The politics at the end of middle ages and its influence on renaissance: between "Regno - ad regem cypri", by St. Thomas, and "Il principe", by Machiavelli

Abstract

The present article aims to sketch a parallel between two works of political philosophy: the unfinished pamphlet "From the Kingdom or Government of the Princes to the King of Cyprus" by St. Thomas Aquinas, and the well-known "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. The collation of texts allows direct approximations between two distant philosophical moments through the similar theme, through the philosophical treatment of the classical tradition, and through the subtlety of the argument that relates the common good to the private, in the political relations. The analysis is divided into two thematic parts: the definition of ruler, and the characteristics of his craft. In Thomas, the influence of Aristotelian politics is articulated with the way in which the private purpose of the ruler is established in a hierarchy of ends that justifies the government and is directed to the common good. In Machiavelli there is a different reception of ancient thought, connected with Roman rhetoric, and a hierarchy of ends, which is directed, similarly to the Tomasian, for the common good, but with a different treatment as to how public good relates to the private good of both the ruler and the people subjected to him. From this comparison we conclude that there is a need to establish the complexity of political philosophy in the passage from the middle ages to the renaissance that removes the idea of ​​a total rupture and allows us to understand how the modern age keep medieval elements and develops them much more than abandon them.