Book contents
- Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought
- Ideas in Context
- Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I
- Part II
- Chapter 3 Machiavellian Counsel
- Chapter 4 Political Prudence
- Chapter 5 Late Tudor Counsellors
- Part III
- Bibliography
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Chapter 3 - Machiavellian Counsel
from Part II
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2020
- Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought
- Ideas in Context
- Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I
- Part II
- Chapter 3 Machiavellian Counsel
- Chapter 4 Political Prudence
- Chapter 5 Late Tudor Counsellors
- Part III
- Bibliography
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Summary
The introduction of Machiavellian political thought into the context of an England weakened by perceived monarchical instability – the reign of a minor and two women – opens a new chapter in the history of the English discourse of counsel. Machiavelli, in The Prince, offers a reversal of the traditional humanist model of counsel; the prince’s prudence is what determines the quality of the counsel he receives. Counsellors, given Machiavelli's pessimistic account of self-interest in The Prince, are not likely to demonstrate the civic spirit that the humanist took to be foundational to their image of the counsellor. Thus, they need to be held in suspicion, and cannot be given any real power.
- Type
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- Information
- Counsel and Command in Early Modern English Thought , pp. 71 - 96Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020