RIBADENEYRA, Pedro de.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Tratado de la religion y virtudes que deve tener el principe Christiano, First edition of this anti-Machiavellian mirror-for-princes, affirming that true Christianity and "reason of state" are inseparable, and providing a model for the Christian prince.The Jesuit priest Pedro de Ribadeneyra (1527-1611) was an important literary figure of the Spanish Golden Age, an influential thinker of the Counter-Reformation, and the secretary and hagiographer of Ignatius of Loyola. Machiavelli's The Prince had asserted the monarch was justified in using any means for the good of the state, and that the appearance of religion, if it benefited the state, was more important than true religion. Ribadeneyra argues fiercely that true religion and faith in God were the only means to a successful kingdom, holding monarchs to be God's stewards on earth, and consequently must act appropriately, not least to maintain the faith of their subjects. True religion and "reason of state" were consequently indivisible, rather than opposites. "The prince sketched by Ribadeneyra is no religious bigot; rather, he is a strong, skilful, pragmatic personality and consummate statesman. But he is also - and herein lies the heart and substance of the matter - a profoundly ethical ruler" (Fernández-Santamaría, p. 42).

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.