VIII.9 To what extent the nobility is prone to defend the throne
The English nobility buried itself with Charles I under the debris of the throne ; and before that, when Philip II uttered the word liberty to French ears, the crown was always supported by the nobility that holds to the honor of obeying a king but considers it a supreme infamy to share authority with the people.
We have seen the House of Austria work tirelessly to oppress the Hungarian nobility, unaware how valuable it would someday find it. It was seeking among these peoples money that was not there, and failed to see the men who were. When so many princes shared its states amongst themselves, all the fixed and inactive pieces of its monarchy, so to speak, fell in on each other. The only life was in that nobility that became angry, forgot everything in order to fight, and believed that its glory required it to perish and to forgive.