sternly
prohibited his book. I can well believe it; for it is that Court it most clearly portrays.
—Rousseau, The Social Contract, Book III.