In 1523, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote the book, “The Prince” as a gift to Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici. The thesis of his book is “the ends justify the means”, meaning, it doesn’t matter how you get to the end, as long as you get there. In Machiavelli’s book, “the end” really means staying in power, so his book to Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici explains the steps he should take in order to maintain his power.

In his book, one of Machiavelli's main points in “politics have no relation to morals”. An example of this is his quote, “It is not essential for a Prince to have all good qualities, but it is most essential that he should seem to have them.” In translation: you can trick your people into thinking that you are a good leader, if you can fake that you are a good leader.

This quote is a good example that shows the characteristics of a leader, and of their people. A leader is sneaky, a liar, and sometimes heartless. It explains that leaders are heartless in the quote “men ought to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.” In other words, it is easiest to control your people if you treat them right, but if need be you need to completely destroy them, whether that is mentally or physically, because that is the only way you will keep control of them.

An example that a leader is a liar is the quote, “A prince never lacks a legitimate reason to break his promise.” What this means is that a leader will always have a reason to go back on his word, so there for he can lie to his people, because he will have a reason to do so no matter what. This quote also explains the characteristics of people. People are unaware, gullible, and sometimes stupid. This is shown when their leader lies to them. Under an intelligent leader's reign, people will always believe what he has to say, even if he lies to them multiple times and goes back on his word.

This specific quote makes me appreciate leaders more. It explains that as long as you can come up with a reason, you can always lie and always get away with it. It seems like a simple thing, but only a true genius can pull of constantly going back on his word, and keeping all his lies from destroying him, at the same time controlling thousands of people.

I agree with Machiavelli's points, but at the same time I disagree with them. I disagree with them because it is against my personal morals to go against what is politically correct, just to maintain power. However, I agree with him because, like with the cannibal story from Harvard, sometime you have to do whatever it takes to maintain power, or stay alive.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age, is a movie about the Queen of England, Elizabeth. Elizabeth has to lead England to victory, when Phillip of Spain sends the Spanish Armada to destroy them, because Elizabeth sent for the execution Mary Stuart, who Phillip wanted to marry when she took throne, so he could control Spain, England, and Scottland. At the same time, she had to deal with the drama of the man she is falling in love with, Sr. Walter Raleigh.

I enjoyed this movie because I had heard of Queen Elizabeth, but I had never heard of the story before, so it was very interesting to learn about her life. I also enjoyed it because I like learning about things set in the 1500s.

The first aspect form the previous cycle I saw was religion being a motivator. In the movie, the justice system executed Bess's cousin and father, simply because they were Papists, who are against Catholicism. An example from the previous cycle is with gold, gold, and glory. One of Spain's motives for exploration was to spread the religion of Catholicism.
The second example I saw was the idea of expanding empires. In the movie, Phillip of Spain main reason for marrying Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland when she took thrown of England, was so he could not only have control over Spain, but Scotland and England as well. An example from the previous cycle was how Spain and Portugal went exploring to the New World, hoping to gain land and access.
The third aspect from the previous cycle I saw was gun powder. In the movie, the Spanish Armada's and England's ships both used gun powder for firing cannons. They were able to use gun powder because the Mongols were the first ones with gun powder, and when they invaded part of Europe, but left right away, Europe reaped the benefits of gun powder and other items, so they were able to use gun powder in battles, like the one against England.

Her top three leadership qualities were her confidence, her bravery, and her determination. She was very confident when she was on her horse, giving her army a speech before they went to battle. This part also showed her bravery because even though she is the queen of England, and a woman, she herself was fighting in that battle, risking her own life for England.
She is very determined, and is able to stay on track. Her country is being attacked by the Spanish Armada, which will not give in, and the man she is in love with, loves another woman. She is very determined because she does not let these factors get to her head, which is one of the reasons England was victorious.
Her greatest downfall was her love for Sr. Walter Raleigh. Because Mr. Raleigh loved another woman, Bess, Elizabeth became so jealous, that she resulted in hitting Bess, who has been like a sister to her.
Overall, she was a very effective leader for England. She was the smartest leader they could have had. England needed someone to take control and decide what is best for England. Elizabeth was perfect for this, because she knew that her country needed her to be strong, and to prove that the Virgin Queen can lead them to victory, which she did.

Sir. Walter Raleigh demonstrated great leadership qualities. He has the amazing skill and knowledge to make decisions for a group. When they were in the ship, firing back and forth with the Spanish Armada, he was the one who decided that they would have to break up their formation in order to stop them from proceeding. This decision helped to defeat the Spanish Armada, and save England.