Un capitolo negletto della riscoperta settecentesca di Machiavelli. La mente di un uomo di Stato di Stefano Bertolini

Abstract

This study examines the writings on Machiavelli by Stefano Bertolini (1711-1782) a functionary of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany who is known primarily amongst historians for the interest he showed early on in Montesquieu’s Esprit des lois. The article highlights the extent to which Bertolini remained in line with the ‘Republican’ reinterpretation of Machiavelli that flourished among Tuscan intellectual circles in the mid-18th century, but also his innovative departures. Particular attention is paid to Mente di un uomo di Stato [The Mind of a Statesman], a collection of maxims by Machiavelli that was printed for the first time in Rome in 1771, as well as to the various strategies adopted by Bertolini to shield Machiavelli from the topoi of anti-Machiavellian propaganda and to bend the Florentine secretary’s positions to better reflect Bertolini’s own political and legislative ideals, which were centred on the teachings of Montesquieu. Such endless bending undoubtedly reaches its height in the third chapter of the pamphlet (Del Diritto delle genti nato con il Cristianesimo [On the Rights of people born into Christianity]), thereby representing one clear example of the search for parallels between Machiavelli and Montesquieu that began to spread immediately following the publication of the Esprit des lois