Jump to content

Niccolò Machiavelli: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
Jews Control The Media
{{cleanup-date|August 2005}} [[image:Machiavelli.jpg|framed|right|Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official]]

'''Niccolò Machiavelli''' ([[May 3]], [[1469]] – [[June 21]], [[1527]]) was a [[Florence|Florentine]] [[statesman]] and [[political philosophy|political philosopher]]. As a [[theorist]], Machiavelli was the key figure in [[realist]]ic [[political theory]], crucial to European [[statecraft]] during the [[Renaissance]]. His two most famous books, ''[[Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio]]'' (''Discourses on Livy'') and ''[[The Prince|Il Principe]]'' (''The Prince''), were written in the hopes of improving the conditions of the Northern [[Italy|Italian]] principalities, but became general handbooks for a new style in politics. ''The Prince,'' written to encourage the appearance of a political savior who would unify the corrupt city-states and fend off foreign conquest, advocated the [[theory]] that whatever was expedient was necessary—an early example of ''[[realpolitik]]''.

Machiavelli was born in Florence, the second son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. His father was from an impoverished branch of an influential old Florentine family.

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-state]]s on [[Diplomacy|diplomatic]] missions. In 1512 Machiavelli's name was found on a list of 20 persons supposedly involved in a conspiracy to oppose Medici rule. It is likely he had no part in the plot, though he was briefly imprisoned in the Bargello in Florence, just a block from the Palazzo Vecchio where he held office months prior. He was tortured yet maintained his innocence throughout. He was later [[exile]]d and returned to [[Sant'Andrea in Percussina]]. He died in Florence in 1527 and his resting place is unknown. A symbolic tomb in his honor can be found in [[Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence|Santa Croce]].

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 (sociology) | 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 June 21, [[1527]], in his fifty-eighth year, without having regained office. More recently, there have been rumors that the [[Airbus A380]] will be named after him.

===Youth ''1469-1494''===

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 [[citizenship|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 [[Girolamo Savonarola|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, [[Lorenzo II de' Medici]], that he dedicates ''The Prince''.

Machiavelli, in his ''[[Florentine Histories]]'', 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."

===Years in Office ''1494-1512''===

The second period of his life was spent in the service of the free [[republicanism|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 of Florence|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 of France|Louis XII]] for
continuing the war against [[Pisa]]. [[Louis XII of France|Louis XII]] was the king who, in his conduct
of affairs in Italy, committed the five capital errors in statecraft
summarized in ''The Prince'', and was consequently driven out. It was [[Louis XII of France|Louis XII]] who also made the dissolution of his marriage a condition of support
to [[Pope Alexander VI]] which lead 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 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 [[Papal election|election]] of his successor, and there he saw Cesare [[Borgia]] cheated into allowing the choice of the [[College of Cardinals|College]] to fall on Giuliano delle Rovere ([[Pope Julius II]]), who was one of the [[Cardinal (Catholicism) |cardinal]]s 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 [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|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-[[1508]], 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 [[Venice|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 [[France|French]], because friendship with France had
dictated the entire policy of the Republic. When, in [[1511]], Julius II
finally formed the [[Catholic_League_(Italian)|Holy League]] against France, and with the assistance
of the [[Switzerland|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 ''1512-1527''===

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 Sant'Andrea in Percussina (town of San Casciano in Val di Pesa), 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 Alighieri|Dante]] says:


:[[Knowledge]] doth come of [[learning]] well retained,
:Unfruitful else,

I have noted down what I have gained from their conversation, and have composed a small work on '[[principality|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 di Lorenzo de' Medici|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 formin 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. Christian Gauss’s (1999) introduction to Machiavelli’s ''The Prince'' places its publication at about 1537 adding that it had been circulated in manuscript form, and plagiarized for many years. The work follows Erasmus’ ''The Education of a Christian Prince'' by about 26 years, and presents a leadership viewpoint that is essentially 180 degrees apart from the more serene work of the peaceful priest. Additional comparisons are available on the page describing Erasmus. (Reference: Gauss, C. (1999). Introduction to ''The Prince.'' New York, NY: Signet. First published in 1949, p. 11.)

