Campi Alessandro - Machiavelli and Political Conspiracies

The theme of conspiracy is central to Machiavellis writing. His work offers observations and analysis of conspiracy as part of the armoury of the Renaissance politician. Surprisingly, the theme has not yet received the attention it merits. This volume corrects an interpretation which reduces Machiavellis position to one of censorious observer of conspiracies. Quite to the contrary, as Campi demonstrates, Machiavelli developed an anatomy of conspiracy and provided a practical manual for coup dtat and violent seizure of power.

Alessandro Campi is Full Professor of Political Science at the University of Perugia, Italy.

Series Editor: Harald E. Braun

This series explores Renaissance and Early Modern worlds of knowledge (c.1400c.1700) in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. The volumes published in this series study the individuals, communities and networks involved in making and communicating knowledge during the first age of globalization. Authors investigate the perceptions, practices and modes of behaviour which shaped Renaissance and Early Modern intellectual endeavour and examine the ways in which they reverberated in the political, cultural, social and economic sphere.

The series is interdisciplinary, comparative and global in its outlook. We welcome submissions from new as well as existing fields of Renaissance Studies, including the history of literature (including neo-Latin, European and non-European languages), science and medicine, religion, architecture, environmental and economic history, the history of the book, art history, intellectual history and the history of music. We are particularly interested in proposals that straddle disciplines and are innovative in terms of approach and methodology.

The series includes monographs, shorter works and edited collections of essays. The Society for Renaissance Studies (www.rensoc.org.uk) provides an expert editorial board, mentoring, extensive editing and support for contributors to the series, ensuring high standards of peer-reviewed scholarship. We welcome proposals from early career researchers as well as more established colleagues.

SRS Board Members: Erik DeBom (KU Leuven, Belgium), Mordechai Feingold (California Institute of Technology, USA), Andrew Hadfield (Sussex), Peter Mack (University of Warwick, UK), Jennifer Richards (University of Newcastle, UK), Stefania Tutino (UCLA, USA), Richard Wistreich (Royal College of Music, UK)

The Elizabethan Secretariat and the Signet Office

The Production of State Papers, 15901596

Angela Andreani

Machiavelli and Political Conspiracies

The Struggle for Power in the Italian Renaissance

Alessandro Campi

With Three Texts by Niccol Machiavelli
Translated by Christian E. Detmold

First published 2019

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2019 Taylor & Francis

The right of Alessandro Campi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested

ISBN: 978-1-138-62410-8 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-46101-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Contents

Part I
Machiavelli and Political Conspiracies

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

Part II
On Conspiracies

ALESSANDRO CAMPI

NICCOL MACHIAVELLI

NICCOL MACHIAVELLI

NICCOL MACHIAVELLI

Portrait of Machiavelli (154647)

Atelier of Giorgio VasariPedro Rubiales, or Roviale the Spanish (151182 ca.)
Perugia, Campi-De Angelis Collection, oil on wood, 15.5 x 21.5 cm

This book is the end result of an intellectual journey which began five years ago, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the drafting of the Prince. In 2013thanks to Giuliano Amato, at that time president of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana-TreccaniI organized in Rome, in the Vittoriano Museum, the exibition dedicated to Il Principe di Niccol Machiavelli e il suo tempo. 15132013 (The Prince by Niccol Machiavelli and his Time. 15132013). After Rome, the exhibit traveled first to Washington, then to New York, then to Seoul. Another significant step in this journey was the exhibition on Machiavelli e il mestiere delle armi. Guerra, arti e potere nellUmbria del Rinascimento (Machiavelli and the Profession of Arms. War, the Arts and Power in Umbria during the Renaissance), which I organized, together with my colleagues Erminia Irace, Francesco Federico Mancini, and Maurizio Tarantino, in Perugia from October 2014 to January 2015.

It was during the preparation of these events that I had the idea of a book dedicated to the subject of conspiracy in the thought of Machiavelli. I am grateful to Emanuele Cutinelli Rndina and Giorgio Inglese for agreeing to discuss this project with me in its early stages: their friendly advice and comments were definitely valuable.

I owe a profound debt of gratitude to a number of individuals and institutions that supported this work in a variety of ways. Reconstructing the complete list would be impossible, but I would particularly like to mention and thankfor their suggestions, encouragement and collaborationEnzo M. Baldini, Sergio Bertelli, Filippo Ceccarelli, Paolo Crisostomi, Virman Cusenza, Giulio De Ligio, Stefano De Luca, Andreina Draghi, Stefano Lucchini, Francesca Mariani, Maria Giovanna Fediga Mercuri, Ambassador Sergio Mercuri, Gianfranco Pasquino, Sergio Rizzo, Florindo Rubbettino, Gennaro Sasso, Maurizio Serio, Valdo Spini, Maurizio Tarantino, Maria Cristina Valenti, Maurizio Viroli, and Mauro Zampini. I must also mention Massimo Bray, Loredana Lucchetti, Alessandro Nicosia, Marco Pizzo (director of the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento in Rome), and Maria Letizia Sebastiani (former director of the Biblioteca Nazionale of Florence)

The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia was helpful in providing a grant to conduct my research: for this generous financial support, a special thanks to Carlo Colaiacovo and Giampiero Bianconi.

Gregory Conti deserves special credit for his translation of my manuscript in English (and for his patience and kindness).