Niccolò Machiavelli ::: Project ETERNITY

Niccolò Machiavelli (May 3, 1469—June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher during the Renaissance. As a civil servant in Florence, Machiavelli became the key figure in realistic political theory, crucial to later studies in political science. His most famous book, Il Principe (The Prince), was a work intended to be an instruction book for rulers. Published after his death, the book advocated the theory that whatever was expedient was necessary—an early example of utilitarianism and realpolitik. Machiavelli's theories were elaborated in the 20th century.

Machiavelli was also the author of many "Discourses" on political life in the Roman Republic, Florence, and other states, in which he demonstrated mastery of other views. However, the adjective "Machiavellian" is seen by most experts to inaccurately represent him and his views, having come to describe narrow, self-interested behavior pursued by interest groups. Along with Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli is considered the ideal prototype of the Renaissance man. While this epithet may be more appropriate than describing Machiavelli as "Machiavellian," it may be fair to state that he possessed a "machiavellian intelligence".

Biography

Machiavelli was born in Florence. He was the second son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility.

From 1494 to 1512, the younger Machiavelli held an official government post. During this time, he traveled to various European courts in France, Germany, and other Italian city-states on diplomatic missions. Machiavelli was briefly imprisoned in Florence in 1512, was later exiled and returned to San Casciano. He died in Florence in 1527 and was buried there in Santa Croce.

Detailed biography

His life can be divided into three periods, each of which constitutes a distinct and important era in the history of Florence. His youth was concurrent with the greatness of Florence as an Italian power under the guidance of Lorenzo de' Medici, Il Magnifico. The downfall of the Medici in Florence occurred in 1494, in which year Machiavelli entered the public service. During his official career Florence was free under the government of a Republic, which lasted until 1512, when the Medici returned to power, and Machiavelli lost his office. The Medici again ruled Florence from 1512 until 1527, when they were once more driven out. This was the period of Machiavelli's literary activity and increasing influence; but he died, within a few weeks of the expulsion of the Medici, on 22nd June 1527, in his fifty-eighth year, without having regained office.

Youth

Aet. 1-25--1469-94

Although there is little recorded of the youth of Machiavelli, the

Florence of those days is so well known that the early environment of

this representative citizen may be easily imagined. Florence has been

described as a city with two opposite currents of life, one directed

by the fervent and austere Savonarola, the other by the splendour-loving Lorenzo. Savonarola's influence upon the young Machiavelli must

have been slight, for although at one time he wielded immense power

over the fortunes of Florence, he only furnished Machiavelli with a

subject of a gibe in The Prince, where he is cited as an example of

an unarmed prophet who came to a bad end. Whereas the magnificence of

the Medicean rule during the life of Lorenzo appeared to have

impressed Machiavelli strongly, for he frequently refers to it in his

writings, and it is to Lorenzo's grandson that he dedicates The Prince.

Machiavelli, in his History of Florence, gives us a picture of the

young men among whom his youth was passed. He writes: "They were freer

than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other

kinds of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming,

and women; their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak

with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most

cleverly was thought the wisest." In a letter to his son Guido,

Machiavelli shows why youth should avail itself of its opportunities

for study, and leads us to infer that his own youth had been so

occupied. He writes: "I have received your letter, which has given me

the greatest pleasure, especially because you tell me you are quite

restored in health, than which I could have no better news; for if God

grant life to you, and to me, I hope to make a good man of you if you

are willing to do your share." Then, writing of a new patron, he

continues: "This will turn out well for you, but it is necessary for

you to study; since, then, you have no longer the excuse of illness,

take pains to study letters and music, for you see what honour is done

to me for the little skill I have. Therefore, my son, if you wish to

please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do right and

study, because others will help you if you help yourself."

Office

Aet. 25-43--1494-1512

The second period of his life was spent in the service of

the free Republic of Florence, which flourished from

the expulsion of the Medici in 1494 until their return in 1512. After

serving four years in one of the public offices he was appointed

Chancellor and Secretary to the Second Chancery, the Ten of Liberty

and Peace. Here we are on firm ground when dealing with the events of

Machiavelli's life, for during this time he took a leading part in the

affairs of the Republic, and we have its decrees, records, and

dispatches to guide us, as well as his own writings. A mere

recapitulation of a few of his transactions with the statesmen and

soldiers of his time gives a fair indication of his activities, and

supplies the sources from which he drew the experiences and characters

which illustrate The Prince.

