Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was a Florentine statesman and political philosopher. As a theorist, Machiavelli was the key figure in realistic political theory, crucial to European statecraft during the Renaissance. His two most famous books, Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio (Discourses on Livy) and Il Principe (The Prince), were written in the hopes of improving the conditions of the Northern Italian principalities, but became general handbooks for a new style in politics. The Prince, written to encourage the appearance of a political savior who would unify the corrupt city-states and fend off foreign conquest, advocated the theory that whatever was expedient was necessary—an early example of realpolitik.

The man and his works

No one can say where the bones of Machiavelli rest, but modern

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Florence has decreed him a stately cenotaph in Santa Croce, by the

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side of her most famous sons; recognising that, whatever other nations

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may have found in his works, Italy found in them the idea of her unity

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and the source of her renaissance among the nations of Europe. Whilst

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it is idle to protest against the world-wide and evil signification of

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his name, it may be pointed out that the harsh construction of his

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doctrine which this sinister reputation implies was unknown to his own

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day, and that the researches of recent times have enabled us to

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interpret him more reasonably. It is due to these inquiries that the

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shape of an "unholy necromancer," which so long haunted men's vision,

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has begun to fade.

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Undoubtedly, Machiavelli was a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and

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with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced

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retirement from affairs. He does not present himself, nor is he

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depicted by his contemporaries, as a type of that rare combination,

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the successful statesman and author, for he appears to have been only

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moderately prosperous in his several embassies and political

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employments. He was misled by Catherina Sforza, ignored by Louis XII,

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overawed by Cesare Borgia; several of his embassies were quite barren

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of results; his attempts to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery

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that he raised astonished everybody by their cowardice. In the conduct

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of his own affairs he was timid and time-serving; he dared not appear

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by the side of Soderini, to whom he owed so much, for fear of

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compromising himself; his connection with the Medici was open to

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suspicion, and Giulo appears to have recognized his real forte when

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he set him to write the History of Florence, rather than employ him

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in the state. And it is on the literary side of his character, and

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there alone, that we find no weakness and no failure.

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Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused on The Prince,

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its problems are still debatable and interesting, because

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they are the eternal problems between the ruled and their rulers. Such

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as they are, its ethics are those of Machiavelli's contemporaries; yet

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they cannot be said to be out of date so long as the governments of

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Europe rely on material rather than on moral forces. Its historical

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incidents and personages become interesting by reason of the uses

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which Machiavelli makes of them to illustrate his theories of

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government and conduct.

Related Topics:
Government - Conduct

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Leaving out of consideration those maxims of state which still furnish

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some European and eastern statesmen with principles of action, The Prince

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is bestrewn with truths that can be proved at every turn:

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Men are still the dupes of their simplicity and greed, as they were in the

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days of Alexander VI. The cloak of religion still conceals the vices

Related Topics:
Alexander VI - Religion

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which Machiavelli laid bare in the character of Ferdinand of Aragon.

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Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them

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to be--and are ruined. In politics there are no perfectly safe

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courses; prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones. Then

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