Biography of Machiavelli
By: Caroline Mahavier
Machiavelli was born in Florence during the Italian Renaissance on May 3rd, 1469. His first active role in the affairs of his native city began in 1498, when Savonarola’s regime fell from power and the city’s council began dismissing his supporters from their government positions. Machiavelli, at twenty nine years old and with no previous administrative experience, was nominated to fill the position of second chancellor of the Florentine republic, a position he held until 1512. During these years of political upheaval, he conducted official correspondence in diplomatic missions in Italian states and other European powers. After the Medici party rose to power in 1512, the government of Florence was replaced with Medici government and both Machiavelli and the Florentine militiamen he’d been in charge of were exiled. Only a few months after his exile, he was imprisoned and tortured for approximately a month for an unsuccessful conspiracy to overthrow the Medici and restore the Republic that he hadn’t participated in. When he was released back into exile, he retired and devoted himself to the most important works of his life. This included The Prince, where his political philosophies arguably reflect the harshness of the political life he had seen.
Devious, scheming, deceitful, and untrustworthy are all adjectives used to describe Machiavelli during and after his life, and furthermore the behavior he advocated throughout The Prince. When he was released from his unjust torture, Machiavelli immediately began scheming to recommend himself to Florence’s new authorities (The Medici). In The Prince, Machiavelli’s unofficial resume, he wrote that “more profit can always be expected from men who were satisfied with the preceding government” (79), in a clear attempt to make it clear that he was a man worth employing, an expert of whom it would be foolish to overlook. Even after The Prince was published
As soon as Machiavelli had been released from imprisonment, he began scheming to recommend himself to Florence’s new authorities, the Medici, the same ones who had thrown him in prison for conspiring against their return to power. In The Prince he wrote that “more profit can always be expected from men who were satisfied with the preceding government” (79), attempting to make it clear that he was a man worth employing, an expert of whom it would be foolish to overlook. Even after he dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo, The Medici’s reigning son, his exile was never reversed and he never got to return to the political livelihood he thrived on.
Devious, scheming, deceitful, and untrustworthy are all adjectives used to describe Machiavelli during and after his life, and furthermore the behavior he advocated throughout The Prince. When he was released from his unjust torture, Machiavelli immediately began scheming to recommend himself to Florence’s new authorities (The Medici). In The Prince, Machiavelli’s unofficial resume, he wrote that “more profit can always be expected from men who were satisfied with the preceding government” (79), in a clear attempt to make it clear that he was a man worth employing, an expert of whom it would be foolish to overlook. Even after The Prince was published
As soon as Machiavelli had been released from imprisonment, he began scheming to recommend himself to Florence’s new authorities, the Medici, the same ones who had thrown him in prison for conspiring against their return to power. In The Prince he wrote that “more profit can always be expected from men who were satisfied with the preceding government” (79), attempting to make it clear that he was a man worth employing, an expert of whom it would be foolish to overlook. Even after he dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo, The Medici’s reigning son, his exile was never reversed and he never got to return to the political livelihood he thrived on.
Works Cited:
Strathern, Paul. Machiavelli in 90 Minutes. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1998. Print.
Skinner, Quentin. Machiavelli. Ed. Keith Thomas. New York: Hill and Wang, 1981. Print. Past Masters Ser.
Foster, Michael B. "Machiavelli." Plato to Machiavelli. Ed. Edward McChesney Sait. Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941. 271-95. Print. Masters of Political Thought.
Skinner, Quentin. Machiavelli. Ed. Keith Thomas. New York: Hill and Wang, 1981. Print. Past Masters Ser.
Foster, Michael B. "Machiavelli." Plato to Machiavelli. Ed. Edward McChesney Sait. Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941. 271-95. Print. Masters of Political Thought.