Description
Book SynopsisWhy devote a Companion to the "mirrors for princes", whose very existence is debated? These texts offer key insights into political thoughts of the past. Their ambiguous, problematic status further enhances their interest. And although recent research has fundamentally challenged established views of these texts, until now there has been no critical introduction to the genre. This volume therefore fills this important gap, while promoting a global historical perspective of different “mirrors for princes” traditions from antiquity to humanism, via Byzantium, Persia, Islam, and the medieval West. This Companion also proposes new avenues of reflection on the anchoring of these texts in their historical realities. Contributors are Makram Abbès, Denise Aigle, Olivier Biaggini, Hugo Bizzarri, Charles F. Briggs, Sylvène Edouard, Jean-Philippe Genet, John R. Lenz, Louise Marlow, Cary J. Nederman, Corinne Peneau, Stéphane Péquignot, Noëlle-Laetitia Perret, Günter Prinzing, Volker Reinhardt, Hans-Joachim Schmidt, Tom Stevenson, Karl Ubl, and Steven J. Williams.
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors Introduction Stéphane Péquignot and Noëlle-Laetitia Perret PART 1: Mapping the Mirrors of Princes’ Traditions 1 Ideal Models and Anti-Models of Kingship in Ancient Greek Literature: Mirror of Princes from Homer to Marcus Aurelius John R. Lenz 2 Greek and Roman Writers on the Virtues of Good Rulers: Praise, Instruction, and Constraint Tom Stevenson 3 Carolingian Mirrors for Princes: Texts, Contents, Impact Karl Ubl 4 Byzantine Mirrors for Princes: An Overview Günter Prinzing 5 The Conception of Power in Islam: Persian Mirrors of Princes and Sunni Theories (11th–14th Centuries) Denise Aigle 6 Western Medieval Specula, c. 1150–c. 1450 Charles F. Briggs and Cary J. Nederman 7 Refutation, Parody, Annihilation: The End of the Mirror for Princes in Machiavelli, Vettori and Guicciardini Volker Reinhardt 8 Specula Principum and the Wise Governor in the Renaissance Sylvène Édouard PART 2: The “Making of”, the Circulation and Uses of the Mirrors of Princes – A Thought in Motion 9 The Influence of Aristotle’s Thought on Arab Political-Philosophical Ideas Makram Abbès 10 The Arabic Mirrors for Princes as Witnesses to the Evolution of Political Thought Makram Abbès 11 Royal Power and Its Regulations: Narratives of Hārūn al-Rashīd in Three Mirrors for Princes Louise Marlow 12 The Pseudo-Aristotelian Secret of Secrets as a Mirror of Princes: A Cautionary Tale Steven J. Williams 13 The Castilian Versions of the Pseudo-Aristotle’s Secretum secretorum and French Versions of Giles of Rome’s De regimine principum (13th–16th Centuries) A Comparative Perspective Hugo Bizzarri and Noëlle-Laetitia Perret 14 The Relation between Wisdom Literature, Law, and the Mirrors of Princes: Castile and Sweden Olivier Biaggini and Corinne Péneau 15 The Use of Mirrors of Princes Hans-Joachim Schmidt Conclusion: Mirrors for Princes and the Development of Reflections on the State Jean-Philippe Genet Index
