Rulers That Followed the Prince by Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli was a unique politician, philosopher, and writer who lived in Florence, Italy during the European Renaissance period of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He is most famously known for writing his ruthless handbook for rulers, The Prince, during his time in exile in 1513. This contentious piece of literature has been fondly referred to as “the guidebook for tyrants and totalitarians,” according to the documentary, Machiavelli: The Prince by director Jett Rink. However, the document has also been credited with positively paving the way for ethnic and religious toleration, individual rights, and modern democracies all throughout history; and it inevitably set the stage for future governments to come. In this way, it is

In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and put the Edict of Fontainebleau in its place. Because of this document, all religious toleration for Huguenots (previously allowed by the Edict of Nantes) was no longer allowed, leaving them with two options: convert to Catholicism or leave France. Through this law, Louis achieved national religious unity.

Queen Elizabeth of England was a successful ruler because she ruled with a diplomatic mindset. Her compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism prevented a religious war from breaking out in England and satisfied both spheres of the religious hierarchy. Elizabeth’s method of rule included delegating tasks to ministers. She ruled with a strategically picked administration. Elizabeth was a successful ruler because she knew how to commission the best people fit for a specific role. Additionally, Queen Elizabeth also established the Poor Laws as a new framework of support for England's needy. In terms of foreign policy, Queen Elizabeth was not a fan of war, but her efforts and decisions to support the war with the Spanish was successful.

As one can see, his ideas of religious freedom and the government is what brought about the French Revolution, which has affected France up to this very day because they no longer have a royal absolutist government like they once had.

2. Henry IV was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion before ascending the throne in 1589. Before his coronation as King of France at Chartres, he changed his faith from Calvinism to Catholicism and, in 1598, he enacted the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants, thereby effectively ending the civil war. One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. By him granting religious liberties to the Protestants he was helping establishing a modern state in France.

The Catholic League took control of northern France and Henry of Navarre who later became Henry IV maintained leadership of southern France. He was worried about Henry de Guise and his control so he had him assassinated along with his brother. Later, when Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV sought forgiveness from the Pope and converted to Catholicism. In April 1598 Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes to end the Wars of Religion. This Edict “granted Huguenots freedom of worship and civil rights for nearly a century, until Henri IV's descendent Louis XIV revoked it in 1685.

Packet 2 (Vocabulary) Queen Elizabeth - (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) Queen Elizabeth was the queen of Ireland. She made Britain (England) a world power by defeating the Spanish Armada and starting a program for British exploration and colonization, and she also sponsored exploration voyages, and the establishment of colonies overseas. She made the Church of England the middle way between Catholics, and Protestants. Spanish Armada - Spanish Armada is also known as the “Great and Most Fortunate Navy” or the “Invincible Fleet”. It was a fleet of 130 Spanish ships under the command of Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588.

In order to successfully hold power, Renaissance philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli believed that a ruler during the time of enlightened absolutism in Europe had to possess qualities of both a “lion” and a “fox”. By this, Machiavelli means that in order to succeed, rulers had to be aggressive and firm like a lion, while also sly and sneaky like a fox. These traits can be seen in two different European rulers during this time period, Elizabeth I of England and Catherine the Great of Russia, who both follow Machiavelli’s principles successfully.

Elizabeth’s legitimacy was questioned heavily and many uprisings were attempted against her, but Elizabeth was extremely resilient and worked tremendously hard to rectify the problems of her country. She was a moderate protestant, so she was able to work to bring about an end to the religious tensions of England in a way there her sister never could. Just as Mary had been pressured to marry and have children to continue the line of succession, Elizabeth was pressed to as well; however, Elizabeth did not share their same concerns. Having seen the disasters that marriage had wrought on her family, Elizabeth took a different stance and vowed never to marry, nor have any children. Turmoil after turmoil plagued the country, such as when the Spanish armada attempted to invade or when the countryside was threatened with starvation, but Elizabeth took these challenges in stride and came out on top every single time. She was extremely skilled in law legislation and passed many laws that benefitted the people, raising England up and establishing it as a country of strength equitable to world powers at the time. She gave England the stone to stand on, and even though her government begged her to marry and bear children, she never gave in and when she finally died, so did the Tudor

Machiavelli says that a ruler must be a combination of a fox and a lion. A ruler needs to have the cunning mind of a fox but also needs to have the strength of a lion so that he can destroy anyone who opposes him.

France was set up for absolute monarchy by King Henry IV. Henry’s ambitions neutralized the clash between Catholics and Protestants, in the Edict of Nantes. Before Henry’s assassination, he had created a financial surplus in the kingdom. Next in line for the throne was Louis XIII, Henry’s son, but he was too young to rule, so Cardinal Richelieu had control over the kingdom. He limited the political privileges of the Huguenots and involved France in the Thirty Years War, and by doing this he affirmed the royal power and engaged France more in European affairs.

Cardinal Marazin died on March 9, 1661. This was a turning point in Louis’ life. Louis announced that he was going to take on full responsibility for the ruling of the kingdom. This shows an example of how Louis did not follow tradition. This marked the end of the power of the French nobility. There was no longer going to be a chief minister. Louis wanted to deal with the nobles directly. He had a new way of dictatorship, which Louis claimed was by divine right. Louis XIV viewed himself as a representative of God and considered all rebellion and disobedience sinful. He believed that he had the right to dictate because he was put on Earth by God to rule.

By me princes rule and nobles even all the judges of the earth.” Romans 13: 1 also helped support the idea which states “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Having a monarch rule by the divine right enforced people to obey their government since religion was heavily enforced during these periods of time. A great example of an absolute monarch that ruled by the divine right of kings was Louis XIV of France. Louis’s exact words were “I am the state” which represents his absolute power. Louis’s Absolutism was said to help with France’s stability and peaceful state of affairs. Louis XIV strongly believed in a centralized government. Because of the increase in human knowledge and the protestant reformation, the idea of divine right of kings begins to lose more and more supporters. The English revolution (also referred to as the English civil war) was to some extent, caused by the bad relationship between Charles I and parliament. Charles I and his supporters wanted to lessen pretty much abolish the power of parliament, where as parliament wanted just the opposite; to lessen the power of the King and to strengthen the power of parliament. The two sides of the civil war were the King’s Cavaliers and the Puritans. The King’s

Some people think that King Louis XIV did more harm to France than good. They cite his lack of moderation in managing his money. They also point out that Louis denied religious liberties to the Protestants of France and tightened control over his Roman Catholic subjects by revoking the Edict of Nantes. They also claim Louis’ war efforts were very costly and drained the treasury of France. Some say his arrogance, including his emblem of the “Sun King”, turned “his” people away from him. They think that Louis only cared about himself and what he wanted and didn’t think about future France.

Nowadays, it is politically impossible to commit to paper a "training guide" for leaders. There are innumerable detractors to any possible stance or strategy a leader might adopt. As a result of this, all "training" must take place behind closed doors, far from the prying eyes and ears of the news media or the public. But this has not always been the case.