- Introduction
- Republics and Kingdoms Compared
- Preface
- Book I
- Princely education during Lent
- The rise and fall of empires explained
- The demise of ancient military discipline
- The problem introduced: Are republics or kingdoms better?
- The debate between King Mattias and Domenico Giugni is arranged
- Giugni’s view: Republics are freer, juster and better governed; these claims to provide the structure of the debate
- Liberty defined; freedom in everyday life
- Freedom from taxes
- Freedom in administering the republic: Selection of magistrates by lot
- The freedom of the magistrate
- The freedom of elections and deliberation
- Freedom in the courts
- The freedom of kingdoms
- Republican and royal provincial government compared
- Conclusion
- Book II
- The relative justice of republics and kingdoms: Laws, commercial relations, and equality
- The sources of republican laws: Individuals or deliberative bodies?
- Are the laws better observed in republics?
- Are kings or republics more easily corrupted?
- Is it better to be under law or under a king?
- Return to the subject of corruption
- Justice in commercial relations
- The corruptions of commerce
- Is commerce even necessary or desirable?
- Free trade versus tariffs
- What is the best kind of equality? Equality of possessions
- Equality under law
- Is it equality that makes the arts flourish in Florence?
- Equality of honors
- Republican equality not enforceable: The poor are punished but not the rich
- The true reasons for Florence’s cultural preëminence
- The ineffectiveness of republican education
- Why Florentine artists leave Florence
- Equality in kingdoms
- Book III
- Do many rulers govern more effectively or one?
- Examples of governance: the ship
- The army: Examples from Roman history
- The household
- The village
- The city
- What is the relationship between size and type of governance? Head of household, shepherd and king compared
- Do kings or the many better care for the common good? The rest of the debate outlined
- Does republican deliberation aid the discovery of justice?
- Is it possible to find a single excellent ruler?
- What can many do better than one? Factionalism and unity
- Lorenzo de’Medici praised
- Are kings or republican magistrates more easily corrupted by their passions?
- Will the many or one man better serve the common good?
- Republican versus royal deliberative councils
- Is the power of the many or of one more stable and enduring?
- The inevitability of political change
- Giugni’s final capitulation; some further analogies and examples proving the superiority of kingship
- If kingship is natural, why do republics exist in nature? An explanation of constitutional change
- Nature, terrestrial and heavenly, prefers monarchy
- Most governments in history have been monarchical; republican governments have historically been shortlived and unstable
- Biblical proofs of monarchy
- A miniature mirror of kings
- Conclusions: Kingdoms under excellent kings are to be preferred
- Appendix: Raffaele Brandolini’s Dedication to Cardinal Giovanni de’Medici
- Note on the Text and Translation
- Notes to the Text
- Notes to the Translation
- Bibliography
- Index
THE I TATTI RENAISSANCE LIBRARY


The I Tatti Renaissance Library 40
Republics and Kingdoms Compared
Product Details
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$35.00 • £28.95 • €31.50
ISBN 9780674033986
Publication Date: 05/31/2009