"As the Toad Said to the Harrow" : Machiavelli's La Vita di Castruccio Castracani
Date
1997
Authors
Carrington, Matthew
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Machiavelli's La Vita di Castruccio Castracani (1520) presents certain interpretive problems. The traditional approach to this text was that Machiavelli used the biography of this 14th-century Lucchese tyrant to reiterate his theory of the "perfect prince". This was undermined in 1953 by J.H. Whitfield, but no new theory has yet been proposed which satisfactorily replaces it. The problem is shown to be essentially that which haunts all of Machiavelli studies: the author seems both to extol and condemn the tyrannical, dictatorial prince.
My approach is to consider La Vita in the broadest possible context, including both textual and political considerations. The solution, I conclude, is that La Vita criticizes the Medici for their failure to capitalize on the opportunities presented to them between 1513 and 1519. However, La Vita was intended as a model for work which would be acceptable to exactly those whom Machiavelli criticized. The criticism is therefore cast in such a manner that those who were not familiar with a broad range of his work would miss it. La Vita thus provides a significant opportunity to see the private Machiavelli at work, revealing not only what he thought worth telling, but also what he thought worth hiding.