«Uno mero esecutore delle cose che li erano ordinate da Dio»: Tasso's Godfrey and Machiavelli's Moses

Abstract

The essay analyzes the influence of the book of the Exodus on the representation of political relations between the Christian army and its captain, Godfrey of Bouillon, in Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata. The research will show how Tasso’s poem imitates the events of Moses in the government of the chosen people and reads the character of the prophet as a political leader who exercises sovereign power. This reading of Moses will be compared with the innovative one present in Niccolò Machiavelli’s Prince: the Machiavellian treatise presents the biblical prophet as a perfect example of a new prince who imposes his will even using weapons. The essay will highlight how the Machiavellian characterization of Moses influences the character of Tasso’s poem. These considerations will highlight the political use of one of the major biblical characters within the most important poetic work of the Counter-Reformation period and the role of the most controversial political treatise of the time in this new reading.