The capricious roman goddess Fortune is known for her strong power to influence or even decide the destiny of humans. In ancient Rome she was considered to be a good goddess, who brought the gifts of destiny and who also was seen as a possible ally. During the Middle Ages this position changed. Fortune was given two sides, a good and friendly one and a cruel impenetrable side. She was seen as one of God´s ministers and became an expression of divine providence. My purpose with this essay is to analyse three artworks of Fortune by Giovanni Bellini, Albrecht Dürer and Master MZ, but also some texts by the renaissance humanist Niccolò Machiavelli. When examining this representation I will try to determine the iconography of Fortune and see how or if the interpretations of her differs. The study has shown that the different representations of Fortune differ from one another of the artworks. However, there is one major resemblance that presents itself in each and every one of the artworks as well as in Machiavelli’s texts, the fact that Fortune is considered to be capricious. This attribute is frequent. In the works of art Fortune is depicted along with some kind of circular object like a ball or a sphere, a clear indication of instability. In Machiavelli’s texts Fortune is often, metaphorically or directly expressed, as capricious and unpredictable. According to Machiavelli, humans therefore have to be prepared, hold capability or virtù, to be able to resist her rapid changes. Like the humanist Machiavelli was it is likely that he represents the ancient view of Fortuna, although some medieval element cannot be omitted. Furthermore, in all of the selected works of art together, one can see elements of both an antique view of Fortuna as well as a medieval. Although the Renaissance was strongly influenced by ancient ideas and ways of life, it becomes clear that also some medieval features survived into the mindset of the Renaissance.

Thesis advisor: Sarah Gwyneth Ross / This study investigates the political thoughts of two thinkers, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) from Renaissance Italy and Chen Liang (1143-1194) from Song China. Both thinkers argue against the popular of moral philosophy in state politics. They tried to use the idea of consequentialism, statecraft, and public interest to create their own utilitarian philosophy. This micro-comparison study will parallel two thinkers’ views on history, politics, and military in a similar historical context. These views are essential to the modernization of two civilizations. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

<p>In the genre of the-mirror-for-princes Erasmus Desiderius, <em>Institutio Principi Christiani</em> and Niccoló Machiavelli’s <em>Il Principe</em> are traditionally considered as a dichotomy. This thesis aims at comparing Erasmus against the norm of Machiavelli with emphasis on genre and rhetoric. A "reversed" comparative reading like this study shows that much of what is considered typical of the genre in Erasmus classic is in fact a result of the use of ethos and decorum. The study concentrates on the uses of normative language on the subjects of education, virtue, war, love, and hate to answer how the two texts differentiate in view of the legitimacy of rulers and how these differing views can be explained. This unorthodox reading of Erasmus mirror-for-princes reveals a less naïve and more pragmatic ideal prince. Though clearly separate from Machiavelli’s prince, formed by the roman discourse, the Erasmian ruler is hard to define as its antithesis. The differences in outlook constitute two different rhetorical stances in the face of the new political situation of the time and therefore share much common ground.</p>

In the genre of the-mirror-for-princes Erasmus Desiderius, Institutio Principi Christiani and Niccoló Machiavelli’s Il Principe are traditionally considered as a dichotomy. This thesis aims at comparing Erasmus against the norm of Machiavelli with emphasis on genre and rhetoric. A "reversed" comparative reading like this study shows that much of what is considered typical of the genre in Erasmus classic is in fact a result of the use of ethos and decorum. The study concentrates on the uses of normative language on the subjects of education, virtue, war, love, and hate to answer how the two texts differentiate in view of the legitimacy of rulers and how these differing views can be explained. This unorthodox reading of Erasmus mirror-for-princes reveals a less naïve and more pragmatic ideal prince. Though clearly separate from Machiavelli’s prince, formed by the roman discourse, the Erasmian ruler is hard to define as its antithesis. The differences in outlook constitute two different rhetorical stances in the face of the new political situation of the time and therefore share much common ground.

Cette thèse propose la première biographie intellectuelle de Bartolomeo Carli Piccolomini,un personnage de premier plan de la culture et de la vie politique siennoise des années1525-1535. L’objectif de ce travail est d’offrir une contribution à deux questions cruciales de laculture de la Renaissance italienne : d’un côté, le développement des académies et lefonctionnement particulier de ces intellectuels collectifs ; de l’autre, les formes et les effets dedes premières lectures des oeuvres majeures de Machiavel, hors Florence, avant même leurpublication, en 1532, à Florence et à Rome. Les Annexes de la thèse proposent la premièreédition critique des textes de Bartolomeo Carli Piccolomini, chancelier de la républiquesiennoise et lecteur « immédiat » du Prince et des Discours. Par ailleurs, la thèse démontre queCarli Piccolomini n’était pas un lecteur isolé de ces oeuvres. Il y a bien une réceptionsiennoise collective, qui se distingue des autres lectures connues jusqu’à présent. / This work offers the first intellectual biography of Bartolomeo Carli Piccolomini, anoutstanding figure in cultural and political life in Siena, between 1525 and 1535. Our goal is toshed new light over two major fields of the research in Renaissance Italian Studies: on the onehand, the study of academies, their development and collective operations; on the other hand,this work is a contribution for a better understanding of the forms and the effects ofMachiavelli’s early readership outside Florence, before the Prince and the Discourses were firstprinted in 1532. The “Annexes” volume offers the first critical edition of Carli Piccolomini’stexts. Bartolomeo Carli Piccolomini was chancellor of the Siennese Republic and one ofMachiavelli’s early readers. Our study shows that he was not the only reader of Machiavelli inSiena at that time. Indeed, our work brings to light a collective Siennese readership ofMachiavelli, which is very different from the way Machiavelli was read elsewhere during the16th Century.

