Castiglione's "The Courtier" is the opposite of Machiavelli's "The Prince." At the court of Montefeltro in Urbino, ladies and gentlemen discuss manners, culture, and what makes people appear pleasant and lovable. But it is stated right from the start that it is not birth, but the nobility of spirit that determines one's fate – the first sign of the rise of the bourgeois age and a behavior that even Knigge has oriented himself around. The selection includes all the important ideas that Castiglione puts into the mouths of the members of the dining circle. The one who argues better, wittier, and more logically in a debate is right. Surprising statements are also made regarding the equality of women, beauty, and the most effective ways of courting.