Machiavelli's Attitude To Florence In 1494

In between the 14th and 17th century, a time period known as the Renaissance occurred, in which modern literature, art, and music were revived and thrived throughout a large portion of Europe that founded several differentiating ideas and views throughout its time. From the mid-1400s to the mid-1500s several authors arose with varying views on how the government should act; however, views such as these were strictly prohibited by both members of the Catholic church and Protestant reformers, and were often viewed as heretical, which led to threats and attacks from these people as a result. The recorded writings of three Renaissance authors, Niccolò Machiavelli, Desiderius Erasmus, and Baldassare Castiglione, hold both similar and differing ideas, most notably on the politics and government in their time.

On May 3rd, 1469, in Florence, Italy, Niccolò Machiavelli was born. He was known as the originator of modern political science. He is also known for a diverse list of careers such as; a philosopher, politician, humanist, writer, diplomat and an Italian Renaissance historian. In Italy’s Florentine Republic, he was a diplomat for fourteen years. While he lived as a diplomat the Medici family’s exile was taking place. During these times, Machiavelli flourished becoming a Florentine Republic senior official. He also held military dealings, continued his diplomatic responsibilities, and wrote poetry and songs. As all good things come to an end, in 1512, the Medici family regained their power. As soon as the Medici family returned to power, Machiavelli was removed from office and accused of plotting against

Niccolò Machiavelli was a noticeable figure during the early sixteenth century. He is most famously recognized as the author of The Prince, a handbook for politicians which inspired the term “Machiavellian”. His writing also solidified his position as the father of modern political theory. His political view stemmed from observing the division of Italy into small city-state systems during the late fifteenth century. According to Machiavelli, the success of the city-states was dependent on the effectiveness of the autocrats who headed these states. Through observation, he saw what was necessary for an authoritarian state to be successful. He was bursting with theories, the first being that he believed that the state and its laws were a creation of man that must be protected by the prince. He also argued that conflict could be useful under the organization of a ruler. Another idea that Machiavelli strongly professed, was his thought that men are not equal. His belief was that some men

In Italy at that time, nothing was entirely stable, and rulers where always changing, and the government was never standing firm

In the crucible of the fourteenth-century, the turbulent politics contributed to the growth of a different way of doing art, finances, literature, religion, and technology. It led the growth of new ideas. Continuous warfare among the states brought skilled leaders. In fourteenth-century Italy constituted the Renaissance. This period was characterized by a return to the sources of knowledge and standards of beauty that had created the great civilizations of classical Greece and Rome. It was an age that spread new ideas more fast than ever before. Painters, writers, and politicians focused on ambitious individualism, realism, and activism. They insisted on optimistic faith in the human potential. Florence was a birthplace of the Renaissance.

The Italian wars influenced Machiavelli’s beliefs. Italy was seemingly lifeless and people’s morale was depleted. The malevolent and deliberately evil acts committed during the war affected his negative views on humanity. During his time, Italy was war-ridden, and soldiers were committing atrocious crimes such as raping of women and massacring of citizens. Machiavelli recounts the conditions of 1512 Florence, “In order to spare Your Ladyship cause for worry in your spirit, I shall not report on the details. I shall merely say that better than four thousand died; the remainder were captured and, through various means, were obliged to pay ransom. Nor did they spare the virgins cloistered in holy sites which were filled with acts of rape and pillage.”

