《君主论·第三章·混合君主国》第11节
And if any one should say: “King Louis yielded the Romagna to Alexander and the kingdom to Spain to avoid war,” I answer for the reasons given above that a blunder ought never to be perpetrated to avoid war, because it is not to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage. And if another should allege the pledge which the king had given to the Pope that he would assist him in the enterprise, in exchange for the dissolution of his marriage and for the cap to Rouen, to that I reply what I shall write later on concerning the faith of princes, and how it ought to be kept. Louis XII divorced his wife, Jeanne, daughter of Louis XI, and married in 1499 Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles VIII, in order to retain the Duchy of Brittany for the crown. The Archbishop of Rouen. He was Georges d’Amboise, created a cardinal by Alexander VI. Born 1460, died 1510.
注释摘要
在这一段里，马基雅维利正面处理了人们可能对路易十二提出的两种辩护，并就此引申出他政治判断中一条极为硬核的原则。他要论证的是：一个统治者为了躲避眼前的战争而做出根本性的战略让步，非但不是明智，反而是致命的错误，因为战争的逻辑不从属于君主一时的主观意愿，而从属于力量格局的必然。 第一种辩护是一种看起来通情达算的说法：路易把罗马涅让给教皇亚历山大六世，把那不勒斯…