Machiavelli, Niccolò

One of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), civil servant, statesman, playwright, historian, and political philosopher, is most famous for his treatise The Prince, which has become a cornerstone of modern political philosophy. Machiavelli began his political career in the Florentine republic as a clerk to the second chancellor at the age of 25 when the ruling Medicis were overthrown. Once he became second chancellor and secretary, a position comparable to secretary of state and defense secretary, he traveled on diplomatic missions to various Italian city-states, France, and Spain; he met many of the important politicians of the day, including Cesare Borgia. In 1506 he helped the Florentine ruler Soderini with a plan to reorganize the military; subsequently, when the Medici family regained power in 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed from office, briefly imprisoned, tortured, and permanently removed from public life. He was exiled from Florence, retired, and spent the rest of his life writing on his country estate outside the city limits. He wrote numerous essays on the military and politics as well as comedy and drama. His chief works include The Prince, La Mandragola (a comedy), Discourses, The Art of War, and a History of Florence. In 1527 Machiavelli, the first great political philosopher of the Renaissance and of the modern era, died, disappointed and embittered at his inability to regain political appointment.

Themes echoed in Machiavelli's work offer insight into sixteenth-century Florentine values. La Mandragola, for example, is about the characters' use of fraud to accomplish their objectives. Machiavelli makes it clear that fraud is acceptable, so long as it furthers a worthwhile cause. In The Art of War, Machiavelli combines Roman military theories with the innovative concept that war and politics form a kind of functional unity, with war serving as an instrument of politics. In 1519, when the Medicis consulted Machiavelli on a new constitution for Florence, he responded with Discourses. Concerned with republics (states controlled by a politically active citizenry), he emphasizes that for a republic to survive, it needs to foster a spirit of patriotism and civic virtue among its citizens. Machiavelli argues in Discourses that a republic would be strengthened by conflicts generated through open political participation and debate. He stresses the importance of an uncorrupted political culture and a vigorous political morality. More vast and complex than The Prince, Discourses shows clearly Machiavelli's republican principles, also reflected in his History of Florence.

It is The Prince, however, that has become Machiavelli's most read (often misunderstood) and quoted (often misrepresented) work. Written during a historical period of blackmail, violence, political conflicts, instability, fear, and intrigue, when Italy was repeatedly won and controlled by foreigners, The Prince was Machiavelli's practical guide for Lorenzo de' Medici's as well as Machiavelli's attempt to regain influence with the ruling Medicis in Florence. The Prince stands apart from other political writings of the period because of its focus on the practical problems a monarch faces gaining and staying in power, rather than on more speculative, idealistic explanations of the foundation of political authority. Machiavelli suggests that the best way to maintain power is to rule well, but if this is not possible, then he presents a variety of practical [Page 630]strategies for remaining in power. His political philosophy was highly influenced by observations of Cesare Borgia, a cunning, cruel man, very much like the “ideal prince.” While Machiavelli did not like his policies, he thought that with a ruler like Borgia, the Florentines could unite Italy—Machiavelli's goal throughout his life. To liberate Italy from the influence of foreign governments, Machiavelli explains that strong indigenous governments are important, even if they are absolutist.

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