Lucrezia Borgia

Machiavelli’s La Mandragola is a satire which focuses on major flaws in the world: the corruption and immorality of the Catholic Church. La Mandragola describes a great, wise, and virtuous woman, Lucrezia, who is turned sour and spoils. Lucrezia is manipulated by men to adhere to their wants and needs and, in the end, she becomes what every husband fears—unfaithful. This is very comparable to the behavior of the Catholic church during the same period; thus, Machiavelli thought to draw a parallel

Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, and Cesare Borgia, and visited the Spanish courts. In 1512, the Medici family (not supportive of Machiavelli) took back power and dissolved the new Italian republic forged by the Borgia family. The family then accused Machiavelli of conspiracy, and he was imprisoned, tortured, and sent to exile south of Florence. This is where and when Machiavelli wrote his famous work, The Prince, loosely based off Cesare Borgia and his fairly successful acquisition of much of

Cesare Borgia was a famous politician and cardinal in Italy, but his rise to power is controversial because of the immorality that was necessary to get to that position. Cesare Borgia is mentioned many times in The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli because of the discussion of whether it is appropriate to achieve goals by immoral means. Before passing judgment on Cesare Borgia it’s important to be aware of all the immoral actions he took over his lifetime. Cesare Borgia did many things that are considered

The Renaissance era of Europe produced a great multitude of political thinkers. Among this plethora is perhaps the most controversial philosopher of his age, Niccolò Machiavelli. The Florentine politician, known most famously for his work, The Prince, discusses, among other things, the relationship between morality and political action. However, unlike the vast majority of his European predecessors, who often argued that political power should be in the hands of the morally virtuous ruler, Machiavelli

Richard the Third was a power-hungry tyrant, willing to do whatever it took to become the most powerful man in the land. He lied, schemed, and ran down anyone who stumbled across his highway to fame and fortune. His exploits, though morally deplorable, were highly successful for him up until his fateful end. Many of his actions were taken straight from Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, which is famous for its hard-hearted philosophies on achieving power and ruling. Richard followed Machiavelli’s

The great philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, having such beliefs, puts to rest man’s downfall and presents that way to preservation in his book The Prince, which produces an effective guide for political action based off of his own philosophical beliefs and history’s past. The Prince rest on the principle that, above all, the foundation for a ruler’s success is within verita effettuale—or, the effectiveness of a prince’s rule. Machiavelli urges rulers to focus on acting in ways that will result in

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Italy in 1469 and began his political career in 1498. At that time, Italy was struggling politically. The government was so corrupt and was comprised of several independently operated city-states. What further complicated matters was that this is where the pope lived. He was leader of the Catholic Church, controlled his own territory, and had more influence than any prince of any of the other city-states in Italy. Machiavelli was suspected of being an enemy of

The Prince and the Modern Executive     Few question The Prince’s place in the canon of western literature. That it marks a turning point in our collective history, the origin of the study of politics as a science (Pollock 43), is alone enough to warrant its classification as a "Great Book. Its author, Niccolo Machiavelli, a contemporary of Copernicus, is generally accepted as an early contributor to the scientific revolution, because he looked at power and the nature of sovereignty through

Machiavelli The Prince is call a classic. In today’s contemporary society I believe that some of Machiavelli advice would be relevant. His first piece of advice was teaching us how having knowledge in the military is an important quality that a prince can achieve. Second a person should be a true friend and a true enemy. Thirdly Machiavelli says do not be generous with your money, you’ll just have to tax harder and you’ll lose the support of your citizens. Fourthly in order for a prince to keep

Machiavelli writes The Prince centuries after Plato documents Socrates in Crito and The Apology. Despite the different time periods, both Machiavelli and Socrates experience times of turmoil where the concept of democracy was questioned. However, the different time periods cause the views and purposes of Machiavelli’s writing to largely differ from Socrates. Machiavelli writes in a time of turmoil where Italy was a bunch of small, fragmented states and when the Medici’s struggled to regain power