The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 9); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . -cern for 1 cligion, because it is a potent means for keep-ing his people submissive and obedient. Such is thegeneral teaching of the Principe, which has beenoften refuted. .\s a theory Machiavellism may per-haps be called an innovation; but as a practice it is asold as political society. It was a most immoral work,in that it cuts ]iolitics adrift from all morality, and itwas rightly put on the Index in It is worthnoting tliat the Princ
The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 9); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . -cern for 1 cligion, because it is a potent means for keep-ing his people submissive and obedient. Such is thegeneral teaching of the Principe, which has beenoften refuted. .\s a theory Machiavellism may per-haps be called an innovation; but as a practice it is asold as political society. It was a most immoral work,in that it cuts ]iolitics adrift from all morality, and itwas rightly put on the Index in It is worthnoting tliat the Principe with its glorification ofabsolutism is totally opposed to its authors ideas ofdemocracy, which led to his ruin. To explain thedifficulty it is not necessary to claim that the book is asatire, nor that it is evidence of how easily the writercould change his political views provided he couldstanil well with the Medici. Much as Machiavelliloved liberty and Florence he dreamed of a largerItaly of the Italians. As a practical man he saw thathis dream could l>e realized only through a prince ofcharacter and energy who would walk in the steps of. OF MachiavelliChurch of Santa Croce, Florence Caesar Borgia, and he conceded that the individualgood must give way to the general well-being. .\s a historian Machiavelli is an excellent sourcewhen he deals with what happened under his eyes atthe various embassies; but it should be rememberedthat he gives everything a more or less unconscioustwist to bring it into conformity with his generaliza-tions. This is more marked even in his accounts ofwhat he had heard or read, and serves to explain thediscrepancies in the letters he wrote during his em-bassies to Csesar Borgia, the Descrizione, etc., theideal picture he drew of affairs in Germany, and his lifeof Castruccio Castracane, which is rather an historicalromance modelled on the character of Agathocles inPlutarch. He knew nothing of historical criticism,yet he showed how even
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