As Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 to 1519, Maximilian was a perennial opponent of the French and Venetians. His reign was marked by frequent forays into Italian affairs, largely motivated by his desire to regain territory from Venice. A lack of funding and the threat of French retaliation prevented Maximilian from maintaining a consistent foreign policy.
Get the entire The Prince LitChart as a printable PDF.
Maximilian Character Timeline in The Prince
The timeline below shows where the character Maximilian appears in The Prince. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 23
Machiavelli offers a "modern illustration" of this principle, citing Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor, who "never [consults] anybody and never [does] things as he wanted...
(full context)
