,"

Freshmen to Sophomore SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS

SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT

Summer of 2010

TOPICS:

1. 'The Prince" Niccolo Machiavelli

2. liThe Decameron" Boccaccio

3. Excerpt from The Civilization of the West by: James Powell; "Prelude to the Modern World"

4. 'The Renaissance" Baldassare Castilione

5. ART: Random Renaissance Paintings

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of the aforementioned readings serves as a foundation for the upcoming school year in the

area of social sciences whether AP European History or World History II. Any section from the above

readings MUST be submitted with detailed responses for the first full academic week of school. In

addition, there will be various assessments from your "said" teacher throughout the school year.

Readings taken from:

World Traditions in the Humanities

The New Modern World: New Directions

World History: Connections to Today - Humanities Links

In Great Issues In Western Civilization, z" ed. - Book of the Courtier by: Baldassare Castaglione

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Prelude to the Modern World

The reading that follows is excerpted from The Civilization of the West by James M.Powell (NewYork: Macmillan Company, 1967), pp. 131-94 passim. For homework, readthe selection and complete the study guide at the end.

There is a strong tendency to stress the chaotic conditions that existed in WesternEurope in the aftermath of the collapse of the Carolingian Empire. Certainly. no historianshould minimize the effects of internal and external disorder, weakened central author-ity. and the fragmentation of political, economic, and social life in that period. But neithershould we ignore those factors operating to create a unified society. Through thegreatestturmoil. the institution of monarchy remained as a focal point. Though the power of thekings was often weak virtually to the point of nonexistence, the figure of the king re-main eo. Moreover. the feudal system cannot be regarded as the cause of the breakdown ofthe central authority, but as the product of it. While it is. no doubt, true that the ambitionsof the nobility to concentrate effective power over local affairs in their own hands .frus-trated efforts to build the royal authority, the main feature of feudalsociety was a systemof personal contracts which. attempted to tie an already fragmented society together. asystem we recognize as feudalism; Ultimately. the role.offeudalism was in the direction ofunifying medieval political and sectal ltfe tn-WesternEurope. For the monarchies createdin the twelfth. century and even earlier were feudal in their foundattonsand character.The position of the king was founded on his role as lord.over his vassals.

Viewed from this position, the feudal age is most important forthedevelopment ofWestern Europe; this ~or:tance lies chiefly in the process of state-building which had itsorigins here. The feudal-age climaxed II}. the creation of a stable society, that stabiltty forwhich men had sought since thefall of Romangovernment in the West,N~ longer may weregard these as "Dark Ages." :R~tb.e.r.in the feudal age. we may discover thefoundattonsofWestern European society as ,itmoves toward its most stgntflcantachtevement: the cre-ation of the national state. . . . . ,

The nobles. \VJ1o gained most by the decline of the Carolmgtan Empire. were thefoundation of feudalism. Many of them had held positions of authority within the .empireand. as the monarchy found it more difficult to enforce its will in local matters.ithese no-bles usurped its authority. The offices which they held during their lives. they tried tohand on to their sons to provide security for their famtlres. Thus. in some cases •.the officeof count. which had been under-the dtrectcontrol of the crown and granted at the royalpleasure. became heredity. The atta,cks of the Norsemen on thecoastal:re~ion~ and up theriver valleys placed the burden of q~fense on the local authorities. w:l:iotherebyc'¥Dc todominate the poltticallffe of the districts under their protectton; Ttre~e attacks also ledlesser nobles and freemen to seek protection of the more powerful. Moreovervthe unset-tied conditions of the time encouraged. the rtse of adventurers; some of these sought to le-gitimate the positions they snatched. while others drove men to seek protection fromthem. In the history of the rise of the feudal system. the key to understanding the ~l~tori-cal force operating in this period is to be found in the need men had for protection forthemselves, their property.endthetrfamaltes. . . . .

The most iIllPortantrQl~of(eu~a!ism in the early M1dQ.leAges WqS political. The feu-da1regi~~ was founded op."the:rel~tiQns41p between 1lld,ivtq·ualsand, as sueh.touchedonthe basicelement tn the creattoa of the social order. it was from this foundatton that theM-jddleAges began the buU~ingof a newsoclety..The task of-that society was to l?:uijd ~newform ofpolitical Instttutfon-and it~goal was.accomplished In-the feudal monarchy,

Feudalism had developed ina monarchtcal-soetety and. in some respects, wasl:!,uilton the idea of monarchy. Although the last Carolingians had been weak and ineffective,

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they theoretically retained their position at the top of the feudal hierarchy. In France. thekings were hardly able to control the activities of great lords like the dukes of Normandyand Aquttaine, but these men were their vassals. In England, the situation was different.Although there is some evidence of an incipient feudalism prior to the Norman conquestof 1066, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom was much more than the continuation of the old Ger-manic traditions of kingship. in which the king was the war-leader and the nobles, orthegns. constituted his companions and advisors. It was. therefore. the NOrman con-quest. which introduced continental feudalism into England. Moreover. the Normankings of England were able to command the allegianceofthe subvassals in the same wayas the Dukes of Normandy. For this reason, English feudalism was more centralized thanthat in France. This difference explains much that is dissimilar in the development of thefeudal monarchies of these two countries ....

The Empire of Charlemagne had been based more in Western than in Central Eu-rope. Indeed. of theIlrst five great duchies of Germany: Franconia. Bavaria. Swabia. Sax-ony. Thuringia. the first two alone had been amalgainated completely mto the Frankishkingdom before the reign of Charlemagne and Saxony held out through most of his reign.Nevertheless. it was in these Eastern lands that the medieval empire came into being, notas a successor of the Carolingian or Roman Empire so much as an expression of the per-sistence of the dream of empire in Italy. For the German kings becameemperors not asthe result of their creation of a strong German monarchy but rather because of their in-volvement in Italianaffatrs ....

