Niccolo Machiavelli - The the Man Behind The Prince
To describe human history as volatile would be akin to saying that the sun is warm. The quest for power and how to keep it is what has defined human civilization; altruism, as it applies to empire, just does not exist. No one has quite realized this better than Niccolo Machiavelli. Citing much of Roman political culture, which he believed was the most superior form of government that had existed, and infusing his "knowledge of the deeds of great men, which [he had] acquired through a long experience of modern events and a constant study of the past", Machiavelli collected the footnotes of history and applied his observations to events in his world (Machiavelli 31). What resulted was a theory that was ahead of its time and remained so for centuries.
Machiavelli's Italy was caught in the middle of a conflict between France and Spain over control of Naples. When King Charles VIII of France set out, around the 1490's, to claim the southern Italian Kingdom, he found assistance, not resistance, from Lodovico Sforza, then Duke of Milan. The leader in Florence, Piero Medici, set out to confront the French invasion, but upon realization of the might of his opposition, he "panicked [and] rode out to meet Charles and presented him with keys to…the important fortresses in Florentine territory" (Muhlberger 1). With such leadership, it is no surprise that Italy was nothing more than a collection of weak city-states. The condition of Italy, with its fragmented populace and effeminate leaders, was a far cry from the glory and might of the Roman Empire.
Around the turn of the 16th century, the state of Florence was in turmoil; the Medici leadership was deposed and the government was ...
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...s country. He believed an organized Italy could recapture past glory. When the Medici returned however, he was exiled and it was during this time that he wrote The Prince. His motivation was two-fold: to offer what he believed to be the best advice for Italy, and to impress the Medici, in hopes that he could again be involved in the government. Sadly the latter never happed and Italy would remain fragmented until the 19th century.
Works Cited
Gauss, Christian. Introduction. The Prince. By Niccolo Machiavelli. Trans. Luigi Ricci, revised by E.R.P. Vincent. New York: Signet Classic, 1999:7-32
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Trans. Luigi Ricci, revised by E.R.P. Vincent. New York: Signet Classic, 1999
Muhlberger, Steve. "Italy in the Time of Machiavelli". Nipissing University. Ca. 1999
http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/muhlberger/2155/mach.htm
Niccolò Machiavelli was a man who lived during the fourteen and fifteen hundreds in Florence, Italy, and spent part of his life imprisoned after the Medici princes returned to power. He believed that he should express his feelings on how a prince should be through writing and became the author of “The Qualities of a Prince.” In his essay, he discusses many points on how a prince should act based on military matters, reputation, giving back to the people, punishment, and keeping promises. When writing his essay, he follows his points with examples to back up his beliefs. In summary, Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of a Prince,” provides us with what actions and behaviors that a prince should have in order to maintain power and respect.
Machiavelli, Nicolo (1532) The Prince. In Peter Bondanella’s and Mark Musa’s (eds) The Portable Machiavelli. (pp. 77-166) New York, New York: Penguin Books.
Throughout the short story, “The Lady with the Lapdog”, Chekhov’s strays away from the classical love story expectations by realistically portraying Anna's and Gurov's relationship. Chekhov follows the structure for a romantic tale to a bare minimum, but, ultimately, diverts from the commonly known aspects of a love story, as described by author Leigh Michaels’ “The Essential Elements of Writing a Romance Novel”. Chekok’s alteration from a classical love story thwarts the reader’s expectations by demonstrating realism and uncertainty found in human nature. Chekhov’s technique of applying a realistic lens on this couple raises more questions than answers, leaving much ambiguity for the reader’s own interpretation. By exploring the nuances in human nature, Chekhov illustrates a forbidden love that juxtaposes the universal rubric for what a love story should contain.
By the turn of the sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance had produced writers such as Danté, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Castiglione, each with ideas rooted in the revival of Greek and Roman Classics, localization of the Christian traditions, idealistic opinions of women and individualism. From these authors spread the growth of the humanistic movement which encompassed the entirety of the Italian rebirth of arts and literature. One among many skeptics, including Lorenzo Valla, who had challenged the Catholic Church fifty years earlier in proving the falsity of the Donation of Constantine, Niccolò Machiavelli projected his ideas of fraudulence into sixteenth century Italian society by suggesting that rulers could only maintain power through propaganda, as seen with the success of Ferdinand of Aragon in Spain circa 1490. Today, the coined term Machiavellian refers to duplicity in either politics or self-advancement. Unlike most philosophers of the sixteenth century, Machiavelli wrote from the perspective of an anti-Humanist; he criticized not only the Classics and the Catholic Church, but also encouraged the deceitful use of religion and hated the humanist concepts of liberty, peace and individualism.1
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Niccolo Machiavelli lived in Florence, Italy in the 1400’s. The country of Italy was divided into city-states that had their own leaders, but all pledged alliance to their king. In time in which great leaders were needed in order to help the development of a city-state and country, Machiavelli had a theory that man needed a leader to control them. In his book The Prince, he speaks of the perfect leader.
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Niccolo lived a nondescript childhood and his main political experience in his youth was watching Savonarola from afar. When Savonarola was executed Niccolo entered the Florentine government as a secretary. Niccolo position soon rose and he became engage in diplomatic missions, it was here he met Powerful people like the Pope and the King of France (Mattinngly). One of Niccolo vision was to see Florentine and Italy unite and with the help of Cesar Borgia that goal could be met .Borgia had the qualities as portrayed in The Prince which caught the eye of Niccole (Guiseppe).