Caput octauum: De foederibus.
The Christian Bond Above All Treaties
A good prince seeks only the public good in treaties, and Christian princes should rely on their shared faith rather than endless pacts that breed quarrels and war.
In making treaties, just as in all other matters, a good prince will look to nothing but the public good. Otherwise, the concern at work here is that princes might have things more conveniently while the peoples' affairs are weakened — and that should not be called a treaty, but a conspiracy. And indeed, those who are of this mind make two peoples out of one — the nobles and the commons — where the one prospers at the other's expense; but wherever that happens, there is no commonwealth. Among all Christian princes, the tightest and most holy bond is — or should be, for this very reason — that they are Christians. What good is it, then, to draw up so many treaties every day, as though all were enemies of all, and human pacts were needed to obtain what Christ does not grant? Where business is conducted with many written contracts, it's proof that things aren't being done in the best good faith — and we frequently see that from these very contracts the most quarrels arise, quarrels the contracts were meant to prevent. Where good faith stands between honest men, there's no need for a great many anxious written agreements. But where business is conducted among dishonest men of bad faith, the contracts themselves produce fresh grounds for quarrels. In the same way, among good and wise princes, even if no treaty intervenes, friendship holds firm. But among foolish and wicked princes, from the very treaties that were meant to prevent war, wars are born, while among countless clauses someone complains that this one or that one has been violated. A treaty is customarily struck for this purpose: that an end be put to war. But today what they call a treaty is entered into for this purpose: that war be stirred up.
The Sacred Faithfulness of Princes
Treaties are mere war preparations today, and princes should hold their simple promise as sacred as any oath, yet treaty violations happen daily.
These alliances are nothing other than preparations for war, and however events lean, that's the direction treaties go. Such should be the faithfulness of princes in carrying out what they undertake, that the simple promise of these things may be more sacred than any oath sworn by others.1 How wrong, then, is a treaty left unfulfilled — things agreed upon through solemn treaties, with even those sacred rites interposed by which nothing can be more holy among Christians?2 And yet we see this happen daily in practice — I won't even add, through whose fault — though it certainly cannot happen without fault.3
Repairing Broken Treaties with Prudence
When a treaty is violated, a wise prince should not rush to annul it but should repair the breach with patience and prioritize public interest over anger.
If any violation of a treaty is noticed, you shouldn't immediately move toward annulling the whole treaty, so that the opportunity to withdraw from the alliance doesn't seem to have been seized. Instead, you should work harder to repair what has been broken with the least possible harm. In fact, it's better to turn a blind eye to certain things from time to time, since even among private individuals, a close relationship won't hold together for long if every last detail is strictly enforced. And don't immediately follow what anger urges, but what public interest recommends.
Choosing Friends and Avoiding Useless Alliances
A prince should seek peace especially with neighbors who share language and customs, while recognizing that some nations are too distant, dissimilar, or treacherous for any alliance.
A good and wise prince will make every effort to have peace with everyone, but especially with his neighbors — who can do the most harm when they're hostile, and the most good as friends — and without whose mutual dealings the state can't even survive. And friendship easily forms and holds together between those whom a common language, the closeness of their regions, and a similarity of temperament and manners unite. There is so great a dissimilarity in every respect between certain nations that it would be far better to have kept completely away from any dealings with them than to be bound by even the strictest treaties. Some are so far removed that even if they mean well, they can do no good at all. Finally, there are some nations so difficult, so treaty-breaking, and so arrogant that even if they're your neighbors, they're no use for any alliance whatsoever.
When Neither War Nor Treaty Serves
With certain peoples, the wisest course is neither war nor tight alliance, since both war and their friendship prove equally destructive.
Since this has proved the wisest course with these nations — neither to be at war with them nor bound by tighter treaties or alliances through kinship — because war is always destructive, and the friendship of certain peoples is barely more bearable than war itself.
Learning the Nations Without Ulysses' Wanderings
Royal wisdom requires learning the character of all nations through books and counsel rather than personal travel, though fixed rules for diplomacy are hard to prescribe.
This, then, will be one part of royal wisdom: to learn the character and customs of all nations — partly from books, partly from the recollections of wise and experienced men — so that a prince need not think it necessary to be driven through every land and sea with Ulysses. As for the other matters, it wouldn't be easy to lay down any fixed rule.
The Limits of Alliance: Religion, Geography, and Distance
A prince should not bind himself closely to those separated by different religion, natural barriers, or vast distance, as illustrated by France's costly wars in Italy.
This much can be stated as a general principle: a prince ought not to bind himself too closely to those whom a different religion alienates from us — as with pagans; or whom the providence of nature, by interposing the Alps or narrow straits, separates from us; or whom the immense distance of places has entirely removed from us. Such peoples are neither to be summoned to us nor attacked by us. Since there are very many examples of this, yet one that offers itself close at hand will suffice for all. The kingdom of France is indeed the most flourishing of all in every respect; but it would be far more flourishing if it had refrained from attacking Italy.