While England and France succeeded in creating centralized states in the course ofthe later Middle Ages, the German monarchs, fascinated by the medieval dream of em-pire. turned from their task of state-building to the creation of the empire. Perhaps itwould be better to say that they made this turn because Itappeared to them the best wayto build a state. The failure of the monarchy in the investiture controversy and the imperl-almvolvement in Italy distracted the German monarchs from the task of creating a Ger-man state. But. in the age of the Hohenstaufen, especially in the reign of Frederick II.there was a brief moment in which the emperors gltrnpsed'Italy asthekey-tothe buildingof a unified Holy Roman' Empire. The failure of this attempt paved the way for a Germanydisunited under the nile of the nobles and for the development of French hegemony onthe continent.tn the years after 1450. .

The process of state-building which consumed so much of the political energies ofmedieval man represents only one facet in the development of civilization in the Europe-an Middle Ages. Side by side with it went the economic transformation of society. Thefoundation of economic life after the collapse ofRoman rule inthe West was almost entire-ly agricultural. By the later Middle Ages. an entire new urban society had sprung up. Putin these terms, it becomes immediately evident that this period witnessed SIgnificantchanges in the economic history of Europe. ,. ,

Manor and town therefore symbolize the polarity of two periods in economic deveI~opment.Tt would be a mistake to reduce this symbol to an-overly simple explanattonofthe direction of the economy. In fact, there is both an agricultural and urban society grow-mgside by side throughout the Middle Ages and significant Changes occurred in both.Moreover, agriculture remained the majoroccu patton-of men at-the end-of the period as atthe beginning' and many men in the towns earned their Itvrngby dealing in the productsof theland.The change was in the ratio of urban to ruralpopulatton.fn theincrease of in-dustrtal and commercial wealth accompanied by the growth of a moneyeconomy, andthe growing realization of this change and its impact on thethtnking ofthe men of this

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age. Indeed. if it has now become a truism to state that the Middle Ages were not static. itstill remains for us to point out that the men of that period realized that their age was notstatic. The study of economic history reveals the growing sense of awareness. evenamong churchmen. ofthe changing nature oftheir society ....

From the decline of Roman civilization to the dawn of the modern age, Europe wasinvolved in the building of a new culture. The components of that culture were Roman,Christian. barbarian. Islamic. Greek. and Byzantine-s-to name only the more important.But these varied elements combined in the unity Of medieval culture to form one of themost important stages in the developmentof Western thought.

Because the medieval intellect represented a stage in European intellectual develop-ment, it must be viewed as part of the whole pattern of that growth and not as an isolatedphenomenon. The importance of medieval thought to the West Iies in its direct relation-ship to the rise of new ideas and tnstituttons that would playa major roleirt'shaping thethtnktng of modern men. IIi the pages that fo~low;we shall attempttopofnt up some areasin which that influence has been greatest. white providing an understanding of the.natureof medieval culture itself. Certainly no age in the history of mankind has been untmpor-tant, but certain periods do have a special importance in light of their contrfbution tosome future age or trend. The Middle Ages witnessed the birth of a distinctly Europeanculture. . ....

Between the eleventh and the fourteenth centuries the Middle Ages witnessed themaking of scholasticfsm, the revival of Roman law, and the founding of the untverstttes.Scholasticism. the method of the schoolmen, was the first systemized approach to knowl- .edge since the age of Aristotle. to whom it owed so much for its logical framework. The re- .vival of Roman lawwas much more than a rediscovery of'the Corpus JurisCivllis (Body'ofCivil Law) of Justinian; the commentators of the eleventh and twelfth centu'rles--"'calledglossators=-breathed new life into the Roman le~al:principles whil~,applyihgthetn tocur-rent problems. The founding of the universities provided European civilization with anadaptable institution uniquely suited to preserving and enlarging the bounds of tradition-al wisdom. - '

The early MIddle Ages hap lived under the long shadow cast bythe authority of an-tiquity. The men of that period had, for the most part. sought truth aniongUle wt>f'ksOfthose whose learning theyrespected. As late as the twelfth century.Bernard of Chartreschallenged his contemporaries to see that thetr accomplishments Were made possible bythe fact that 'they were "pygmies standing on the shoulders of giants .';'This attttude repre-serited the convtcttonofmostthtnkers that they could do no better than-to rely6ri'tti'egreat writers of antiquity and the Fathers of the Church. It Isnot surprising that thfstradt-tion produced largely encyclopedias, compendia. and commentaries,' .. '~ .

The contrtbutlon of the MtddleAgesby its development offfi'e scholasttc method. itsrevival of legal learning, andttsfoundfngofthe untversittes rankswitiith~greatestin thehistory ofhuman development. Although metlieVaI'intellectuals)vere\somethries obscu-r~i1tists; although their methods' never led them to ihlst e~di~nce, mid/Observation tothe extent that modems have f6und valuable and necessarym learhi'ng aboutthi$ uni-verse. the balance sheet must indicate that they were truly creative innovators. . .

. : In asoctety in Which religion arid 'theChurch played such a leadin~frb1e. one expectstoffndthat literature and the arts reflected this dominance. Certainly our experience withEgypttanctvtlrzation lIas borne this out. In medlevalsoctety, the strength of the clergy-asthe literate class of the early Middle Ages goes far to account for the small amount of non-n!1igious writing from that period. After the rise of towns, however, one would expect to

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find more secular literature; although the amount does increase somewhat, it is still rath-er small before the early fourteenth century. The simple fact is that the literate layman ofthe high Middle Ages did not compose literature and was still pretty much content withthe traditional fare provided by clerics and traveling minstrels. He was more likely in-volved in business or served at the court of a lay or ecclesiastical lord. He was more com-mon in Italy than in Northern Europe, and it is there that we witness the bulk of his liter-ary output, in the letters written. in his official capacity and in town chronicles. There isalso some poetry from southern France and Italy, The total is by no means impressive, es-pecially when compared with the output of the clergy. '.

