Showing results for "fiction" in Renaissance

Claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, this unabridged version of The Prince is read by Emma Topping. This classic of political writing is Machiavelli's most notorious work. A treatise on gaining and maintaining political power, this is the work that inspired the use of the term "Machiavellian".

In a life of extraordinary drama, Jane Boleyn was catapulted from relative obscurity to the inner circle of King Henry VIII. As powerful men and women around her became victims of Henry’s ruthless and absolute power, including her own husband and sister-in-law, Queen Anne Boleyn, Jane’s...

Published in 1532 five years after Machiavelli’s death, the philosophies and implications introduced in the manifesto are continually referenced by today’s top business executives for insight into leadership, political theory, and ethics.

The Prince is considered the all-time best book on political strategy. It has of late become a much-referred-to book for all competitive situations. Machiavelli's name is associated closely with his philosophy, as he well deserves. His other works are worth reading or hearing, as well, especially his Art of War and Belfagor: The Devil Who Took a Wife.

When Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster to the Tudor Queen Elizabeth, learns of a Jesuit assassin landing on England's shores, he's determined to go to any lengths to protect his Protestant Queen. His protege, Kit Scarlett, discovers a letter revealing the name of the assassin—Gregorio Luca. Together with Scottish agent, Iomhar Blackwood, Walsingham sends them on a mission to track Luca down. It is clear Luca is only coming with one task in mind—to kill. But is his target the English queen?

The Prince is a treatise that systematically charts the best strategies for successful governing. It unapologetically places realism above idealism, showing would-be kings how to get what they want while appearing to be generous and honourable, and advocates that the means — cruelty, duplicity and horror —justify the ends of secure monarchical rule. But it can also be read as the work of a secret republican subtly undermining the despotism of the ruling Medici family.

Stefan Zweig schrieb Castellio gegen Calvin in den Dreißigerjahren unter dem Eindruck des um sich greifenden Totalitarismus in Europa, denn das sechzehnte Jahrhundert erschien ihm wie ein Spiegel seiner eigenen Epoche: eine Ära der amoklaufenden Ideologen, der gewalttätigen Rechthaber, die für sich selbst, solange andere an der Macht sind, Toleranz einfordern, sie aber – kaum selbst zur Macht gelangt – allen anderen verweigern; die im Andersdenkenden nicht mehr den Menschen erkennen, nur den vermeintlichen Abgesandten des Bösen.

A beautifully illustrated history of the Renaissance told through the lives of its most influential patrons. From the late Middle Ages, the independent Italian city-states were taken over by powerful families who installed themselves as dynastic rulers. Inspired by the humanists, the princes of...

Machiavelli cut his political teeth during the Renaissance, a time of intense hatred between Italian city states. Machiavelli was a man of action, a devout patriot. He wrote The Prince to describe how a leader could unite Italy and put a stop to the senseless conflict. This edition includes an addenda and Machiavelli's biography of Castruccio Castracani: his archetypal prince.

The first modern treatise of political philosophy, The Prince remains one of the world's most influential and widely read books. Machiavelli, whose name has become synonymous with expedient exercises of will, reveals nothing less than the secrets of power: how to gain it, how to wield it, and how to keep it. But curiously, this work of outspoken clarity has, for centuries, inspired myriad interpretations as to its author's true message.

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513, after he was forced to leave Florence as a political exile. Dedicated to Lorenzo de’ Medici, the work is Machiavelli’s advice to the ruler of Florence on how to stay in power.

The Prince, Machiavelli's 'little book', was written in 1513 and is dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici. It remains a compelling and controversial treatise on politics, dispensing often cynical, sometimes brutal advice on gaining power and retaining it. Essential listening for our masters perhaps, but most certainly for those of us who would not be mastered. The text used here is the unabridged and classic translation by W. K. Marriott.

This production of the famous 16th-century political treatise by diplomat and political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli will appeal to those interested in his political philosophy and not in the many historical and regional allusions that the original work contains. The latter have been excised in this abridgement.

The Book of the Courtier remains the definitive account of Renaissance court life. Because of this, it is considered one of the most important Renaissance works. The book is organized as a series of fictional conversations that occur between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino in 1507 (when Baldassare was in fact part of the Duke's Court). In the book, the courtier is described as having a cool mind, a good voice (with beautiful, elegant and brave words) along with proper bearing and gestures.

L'action du roman se déroule entre 1572, date du mariage de Marguerite de Valois avec Henri de Navarre, futur Henri IV, et la mort de Charles IX de France en 1574. Alexandre Dumas y met en scène les intrigues de cour, l'assassinat de l'amiral de Coligny, le massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy, l'idylle inventée entre la reine de Navarre et le comte de la Mole ainsi que la pratique de la torture judiciaire à la Renaissance. Il fait de Catherine de Médicis une figure inquiétante, se servant de son astrologue et parfumeur Côme Ruggieri pour faire assassiner ses ennemis. Le roman met aussi en scène la conspiration visant à rendre la Navarre à son roi.

It is 1535, and Agnes Peppin, daughter of a West Country butcher, is banished from her family home. Forced to abandon her newborn child, she is meant to live out her days cloistered behind the walls of Shaftesbury Abbey. But King Henry VIII has proclaimed himself the new head of the church. Religious houses are being suppressed, and the great Abbey is no exception to the purge. Free to be the master of her own fate, Agnes descends into a world she knows little about, using her wits and testing her moral convictions against her need to survive by any means necessary....

The Perigord of 16th-century France is a wild region on the edge of the reaches of royal authority - its steep, forested valleys roamed by bands of brigands and gypsies, its communities divided by conflict between Catholics and converts to the new Protestant faith, the Huguenots. To this beautiful but dangerous country come two veterans of the French king's wars, Jean de Siorac and Jean de Sauveterre, The Brethren - as fiercely loyal to the crown as they are to their Huguenot religion.

Elizabeth I acceded to the throne in 1558, restoring the Protestant faith to England. At the heart of the new queen's court lay Elizabeth's bedchamber, closely guarded by the favoured women who helped her dress, looked after her jewels and shared her bed. Elizabeth’s private life was of public, political concern. Her bedfellows were witnesses to the face and body beneath the make-up and elaborate clothes, as well as to rumoured illicit dalliances with such figures as Robert Dudley. Their presence was for security as well as propriety, as the kingdom was haunted by fears of assassination plots and other Catholic subterfuge.

Perhaps one of the most influential and controversial books in history, Machiavelli’s The Prince raises issues that are still debated centuries after its publication. The theories he developed in The Prince were derived from his observation of the successes and failures of the ruling class. The Prince was designed as a practical guide for newly appointed rulers and is required reading for all persons in a position of authority who strive for grandeur in business and politics.