Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Politics in the Renaissance

objectives:


1.  Be able to discuss Machiavelli's portrait of the "ideal"

Prince.



2.  Be able to apply this concept to an analysis of Italian

politics in the Renaissance.



3.  Be able to explain the events which caused the English Civil

          War.      



4.  Be able to describe the character of Richard III as seen in

Shakespeare's Richard III.  



5.  Be able to analyze Shakespeare's characterization by

comparing it to what we in fact know about Richard's appearance

and the historical documents which are available.



6.  Be able to describe the impact of the English Civil War on

English society,



Food for Thought:



     By their own follies they perished, the fools.    

               Homer, The Odyssey, bk. I, 1.



     Men flourish only for a moment.

               Homer, The Odyssey, bk.  XVIII, 130.



     It is better to be feared than loved.



     The ends justify the means.



     A prince is forced to know how to act like a beast ... A

     prince need not necessarily have all the good qualities, but

     he should certainly appear to have them.

                    Machiavelli, The Prince





When Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince, he created a

revolution in political theory.  For the first time, church was

separated from state, giving rise of modern politics.  In the

Renaissance, we see many examples of "Machiavellian" ideals in

practice.  The Medici and the Borgia in Italy participated in

brutal assassinations and political infighting.  



English politics are another case in point.  When Richard II

implemented tyrannical rule, the Parliament deposed him, thus

inaugurating the Wars of the Roses.  For the next century, the

House of York and the House of Lancaster vied for the throne. 

When the Lancastrian Henry VI showed signs of ineptitude, the

Yorkists began a bitter campaign for the throne.  Fearing that

the Yorkists might gain the upper hand, the Beaufort family,

allied with the Lancastrians, assassinated Richard, Duke of York. 

In retaliation, Edward, his heir, imprisoned Henry VI in the

Tower of London, where he died under mysterious circumstances. 

Many speculated that Richard, brother of the Yorkist Edward, was

to blame.  Henry's son, Prince Edward, had been killed on the

battlefield, allegedly by the same Richard accused of

assassinating Henry in the tower.  Edward became king as Edward

IV and ruled until 1483.  When he died, Richard was appointed

regent for his nephew, Edward, and plans were made for his

coronation.  The Prince was brought to the tower along with his

brother, a common occurrence before a coronation.  Suddenly, the

Parliament declared Richard monarch, the two boys were never seen

or heard from again, and Richard began the most infamous reign in

all of history. Did he kill his nephews, Henry VI and his son,

and his brother to gain the throne?  History has not been kind to

Richard, who emerges as the most hated monarch in English

history.  He was defeated two years after his coronation by Henry

Tudor, who became Henry VII.  He was a masterful,  forceful and

efficient monarch who ushered England into the modern era.  Did

Henry kill the two boys to keep the Yorkists forever off the

throne?  The various eddies of English politics are the clearest

example of Machiavellianism at work.  Ironically, Machiavelli

himself may not have been as Machiavellian as The Prince would

suggest.  Did he mean the work as a satire? Other works would

suggest that he did.  Thus, one of the greatest satires in

history became the model for modern politics.



                             OUTLINE



I.  Machiavelli

     a.  biography

     b. The Prince



II.  Machiavellian Politics in the Renaissance



     A.  Italy

          i. The Borgia

          ii.  The Sforza

          iii.  The Medici





     B. France: Louis XI



     C.  Spain: Ferdinand and Isabella

          i. unification of Aragon and Castille        

          ii. the Arabs

          iii. The Jews

          iv. The Inquisition

Richard III and Henry VII
Madame Tussaud's, London

  

     D.  England: The Wars of the Roses



          i.  The House of York -- white rose



          ii.  The House of Lancaster -- red rose; descended from

          John of Ghent, Duke of Lancaster.  



          iii.  The origin of conflict -- 

               The Deposition of Richard II in 1399



          iv.  Richard III

               a.  Edward, son of the Duke of York, avenged his

               father's death and assumed the crown as Edward IV.



               b. his brother, Richard III, charged with killing

               Henry VI's son Edward at the Battle of Tewksbury,

               and with the assasination of Henry VI in the

               tower.



               c.  Edward IV died in 1483, leaving two young

               sons.

               his brother, Richard, duke of Gloucester, became

               regent.

The banner of Richard III


               d.  Parliament suddenly declared the sons

               illegitimate, and made Richard King, as Richard

               III.



               e. The Princes were imprisoned in the tower, and

               then disappeared.

     

               f.  Richard charged with having the two boys

               murdered



          v.  The House of Lancaster retakes the throne --

          Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, illegitimate heir of the

          Duke of Lancaster, defeats Richard's forces at the

          Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485.



          He becomes Henry VII, one of England's most able

          monarchs, and begins the Tudor Dynasty.  His

          descendants include Elizabeth the Great.



          vi.  Richard III subsequently seen as the most evil of

          monarchs --

               a.   Interpretations of Richard III

                    i.  Thomas More's The History of Richard III

                    study of tyranny

                    ii.  other legends about Richard III: Rous

                    Richard born after two years gestation with a

                    complete set of teeth and shoulder-length

                   hair

                    iii.  Shakespeare's Richard III.

                    written during the Tudor Age -- Elizabeth was

                    herself a bastard, defended her reign through

                    a caricature of the last ruler of the House

                   of York.

               b.  accounts written during his life

                    i.  Croyland:  Richard put the two boys to

                         death

                    ii.  Warkworth:  Richard innocent

                    the boys were illegitimate; therefore,

                    Richard acted to preserve the monarchy



          vii. Significance of the Wars

          weakened the power and prestige of the English nobility