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Macchiavelli

Name: Niccolo Macchiavelli

Achievements: Power politics

Born: May 3, 1469; Florence, Italy

Died: June 21, 1527; Florence, Italy (Aged 58)

Field & Discipline: Politics; Literature; Writer; Statesman

Father: Bernardo di Niccolo di Buoninsegna

Mother: Bartolomea de'Nelli

Siblings: Totto; Primavera; Margherita

Spouse: Marietta Corsini

Children: 5

Education: Tutors in Florence

Major Work:

"The Prince" (1513)

Life & Times:

Although Macchiavelli's father was a doctor of law, Macchiavelli was largely self-taught with occasional help from tutors. He was obviously a good learner because, in 1498, at the age of twenty-nine, he was given the key government post of Head of the Second Chancery, dealing with government affairs in the Republic of Florence. He was also made Secretary to the Magistracy, which was responsible for foreign affairs and defense.

Chancery employees were often sent abroad on missions thought to be too sensitive for ordinary ambassadors and, in 1500, he went to the French to encourage them to honor their agreement to help Florence regain Pisa. In France, Macchiavelli recognized the immense power that could be wielded by a strong central authority.

Six months later, he returned to an Italy that was in political chaos. Cesare [adviser to] Borgia* had embarked on a military campaign to grab as much of the Romagna area as he could, in order to form his own state in the center of Italy. The Florentines, feeling themselves threatened sent a group for talks with Boria. The team included Macchiavelli, who managed to keep discussions going until French troops arrived in the Republic. Macchiavelli found Borgia to be the ultimate bold, energetic and respected leader of his soldiers, characteristics which Macchiavelli later described in his book on statecraft: “The Prince.”

Macchiavelli had more dealings with Borgia and in 1502, when Borgia tricked his enemies at Senigallia and then had them killed, Macchiavelli recognized the logic of the action and commended Borgia's decisiveness. He was so impressed he wrote an account titled: "On the Manner Adopted by the Duke… to Kill Vitellozzo."

After Borgia's father, Pope Alexander VI, died in 1503, Macchiavelli was sent to Rome to meet the new Pope [met] Julius II* . Macchiavelli then witnessed the fall of Borgia, who now lacked Papal support, and his admiration for Cesare slowly turned to contempt. Despite this, he was impressed by the loyalty of Borgia's soldiers, contrasted with the mutiny of the Swiss mercenaries Florence had employed at Pisa.

In 1504 Macchiavelli wrote the poem "Annals of Italy" and a play based on Aristophanes satirizing various leading religious and political figures. He also read widely and conversed with scholars like [knew] Trissino*.

In 1505, when he succeeded in getting a law passed to establish a militia, the Florentine Republic's territory was divided up into districts, levies were set, and Macchiavelli was made Secretary of the Council with authority over the militia.

Two years later, the Holy Roman Emperor [spied on] Maximilian I*, threatened to invade Italy, and Florence sent Macchiavelli to Germany to report on his strengths and weaknesses.

Later, against the wishes of fellow members of the Council, Macchiavelli mobilized the militia in a successful campaign against Pisa and, in 1510, he went to France again to try to avert war between France and the Papal States. When he returned to Florence, he was sure that they would be drawn into any conflict between the Pope and the French king and did everything he could to strengthen the militia.

He returned to France in 1511, in an attempt to persuade the king to remove the French-supported council in Pisa. Returning to Italy, Macchiavelli himself removed the council. Pope Julius II then demanded that the Florentines join the League against France but they refused. There was panic in the city as Spanish troops approached and, by 1512, the exiled Medici faction had seized power in Florence. Macchiavelli was dismissed from his job.

The following year, he was imprisoned and tortured for plotting to overthrow the Medicis but he was eventually released. He retired to a small property at Sant'Andrea in Percussina outside Florence and began writing his "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy", a treatise on Republics.

Stimulated by his research, in 1513 he also wrote his most famous work, "The Prince," a book on the principles of statecraft. He dedicated the book to [dedicated work to] Lorenzo de'Medici*, the ruler of Florence, in an unsuccessful bid to get back into favor. He then wrote "The Mandrake" in 1518, a dark satire on the corruption of the clergy and the evil in men

In 1520, he took a job as official historian of the Republic at the University of Florence and wrote to Pope Leo X, advising him to restore the Republic’s freedom. The Pope died in 1521, before he could reply, but Giulio de’Medici asked for advice and Macchiavelli sent him a revised version of the letter.

Guilio became Pope Clement VII in 1523 and Macchiavelli was back in power. In 1526, he was appointed secretary of a committee set up to oversee the fortifications of Florence being undertaken by Pietro Navarra, a famous military engineer and Spanish refugee.

Italy was at war with the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor and Macchiavelli was in service with the Italian army. In 1527, Rome was sacked, Florence captured and the Medicis driven out of power. Because of his past loyalties, Macchiavelli was given no position by the new rulers and he died, in Florence, in the same year.

Extra Connections: He was involved with a project by [involved with project of] Da Vinci*.

He influenced [influenced] Naude*.

Assessment: Macchiavelli was the first to base a political theory on the study of human nature.

Oneliner: Niccolo Macchiavelli, originator of power politics

Bibliography: