After the publication of Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, anti-Machiavellian Catholic writers emerged almost immediately to defend the idea that a good Christian ruler or politician was possible, if not necessary. Among the defenders of a Christian prince was Pedro de Ribadeneira The Christian Prince Against Machiavellianism was originally written in Spanish and first published in Madrid in 1595 (with the original title being: Tratado de la religion y virtudes que deue tener el principe christiano para gouernar y conseruar sus estados contra lo que Nicolas Machiauelo y los politicos deste tiempo enseñan) It went through subsequent printings and translations. Woodstock has two copies of this book printed in Bologna in 1622., the title page is displayed here:
The Christian Prince comprised a program of reform, instructing for future Phillip III and Christians generally about how to govern so as to obtain God’s favor and to avoid catastrophes like the [defeat of the] Armada [in 1588], which Ribadeneira had interpreted as punishment for sin.” (Robert Bireley, The Counter-Reformation Prince: Anti-Machiavellianism or Catholic Statecraft In Early Modern Europe. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1990.) Woodstock's Bologna copies include this added engraved portrait of Pedro de Ribadeneira which depicts him holding and pointing to a portrait of St. Ignatius, symbolizing both Ribadeneira’s biography on Saint Ignatius of Loyola and his indebtedness to the saint who was like a father to him as teenager in Rome and welcomed him into the then newly founded Society of Jesus.
Entry authored by Amy E. Phillips, Rare Materials Cataloger for WTL on 5/23/2016