Mirrors for princes


Mirrors for princes, or mirrors of princes, form a literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writing during the Early Middle Ages, Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and are part of the broader speculum or mirror literature genre. They occur most frequently in the form of textbooks which directly instruct kings or lesser rulers on certain aspects of rule and behaviour, but in a broader sense the term is also used to cover histories or literary works aimed at creating images of kings for imitation or avoidance. Authors often composed such "mirrors" at the accession of a new king, when a young and inexperienced ruler was about to come to power. One could view them as a species of self-help book – a sort of proto-study of leadership before the concept of a "leader" became more generalised than the concept of a monarchical head-of-state.
One of the earliest works was written by Sedulius Scottus, the Irish poet associated with the "Pangur Bán" gloss poem. Possibly the best known European "mirror" is The Prince by Machiavelli, although this was not a typical example. Some further examples are listed below.

Classical texts

Greek and Roman

Eusebius of Caesarea's Life of Constantine may be a mirror for princes. This text's precise genre, audience, and aims has, however, been a subject of scholarly controversy.

Indian

Early Middle Ages

Carolingian texts. Notable examples of Carolingian textbooks for kings, counts and other laymen include:
Irish texts
Kalilag ud Damanag: A Middle-Persian translation of Indian Panchatantra.