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3 - Hope Is Not Enough

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2021

William B. Parsons
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Summary

As numerous scholars have noted, chapter 6 is a high point of The Prince. Beginning in chapter 7, Machiavelli descends from a discussion of the “greatest examples” (P 6) to a discussion of “two examples that have occurred in days within our memory.” Francesco Sforza became Duke of Milan through virtue, while Cesare Borgia relied on “others’ arms and fortune” (P 7) in his exploits as Duke Valentino. The remainder of chapter 7 consists of an examination of Cesare's career, and it is tempting to conclude that Cesare was of sufficient virtue to consolidate a state founded by fortune. Machiavelli opines that Cesare

made use of every deed and did all those things that should be done by a prudent and virtuous man to put his roots in the state that the arms and fortune of others had given him [and] … he had laid for himself great foundations for future power, which I do not judge superfluous to discuss; for I do not know what better teaching I could give to a new prince than the example of his actions. And if his orders did not bring profit to him, it was not his fault, because this arose from an extraordinary and extreme malignity of fortune. (P 7)

With this allusion to the dedicatory letter, Machiavelli implies that he and Cesare are fellow sufferers, insofar as both labor under a “malignity of fortune.” In the dedicatory letter, Machiavelli's malignant fortune was identical to Lorenzo de Medici's good fortune: the patronage of the Church assured the Medici's ascendancy in Florence, just as it ensured Machiavelli's exile. In chapter 7, Cesare Borgia's relationship to the Church also constitutes his fortune, but his position is more ambiguous than either Lorenzo's or Machiavelli’s: while the Church launches Cesare's career, it also limits his potential.

Machiavelli writes that princes like Cesare “come to be” (P 7) in one of three ways: buying a principality, being given a principality, or corrupting the soldiers in order to attain rank. Because they do not “depend on their own … and use force” (P 7), they find themselves at the head of very insecure principalities.

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Machiavelli's Gospel
The Critique of Christianity in "The Prince"
 , pp. 61 - 83
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2016

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