His first mission was in 1499 to Catherina Sforza, "my lady of Forli"

of The Prince, from whose conduct and fate he drew the moral that it

is far better to earn the confidence of the people than to rely on

fortresses. This is a very noticeable principle in Machiavelli, and is

urged by him in many ways as a matter of vital importance to princes.

In 1500 he was sent to France to obtain terms from Louis XII for

continuing the war against Pisa: this king it was who, in his conduct

of affairs in Italy, committed the five capital errors in statecraft

summarized in The Prince, and was consequently driven out. He, also,

it was who made the dissolution of his marriage a condition of support

to Pope Alexander VI; this leads Machiavelli to refer those who urge

that such promises should be kept to what he has written concerning

the faith of princes.

Machiavelli's public life was largely occupied with events arising out

of the ambitions of Pope Alexander VI and his son, Cesare Borgia, the

Duke Valentino, and these characters fill a large space of The Prince. Machiavelli never hesitates to cite the actions of the duke

for the benefit of usurpers who wish to keep the states they have

seized; he can, indeed, find no precepts to offer so good as the

pattern of Cesare Borgia's conduct, insomuch that Cesare is acclaimed

by some critics as the "hero" of The Prince. Yet in The Prince the

duke is in point of fact cited as a type of the man who rises on the

fortune of others, and falls with them; who takes every course that

might be expected from a prudent man but the course which will save

him; who is prepared for all eventualities but the one which happens;

and who, when all his abilities fail to carry him through, exclaims

that it was not his fault, but an extraordinary and unforeseen

fatality.

On the death of Pope Pius III, in 1503, Machiavelli was sent to Rome to

watch the election of his successor, and there he saw Cesare Borgia

cheated into allowing the choice of the College to fall on Giuliano

delle Rovere (Pope Julius II), who was one of the cardinals that had most

reason to fear the duke. Machiavelli, when commenting on this

election, says that he who thinks new favours will cause great

personages to forget old injuries deceives himself. Julius did not

rest until he had ruined Cesare.

It was to Julius II that Machiavelli was sent in 1506, when that

pontiff was commencing his enterprise against Bologna; which he

brought to a successful issue, as he did many of his other adventures,

owing chiefly to his impetuous character. It is in reference to Pope

Julius that Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between Fortune

and women, and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious

man that will win and hold them both.

It is impossible to follow here the varying fortunes of the Italian

states, which in 1507 were controlled by France, Spain, and Germany,

with results that have lasted to our day; we are concerned with those

events, and with the three great actors in them, so far only as they

impinge on the personality of Machiavelli. He had several meetings

with Louis XII of France, and his estimate of that monarch's character

has already been alluded to. Machiavelli has painted Ferdinand II of Aragon

as the man who accomplished great things under the cloak of

religion, but who in reality had no mercy, faith, humanity, or

integrity; and who, had he allowed himself to be influenced by such

motives, would have been ruined. The Emperor Maximilian was one of the

most interesting men of the age, and his character has been drawn by

many hands; but Machiavelli, who was an envoy at his court in 1507-8,

reveals the secret of his many failures when he describes him as a

secretive man, without force of character--ignoring the human agencies

necessary to carry his schemes into effect, and never insisting on the

fulfilment of his wishes.

The remaining years of Machiavelli's official career were filled with

events arising out of the League of Cambrai, made in 1508 between the

three great European powers already mentioned and the pope, with the

object of crushing the Venetian Republic. This result was attained in

the Battle of Vaila (now usually known as the Battle of Agnadello), when Venice lost in one day all that she had won

in eight hundred years. Florence had a difficult part to play during

these events, complicated as they were by the feud which broke out

between the pope and the French, because friendship with France had

dictated the entire policy of the Republic. When, in 1511, Julius II

finally formed the Holy League against France, and with the assistance

of the Swiss drove the French out of Italy, Florence lay at the mercy

of the Pope, and had to submit to his terms, one of which was that the

Medici should be restored. The return of the Medici to Florence on

September 1, 1512, and the consequent fall of the Republic, was the

signal for the dismissal of Machiavelli and his friends, and thus put

an end to his public career, for, as we have seen, he died without

regaining office.

