The Renaissance Prince

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Recommended: Humanism in the Renaissance

The Renaissance, a revival of antiquity starting in Italy around the middle of the 14th century, had broad implications for the way western society would operate thereafter. It would no longer focus on the church and its dictates, although they would still play a part. It would no longer have its government seated in Rome, with small pawns of the church controlling the land, although the church would still have a hand in government. It would no longer shun the vast stores of knowledge created in the past and ignored for a thousand years, although opponents would remain. The ideas of humanism, individualism, and secularism would come to play a role in society as they had in the past. Niccolo Machiavelli lived in a time when the Renaissance was at its peak, and, as a part of it, manifested its ideas in his works. His most famous piece, The Prince, used the principles of the Renaissance to make a break from what had previously been considered normal conduct for a ruler. Likewise, the Renaissance itself made a break from what had previously been considered a way of life by western society. Thus, numerous parallels between these subjects exist.

Many in the Renaissance devoted themselves to taking old ideas, mainly from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and reintroducing or improving upon them in order to better themselves or society. This was humanism. Italian humanists stressed the study of the classics for what they could reveal about human nature: "[Bruni maybe]." Bruni studied the classics for self-amelioration. This type of study brought about much of the cultural and educational recovery from the Middle Ages attributed to the Renaissance. Machiavelli attempted to provide a model of his ideal government. He judged go...

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...ala." This dictated a need for the understanding of human nature, not that of the divine.

Machiavelli's writing in The Prince represented the Renaissance, in that its concepts--humanism, individualism, and secularism--were present throughout its discourse. He used ancient authority to support his arguments, he had a definitive sense of self, and he was completely independent from religion. These were the developments of the Renaissance. They would be built upon in the future. Humanism would transcend to the next plane of thought in the Enlightenment. Secularism would grow during the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and again during the French revolution. Individualism would be enhanced during the Enlightenment and realize its full potential in the Industrial Revolution. Without these basic ideas, none of these further developments could have occurred.

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