Why Is It Better To Be Feared Or Loved If You Cannot Be Both

If rulers from the past were to be sat down and asked what their reaction was and what they had to say about Niccolo Machiavelli’s statement, “it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both,” one would hear many different statements and answers. Rulers who want complete and total power would lean towards being feared and those who wanted to be powerful without exerting utter fear would disagree with Machiavelli’s comment. Rulers such as Louis XI, Charlemagne, Ferdinand and Isabella, and Gregory VII would altogether have totally different opinions. Louis XI would whole-heartedly agree with Machiavelli, after all, he was often called “the most terrible king that had ever ruled France.” He would often times use utterly horrendous methods of keeping his people align and in order. He was also very successful at doing so. He made outrageous laws but he felt that he could make and break whatever laws he pleased. During his reign, his main goal was to break the nobles of the entirety of their power, and he succeeded. With Louis XI’s reign, he set up an example for all other rulers that came after him.
During his reign, he was rather successful at receiving the benefits of being kind towards his people. He soon realized that as long as he treated his people fairly, they would be loyal to him as long as he ruled. As a reward for his kindness and his supporting of the church, he was given the title of Holy Roman Emperor in 900. If he would have done the opposite and treated the church and his people poorly, Charlemagne would have been feared by them. He gave land to his people and in return for his generosity, they would agree to be his military, and not because they were forced in to it, but because they thought they owed it to Charlemagne. In the long run, he was more prosperous in being loved than he would have ever been being