The major language of medtevalltterature was Latin, not the language of Cicero andVergil, but the Latin of the Church, whichhad its ortglns In the Latinspeech of the Romanmasses. The continual study of Latin grammar in the Middle Ages dic;lproduce a few out-standing stylists like John of Salisbury in the twelfth century, but most writers adopted autilitarian view toward the learning of the language arid made little conscious effort to im-prove their writing. There. was, in fact,. a rafher strong anti-Intellectual strain runriingthrough that society and influenced by a Christian renunciation. of Iearntng that frownedon such things. ° . 0 .0·. • o. • 0 •

Thevemacular languages, both Romance andGermanic, possessed someliteratureof their own. Romance tongues, descendants of the vulgar Latin of the classical period butmuch corrupted by the proce~ of barbarizatton, developed in the area where Roman in-fluence had been greatest-em France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, although Roumanianprovides an example ofa Romance language in :Southeastern Europe. The Germanic lan-guages flourished to the North, in Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, and thoseregions where Germanic. influence made Inroadstnto theRomanceregtons, especially

. along the Rhtne-Danubefrontler, In the Middle Ages, the literatures in these tongues canbe divided into the traditional eple and saga of the early folk and :J~oetryand tales com-posed during the-Middle Ages itself ....

The art of tbe.Mig"diel}.ge;:>had its roots In classical antiquityvEarly ChristianChurches were formerly Romantemplesand thefcivoted architecture in the late imperialperiod was the so-called bastlicanstyle, charactertzed by ~ts.arched-Io<>-f?-!1oddouble colon-nade With clerestory.From the basilica, the early °mediev;aiarchjt~c~:cleyelo.ped.ih(!i Ro-manesque, which remained dominant in Southern Europe throughout theMiddle Ages,but gave way to the GQ.tpicIntheNorth. The thick walls of'Romanesque churches, neededto support the weight of thetrgreatroofs, made it difficult to provide sufflctent windowsfor ade-quate lighting. The total Impresston of the Romanesquearchitecture Is one of dig-nity and stateliness. wtth. major emphasis on the heavy stdevThe early twelfth centurysaw builders in NorthernEurope begin to utilize the pointed arch and exterior buttressingto create buildtngs thatwere higher and lighter than the Romanesque.The delicate bal-ance between thrust from the' j??L and buttressing. pemiitted a widespread' use o( win-dows. Indeed, at Chartres and t)ie Sainte Chapelle, windows cover most of the wall spacewith tremendo~s effect.for the ~~ts in stained glass had:~ opportunity to display theirwork to its greatest benefit. The glass of Chartres has excited the artistic admiration ofmen in every age ....

Sculpture.and painting of a religious nature predominated in the Middie Ages. TheIi~~ of Gothic encouraged the use of statuary in conjunction with the structure itself,while the Romanesque favored the free-standing techniques Qf antiquity. However, nofirm line cart be drawn between them in this matter. There was a constderable amount offree-standing sculpture, especially in wood, done in the Not:th °JIl.the twelfthand > thir-teenth centuries. Most popular were figures of the Madonna and Child, and Virgin Mary

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alone, and the saints. Painting had existed in classical antiquity, but the loss of the art- meant that its revival followed the lines laid down by sculpture and mosaic during the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries. During the thirteenth century, the influence of Byzan-tine and Gothic models was most important. There was a lack of perspective in the figuresportrayed and little attention was given to natural groupings of individuals in the compo-sition. It was not until the time of Giotto, who died in 1336, that the first advances weremade in securing a three-dimensional effect in painting. Despite these technical prob-lems, however, the later Middle Ages saw the foundation for the blossoming of art in theRenaissance.

Historians seeking the meaning of medieval literature and art have often spent muchtime in discussing the relattonshtps between this period and antiquity as well as its con-nections withth'e Renaissance. The results of these discussions have been very fruitful-toabetter understanding of the Middle Ages by revealing that this era was not a gap or hy-phen between two great ages in the htstoryof human'culture. but rather was an age thatplayed an-tmportant role by preserving and transformtngtts ancient heritage and by pro-viding the foundation for the creative age that followed. But it has not been sufflctentlystressed-that the processes whereby the men of the Middle Ages worked-to accomplishthese ends were not automatic or determined. Their efforts were creative in the fullestsense of the word. Theydtdnot merely transmit what they had received from the past tothe future; they created a new synthests, uniquely their own, that deserves to be under-stood because of its important role in the shaping of Western civilization.

Wherever one turns in his investigation oLtheMiddleAges he finds the Church. It isnot alone that the monks were the literate class nor that the vast majority of Western Eu-ropeans belonged to 'the Church. Thesefaets were evident te all and accepted. by all. Butthe Church was more than the communion of the 'faithful; ttwas an integral part of thestructureefsoetety, taking its place alongside or even above thedeveloping feudal monar-chies and the empire, Above ail, the Church came to rnean the Papacyandthehterarohy,the visible stgns of the Internal control which-the church attempted to exercise in the afpfairs of men. In a very Important sense. the medieval Church was a g{)vernment and. inthe course of time, had developed loa high degree the machinery of government. But theprocess of creating the medieval-Church of the thirteenth century. with its strong Papacyand mighty administrative machinery; had its roots far earlier in the Middle Ages. ...

