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Portrait of Ferdinand of Aragon by Michell Sittow
Portrait of Ferdinand of Aragon by Michell Sittow
Disregarded as dim by many historians, Ferdinand II of Aragon was really a shrewd, coldblooded ruler who was the model of Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince.
hangzhou,
zhejiang,
China
(prbd.net)
02/03/2011
Written over 400 years ago, The Prince is a treatise of princely deportment and political astuteness. To Machiavelli, nobody exemplified those characteristics better than Ferdinand II.
The Prince
As ruler of the Two Sicilies – by far the largest kingdom of the divided Italian nation -, Ferdinand earned Machiavelli’s admiration for his skillful handling of the Byzantine Italian politics of the Renaissance.
But, there are specific reasons in Ferdinand’s behavior as ruler of Spain that made him, in Machiavelli’s eyes, the ideal prince. Ferdinand preached peace while using his military forces, an indispensable hypocrisy according to the writer. The Spanish king is commended for undertaking lofty activities - like underwriting Columbus - to impress his subjects.
In Chapter XXI of The Prince, Machiavelli particularly praises Ferdinand for the way in which he went about the conquest of Granada calling “this enterprise the foundation “of Ferdinand’s “dominion.” The writer congratulated the king for driving out the Moors, for it wasdeemed an excellent approach to the unification of his people.The Inquisition is also considered along the same lines.
Machiavelli believed that the Spanish king's thirst for territory and political supremacy were favoring traits.
In various other sections of the book Ferdinand is indirectly criticized. Knowing how difficult his life would be if he made royal enemies, Machiavelli abstaining from naming them when being critical.
A Short Biography of Ferdinand
Ferdinand, the son of Juan II of Aragon and his second wife, Juana Enríquez, was born on March 10, 1452 in the village of Sos, since renamed Sos del Rey Católico.
Ferdinand was as well educated as it was possible at the time. He received instruction in the arts, sciences, geography, Latin and military affairs.
At 17 he married his second cousin, Isabella of Castile, with an unambiguous prenuptial arrangement of sharing power once they ascended to their respective thrones.
Once he assumed the crown of Aragon, he also became king of Valencia and the Two Sicilies (Sicily and Naples).
With the crowns of Aragon and Castile were united, the monarchs called their joint territory España, after the old Roman name for the area, Hispania.
Subsequently they won a civil war against Juana of Castile, also known as La Beltraneja, and proceeded to unify their nation. First, Ferdinand led the Spanish forces in the final step of La Reconquista (The Reconquest) of Moorish lands, by taking Granada. Then they proceeded to expel from their kingdom any Moor or Jew that would not convert to Catholicism.
In the middle of everything the sovereigns had managed to finance Christopher Columbus’ first trip of exploration which ended up producing huge dividends. It should be pointed out that Columbus did not have to prove to the monarchs that the world was round. They were already knowledgeable about it, for, contrary to common believe, Ferdinand and Isabella were among the most enlightened royals of Europe.
Other Princes
While Ferdinand Ii is the main subject of the prince, Machiavelli uses others as samples in specific cases. Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, is the main model of a new prince who remerged thanks to his skills; Cesare Borgia, represents hereditary power and Pope Alexander VI, is an example of power wielded to empower his son, Cesare Borgia, and his organization, the Catholic Church.
In the end, though, the greatest t and must perfect prince according to Machiavelli was Ferdinand II of Aragon.
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