Abstract

Military discipline and religion are connected in Machiavelli's thought in a fairly coherent way that illuminates his general vision of history, politics and society. There is a pervasive use of military language in his discussion of moral questions: love as war; family or society as a field of battle; lovers as soldiers. Machiavelli's intertwining of Christianity and warfare is here examined in his dispatches from the papal army of Julius II, which he accompanied on its approach to Bologna in 1506. In "The Prince" he further develops this thought when he argues that a Papacy at war has political advantages that make it different from other belligerent states.