Machiavelli a Oxford. Guerra e teatro da Gentili a Shakespeare

The article shows how the presence of the presence of great jurist Alberico Gentili in Oxford caused harsh reactions among Puritan authorities in the university. The controversy between Gentili and John Rainolds concerning theatre actually hides a deeper contrast of opposing political views . Gentili's opposition to the Oxonian Puritan authorities resulted in treatise on war which drew mainly on Machiavelli' thought, and, in fact supported Elizabeth's foreign policy. Gentili's ideas on the just war is also the ideological framework of Shakespeare's Henry V. The article reveals that a correct reading of Machiavelli's Discorsi sheds light on both Gentili's D Iure belli and Shakespeare's Henry V.