The m:edieval Church was not. however. a monelithtc stafe=-lt rernamed throughoutits existenc-e a vibrant ~sm pulsing wtthehange. While the forces of centraliZation.were.stsongest, the work-of reform contm-ued-trilder the dlrectton of thePapacy iH thehands-of new reUgiousorderSadmirably suited to bring the message ofreligion tethe menof the town. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), one of the most@iflmiredfiguresoftheMiddleAges. founded his order ofbeggtng, or mendicant, friars with the approval of Pope Inno-cent m. Francis rebelled against the increasing materialism of his age. Himself the son of -a merchant. he rejected the attitudes of the rising urban mtddle class and called on all toembrace the poverty which Christ had enjoined upon his followers in the gospels. His callelectrified the age and attracted men and women from every walk of life to his two founda-tions for men and women. Unfortunately. his own inability to realize the difficulties oftranslating his dream into institutional reality led to disillusionment within his lifetimeand the gradual transformation of the Franciscan order into a more traditional organiza-tion. Nevertheless many of Francis' ideals informed their work and preaching; they car-ried them throughout the cities of Europe and into the universities.

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The founding of the Dominicans in the early thirteenth century by the Spanishclergyman, Dominic Guzman (1170-1221), was of great importance in the theological de-velopment of the Church. It was this order which nurtured such thinkers as ThomasAquinas and Albertus Magnus. The concern of the Dominicans for doctrinal purity andtheir involvement in the papal inquisition in southern France marked them as militantsin their religious outlook. Although Dominic himself had opposed force in the conversionofheretics and had attempted to safeguard their consciences, his views were drowned outin the demand to extirpate heresy. The inquisition, although not the instrument of sa-dism so often pictured, was an attempt to destroy ideas by force. Its failure must stand asa naked reminder to all who attempt such means. .

Within medieval Europe, heresy became an increasingly serious problem after theearly twelfth century. The attempt to destroy the Albigenstan heretics, Who professed akind of Manichaean dualism and frowned on bodily pleasure, wassuccessfulonly to theextent-that it destroyed their major centers and forced them to flee.Their Jollowers foundrefuge in the towns of northern Italy, where they continued to preach their doctrinesthroughout the late medieval period. Another important group, the Waldenstans, follow-ers ofa merchant of Lyons, embraced apostolic poverty and traveled about-preaching themessage of the gospels. They ran afoul of ecclesiastical authority and were condemned asheretics. Most of these groups, with the exception of the Albigensians, flourished in thetowns. Beyond a doubt, their message was not merely theological but also social. In fact,their major problems seem to have arisen from their rejection of the social teachings oftheir age and their attempt to overthrow them. In the later period. their successors em-braced theories justifying the violent overthrow of existing institutions, including the de-struction of both Church and monarchy. These ideas persisted to form a very importantelement in the developing of early fundamentalist Protestantism.

The importance of the Church in medieval society has led historians to attempt tocontrast the medieval and modern periods by the gradual decline in the power of the Pa-pacy and the Church it represented. There is much to be satdfor this manner of portrayal,for the age following the death ofBontfaeeVlfl does usher in a decline. But the Church stillremained a viable and influential element in the new society-that was created. TheChurch did not end with the Middle Ages; it survived not as a relicbutas a continuingforce....

Between 1300 and 1500, the great shift from medieval to modern civilization oc-curred. In many respects, the modern age fulfilled the work ofthe Middle Ages. That workwas, first and most important, the creation of Europe as the seat of Western civilization.The age of transition began the last stage in that process: the development of a secularWestern culture.

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Advanced Placement European History ILesson 2Handout 2. (page 7)

1. List below questions you have aboutthe reading.

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2. To what extent doesyour knowledge ofthe period support or conflict with theauthor's thesis?

Name _

Date _

Title:

Author: _

Author's thesis: _

Author's evidence:a. _b. _c. _d. _

e. ~~----------

(-----~----~-----------g.----------~-----------------Author's conclusion about the significanceofthetopic:, ~--------------

Write a paragraph in your own words explaining the gist of the article, the nature ofthe evi-dence, and the significance ofthe topic.

Nar;1(~: __________________________ '___ C!as:;; Date---------------r"".-'···· ----------.------ ...---------." .....

L ~h~p~ef _9__.Atragic turning point in the history of medieval Europe was the bubonic plague, known ~as the Black Death (textbook pages 228--229), which swept over Europe and parts of Asia!~ ~in the fourteenth century, killing up to three quarters of the population in some places.The disease was carried by rats and transmitted to humans through the bites of fleas.When the plague struck the city of Florence, Italy, in 1348, Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375) used it as background for his collection of tales known as The Decameton.Boccaccio imagined that ten young Florentines=-seven women and three men-had fledthe city to a villa, where they took turns telling stories-IOO in all-to keep themselvesentertained. This excerpt sets the scene ..• As you read think about the effects of such a.plague on society. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.

_Vocabulary Before you begin reading, find the meaning of these words in a dictionary:ceaselessly, supplication, pious, alleviate, malignancy, fanciful, superfluity, temperate,bestial.

The Decameron

Inthe year 1348 after the fruitful incarnation of spread ... all over the body. Soon after this thethe Son of God, that most beautiful of Italian symptoms changed and black or purple spots

cities, noble Florence, was attacked by deadly appeared on the arms or thighs or any other part ofplague. It started in the East [Asia] either through the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimesthe influence of the heavenly bodies or because many little ones. These spots were a certain sign ofGod's just anger with our wicked deeds sent it as a death, just as the original tumour had been and stillpunishment to mortal men; and in a few years killed remained.an innumerable quantity of people. Ceaselessly No doctor's advice, no medicine could overcomepassing from place to place, it extended its miserable or alleviate this disease. An enormous number oflength over the West. Against this ignorant men and women set up as