To fully understand the context of Machiavelli and his purpose of The Prince an overview of the notable events of his life is needed. Born in 1469, he was a citizen of Florence, Italy. The political climate of Machiavelli’s home of Florence had changed dramatically following his return from his decade in Rome as a young adult. He served his native Florence in various capacities from 1494 to 1512 (Wiethoff, 1974: 99) but much of this time there was turbulence in government. Florence was facing the invasion of King Charles VIII of France, leading to the banishing of the entire Medici family from Florence.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527) is one of history’s most renowned political theorists. Truly a “Renaissance Man”, he excelled in many disciplines and was an avid scholar of the ancients, but his most enduring legacy has been his political theories, particularly those outlined in The Prince. Popular culture, however, has a skewed perception of Machiavelli’s own personal political ideals. Although Machiavelli’s The Prince discusses governance of a principality from the point of view of the prince, his longer work, The Discourses, extolls the virtues of republics and provides a detailed analysis of the republics of Ancient Italy compared to modern Italian republics and more closely

In Niccolo Machiavelli’s article to the Italy Prince, he mentioned a lot about the morals that a prince should have. He wrote that as a prince of a country political power is much important than human nature and sometimes prince needs to neglect morals in order to get political power, which I agree with his idea. The difference between a prince and a civilian is that prince has the political power that a normal people could not have, so the prince should use his political power correctly, which can lead the country to become better and united. To use the political power in a right way as Machiavelli said in his article, the prince sometimes needs to be a miser and feared by his people. To do so, the prince can gain the political power. Having

The next years of Machiavelli's life included many dramatic experiences that altered the way that he viewed government. The Medici family was overthrown, and the power of the government changed hands when the French, lead by Louis XII invaded Italy (The Prince p. viii). Through decisions made by the Church and Pope Julius II, the Medici family came back to restore order and take up where they left off. It was through these actions that Machiavelli was viewed as unfit for any type of political position and was forced into exile. The Prince, written in 1513, was started during this time of expulsion in order to once again become in the good graces of the Medici family. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen and he wouldn't return to Florence until 1526, only to die a year later in 1527.

out for the welfare of his troops, however the Florentines decided he was a traitor, in the pay of the Pisons and he was captured and executed. Thanks to Machiavelli’s position in the chancery he was aware of the Vitelli affair and this only reconfirmed his belief that mercenaries were not to be trusted. Machiavelli was possessed with the idea that States must be military self-sufficient, they must have armies of their own citizens, who would fight devotedly for their families and way of life. (Hale, 1966) Machiavelli later wrote in The Prince, where he states “the main foundation of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms; where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow”. (Machiavelli,

The Buondelmonti family were not always powerful in Florence. According to Dante in his work The Divine Comedy, III. Paradiso he writes, “The majority of the Buondelmonti family migrated to Florence in 1135 due to the destruction of

Niccolo Machiavelli is a very pragmatic political theorist. His political theories are directly related to the current bad state of affairs in Italy that is in dire need of a new ruler to help bring order to the country. Some of his philosophies may sound extreme and many people may call him evil, but the truth is that Niccolo Machiavelli’s writings are only aimed at fixing the current corruptions and cruelties that filled the Italian community, and has written what he believed to be the most practical and efficient way to deal with it. Three points that Machiavelli illustrates in his book The Prince is first, that “it is better to be feared then loved,”# the second

Author’s Identity: Unlike many other previous writers on military thought, Machiavelli was not from pure or noble blood, although he was of enough social status to become literate. Instead, Machiavelli used his intellect to climb the social ladder the highest legs of Italian social order. From 1501 to 1521, Machiavelli worked as an influencer, author, and military leader. Rather than conceal his intellect to avoid prosecution or death, such as within a monastery, Machiavelli balanced a thin line between critical thought and appeasement in his allegorical experiences with Caesar Borgia.

Relying on the needs of the society of that time, Machiavelli comes to the conclusion that the most important task is the formation of a single Italian state (Machiavelli 15). Developing his thoughts, the author comes to the following inference: only a prince can become a leader capable of leading people and building a unified state. It is not a concrete historical personality but someone abstract, symbolic, possessing such qualities that in the aggregate are inaccessible to any living ruler. That is why Machiavelli devotes most of his research to the issue of what qualities should the prince possess to fulfill the historical task of developing a new state. The written work is constructed strictly logically and objectively. Even though the image of an ideal prince is abstract, Machiavelli argues that he should be ruthless, deceiving, and selfish.