ABSTRACT
The time which elapsed between the death of Marsiglio in 1343 and the birth of Machiavelli in 1469 saw the beginning of the great intellectual and spiritual revolution known as the Renaissance. During this period both the Empire and the Papacy lost much of their power and prestige; the modern type of sovereign state came into being, and strong monarchies were established in France, Spain, and England. It was unlikely that these tremendous changes would take place without important repercussions in political philosophy, and Machiavelli worked out a theory of government which marked a complete break with the theories based upon the principle of Natural or Moral Law which had dominated political thought during the preceding fifteen centuries of the Christian era.
