El reformismo de González de Cellorigo y sus fuentes: Maquiavelo y Bodin

Abstract

It is shown that «Memorial de la política restauración de España» (1600) by the Spanish «arbitrista» M. González de Cellorigo is largely based on Bodin´s «Republic» and also includes a briefer adaptation of a chapter of Machiavelli´s «Discourses on T. Livy», that concerned with the «return to the beginnings» (III 1). Resting on these two authors, Cellorigo discusses the process of decline of the state, proposing as remedy the restauration of public authority by way of the intimidatory exploits lauded by Machiavelli, as well as a socio-economic reform focused on the middle class which should be executed following Bodin's rules. Cellorigo´s «Memorial» is finally considered as a characteristic example of the mixing of the modern doctrine of reason of state and the medieval political conception. Two final apendices display the passages wich Cellorigo borrows directly from his sources.