• t§ ilWiiWQfhi liSplague all human wisdom and fore- doctors III addition to those whosight were vain. Orders had been , , were trained. Either the disease wasgiven to cleanse the city of filth, the . •• such fear and such that no treatment was possibleentry of any sick person was forbid- .. or the doctors were so ignorant thatden, much advice was given for fanciful notions took they did not know what caused it,keeping healthy; at the same time . and consequently could not admin-humble supplications were made to possession of the ister the proper remedy. In any caseGod by pious persons in proces- •. very few recovered; most peoplesions and otherwise. And yet, in the liVing that almost all died within about three days of thebeginning of the spring of the year appearance of the tumoursmentioned, its horrible results of them adopted the described above, most of thembegan to appear, and in a miracu- I I" without any fever or any otherlous manner. The symptoms were same (rue po ICY, symptoms.not the same as in the East, where a. " The violence of this disease wasgush of blood from the nose was which was entirely to such that the sick communicated itthe plain sign of inevitable death; 'd h . k d to the healthy who came near them,but it began both in men and avol t e SIC an just as fire catches anything dry orwomen with certain swellings. . . . . . oily near it. And it even went fur-They grew to the size of a small everything belonging ther. To speak to or go near the sickapple or an egg, more or less, and , , brought infection and a commonwere vulgarly called tumours. In a to them. death to the living; and moreover,short space of time these turn ours - OJ @i@i" •• ••••••••••• ,,-- to touch the clothes or anything else

20 •• History Through literature Chapter 9

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the sick had touched or worn gave the disease to theperson touching. .

What I am about to tell now is a marvelous thing-to hear; and if I and others had not seen it with ourown eyes I would not dare to write it, howevermuch I was willirig to believe and whatever the good 'faith of the person from whom I heard it.: So violentwas the malignancy of thisplague that it was commu-nicated, not only from oneman to another, but fromthe garments of a sick ordead man to animals ofanother species, which .caught the disease in thatway and very quickly diedof it. One day arriong other

. occasions I saw with myown eyes (as I said justnow) the. rags left lying inthe stre.et of a poor manwho' had died of theplague; two pigs camealong and,as their habit is,turned the clothes overwith their snouts and thenmunched -at them; with the'result that they bothfell'dead almost at once on therags, as if they had beenpoisoned.

From these and similar or greater occurrences,such fear and fanciful notions took possession of theliving that almost all of them adopted the same'cruel policy, which was entirely to avoid the sick andeverything belonging to them. By so doing, eachone thought he would secure his own safety.

Some thought that moderate living and theavoidance of all superfluity would preserve themfrom the epidemic. They formed small communi-ties,1iving entirely separate from everybody else.They shut themselves up in houses where there wereno sick, eating the finest food and drinking the bestwine very temperately, avoiding all excess, allowing

. no news or discussion of death and sickness, and!- passing the time in music and suchlike pleasures.~ Others thought just the opposite. They thought the.~ sure cure for the plague was to drink and to be~0..

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Chapter 9

merry, to go about singing and amusing themselves, .satisfying every appetite they could, laughing aridjesting at what happened. They put their words intopractice, spent day and night going from tavern totavern, drinking immoderately, or went into otherpeople's houses, doing only those things whichpleased them: This they could easily do because

- everyone felt doomed and,had abandoned his proper-ty, so that most housesbecame common propertyand any stranger who wentin made use of them as ifhe had owned them. Andwith all this bestial behav-ior, they avoided the sick asmuch as possible ..

In this suffering andmisery of out city, the

. authority of human anddivine laws almost disap-peared, for, like other men,the ministers and theexecutors of the laws wereall dead or sick or shut upwith their families, so that

,.'no duties were carried out.Every man was thereforeable to do as he pleased.

Many others adopted acourse of life midway between the two justdescribed. They did not restrict their victuals somuch as the former; nor allow themselves to bedrunken and dissolute like the latter but satisfiedtheir appetites moderately. They did not shut them-selves up, but went about, carrying flowers or scent-ed herbs or perfumes in their hands, in the beliefthat it was an excellent thing to comfort the brainwith such odours; for the whole air was infectedwith the smell of dead bodies, of sick persons andmedicines.

Others again held a still more cruel opinion,which they thought would keep them safe. They saidthat the only medicine against the plague- strickenwas to go right away from them. Men and women,convinced of this and caring about nothing butthemselves, abandoned their own city, their ownhouses, their dwellings, their relatives, their property,

History Through Literature I) 21

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and went abroad or at least to the country round mothers refused to see and tend their children as if f)t-W-'

Florence, as if God's wrath in punishing men's they had not been theirs. :("-

wickedness with this plague would not follow them Thus a multitude of sick men and women werebut strike only those who remained within the left without any care except from the charity ofwalls of the city, or as if they • • • friends (but these were few), or thethought nobody in the city would greed of servants, though notremain alive and that its last hour

" What is evenmany of these could be had even

had come. for high wages. Moreover, most ofNot everyone who adopted any them were coarse-minded men

of these various opinions died, nor worse and nearly and women, who did little moredid all escape. Some when they

incredible is thatthan bring the sick what they

were still healthy had set the exam- asked for or watch over them whenple of avoiding the sick, and, falling

fathers and mothersthey were dying. And very often

ill themselves, died untended. these servants lost their lives andOne citizen avoided another,

refused to see andtheir earnings ....

hardly any neighbour troubled In this way many people diedabout others, relatives never or

tend their children aswho might have been saved if they

L hardly ever visited each other. had been looked after. Owing to

I Moreover such terror was struckif they had not been

the lack of attendants for the sickI into the hearts of men and women and the violence of the plague,

by this calamity, that brother aban-theirs.' ,

such a multitude of people in thedoned brother and the up-de his city died day and night that it wasnephew, and the sister her brother, • • • stupefying to hear of, let alone to

I and very often the wife her husband. What is even see. From sheer necessity, then, several ancient cus- f)'worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and toms were quite altered among the survivors. ~t

ri

Date _--------

History Through Literature (continued)

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Questions to Think Al:iout

5. Identifying Alternatives What ways of livingdid people adopt in the face of the plague? Didany of them work better than others? Which,if any, of these alternatives would you choose?

