1. Niccolò Machiavelli had a front-row seat to Renaissance power struggles.
Machiavelli was born in 1469 in the independent Republic of Florence . Long before he became known as thefirstmodern political theoretician ( not to mention an intake forHouse of Cards ) , Machiavelliworkedas a diplomatist in the service of the Florentine government activity . In 1498 , at only 29 years old , he was appointed as the forefront of the Second Chancery , which put him in control of the city ’s foreign telling . His number - one business concern was the potential return of the Medici crime syndicate — the most infamous major power brokers in Renaissance Italy — who had been ousted from Florence in 1494 . Machiavelli supervise the enlisting and education of an official reserves to keep them at bay , but his ground forces was no match for the Medici , who were affirm by Rome ’s papal militia . When the MediciretookFlorence in 1512 , their first decree of business was to fire — and , just for the heck of it , torture — Machiavelli .
2. Niccolò Machiavelli wroteThe Princeto regain his lost status.
As a diplomat and a scholar in an age of constant warfare , Machiavelli observe and absorb the rule of the political secret plan . After he fall behind his job as a diplomatist ( and even serve a short time injail ) , he turned to scholarship , focus over the Romance texts of ancient papist political philosophers for breathing in . By the death of 1513 , he hadcompletedthe first version of what would become his masterwork : The Prince , a vade mecum for the world power - thirsty . The volume extend tips to rising politician for conquer business leader , and advice to incumbent prince for keeping it .
Ironically , Machiavelli dedicate the book to the Medici , hopingit would bring him back into their dependable graces . It remains unclear whether it was ever understand by its intended hearing , and Machiavelli never got to seeThe Princego viral . It was write in 1532 , five twelvemonth after its source ’s death .
3. Niccolò Machiavelli compared the need for love to the value of fear.
One ofThe Prince ’s primary lessons was that leaders must always essay to strike a balance between search the love of their subordinate word and revolutionise concern . If a leader is too soft or genial , the people may become unruly ; too vicious , and they might rebel . Machiavelli had a clearpreference . " Since passion and fear can hardly live together , ” he wrote , “ if we must choose between them , it is far dependable to be feared than loved . "
4.The Prince’s ruthlessness made it notorious.
Machiavelli ’s political thesis became infamous because it focused almost all on help rulers get what they want at whatever cost — in other words , the end always justified the mean value . Other political thinkers , while recognise Machiavelli ’s brilliance , were appalled by his materialistic take on statesmanship . In the 18th century , French litterateur Denis DiderotdescribedMachiavelli ’s oeuvre as " abhorrent " and sum up upThe Princeas " the art of tyranny . " Friedrich Schiller , a proponent of liberal democracy , referredtoThe Princeas an unwitting satire of the kind of monarchical convention it supposedly embrace ( “ a terrible satire against prince ” ) . David Hume , the Scottish polymath and inveterate skeptic , called Machiavelli " a smashing genius " whose reasoning is " extremely bad . ”WroteHume , " There scarcely is any maxim in hisPrincewhich subsequent experience has not entirely refuted . ”
But 20th - century British philosopher Bertrand Russell disagreed , say that Niccolò Machiavelli was merely being reliable on a subject that most preferred with a expert sugarcoating . “ Much of the schematic defamation that bind itself to his name , is due to the outrage of hypocrites , ” Russell write [ PDF ] , “ who detest the frank avowal of iniquity - doing . ”
5. Shakespeare called villainsMachiavels.
Machiavelli ’s ill fame spread so quickly that by the sixteenth century his name had found its fashion into the English words as an name for crookedness . In Elizabethan theater , it came to denote a striking case : An incorrigible plotter driven by greed and unbridled ambition . In the prologue forThe Jew of Malta , playwright Christopher Marlowe introduces his villain as “ a sound Machiavill . ” Even William Shakespeare used the term as aderogatoryshorthand . “ Am I politic ? Am I insidious ? Am I a Machiavel ? ” onecharacterinThe Merry Wives of Windsorasks rhetorically , before adding an indignant , “ No ! ”
6.The Princewas banned by the pope.
When Machiavelli was out of a chore , he did what most Renaissance thinker did : He found a patron . Pope Clement VII , a Medici who had been elected in 1523 , was happy to support the scholar . The pope evencommissionedone of Machiavelli ’s long works , theFlorentine Histories , which Machiavelli present in 1526 . But after the posthumous publishing ofThe Princein 1532 , the pontificate ’s posture toward Machiavelli ’s work chilled . When Pope Paul IVestablishedRome ’s firstIndex of Forbidden Booksin 1557 , he made certain to includeThe Princefor its promulgation of dishonesty and dirty political science . ( Machiavelli ’s mania for classic writers and theirpaganculture did n’t invoke to Pope Paul , either [ PDF ] . )
7. Niccolò Machiavelli collaborated with Leonardo da Vinci.
In 1503 , when Machiavelli was struggling to arm Florence against its foe , heturnedto the ultimate Renaissance man , Leonardo da Vinci .
According to a 1939biographyof Leonardo , the two " seem to havebecome intimate " when they meet in Florence . Machiavelli used his power to procure commissions for Leonardo and evenappointedhim Florence ’s military engineer between 1502 and 1503 . Machiavelli was hoping to harness Leonardo ’s ingenuity to capture Pisa , a fledgeling urban center - state which Florentine leaders had been eager to subdue for decennium . As expected , Leonardo do up with a rotatory plan . He forge a system of dams that would block off off one of Pisa ’s independent waterways , which could have brought Pisa to the brink of a drought and give Machiavelli all the leverage he could have asked for . But the plan failed . The dam arrangement ended up interrupting Florence ’s own agriculture , and so the government activity give the sack the task . Leonardo left his C. W. Post after only eight months .
Some scholarsbelievethat the showdown with Leonardo lead a deep mark on Machiavelli ’s political thinking . They point to Machiavelli ’s retell stress on the power of technical innovation to decide a war , a view which they think Leonardo had inspire . Machiavelli ’s writing is rife with idiosyncratic expressions that seem to have almost beenliftedfrom Leonardo ’s notebook computer .
8. Niccolò Machiavelli actually believed in a just government.
Scholar Erica Benner indicate that , despite his repute , Machiavelli was n’t amoral . AlthoughThe Princeopenly encouraged politicians to take and offer bribes , cheat , threaten , and even kill if necessary , Machiavelli knew that even ruler had to obey some good sense of Justice Department , Benner wrote inThe Guardian . He recognized that the race for power come with very few scruples , but he also recognise that without deference for justice , society falls into chaos .
This article was originally published in 2018 .
