Mirrors for princes, or mirrors of princes, are books that most often take the form of textbooks instructing a monarch in how to govern and behave successfully, and authors often wrote a mirror at the accession of a new king, when a young and inexperienced ruler was about to take power. The form became a literary genre of didactic political writing established in antiquity that grew more popular through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as part of the broader speculum, or mirror, literature tradition. The best known European example is generally considered to be Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, from around 1513, even though it is not the most typical example of the genre.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleThe Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (c. 1513) 1 Defining TraitTextbooks instructing monarchs in successful governance and behavior 1 FAQs
Why are these books called mirrors?
The name may come from the wider speculum or mirror literature of the 12th to 16th centuries.
The Latin term speculum principum appears as early as the 12th century and may have been used even earlier. The name may have developed from the speculum, or mirror, literature that was popular from the 12th to the 16th century and focused on knowledge of a particular subject matter. Mirrors for princes were one branch of that wider tradition, applied to the instruction of rulers.
Sources
1. Mirrors for princes - Wikipedia
Antiquity, Sumer subsection
Instructions of Shuruppak (Early 3rd millennium BC)
Lead section, Machiavelli sentence
Possibly the best known European "mirror" is The Prince (c. 1513) by Niccolo Machiavelli, although this was not the most typical example.
Lead section, opening definition sentence
Mirrors for princes or mirrors of princes (Latin: specula principum) are books that most frequently take the form of textbooks for the instruction of monarchs on successful governance and behavior.
In Group: Medieval and Byzantine Prose Genres, Lead section
Mirrors for princes or mirrors of princes (Latin: specula principum) are books that most frequently take the form of textbooks for the instruction of monarchs on successful governance and behavior.
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