Abstract

The Machiavellian investigation on Emperor Maximilian I paved a new way of thinking about power and virtues in the public sphere. Through the diplomatic experience in Germany, the essay aims to illustrate how, according to Machiavelli, the emperor was not a true «prince». Guicciardini expressed the same opinion in his History of Italy. That idea is at the core of the modern theories on sovereignty developed in France during the second half of the 16th century.