To quote : Machiavelli 's ideas on how to accrue honour and power as a leader had a profound impact on political leaders throughout the modern west , helped by the new technology of the printing press . Pole reported that it was spoken of highly by his enemy Thomas Cromwell in England , and had influenced Henry VIII in his turn towards Protestantism , and in his tactics , for example during the Pilgrimage of Grace . A copy was also possessed by the Catholic king and emperor Charles V . In France , after an initially mixed reaction , Machiavelli came to be associated with Catherine de Medici and the St Bartholomew 's Day Massacre . As reports , in the 16th century , Catholic writers " associated Machiavelli with the Protestants , whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic " . In fact , he was apparently influencing both Catholic and Protestant kings
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
The Prince