Niccolo Machiavelli : Political Genius Niccolo Machiavelli was not one, but three men: a political theorist, a military theorist, and a famous writer.
Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469. The Machiavelli family was one of the most prominent politically in the city, having 15 Gonfaloniere among his ancestors.1 Niccolo?s father, Bernardo Machiavelli was a legal consultant in the city, prominent participant in humanist scholarship of the day, and close associate of the city?s First Chancellor. Niccolo received the very top quality humanist education available.
We first hear of him playing an active role in the affairs of his native city in 1498, when the position for head of second chancery, came open. He was only twenty-nine years old at the time, and didn?t have any previous experience. However, his nomination was confirmed and he was appointed second chancellor of the Florentine Republic.2 Machiavelli?s official position involved him in very important duties. The first and second chanceries both handled official correspondence dealing with Florence?s domestic, foreign, and military affairs. As head of the second chancier, Machiavelli was also soon assigned the further job of secretary to the Ten of War, the committee responsible for the Florence?s diplomatic relations.3 In addition to his routine office duties, he also traveled abroad to act as spokesman for the Ten. During the next fourteen years, Machiavelli was sent on numerous diplomatic missions to France, Switzerland, and Germany. In June 1500, Machiavelli was in France at the court of Louis XII, negotiating for assistance in regaining Pisa, which had asserted its independence form Florence and tried to establish an independent city-state.4 There in France, Machiavelli saw first-hand the weak leadership of the king.
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He also learned about the French Parliament and its difficulties in resolving power struggles between the hereditary The Medici reentered the city of Florence in 1512, after eighteen years. Within weeks the free republic of Florence was swept away, and in came oligarchy, and the Medici family assumed absolute power. In November 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed from his government post and forbidden to leave Florentine territory for a year.5 In February 1513, he was falsely accused of taking part in an unsuccessful conspiracy against the Medici and was imprisoned.6 Early in the same year, Cardinal Giovanni de? Medici was elected as pope as Leo X. The election greatly strengthened the new regime in Florence. Along with celebrations, they freed many political prisoners, including Machiavelli. As soon as he was released, he tried to get his job back. With no response from the Medici, he withdrew to his farm at Sant? Andrea. There Machiavelli began writing ?The Prince?-describes the means by which a leader may gain and maintain power. Machiavelli hoped that ?The Prince? would bring him to the attention of the Medici. He wanted them to see that he was still their loyal subject, and to impassive that he was a man worth employing.7
The year 1512 is generally considered to have been the turning point of his life. Machiavelli, throughout his whole life was involved in politics and writing.. He was a born writer even when he was not trying. After he was dismissed from office, was when he used his writing as means to get his job back. The Medici didn?t agree with the book, and the public was outraged. The public thought he was cruel and heartless for having such evil thoughts. Machiavelli never won the trust of the Medici, and never got his job back. From 1513 to the time of his death in 15278, he wrote numerous of political works including: The Prince, 1513; The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, 1513-1518; The Discourse on the War with Pisa, 1498; Report on the Fortifications of Florence, 1526; The Life of Castruccio Castracani, 1520; The Art of War, 1517-1520, etc. In addition, he wrote several literary works: Mandragola, a play; Clizia, an adaptation from Plautus; Belfagor, a The Medici was kicked out of Florence a few years later.10 Machiavelli ran to take office, but his reputation with The Prince made people think that his political views were like the Medici and was not elected.
The Essay on Machiavelli Power Prince Book
... the public whole. Rather, he writes a manual where there are political conflicts and tensions. Machiavelli writes how a prince should deal with these conflicts ... The Prince MAJOR THEME Machiavelli had a true and abiding love for Florence. He wanted to make Florence great and also find himself a ... job, as he lost his when the Medici family came into ...
Machiavelli continued to write and died peacefully Even after his death he was criticized for his corrupt ruling. Machiavelli?s purpose was to describe the realities of political life-not to set up a school for tyrants. It was believed that rulers like Napoleon I and Adolf Hitler used The Prince as a kind of textbook to guide them in the pursuit of power.12 If Machiavelli?s exposition applies to the nineteenth–or twentieth-century figures like Napoleon and Hitler, that is much more of an indication of how well he understood the political dimensions of the human nature than it is evidence that such figures learned their methods from him. Machiavelli believes that military training is the source of human virtue because it forces the individual to sacrifice for society.13 Ethics comes from the sacrifice of individual interests to the state. Involuntary recruiting is the main form of education for a people who want to be free and the best remedy for a people already corrupted by indolence of peace.14 He thinks of educators as army leaders, not learned academics.15 The youth of a country should become used to hardship and work, and get used to fighting and not fear death.
Idleness leads to indolence and corruption. Frederick of Prussia wrote Refutation of Machiavelli?s Prince, or Anti-Machiavel between 1739 and 174016. Frederick of Prussia attacks The Prince, chapter by chapter. He completely missed Machiavelli?s point, while trying to reconcile his own pessimistic and militaristic tendencies. ? My intention in this work is to satisfy myself and to express my true convictions freely. If the reader is sufficiently depraved not to like the truth or contradictions, he can throw away this book. No one, assuredly, is forcing him to read it.?17 Frederick of Prussia criticizes Machiavelli all the way through the book, making smart remarks ever so often. He states, ?Machiavelli is only striving by this maxim to inspire princes with a secret jealousy for their generals and allies.?18 He also says that Machiavelli only wrote for ?petty princes?19. Was Hitler and Napoleon petty? He says that Machiavelli ?exaggerates so much that he wants his prince to be nothing but a solider.?20 ? Throughout Machiavelli?s writings, one can see that he was a very intelligent man. He was first to see the connection between foreign and internal affairs, between armed forces and the constitution.
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Much of the concentration of the book is on the relationship between the prince and his peers active politic elite. Because ambition and desire for power drive such men, and they are by nature selfish and greedy beings, one must in turn to be aggressive and even ruthless in his methods if the wishes to gain and maintain power. Machiavelli feels that one must take direct action when ever able, and ...
Yet, he is one of the most misunderstood and distorted of philosophers. While Machiavell?s political career was much more broad than of other political theorists, it was not in such an honorable position as to achieve for him the fame he sought. His books, however, far exceed in value the purpose for which they were created, and have earned for him even more renown as a monumental political theorists than he could have possibly 1. Butterfield, Herbert. The Statecraft of Machiavelli. New York, Collier Books. 1967,c1962. pp126. 2.. Fredrick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786. Anti-Machiavel. Ohio University press, c1981. pp164. 3. Gilbert, Felix. Machiavelli and Guicciardini. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 4. Jensen, De Lamar. Machiavelli: Cynic, Patriot, or Political Scientist?. Boston, Heath, c1960. pp108. 5. Who2: Niccolo Machiavelli: Profile. http://www.who2.com/niccolomachiavelli.html
