Machiavellis Religious views:
Background:
Not
enough attention has been paid to the process through which religion and its
presuppositions shaped Machiavells thought and work.
Machiavellis many references to God and to the various popes who attained
power on a political stage can be connected to his personal religious views. An examination of passages drawn from The Prince, The
Discourses, Florentine Histories, The Mandrake Root and his letters to friends will
shed a conclusive light on the development of Machiavellis religious views. The political natures of these works determine the
level of Machiavellis investigation into his religious and political values. Politics determine his interest and insight into
religion.
The presuppositions of
Machiavellis approach to religion were decisively shaped by his secular profession
as a diplomat and by his passion for understanding political reality. His profession as
well as his intellectual assumptions, separated him from the medieval theological and
ecclesiastical perspective on religion, (Preus, 172).
Machiavellis
views of religion seem to be typical of Renaissance Florence, where intellectual thought
and learning were related to professional needs and directed towards the satisfaction of
the people. Machiavellis development of
his political ideology can be closely related to his religious theories.
The Church and Machiavellis
Depiction of Italys Historical Situation:
Machiavellis references to the various popes
confirm that the church had become a forceful power in Italy. Christianity is the highest rank in authority to
the Roman Empire and its employment of power took on a political role. In order to fully
comprehend
Machiavellis
take on religion it is necessary to look at his criticism of Rome with respect to
religion.
Machiavellis ultimate
judgment regarding the Churchs temporal influence is particularly important in
assessing his intentions because he dedicates his most famous work, The Prince, to Lorenzo de Medici, nephew of
the then reigning pope, Leo X. Florences fortunes at this time were closely tied to
Rome, (Sullivan, 17).
Machiavellis
life and work coincide with Italys turbulent political situation of the period. Florence was one of the few cities that remained
resistant to conquest, of which Machiavelli concentrates his writings. Thirty years of
French invasion, by three kings, Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I, ended with
Italys surrender. The Medici, who for almost a century ruled Florence were
overthrown. The Medici family gained the respect of the populous that refused to recognize
other ruling parties and drove them out of the city proclaiming a republic. In 1512 the Medeciean dominance returned after the
Florentine republic collapsed. The Christian orientated Medici, who had been expelled
since 1492, returned to a Florence that was directed by Rome. The leading men of Florence
were clerics and so religion mandated authority. Giovanni de Medici, became Leo X
and after Pope Leos death Giulio de Medici succeeded his cousin as head of the
family and Church, becoming Pope Clement VII. Machiavellis
dedication of The Prince to Lorenzo de
Medici seemed to reflect the attitude of Italy as a whole, his native city, and his own
personal political and religious aspirations.
Thus Rome Guided Florence
during the time that Machiavelli, excluded from participating in government due to the
suspicions of the Medici, completed his political works, The Prince and the Discourses. Later the author managed to work
himself into the good graces of the Medici to the extent that he received a commission
from Leo X for the completion of the Florentine
Histories, (Sullivan, 18).
From
Machiavellis dedication of The Prince and
the involvement of religion and power, he appears to link the Church to Italys
future expectation of foreign invasion. This is portrayed in the last chapter of The Prince, where Machiavelli proposes that the
Medici rid Italy of all foreigners.
Therefore, may your illustrious
house take up this mission with that spirit and with the hope in which just undertakings
are begun; so that to under your banner this country may be ennobled and, under your
guidance, those words of Petrarch may come true...
Due to
the fact that his more powerful uncle dominated Lorenzo, if the Medici were to undergo the
task of forming a new state that would control Italy for the purpose of resisting
foreigners, the state would clearly be directed by Rome. It can be derived that
Machiavelli viewed the alliance between a secular prince and a pope to be the answer to
Italy political agonies. This aspect can be connected with his assessment of Cesare
Borgia, who is famous for the political ambition of his father, Pope Alexander VI, had
administered. Maybe it can be deduced that
Machiavellis intentions is that the papal power is the key ingredient, which would
stop the flow of foreign invasions.
Although
it is quite obvious that Machiavelli cunningly integrates both the Church and the clerics
of the Medici with his writings in The Prince,
Machiavelli does not depict the Church as a mechanism to remedy the politics of his
period.
Neither his Discourses nor his
Florentine Histories need to be regarded with special care to determine that he regarded
the Church as an obstacle - not as a means - to Italys unification, (Sullivan,
18).
