Henry VII of England: Most Machiavellian

In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli published a document in hopes of rejoining the Medici’s good graces after being a strong force against their government and being accused of conspiracy, which he went through torture without admitting to. The document, based off the style of Cesare Borgia, was a how-to guide to gaining and keeping power in the most successful way possible. It said a prince must have the cunning of a fox, the ferocity of a lion, be feared instead of loved, and make use of his military. The document was The Prince. Even before its publication, a number of rulers fit the now-known-as-Machiavellian description. Henry VII of England, a ruthless, efficient, and secretive king, is the best example of a pre-Prince, Machiavellian ruler, as depicted by his use of the Justices of the Peace, the royal council, and the Star Chamber.

Machiavelli believed that war was a necessary art for a prince. Henry VII wasn’t the most extensive user of the military, for he avoided expensive wars. Even so, he did find ways of managing his people through the use of a group known as the justices of the peace. The group was seen both as a military force and a force of local government, the only force of local government in England at the time to be exact. Justices of the Peace were put out to attain and properly punish criminals, fix prices of goods according to changes in taxes and the like, and enforce the laws and rules put forth by Parliament, as well as for other reasons. Because Henry ducked and covered his way around war, he was able to rule without the use of Parliament’s money.

The overall idea behind The Prince is that a ruler’s only desires and acts in the long run should be to seek power, gain power, and maintain power for the longest period of time possible. By the sense that the end justifies the means, this could be done rather ruthlessly if need be. This specific ruler chose to hold on to his power by lessening that of the lords. Since Henry VII didn’t need to use Parliament as a change purse, he was able to be disconnected from that upper-class of power in that respect. In another, he made use of his royal council of twelve to fifteen mostly middle-class men who all had an education in law. The less use he had for Parliament, the less power the upper-class had through being connected to Henry. The royal council governed at a national level as one in the executive, legislative, and judicial areas.Henry trusted a very few lords, and his council was the first to hear this from him. A third element of Henry’s maintaining of power was known as the court of Star Chamber, which leads one into another important idea of Machiavelli: being feared is better than being loved.