TO MAXIMILIAN II.

TO THE MOST INVINCIBLE EMPEROR.

GIROLAMO MERCURIALE

A small decorative woodcut ornament (fleuron) features symmetrical floral and scroll motifs, common in 16th-century printing to fill space and add elegance.

A large historiated woodcut initial 'S' is set within a square frame. The letter 'S' is formed amidst a landscape of rolling hills and a building, surrounded by dense, leafy scrollwork. In the Renaissance, "historiated" initials contained scenes or figures relevant to the theme or simply for ornamentation.

Should I ever consider quite carefully with myself, Most Invincible MAXIMILIAN, how many and how great are the things that Emperors and the highest Princes have performed for the health and tranquility of mankind—both in war and in peace—I easily arrive at the opinion that almost all peoples and nations acted rightly and with the best justification when they deemed such leaders worthy of being numbered among the immortal Gods. In the classical tradition, great rulers were often "apotheosized" or raised to divine status for their service to humanity. Among those innumerable benefits which they have conferred upon the human race, nearly all the liberal arts The "artes liberales" were the branches of knowledge suited for a free person, including grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. claim a great share for themselves. For by offering the greatest rewards, rulers did not merely rouse these arts and lift them up when they were at times lying neglected, but they also so amplified their dignity that the rulers themselves almost seem to be their sole authors and restorers. Anyone can easily perceive this, who examines the history of military discipline, of laws...