The biggest enterprise a Christian prince ever had in his hands: to conquer and conserve territories in the Indian Ocean in the times of Machiavelli¹

La empresa más grande que jamás tuvo un príncipe Cristiano en las manos: conquistar y mantener a los territorios en el Océano Índico en tiempos de Maquiavelo

La plus grande entreprise qu'un prince chrétien a dejá eu: conquérir et conserver des territoires dans l'océan Indien au temps de Machiavel

Abstract

Can we establish connections between the theoretical thinking of Machiavelli about the conquest and conservation of territories and the actions of Afonso de Albuquerque in the territories of the Indian Ocean (described in an intense correspondence between him and the king D. Manuel I of Portugal)? In this essay, I try to answer this question by adopting a transnational perspective of the political and intellectual dynamics of the early-modern period. This approach enables me to identify the common cultural background among the political elites from Southern Europe in the 16^th century, and helps to explain the existence of interesting continuities between Albuquerque and Machiavelli. Simultaneously, their different biographies and contexts of action - Machiavelli's were mainly Italian, while Albuquerque's were Portuguese, African and Asiatic - contribute to explain some of the differences in the political solutions proposed by them in their writings.

Machiavelli; Afonso de Albuquerque; Portuguese empire