Writings and death

Aet. 43-58--1512-27

On the return of the Medici, Machiavelli, who for a few weeks had

vainly hoped to retain his office under the new masters of Florence,

was dismissed by decree dated November 7, 1512. Shortly after this he

was accused of complicity in an abortive conspiracy against the

Medici, imprisoned, and put to the question by torture. The new

Medici pontiff, Pope Leo X, procured his release, and he retired to his

small property at San Casciano, near Florence, where he devoted

himself to literature. In a letter to Francesco Vettori, dated December 13, 1513, he has left a very interesting description of his life

at this period, which elucidates his methods and his motives in

writing The Prince. After describing his daily occupations with his

family and neighbours, he writes: "The evening being come, I return

home and go to my study; at the entrance I pull off my peasant-

clothes, covered with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress,

and thus becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the

men of old, where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that

food which is mine alone; where I do not hesitate to speak with them,

and to ask for the reason of their actions, and they in their

benignity answer me; and for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget

every trouble, poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me; I

am possessed entirely by those great men. And because Dante says:

I have noted down what I have gained from their conversation, and have

composed a small work on 'Principalities,' where I pour myself out as

fully as I can in meditation on the subject, discussing what a

principality is, what kinds there are, how they can be acquired, how

they can be kept, why they are lost: and if any of my fancies ever

pleased you, this ought not to displease you: and to a prince,

especially to a new one, it should be welcome: therefore I dedicate it

to his Magnificence Giuliano. Filippo Casavecchio has seen it; he will

be able to tell you what is in it, and of the discourses I have had

with him; nevertheless, I am still enriching and polishing it."

The "little book" suffered many vicissitudes before attaining the form

in which it has reached us. Various mental influences were at work

during its composition; its title and patron were changed; and for

some unknown reason it was finally dedicated to Lorenzo II de' Medici.

Although Machiavelli discussed with Casavecchio whether it should be

sent or presented in person to the patron, there is no evidence that

Lorenzo ever received or even read it: he certainly never gave

Machiavelli any employment. Although it was plagiarized during

Machiavelli's lifetime, The Prince was never published by him, and

its text is still disputable.

Machiavelli concludes his letter to Vettori thus: "And as to this

little thing [his book], when it has been read it will be seen that

during the fifteen years I have given to the study of statecraft I

have neither slept nor idled; and men ought ever to desire to be

served by one who has reaped experience at the expense of others. And

of my loyalty none could doubt, because having always kept faith I

could not now learn how to break it; for he who has been faithful and

honest, as I have, cannot change his nature; and my poverty is a

witness to my honesty."

Before Machiavelli had got The Prince off his hands he commenced his

Discourse on the First Decade of Titus Livius, which should be read

concurrently with The Prince. These and several minor works occupied

him until the year 1518, when he accepted a small commission to look

after the affairs of some Florentine merchants at Genoa. In 1519 the

Medicean rulers of Florence granted a few political concessions to her

citizens, and Machiavelli with others was consulted upon a new

constitution under which the Great Council was to be restored; but on

one pretext or another it was not promulgated.

In 1520 the Florentine merchants again had recourse to Machiavelli to

settle their difficulties with Lucca, but this year was chiefly

remarkable for his re-entry into Florentine literary society, where he

was much sought after, and also for the production of his Art of War.

It was in the same year that he received a commission at the

instance of Cardinal de' Medici to write the History of Florence, a

task which occupied him until 1525. His return to popular favour may

have determined the Medici to give him this employment, for an old

writer observes that "an able statesman out of work, like a huge

whale, will endeavour to overturn the ship unless he has an empty cask

to play with."