Machiavelli
hoped to find the founder of the new state in the Medici house. This exercise of was acceptable to Machiavelli
through the ruling of a prince who could leave his personal interests alone, while
ensuring the well being of the state. The Church would play a leading role in the ruling
efforts of this Medici prince.
The Prince and the Historical/Religious Link:
To
accentuate Machiavellis work, Ecclesiastical principalities can be achieved either
by means of ability or through fortune. These
principalities are difficult to conquer, but neither ability nor fortune is required to
maintain them. As Alvarez explains - We have come to the weakest of temporal
principates, the Holy Roman emperor, who seems in effect not to govern at all. The existing, long-passed, religious foundations
that have had the strength to hold their prince in power, regardless of personal lifestyle
and behavior, sustain ecclesiastical principalities.
Machiavelli examines the reasons that explain why, since the time of Alexander VI,
the church became such a strong mundane force.
Nevertheless, someone might ask
me why it is that the Church, in temporal matters, has arrived at such power when, until
Alexander, the Italian powers - not just those who were the established rulers, but every
baron and lord, no matter how weak - considered her temporal power as
insignificant...
It must
be understood that prior to the invasion of Charles VIII, Italy had been under the control
of five powers: Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples.
The major concerns of the sovereign were that foreign power should not enter Italy
and that none of the five states should become more powerful than the others. Alexander VI arose and was successful through the
use of both money and arms, and through utilizing his son Cesare and the French invasion
as opportunity to secure power. Despite the fact that the popes intention was to
increase the power of the state of Cesare, the Duke of Valentinois, it resulted in the
increased power of the church. Therefore after the death of the duke the church became
heir to Alexanders vast domain. Julius
II, who followed Alexander, found that the church was a powerful state with all of Romagna
under his rule. However, he was determined to make it even greater by conquering Bologna,
putting down the Venetians, and driving the French out of Italy. In all these enterprises he succeeded. The
contemporary pope, Leo X, inherited a very strong pontificate, and Machiavelli believed he
would be able to maintain its power as described in The
Prince and in The Discourses.
The Discourses and the Historical/Religious Link:
Machiavellis
argument that he is leaning towards the papacy as the solution to Italys political
strife contrasts with his proclamation in The
Discourses that the papacy is their very cause:
The Church has kept and keeps
this province divided. And truly no province has ever been united or happy unless it has
all come under obedience to one republic or to one prince... The cause that Italy...does
not also have one republic or one prince to govern it, is solely the Church. For although
it has inhabited and held a temporal empire there it has not been so powerful nor of such
virtue as to be able to seize tyranny of Italy and make itself prince of it.
He then
continues to back his argument by his analysis of the sources of Italys problems in
discussing the prospects of sending the Roman court to live in Swiss cities. Machiavelli
explains that such an exercise would create disorder even among the Swiss, who live with
regard to military and religious order, the same as Italians. This portrays Machiavellis distrust for the
Roman court and their clerical leaders. The root of Machiavellis grievance is with
the papal state, proclaiming that the state is highly inadequate to unite Italy, while
being sufficient and effective in the political realm.
It can be assumed that if the Church possessed the strength to unite Italy that
maybe it would not have to rely on foreign aid. Machiavelli writes in The Discourses that papal efforts need to overcome
the divisions within its own state and this in turn may be the key to overcoming all of
Italys problems.
So henceforth, all the wars
waged by the barbarians in Italy were for the most part caused by the pontiffs, and all
the barbarians who invaded it were most often called by them. This mode of proceeding still in our times; it is
this that has kept and keeps Italy disunited and infirm.
Machiavellis
view of the papacy and of the church is inherently different in his complaints in The Discourses. Machiavelli makes it quite clear
that the clergy has had a significant role in disuniting Italy. This theory contrast to his development of the
ecclesiastical principate in The Prince. In his complaints with regard to the clergy
and their disuniting element Machiavelli strikes another blow at the Church. He discusses their corruption, declaring,
the bad customs of that court would take more disorder than any other accident that
could arise there at any time. He also goes as far to say that the Churchs
corruption almost results in the ruin of religion. Machiavelli
is clearly on a different level of political thought when he is discussing the Church and
its influences in The Discourses.