Social Life in Medieval and Early Modern Italy
Nicolo Macchiavelli and The Prince
At the end of the 14th century, Italy was still politically organized by city-states. Emerging as one of the most influential writers of the Renaissance, Niccolo Machiavelli was a political analyst,
whose aim was to free italy from foreign rule, as well as to unite and strengthen the Italian city
states. Machiavelli believed Italy could not be united unless its leader was ruthless. In 1513, he wrote his best-known work, The Prince, in which he describes the ways that a prince may gain and
maintain his power. Machiavellie advises his rulers to be kind only of it suited their purposes. Otherwise, he warned, it is better to be feared than loved.
Machiavelli is considered one of the great early modern analyzers of political power. Born in Florence in 1469 and living until 1527, Niccolo Machiavelli experienced what we now consider the height of the Italian Renaissance-a period that produced some of Italy's greatest achievements in the arts and sciences, but that also produced horrible scandals and the establishment of foreign domination over the peninsula (Microsoft Encarta 99). He grew up during the reign of the Medici family, and he learned to read and write in Latin while he studied the classics. Humanistic ideals were popular in Florentine government, and although Machiavelli’s family was neither rich nor aristocratic, they were supporters of the city’s leading humanists. Machiavelli showed a keen interest in the world around him, and from this interest he demonstrated a remarkable ability to learn. By the age of seven he had begun his formal education, and by age twelve he had graduated from primary school and was enrolled in private classes. He was later accepted into the University of Florence where he studied humanities, literature, and sciences.
In 1498, the year that Florence became a republic, Machiavelli was awarded a position in the government as a clerk. He rose quickly through governmental ranks and soon he became head of the ...
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...ositions on how a prince should rule and what qualities he should possess are relative to his particular view of human nature. Machiavelli believed that naturally man is greedy and concerned only with himself, therefore I agree with Machiavelli’s view that it is better for a prince to be feared than loved because I agree that people will be less likely to go against the ruler when they are fearful of the consequences. Machiavelli was perhaps 350 years ahead of his time with his vision of a united Italy and his unique thoughts have changed the face of political science forever.
Works Cited
•Machiavelli, Niccolo, Ed. Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. The Prince, The University of Chicago Press.,1985.
•“Machiavelli, Niccolo,” Encyclopedia Britannica CD 98 ©1994-1998 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
•“Machiavelli, Niccolo,” Microsoft Encarta 99 Encyclopedia ©1993-1998 Microsoft Corp.
Machiavelli believes that a government should be very structured, controlled, and powerful. He makes it known that the only priorities of a prince are war, the institutions, and discipline. His writings describes how it is more important for a prince to be practical than moral. This is shown where he writes, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (47). In addition, Machiavelli argues that a prince may have to be cunning and deceitful in order to maintain political power. He takes the stance that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. His view of how a government should run and his unethical conduct are both early signs of dictatorship.
Machiavelli’s views were drastically different from other humanists at his time. He strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but stood in the way of a successfully governed state. He stated that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little thought to the well being of the state. He distrusted citizens saying, “In time of adversity, when a state is in need of its citizens, there are few to be found.” In his writings in The Prince, he constantly questioned the citizens’ loyalty and warned for the leaders to be wary in trusting citizens. His radical and distrusting thoughts on human nature were derived out of concern for Italy’s then unstable government. Machiavelli also had a s...
Niccolò Machiavelli was known during much his life as a part of the republican government in Florence until 1512. At that time, the Medici family took over the city and ruled under a more monarchical system. From that point until his death in 1527, Machiavelli was always just on the outside of Florentine politics. He would occasionally get work from the Medici but his tasks were never as important as they had been under the republican government of the past. As he was trying to find his way back into a major role in Florentine government, Machiavelli wrote The Prince, a manual of sorts that explained how a monarch should rule his state and why. While Machiavelli had been a strong proponent of republican ideals in the past, in The Prince, his ideas are far from adhering to republicanism. The book seems to promote the ideal monarch as a cold, heartless person whose only goal in life should be to retain power, regardless of who or what he destroys. This includes killing enemies of the state, personal enemies of the Prince, and even, in some cases, friends or family. While The Prince was not the first book of this kind, it was the first to suggest a government that rules with no regard for religion or morality. Machiavelli did not particularly pay heed to religious law in the way he lived his life, but he also did not particularly care for the Catholic Church of the time because of the lack of morality demonstrated by the Pope's and other supposedly "religious men's" actions at the time. There are other works that Machiavelli wrote both before and after The Prince that survive today, as well as letters he wrote to his friends that demonstrate a different set of ideals than th...
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.
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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.
After Victor Frankenstein had accomplished his task of reconstructing another human being, he stared at his Creature in horror and immediate regret. He rejected the Creature, and
In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses the suicide of Blanche's husband to illuminate Blanche's insecurities and immoral behavior. When something terrible happens to someone, it often reveals who he or she truly is. Blanche falls victim to this behavior, and she fails to face her demons. This displays how the play links a character’s illogical choices and their inner struggles.
At night Christine is singing to Raoul, and makes him sad because he can tell she isn’t herself. Carlotta is singing when she suddenly can’t. Moncharmin and Firmin sitting in box five feel as if there is some else there. Carlotta keeps croaking the chandelier crashes to the ground killing a woman. Christine is suddenly gone after the night of the crashing of the chandelier. She is not found for two weeks; until Raoul finds out she was taken by her “Angel of Music”. He sees her riding in a carriage with a ghostly looking male appearance. The opera holds an annual masquerade ball. Christine comes with a man who is in a Red Death costume. Christine and Raoul get out together but only getting into their first fight. He has a confrontation with Red Death, which is presumed to be the Phantom. Christine comes back from the Angel of Music, but won’t answer any of the questions that Raoul ask. He notices on her left ring finger she has a simple gold ring. He wishes th...
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Niccolo Machiavelli was a political philosopher from Florence, Italy. The period that Machiavelli lived in was the "rebirth" of art in Italy and rediscovery of ancient philosophy, literature and science. He wrote The Prince, in which he discusses the proper way of living as a prince. His ideas, which were not viewed as beneficial at the time, were incredibly cynical and took time for the rest of the population to really catch onto the ideas. Machiavelli’s view of human nature was that humans are born evil, and while they can show good traits, and the common man is not to be trusted. Unlike Confucius, Machiavelli believes that human nature cannot be changed, and unlike Plato, where Plato believes in humans as social beings. Each respected view
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During the time 1469, a child by the name of Niccolo Di Bernardo Del Machiavelli was born. Some may know him as an Italian philosopher, humanist, or an evil minded fellow associated with the corruptness of totalitarian government. In Machiavelli’s home state of Florence, he introduces the modern political theory. Hoping to gain influence with the ruling Medici family, Niccolo wrote a pamphlet called The Prince (Prezzolini). Niccolo lived a nondescript childhood and his main political experience in his youth was watching Savonarola from afar.