Mirrors for princes (Latin: specula principum) or mirrors of princes, refer to an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. They are part of the broader speculum or mirror literature genre. They occur most frequently in the form of textbooks which directly instruct kings, princes or lesser rulers on certain aspects of governance 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 proto self-help book or study of l