Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a Florentine diplomat, historian and political thinker. In The Prince he described, without moral illusions, how rulers win and keep power, so boldly that his name became a byword for cunning. He also wrote the Discourses on Livy, in praise of republics, a history of Florence and a comedy, The Mandrake.
The Florentine Republic
Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469, the son of a lawyer of modest means who owned a fine library. In 1498, after the fall of the preacher Savonarola, he became secretary of the Second Chancery of the republic, in charge of foreign affairs and war.
For fourteen years he travelled on diplomatic missions to the king of France, the emperor and the pope, and to Cesare Borgia, whose bold and ruthless conquest of the Romagna impressed him. He also organised a citizen militia for Florence, convinced that mercenaries were unreliable.
Exile and The Prince
In 1512 the Medici family returned to power in Florence with Spanish troops, and the republic fell. Machiavelli lost his post; accused of plotting against the Medici, he was imprisoned and tortured early in 1513, then released and retired to his small farm at Sant'Andrea in Percussina, near San Casciano.
There, in a famous letter, he describes spending his days among woodcutters and at the inn, and his evenings in his study, dressed in courtly clothes, conversing with the ancients. In 1513 he wrote The Prince, dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, hoping to return to public service.
The writer
He also wrote the Discourses on the first ten books of Livy, a study of the Roman republic, The Art of War, the comedy The Mandrake, one of the best of the Italian Renaissance, and, for the Medici, the Florentine Histories.
When the Medici were driven out again in 1527, the restored republic distrusted him as their former servant. He died a few weeks later, in June 1527. The Prince was published in 1532 and placed on the Index of forbidden books in 1559.
Anecdotes
Clothes for the ancients
In a letter of December 1513 to his friend Francesco Vettori, Machiavelli wrote that each evening he took off his muddy everyday clothes and put on the robes of court before entering the ancient courts of the great men of antiquity, where he was not ashamed to ask them the reasons for their actions.
A tomb in Santa Croce
Machiavelli is buried in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, near Michelangelo and Galileo. His monument, erected in 1787, bears a Latin inscription saying that no epitaph could equal so great a name.
Frequently asked questions
What does Machiavellian mean?
Cunning, scheming and unscrupulous in the pursuit of power, after the reputation of The Prince, although Machiavelli's own views, especially in the Discourses, were more complex and favoured republics.
When was The Prince written?
In 1513, during Machiavelli's exile from Florence; it was published in 1532, five years after his death.
Which translation of The Prince is quoted on Guesseo?
The translation by W. K. Marriott, published in 1908.