20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Nicolae Mavrocordat’s notes to Niccolo Machiavelli 171prince himself. In 1716, the army led by general Steinville took hostageNicolae Mavrocordat, who was a prisoner in Sibiu for several years. TheAustrian army ransacked Bucharest, the same way the Ghibellines had done,centuries before, in Italy. The imperial army led by Steinville conqueredOltenia, the general being its first governor. Baron Tige, another Austriangeneral, was also a governor of Oltenia, and he ransacked the province justas Steinville previously did.Machiavelli’s words about the necessity to defend the fatherland byall means, even by accepting a shameful peace, makes Mavrocordat write:“that kind of conditions had czar Peter of Russia, when he made peace withthe Sublime Porte on the banks of river Prut” 19 . Peace is better than war, itis the sole solution, says Mavrocordat. He puts down on paper these wordswhen reading that Hanibal was not ashamed to ask the Romans to makepeace, as his fatherland had no other way out.Against Machiavelli’s statement that the ruin of Alberti family wascaused by its wealth, Mavrocordat shows that pomp and wealth are reasonsfor ruin. He counsels his son to be modest, thrifty, industrious, because“vain splendor, many clothes, many jewels, many horses” can be absentwithout diminishing the dignity of the prince. Although very healthy, thesepieces of advice are very difficult to follow. Nicolae Mavrocordat himselflived in great opulence, wasted money, borrowed a lot, and was heavilysurpassed by his son Constantin Mavocordat.Some of the annotations are about the qualities of the people. Machiavellithinks that, although ignorant, the peoples are open to the truth and give upeasily, when told the truth by a trustworthy man. Mavrocordat adds “thepeople can see the truth”, showing a certain esteem for the people.In his novel, “Filoteou Parerga”, Nicolae Mavrocordat comments someof Machiavelli’s ideas, approving that the money are, really, the vim of warand peace 20 . By a convenient distribution of the payment and by militarytraining, the soldiers can be maintained in a benevolent subordination tothe prince, while the enemy is hold in check.Mavrocordat declares that he feels sorry for Machiavelli, as the latterdidn’t follow the words of Aristotle, about the way a leader can take thewrong path. At the same time, he blames the Florentine thinker as originatorof new paths towards evil, through deceitful counsels, destroying the goodmores and attracting upon him irreparable outrages. 2119Ibidem.20Mavrocordatos, N. 1989, Les loisirs de Philothee, Montreal: Les Presses de l’Universite de Montreal, Athenes, 81.21Ibidem, 121.