When the History of Florence was finished, Machiavelli took it to

Rome for presentation to his patron, Giulio de' Medici, who had in

the meanwhile become Pope Clement VII. It is

somewhat remarkable that, as, in 1513, Machiavelli had written The Prince

for the instruction of the Medici after they had just regained

power in Florence, so, in 1525, he dedicated the History of Florence

to the head of the family when its ruin was now at hand. In that year

the battle of Pavia destroyed the French rule in Italy, and left

Francis I of France a prisoner in the hands of his great rival, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. This

was followed by the sack of Rome, upon the news of which the popular

party at Florence threw off the yoke of the Medici, who were once more

banished.

Machiavelli was absent from Florence at this time, but hastened his

return, hoping to secure his former office of secretary to the "Ten of

Liberty and Peace." Unhappily he was taken ill soon after he reached

Florence, where he died on 22nd June 1527.

The man and his works

No one can say where the bones of Machiavelli rest, but modern

Florence has decreed him a stately cenotaph in Santa Croce, by the

side of her most famous sons; recognising that, whatever other nations

may have found in his works, Italy found in them the idea of her unity

and the source of her renaissance among the nations of Europe. Whilst

it is idle to protest against the world-wide and evil signification of

his name, it may be pointed out that the harsh construction of his

doctrine which this sinister reputation implies was unknown to his own

day, and that the researches of recent times have enabled us to

interpret him more reasonably. It is due to these inquiries that the

shape of an "unholy necromancer," which so long haunted men's vision,

has begun to fade.

Undoubtedly, Machiavelli was a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and

with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced

retirement from affairs. He does not present himself, nor is he

depicted by his contemporaries, as a type of that rare combination,

the successful statesman and author, for he appears to have been only

moderately prosperous in his several embassies and political

employments. He was misled by Catherina Sforza, ignored by Louis XII,

overawed by Cesare Borgia; several of his embassies were quite barren

of results; his attempts to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery

that he raised astonished everybody by their cowardice. In the conduct

of his own affairs he was timid and time-serving; he dared not appear

by the side of Soderini, to whom he owed so much, for fear of

compromising himself; his connection with the Medici was open to

suspicion, and Giulo appears to have recognized his real forte when

he set him to write the History of Florence, rather than employ him

in the state. And it is on the literary side of his character, and

there alone, that we find no weakness and no failure.

Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused on The Prince,

its problems are still debatable and interesting, because

they are the eternal problems between the ruled and their rulers. Such

as they are, its ethics are those of Machiavelli's contemporaries; yet

they cannot be said to be out of date so long as the governments of

Europe rely on material rather than on moral forces. Its historical

incidents and personages become interesting by reason of the uses

which Machiavelli makes of them to illustrate his theories of

government and conduct.

Leaving out of consideration those maxims of state which still furnish

some European and eastern statesmen with principles of action, The Prince

is bestrewn with truths that can be proved at every turn:

Men are still the dupes of their simplicity and greed, as they were in the

days of Alexander VI. The cloak of religion still conceals the vices

which Machiavelli laid bare in the character of Ferdinand of Aragon.

Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them

to be--and are ruined. In politics there are no perfectly safe

courses; prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones. Then

--to pass to a higher plane--Machiavelli reiterates that, although

crimes may win an empire, they do not win glory. Necessary wars are

just wars, and the arms of a nation are hallowed when it has no other

resource but to fight.

It is the cry of a far later day than Machiavelli's that government

should be elevated into a living moral force, capable of inspiring the

people with a just recognition of the fundamental principles of society; to this "high argument" The Prince contributes but little. It advocates a form of minarchy managed by a limited aristocracy that is wholly devoted to successful rule, on the chance that they may prevent chaos.

Machiavelli always refused to write either of men or of governments

otherwise than as he found them, and he writes with such skill and

insight that his work is of abiding value. But what invests "The

Prince" with more than a merely artistic or historical interest is the

incontrovertible truth that it deals with the great principles which

still guide nations and rulers in their relationship with each other

and their neighbours.

Writings by Machiavelli

The following is a list of the works of Machiavelli (he did over 30 in his lifetime):

Principal works/Poems:

Other poems include Sonetti, Canzoni, Ottave, and Canti carnascialeschi.

External links

Machiavelli,Niccolò

Machiavelli,Niccolò

Machiavelli,Niccolò

Machiavelli,Niccolò

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