Read the original Latin
In pangendis foederibus, quemadmodum et caeteris in rebus, non alio spectabit bonus Princeps, quam ad publicam utilitatem. Alioqui cura hoc agitur ut commodius habeant Principes populi rebus attenuatis, non foedus est appellandum, sed conspiratio. Siquidem qui hoc sunt animo, duos populos ex uno faciunt, Procerum et plebis, quorum alter alterius malo melius habeat; uerum id ubi fit, ibi non est Respublica. Inter omnes Christianos Principes arctissimum simul et sanctissimum foedus est, uel ob hoc ipsum quod Christiani sunt. Quorsum igitur attinet cotidie tot foederibus agere, perinde quasi omnes omnium sint hostes, et humanis pactis sit impetrandum, quod non impetrat Christus? Ubi multis syngraphis res agitur, argumentum est, non optima agi fide, et saepenumero fieri uidemus, ut ex his plurimae nascantur lites, quae in hoc adhibebantur, ne quid exsisteret litium: cura fides intercedit, et inter bonos agitur, non est opus admodum multis et anxiis syngraphis: cura inter improbos et malae fidei res agitur, syngraphae pariunt etiam litis materiam. Itidem inter bonos ac sapientes Principes, etiam si nullum intercedat foedus, constat amicitia: inter stultos ac malos, ex ipsis foederibus, quae in hoc adhibebantur, ne bellum exoriretur, bella nascuntur, dum inter innumeros articulos hunc aut illum uiolatum queritur aliquis. Foedus in hoc feriri solet, ut bello finis imponeretur: at hodie foedus appellant, in hoc initum, ut moueatur bellum.
Nec aliud est istorum foederatio, quam belli molimina: et utcumque se res inclinant, ita ambulant foedera. Principum ea debet esse fides, in praestandis iis quae recipiunt, ut simplex horum promissum sanctius sit quouis aliorum iureiurando. Quam igitur foedum non praestari, quae solennibus foederibus pacta sunt, interpositis etiam iis rebus, quibus apud Christianos nihil potest esse sanctius? Et tamen uidemus id cotidie usu uenire, nihil addo, quorum uitio: certe sine uitio non potest accidere.
Si quid in foedere uiolatum uidebitur, non statim huc inclinandum, ut uniuersum foedus irritetur, ne uideatur occasio captata recedendi ab amicitia. Quin magis adnitendum, ut quam minimo incommodo sarciatur id quod ruptum est: quin expedit aliquoties ad quaedam conniuere, quandoquidem nec inter priuatos homines diu cohaeret necessitudo, si cuncta ad uiuum, quod aiunt, exigant. Neque statim id sequaris, quod dictat ira, sed quod publica suadet utilitas. Dabit operam bonus ac sapiens Princeps, ut cum omnibus pacem habeat, sed praecipue tamen cum finitimis, qui plurimum noceant infensi, prosint amici, et sine quorum mutuo commercio, ne durare quidem possit Respublica. Et facile coit et cohaeret amicitia inter eos, quos lingua communis, regionum propinquitas, ingeniorum ac morum similitudo concilie. Est tanta inter quasdam nationes rerum omnium dissimilitudo, ut prorsus ab illorum abstinuisse commercio longe consultius sit, quam arctissimis etiam adstringi foederibus. Sunt quaedam ita procul dissitae, ut etiam si bene uelint, prodesse nihil possint. Postremo sunt quaedam adeo morosae ac foedifragae et insolentes, ut etiam si finitimae sint, tamen inutiles sint ad omnum amicitiam.
Cum his consultissimum fuerit, nec bello dissidere, nec arctioribus foederum aùt affinitatum uinculis alligari, quod et bellum semper sit exitiale, et quorumdam amicitia non multo bello tolerabilior.
Haec erit igitur una Regiae sapientiae pars, gentium omnium ingenia moresque cognoscere, id partim e libris, partim e sapientum et expertorum commemoratione consequetur, ne sibi necesse putet cum Ulysse per omnes terras mariaque circumagi. Ac de caeteris quidem haud facile sit certum aliquid praescribere. Illud in genere licet pronunciare, non oportere arctius adstringi his, quos religio diuersa a nobis alienat, ueluti cum Ethnicis: aut quos naturae prouidentia, Alpibus aut Fretis interiectis, a nobis separat aut quos immensum locorum spatium penitus a nobis semouit, hi nec ad nos accersendi, nec a nobis impetendi sunt. Cuius rei cum plurima suppetant exempla, tamen unum, quod e proximo sese offert, pro omnibus suffecerit. Est quidem Franciae regnum, rebus omnibus omnium multo florentissimum: at multo esset florentius, si ab Italia impetenda temperasset.
Notes
- 1 ↩Fides rendered as 'faithfulness' rather than 'faith' to capture the sense of reliability in keeping promises, not theological faith.
- 2 ↩The rhetorical question structure is preserved. 'Quam igitur foedum non praestari' is rendered as an exclamatory rhetorical question to capture the force of quam igitur.
- 3 ↩The parenthetical 'nihil addo, quorum uitio' is rendered with a dash to capture the aside. 'Certe sine uitio non potest accidere' preserves the emphatic certe as 'certainly'.
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