Insights into Renaissance Minds: Machiavelli, Gutenberg, Shakespeare

1. Renaissance People

2. Niccolo Machiavelli An Italian diplomat who analyzed human actions rather than spiritual issues. He focused on the selfish side of human nature. He wrote a book, The Prince, that realistically analyzed the politics of Renaissance Italy

3. The Prince • A book written as a gift for Lorenzo de Medici • Advice on how to gain and keep power as a ruler • The only thing a ruler should think about when making a decision is the effectiveness of the action, regardless of its ethical character • Monarch could be excused from performing acts of violence and deception that would be unethical in private life

4. A ruler should be: • sneaky • Religious • Brave • Tough • Fierce • Valiant • Pious/devoted • honest • A ruler does not need to have these qualities, instead he should “appear to have them” (honesty, piety, faithfulness, humaneness, religious) • Having good qualities and “always practicing them is harmful, while appearing to practice them is useful” • “it is often necessary to preserve the state to act contrary to fairness, contrary to mercy, contrary to humaneness, contrary to religion

5. Gutenberg • German • Developed the first European printing press with moveable metal type • 1456 printed a complete edition of the Bible

6. Printing Press • Chinese invented 868 • 1400s German engravers developed moveable type • Type is set in molds, inked and then pressed on sheets of paper • Type could be moved around and reused • Books could be published quickly and less expensively • Helped ideas spread more rapidly

7. Shakespeare • English playwright who got his ideas from medieval legends, classical mythology and histories of England and Ancient Rome • Dealt with universal human qualities such as love, ambition, jealousy and despair • Plays and poems still relevant to audiences today