Niccolo Machiavelli - Biography

Niccolo Machiavelli - Biography

Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence , Italy. He is known for being a political philosopher, historian, writer, statesman, and diplomat.

Machiavelli is best known for his famous, influential work, "The Prince" (1513). This brought him a reputation of:

amoral cynicism,

being associated with corrupt government,

diabolical (Showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil).

Machiavellian and Machiavellianism are two concepts coined from Machiavelli's views as stated in The Prince.

Machiavelli is misunderstood because people judge him purely on the prince and because they do not read his Discourses as well.

Many people criticize Machiavelli's drastic suggestions in The Prince. These people do not consider the state Italy was in when The Prince was written. Machiavelli wrote The Prince to help save Italy from frequent foreign invasions. According to those that knew Machiavelli, he was a religious and moral man.

The Prince

The prince was written in a time of large-scale blackmail, violence and political conflicts. political instability, fear, invasion, intrigue, Italy was repeatedly won and controlled by foreigners.

The prince was Machiavelli's practical guide to Lorenzo Di Medici to act in this environment.

In the final chapter of the prince, Machiavelli calls for an end to this choas, by suggesting Italy stand together with an army of their own against foreign invaders.

Machiavelli wrote The Prince to help Lorenzo the Magnificent Di Medici to stay in power. He also wrote it to get back an advisory position in the Medici government.

Unfortunately, Lorenzo did not agree with the suggestions in the book, so Machiavelli did not get a job.

The Prince was different from the other documents of the time in that the prince had practical suggestions on how to deal with the current, existing problems of the period. The other documents were much more theoretical.

There is a difference of opinion by readers of the prince, whether Machiavelli is essentiallly a good, religious person or someone that is bad and cruel.

For example, Machiavelli praise Caesar Borgia , a cruel, vicious, dictator - hated and despised by many. Does this mean Machiavelli agrees that Ceasar's actions are justified?

Machiavelli thought that Caesar's quick and deliberate qualities were just what is required to unite Italy. Machiavelli admired the qualities, not Caesar as a person.

The Prince was written in 1513 but only published in 1532 after Machiavelli's death.

In 1559 The Prince appeared on the pope's Index of Prohibited Books.

The following are some world leaders that studied and put suggestions from The Prince into practice: Cromwell, Frederick the Great, Louis the XIV, Napoleon, Bismark and Kennedy.

Machiavelli's occupations

In 1498 Machiavelli was made the head of the second chancery. This is an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records.

Machiavelli was the secretary of a council that held diplomatic negotiations in the state.

This included missions