ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses Machiavelli's influence on Raleigh is not an easy matter, since most of the works attributed to him were published posthumously. The relationship between Raleigh and Machiavelli that emerges is one that complicates an already muddled picture, by revealing a Machiavellianism unlike the one that Raleigh is commonly known for. For the better part of 300 years, Milton's story was taken at face value, and The Cabinet-Council was attributed to Raleigh and considered a window into his Machiavellianism. If the detective work regarding Raleigh's possible connection to the Maxims of State and The Cabinet-Council is inconclusive, there is another, better, way to assess his Machiavellianism. A charitable reader might conclude that this is an attempt to rehabilitate Machiavelli by pointing out the Machiavellianism of everyone else. It appears that we may need, then, to distinguish between Raleigh and Rawlye, just as it is often necessary to distinguish between Machiavelli and Machiavel.