6. Humanities Link Consider what the shock ofsuch a plague and the loss of so many peoplewould do to European culture. Relate theplague to other events taking place in Europein the 1400s.

1. (a) Where did the plague begin and spread?(b) What two possible causes does Boccacciosuggest for such a terrible event?

2. How did people behave toward those who -were sick?Why?

3. How did the plague affect city governmentand laws? .!

4. What aspect of people's behavior seems toshock Boccaccio most?

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22 • History Through Literature, Chapter 9

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THE ART OF RULnU; .0.!::~;:j,:~;:'.;:1:1.':~::":: -;.;: I~·:':.-.~.•~,:.~.:.::.: ",":0:."I~':':'::.: : .:~.-:,~'0',::-::·:.:." .~.:-:.."..-':: .:':.,:.~I:';:.~.,',:,.::.:;':."',~~-;~::,::.:~..~..:~.•,:"-:...i.~.•.•:.~.'.~'.~\.:.~:."-.;•.'~'.::.~.:~:':'f;'::.:.~~~j:':~~i~'.':':~~.,',~.':"~~~::;:.~

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The PrinceNICCOlO MACHIAVELLI

What qualities do successful rulers have? How do they keep or lose power? Are honesty and generosityadvantages or disadvantages? Is it better to be feared or loved? Renaissance thinkers were intriguedby such questions. The most famous-or notorious-Renaissance study of the art of ruling was ThePrince by Nicco/o Machiavelli (/469-1527).

It remains now to consider the manner inwhich a prince should conduct himselfloward his subjects and JUsfriends. Iknowthat many writers have treated this topic, 0

! 110 that Iain somewhat hesitant in taking itl 0

\' up in my turn lest Iappear presumptuous,'lespecially because in what Ishall have to~ ~y, Ishall depart from rules which otherf writers have laid down. Since it is my

intentionto write something which may beof real utility to anyone who can compre-Iwnd it, it has appeared to me more urgent10 penetrate to the effective reality of theseratters than to rest content with mere

o·onstructionsof the imagination. For manytfriters have constructed imaginary

ublics and principalities which havever been seen nor known actually toJilt. But so wide is the separation

between the way men actually live andthe way that they ought to live, that anyonewho turns his attention from what isactually done to what ought to be done,studies his own ruin rather than his preser-vation. Any man who wishes to make aprofession of goodness in every departmentof conduct, must inevitably come to ruinamong so many men who are not good.Therefore a ruler who wishes to preserve hispower must learn to begble not to be good,and to use this knowledge or not use it asnecessity may dictate.

Setting aside therefore all vain imagin-ings about what a prince ought to be andcentering our discussion on things as theyreally are, Isubmit that all men, and espe-cially princes by their high position, when

I presumptuous---bold.

The Art of Ruling 387

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discussion of their merit arises; are meas-uredaccording to certain qualities thepossession or reputation for which earnsthem either praise or censure. Thus it isthat one is thought liberal, another miserly-using this word in the Tuscan sense, because"avaro" in our language still indicatesone who wants to acquire possessions byplunder, while we call one "misero"? whoabstains too much from the use of what hepossesses-another is held to be a benefac-tor, another a plunderer; one cruel, anothercompassionate; one faithless to his word,another faithful; one effeminate and lackingin spirit, another full of spirit to the pointof rashness; one man is considered courte-ous, another haughty; one lascivious,"another chaste; one, of single intention,another crafty and conniving; oneobstinate} another amenable; one grave,another light-hearted; one religious, anotherunbelieving and so forth. Everyone wouldof course hold that it would be a mostIaudable'' thing in a prince to be possessedof all the favorable qualities enumeratedabove, but all of these cannot be possessedat once, nor observed in their entirety, forthe conditions of human life do not permitthis. A prince must therefore be prudentenough to know how to avoid anyderogatory" reputation for those qualitieswhich might lead him to lose his power,and to be on his guard against those quali-ties which do carry this danger, in so far ashe finds it possible. And if he cannot avoidthem, he can tolerate them in himself with-out too much concern for consequences.

388 The Renaissance

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Even more, however, he must not drawback from incurring a reputation.for.thoavices without which his position cannot lilt

maintained without difficulty; the reason ~t

that, when the entire matter is consideredcarefully, certain qualities which appear ~~be virtues, when practiced will lead to ht~ruin; while the pursuit of others, whichseem to be vices, will insure his own security and the stability of his position. ;

I shall begin then with the first of tlw labove mentioned qualities, agreeing that It ",;would indeed be most advantageous to bt iiconsidered liberal; nevertheless, liberality. :~",,:if exercised in such a way that you ~ome 10 'Iibe held a free-spending man, may do you l';'.".harm. This quality, if exercised as a virtueas it ought to be-will not be obvious, and ,~hence will not prevent your being accused ~of its contrary. If one wishes to keep up aljname for liberality among men, one must :;not omit any kind of lavish display; how- ,ever, if he ind.ulges in such display, it will tJconsume all hIS resources. In the end, he rjwill be forced to place exorbitant/ burdensupon his people, to resort to excessive taxesand have rec~urse to such other expedientsas may increase revenue in order to main-tain this reputation, This mode of conduct

1Tuscan sense _, . "misero"-Machiavelli is using thedistinction between two words in the Tuscan dialect ofItalian to differentiate between a greedy person anda miser.

] lascivious-lustful.

• obstinate--stubborn.

s laudable--praiseworthy.

6 derogatorY-bringing discredit.

7 exorbitant-excessive.

;.. -.~ ... ~•.. ~" .... ~-:. .~-.

will soon begin to earn him the hatred ofhis subjects, and general contempt whenhe reaches the point of impoverishment. Inaddition, his liberality will have benefited

. few, while offending many. As a conse-quence, he will be vulnerable at manypoints and the first real peril will prove adisaster. And, to fill up the measure of thisirony, if the prince, realizing these dangers,tries to withdraw from such a position,he will immediately be marked down as.1 miser.

