《君主论·第十一章·教会的君主国》第4节
Pope Julius came afterwards and found the Church strong, possessing all the Romagna, the barons of Rome reduced to impotence, and, through the chastisements of Alexander, the factions wiped out; he also found the way open to accumulate money in a manner such as had never been practised before Alexander’s time. Such things Julius not only followed, but improved upon, and he intended to gain Bologna, to ruin the Venetians, and to drive the French out of Italy. All of these enterprises prospered with him, and so much the more to his credit, inasmuch as he did everything to strengthen the Church and not any private person. He kept also the Orsini and Colonnesi factions within the bounds in which he found them; and although there was among them some mind to make disturbance, nevertheless he held two things firm: the one, the greatness of the Church, with which he terrified them; and the other, not allowing them to have their own cardinals, who caused the disorders among them. For whenever these factions have their cardinals they do not remain quiet for long, because cardinals foster the factions in Rome and out of it, and the barons are compelled to support them, and thus from the ambitions of prelates arise disorders and tumults among the barons. For these reasons his Holiness Pope Leo found the pontificate most powerful, and it is to be hoped that, if others made it great in arms, he will make it still greater and more venerated by his goodness and infinite other virtues. Pope Leo X was the Cardinal de’ Medici.
注释摘要
马基雅维利在这一段里，其实是把教会君主国当成一个极为特殊的案例来讲的。他表面上说教会君主国靠古老的宗教制度就可以维持，君主们不需要像世俗君主那样费心防内战、御外敌，但随后马上又转入一个看似矛盾的分析：既然教会国如此安稳，为什么教皇们在仅仅一两代人的时间里，竟能让世俗权力扩张到连法国国王都望而生畏的地步？于是他开始梳理亚历山大六世死后，尤利乌斯二世如何接掌并…