The author offers a comprehensive analysis of the thought of Machiavelli situated against the backdrop of political and biographical developments in the early 16th century.

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The present dissertation deals with the relationship between democracy and agonism. It attempts to defend the idea that certain problematic aspects of contemporary liberal democracies are not due to their origin primarily in the change of social conditions (the massification of democracy, the growth of complexity in modern societies), that made the original democratic promises unrealizable, but in certain oblivion of the agon. The agon is understood as a constitutive feature of democratic society and its oblivion is seen not to be accidental. To defend this proposition I focuse on an interpretation of the dialogue between populist republicanism (Machiavelli) and elitist republicanism (Guicciardini). This dialogue is usually understood as one of the sources of modern democratic tradition. I try to explain that in Machiavelli's political theory two notions of agonism are present - pragmatic agon that sees conflict as a basis of social cohesion and strategic agon that is described as a ferocious egalitarianism employed by the second class citizens in order to gain equality from the first class citizens. These two forms of agonism are explained to form the axis of Machiavelli's notion of the political and also of a free republic and democracy. Guicciardini's elitist republicanism is shown to stand in opposition...

Nicolau Maquiavel foi um grande observador das ações políticas dos homens de seu tempo. Tanto quanto Secretário da República Florentina e, posteriormente em seu exílio, como um analista atento ao que ocorria na Europa pôde formular teses sobre o agir político e o comportamento do corpo social das comunidades políticas. De seus estudos emergiram ideias que possibilitaram o desdobramento do pensamento político precedente, mas o pensamento de Maquiavel promoveu inovações que marcariam a passagem do pensamento medieval para o moderno. Exemplo disso é a Teoria dos humores objeto deste estudo que defende a ocorrência de tumultos como um mal necessário para a conquista da liberdade. O instrumento necessário para que isso ocorra é a existência de boas leis, que regulem os conflitos sociais para que esses não desviem dos interesses coletivos. É na obra Discursos sobre a primeira década de Tito Lívio, especialmente no Livro I, que Nicolau Maquiavel analisou a temática dos Humores; sendo assim nosso estudo se deterá com mais atenção a essa obra. / Niccolò Machiavelli was a keen observer of the political actions of this time. As far as secretary of the Florentine Republic and later in exile, an attentive watcher to the situation in Europe was able to formulate theories on the political behavior and the social organization of political communities. Ideas emerged from his studies that enabled the deployment of the former political thought, but the Machiavellis thoughts promoted innovations that mark the passage from medieval to modern thought. An example of it is the Humor Theory object of this study which defends the occurrence of disorder as a necessary evil for the liberty conquest. The required instrument for this is the existence of good laws, which regulate social conflicts so that they do not deviate from the collective interests. It is in the book Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Lívio by Tito Lívio, especially in Book I, Niccolò Machiavelli analysed the template of humors; so our will be engaged more thoughfully to this work.

Nicolau Maquiavel foi um grande observador das ações políticas dos homens de seu tempo. Tanto quanto Secretário da República Florentina e, posteriormente em seu exílio, como um analista atento ao que ocorria na Europa pôde formular teses sobre o agir político e o comportamento do corpo social das comunidades políticas. De seus estudos emergiram ideias que possibilitaram o desdobramento do pensamento político precedente, mas o pensamento de Maquiavel promoveu inovações que marcariam a passagem do pensamento medieval para o moderno. Exemplo disso é a Teoria dos humores objeto deste estudo que defende a ocorrência de tumultos como um mal necessário para a conquista da liberdade. O instrumento necessário para que isso ocorra é a existência de boas leis, que regulem os conflitos sociais para que esses não desviem dos interesses coletivos. É na obra Discursos sobre a primeira década de Tito Lívio, especialmente no Livro I, que Nicolau Maquiavel analisou a temática dos Humores; sendo assim nosso estudo se deterá com mais atenção a essa obra. / Niccolò Machiavelli was a keen observer of the political actions of this time. As far as secretary of the Florentine Republic and later in exile, an attentive watcher to the situation in Europe was able to formulate theories on the political behavior and the social organization of political communities. Ideas emerged from his studies that enabled the deployment of the former political thought, but the Machiavellis thoughts promoted innovations that mark the passage from medieval to modern thought. An example of it is the Humor Theory object of this study which defends the occurrence of disorder as a necessary evil for the liberty conquest. The required instrument for this is the existence of good laws, which regulate social conflicts so that they do not deviate from the collective interests. It is in the book Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Lívio by Tito Lívio, especially in Book I, Niccolò Machiavelli analysed the template of humors; so our will be engaged more thoughfully to this work.