Shades of Machiavelli

Machiavellianism is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct"

Someone we go on about a lot here is King James 6th (of Scotland) and 1st (of England). He began the process of amalgamating the United Kingdom as it is now, not forgetting his Bible revision and promotion prowess. There's an interesting article from the Daily Record - Leading historian claims both sides of the independence debate could learn from Scots King James V1 and his talent for PR which is worth noting:

James was a wonderful wordsmith and brilliant propagandist.

“He engaged in a massive public relations exercise using emotive, almost carnal rhetoric.

“He presented his views with a rhetoric of inevitability. He knew how to compromise. He took his message out beyond parliament and attempted to sell his plans to his subjects directly.

“He made sure they literally carried the message around with them with the idea of unity on all his coins.

“He was so keen to present his view as part of God’s divine plan that he targeted his subjects’ spiritual world, commissioning a new translation of the Bible and even boldly used its front page to promote the idea of himself as king of a new country.

King James was a King from infancy. Allegedly, his mother was Mary Queen of Scots, his father Lord Darnley.  Darnley was later murdered. Mary quickly remarried, to a Lord Bothwell on 15th May 1567. Mary was shortly thereafter imprisoned at Carlisle Castle before being beheaded.

On 15th May 2011, exactly 444 years later, Lady Gaga played Carlisle, at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. She arrived on stage via a coffin, and wore a black PVC prosthetic pregnancy stomach. She dedicated the jazz track, Orange Colored Sky, to Kate and William. 

Her show ended with a song called Judas.

When Baby George was born, it didn't take Kate long to recover. Baby George seems to have vanished in the interim.

This year's BBC'S Big Weekend is to be held in Glasgow on 24th May, the anniversary date of the founding of Jamestown , the first English colony in America, named after King James 6th and 1st.

This year's Commonwealth Games are to be held in Glasgow, it was reported just yesterday that the military are to help with security, something Machiavelli would have no doubt advocated if he was around now.

cheers