Since a prince cannot exercise this\ virtue of liberality without danger to him-t ~df, except by ostentation," he ought not110 be concerned about being thought aImiser. With the passage of time, he will!gradually acquire a reputation for liberality,..1when it is seen that by cautious expendi-\ture his revenues always are.sufficient to.hi~needs, that he is always prepared to. repel anyone who attacks him, and that heran carry through his undertakings with-[out imposing exorbitant burdens on his~ople. All those from whom he takes~)thing will deem him liberal, and they~iIl be numerous; all those to whom het

fives nothing will think him miserly,!ill!t they will be few. . . .. Coming down now to the other quali-!l~'$mentioned above, I submit that every~rince ought to want to be considered~••mpassionate rather than cruel. At the~me time, he must avoid an ill-advised~ of compassion. Cesare Borgia? was~lUght cruel; nevertheless, that cruelty. his had restored the Romagna." united

brought it peace and reduced it to

obedience. If one considers the matter care-fully, it will be seen that he was in factmuch more compassionate than were theFlorentines who, in order to avoid beingthought cruel, permitted Pistoia to bedestroyed.!' Therefore, a prince ought notto permit a reputation for cruelty to disturbhim, if it is the price of keeping his subjectsunited and obedient. By making examplesof a few, he will prove in the end more com-passionate than those who, through excessof compassion, permit disorders to arise,which prove in turn the source of murdersand violence. For the latter outragesinevitably arouse the entire community,while those few executions which theprince may impose harm only certain per-sons in particular. . . .

From this circumstance, an argumentarises: whether it is better to be loved ratherthan feared, or the opposite. The answer. isthat one would like to be both one andthe other; but since they are difficult tocombine, it is more secure to be feared thanloved, when one of the two must besurrendered. For it may be said of men ingeneral, that they are ingrates.F fickle,deceivers, evaders of danger.desirous ofgain. So long as you are doing good for

• ostentation-showiness, display.

9 Cesare Borgia-Italian politician and military leader(1476-1507); the model for a ruler in The Prince.

10 Romagna-a former province of the Papal States, alarge district in Italy ruled by the popes.

II Florentines ... Pistoia to be destroyed-Florencefailed to suppress factionalism in Pistoia before it led tobloody riots .

12 ingrates-ungrateful people.

The Art of Ruling 389

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any of them they are all yours, offering youtheir blood, goods, lives, children, whenany real necessity for doing so is remote,but turning away when such need drawsnear, as I have remarked. The prince whorelies wholly on their words, and takesno other precautions, will come to ruin.Friendships gained at a price and notfounded on greatness and nobility of soul,are indeed purchased but never possessed;and in times of need cannot be drawnupon. Men are less concerned about givingoffense to one who goes about makinghimself loved than to one who makes him-self feared; love is a bond of obligationwhich men-sad creatures that they are-:-break on the first occasion touching theirown interests; but fear binds by a threat ofpunishment whichnever relaxes. Still, theprince should take care to make himselffeared in due measure; though he meritsnot love, he should avoid being hated. Hisposition is strongest when he is fearedbut not hated. And he will establish sucha relationship if he does not despoil+' hissubjects of their goods and keeps his handsoff their women. Even when it is necessaryfor him to proceed against the blood-kinof anyone, he must make it clear that hedoes so only for manifest cause and withcommensurate" justification. Above all, lethim keep his hands off others' property,because men forget the death of their ownfathers more readily than the loss oftheir patrimonies. IS Moreover, pretexts forseizing another's property are neverlacking; and one who begins to live by

390 The Renaissance

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plunder, never fails to find a reason 1,,1seizing another's property. [ustification-.for taking a life, however, present thcr»

selves more rarely and are much lessconvincing ....

Everyone understands well enoughhow praiseworthy it is in a prince to 1.."'1his word, to live with integrity and nol 1·\guile." Nevertheless, the experience of 11111

times teaches us that those princes haveachieved great things who have lookedupon the keeping of one's word as a matl~f

of little moment and have understood how.

by their guile, to twist men's minds; andin the end have surpassed those who haverested their power upon faithfulness.

You ought to understand thereforethatthere are two ways of fighting, the one bythe laws, the other with force. The first III

proper to men, the second to beasts; butsince in many instances the first is notenough, it is necessary to have recourse tothe second. A prince, consequently, mustunderstand how to use the manner properto the beast as well as that proper to man.This truth has beentaught to princes bythe writers of ancient times covertly. Thusthey described how Achilles and manyother of those princes of ancient timeswere sent to be brought up by the centaurChiron'" and educated under his tutelage.To have as teacher a creature half man and

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13 despoil=-rob.

14 comrnensurate-ecorrespondmgin importance.

15 patrimonies--inheritances.

16 guile-trickery.

17 Chiron-in Greek mythology. a creature half man andhalf horse who taught the hero Achilles and others.

:..-.. , '" .~,- ", -.' . '

half beast means nothing else than that aprince must know how to use the onenature and the other, and that without theone, the other cannot endure.

Since, then, a prince must of necessityknow how to use the bestial nature, heshould take as his models from amongbeasts the fox and the lion; for the liondoes not defend himself from traps, andthe fox does not defend himself from thewolves. One must therefore be a fox toscent out the traps and a lion to ward off

, thewolves. Those who act simply the lion: do not understand the implications of their: own actions. A prudent prince cannot-•.nor ought he-observe faith when such:observance may turn against himself, and\when the reasons which led him to pledgeIIhave lost their force. If all men wereJ\()od,this precept'" would not be valid;

V4

but since they are sorry creatures andwould not keep faith with you, no obliga-tion binds you to observe it toward them.

18 precept---rule of conduct.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

I. How does Niccolo Machiavelli distinguishhis study of the art of ruling from that ofearlier writers?

2. Machiavelli observes that anyone whoattempts to be entirely good amongpeople who are not good "must inevitablycome to ruin:' Do you agree ordisagree? Explain.

