Machiavelli and the Ideology of the Offensive: Gunpowder Weapons in The Art of War

@article{Cassidy2003MachiavelliAT,
  title={Machiavelli and the Ideology of the Offensive: Gunpowder Weapons in The Art of War},
  author={Ben Cassidy},
  journal={The Journal of Military History},
  year={2003},
  volume={67},
  pages={381 - 404}
}
  • Ben Cassidy
  • Published 2003
  • History
  • The Journal of Military History
Historians have often claimed that Niccolò Machiavelli shunned the use of gunpowder weapons, both field artillery and hand-held weapons, because of their absence in the ancient world which the Italian loved so dearly. Machiavelli, however, did not reject the use of gunpowder weapons, but gave them a secondary role in his military scheme. The reason for this was that, in Machiavelli's time, reliance on gunpowder weapons necessitated defensive tactics in battle, while Machiavelli believed that an… Expand
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