3. Machiavelli says that "men are less concernedabout giving offense to one who goes aboutmaking himself loved than to one who makeshimself feared .... [F]ear binds by a threatof punishment which never relaxes." Is thisgood advice for someone in authority? Whyor why not?

4. What opinions does Machiavelli have of theruled, that is, human beings in general?

The Art of Rulinl! 391

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lhe J(clI.liss.IfICCwas a time of creetive and rapid change. Events and ideas were/III win,.; .11 .1 taster pace than the society that spawned them. Thesetwo readings reflect(/1<' platitud«: thst the more people change the more they remain the same. Excerpts{rom BaldassareCastiglione's (1478-1529) Book of the Courtier (a Renaissance bookof etiquette for the upper classes)is followed by the Florentine humanist Leon BattistaAlberti's (1404-1472) account of the daily ectivities of the wife of a Renaissancemerchant.

Standards for an Ideal Renaissance CourtierIwish, then, that this Courtier of ours should be nobly born and of gentle race... for noble birth is like a bright lamp that manifests and makes visible goodand evil deeds, and kindles and stimulates to virtue both by fear of shame andby hope of praise. . . . .

I am of opinion that the principal and true profession of the Courtier ought tobe that of arms; which I would have him follow actively above all else, and beknown among others as bold and strong, and loyal to whomsoever he serves.

Therefore, let the man we are seeking be very bold, stern, and always amongthe first, where the enemy are to be seen; and in every other place, gentle,modest, reserved, above all things avoiding ostentation and that impudent self-praise by which men ever excite hatred and disgust in all who hear them ....

Then coming to the bodily frame, I say it is enough if this be neitherextremely short nor tall, for both of these conditions ... are gazed upon in muchthe same way that we gaze on monsters .... I would have him well built andshapely of limb, and would have him show strength and lightness andSII ppleness, and know all bodily exercises that befit a man of war: whereof Ithink the first should be to handle every sort of weapon well on foot and onhorse, [and] ... to understand the advantages of each.

There are also many other exercises, which although not immediatelydependent upon arms, yet are closely connected therewith ... [such as] ... thechase, because it bears a certain likeness to war It is fitting also to knowhow to swim, to leap, to run, to throw stones Another admirable exercise,.uid one very befitting a man at court, is the game of tennis, in which are thedisposition of the body, the quickness and suppleness of every member ....

I would have the Courtier strive, with all the thoughts and forces of his mind,to love and almost to adore the prince whom he serves, abuve every other thing,and mold his wishes, habits and all his ways to his prince's liking .... He willnot be an idle or untruthful tattler, nor a boaster nor pointless flatterer, butmodest and reserved, always and especially in public showing that reverenceand respect which befit the servant towards the master.

S()URCE: Baldassare Castiglione, Book of the Courtier. In Great Issues In Western Civilization,lrd ed., eds. Brian Tierney, Donald Kagan et al. (New York: Random House, 197&), Vol. 1, pp.4'>7-6U.

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The Merchant's WifeAfter my wife had been settled in my house a few days, and after her first

pangs of longing for her mother and family had begun to fade, I took her by thehand and showed her around the whole house .... I showed her where thingsneeded for the table were kept, and so on, through the whole house. At the endthere were no household goods of which my wife had not learned both the placeand the purpose. Then we returned to my room, and, having locked the door, Ishowed her my treasures, silver, tapestry, garments, jewels, and where eachthing had its place ....

Only my books and records and those of my ancestors did I determine to keepwell sealed .... These my wife not only could not read, she could not even layhands on them. I kept my records at all times ... locked up and arranged inorder in my study, almost like sacred and religious objects. Inever gave my wifepermission to enter that place, with me or alone. Ialso ordered her, if she evercame across any writing of mine, to give it over to my keeping at once. To takeaway any taste she might have for looking at my notes or prying into my privateaffairs, Ioften used to express my disapproval of bold and forward females whotry too hard to know about things outside the house and about the concerns oftheir husband and of men in generaL ...

[Husbands) who take counsel with their wives ... are madmen if they thinktrue prudence or good counsel lies in the female brain .... For this very reason Ihave always tried carefully not to let any secret of mine be known to awoman .... Furthermore, Imade it a rule never to speak with her of anythingbut household matters or question of conduct, or of the children. Of thesematters I spoke a good deal to her ....

[I said to my wife] ... I shall be most pleased if you do just three things: first... see that you never want another .man to share this bed but me .... Sheblushed and cast down her eyes .... Second, I said ... she should take care ofthe household, preside over it with modesty, serenity, tranquillity, andpeace ... ~Third ... she should see that nothing went wrong in the house.

Never, at any moment, did Ichoose to show in word or actioneven the-leastbit of self-surrender infront of my wife. I did not imagine for a momeri]; that Icould hope to win obedience from one to whom 1 had confessed myself-a slave,Always, therefo~e~;~lsh(j:W~QIQyseJfvirile and areal man.

SOURCE: Leon BattistaAlberti. In Not Tn God's Image, eds. Julia O'Faolain and Lauro Martines(New York: Harper & Row; 1973), pp. 187-89.

.. .

1. whetin each of·thtts.eporlrayals would-be just as true today as when they were writtenfive hundred years ago? . .. . .'1.. Are the characteri'sticsofcistiglio.ne's courtier the same kind of qualities'thatared~sirahfe in those who~lYeJoday1s politi~aneaderst If you were writing a similar book, whatchsrecteristics for ~nicJe.alpublic servant would you add or delete? .3. According to Alberti's merehant, what typeS of affairs are stiictly the concern of men?Why should these affairs be k~pt secret from wives? What can we infer about the wife'seducation before she married-e.g., can she read or 'write?

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