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 [[Pope Clement VII|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 [[Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici|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 [[morality|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 war]]s, and the arms of a nation are hallowed when it has no other
recourse 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.

==Machiavellianism==

The [[List of eponymous adjectives in English|eponymous adjective]] "[[Machiavellianism|Machiavellian]]" is seen by most experts to inaccurately represent him and his views, having come to describe narrow, self-interested behavior pursued by [[interest group]]s. Nonetheless, the epithet was quickly adopted by Machiavelli's contemporaries, and his name often used in the introductions of political tracts of the sixteenth century, most notably those of [[Jean Bodin]] and [[Giovanni Botero]], which offered more 'just' reasons of state.

Famous quote/philosophy: "The ends justify the means."

==Writings by Machiavelli==

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

Principal works/Poems:
*''Discorso sopra le cose di Pisa,'' [[1499]]
*''Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati,'' [[1502]]
*''Del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nell' ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, etc.,'' [[1502]] (''Description of the Methods Adopted by the Duke Valentino when Murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini'')
*''Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro,'' [[1502]]
*''Decennale primo'' (poem in terza rima), [[1506]]
*''Ritratti delle cose dell'Alemagna,'' [[1508]]-[[1512]]
*''Decennale secondo,'' [[1509]]
*''Ritratti delle cose di Francia,'' [[1510]]
*''[[Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio]],'' 3 vols., [[1512]]-[[1517]] (''Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius'')
*''Il Principe'', [[1513]] (''[[The Prince]]'')
*''Andria,'' comedy translated from [[Terence]], 1513 (?)
*''Mandragola,'' prose comedy in five acts, with prologue in verse, 1513 (''[[The Mandrake]]'')
*''Della lingua'' (dialogue), [[1514]]
*''Clizia,'' comedy in prose, [[1515]] (?)
*''Belfagor arcidiavolo'' (novel), 1515
*''Asino d'oro'' (poem in terza rima, a new version of the [[The Golden Ass|classic work]]), [[1517]] (''[[The Golden Ass (Machiavelli)|The Golden Ass]]'')
*''Dell'arte della guerra,'' [[1519]]-[[1520]] (''[[The Art of War (Machiavelli)|The Art of War]]'')
*''Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze,'' [[1520]]
*''Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca,'' [[1520]]
*''Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca,'' [[1520]] (''The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca'')
*''Istorie fiorentine,'' 8 books, [[1521]]-[[1525]] (''[[Florentine Histories]]'')
*''Frammenti storici,'' [[1525]].

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


==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource}}
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/ Niccolò Machiavelli], the entry from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
*[http://www.eMachiavelli.com The Machiavelli Site: His Complete Works and Summaries]
*[http://www.hirohurl.net/renaissance/bacandmac.html Machiavelli as He Is in the Works of Francis Bacon]
*{{gutenberg author|id=Machiavelli|name=Machiavelli}}
*[http://marxists.org/reference/archive/machiavelli/works/art-war/index.htm "The Seven Books on the Art of War"] at the [[Marxists Internet Archive]]

[[Category:1469 births|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:1527 deaths|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Early modern philosophers|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Italian philosophers|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Natives of Florence|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Renaissance authors|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Roman Catholics|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Political_philosophers|Machiavelli]]
[[Category:Political_writers|Machiavelli]]

[[ar:مكيافيلي]]
[[bg:Николо Макиавели]]
[[bn:নিকোলো মাকিয়াভেলি]]
[[ca:Nicolau Maquiavel]]
[[cs:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[cy:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[da:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[de:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[et:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[es:Nicolás Maquiavelo]]
[[eo:Makiavelo]]
[[fr:Nicolas Machiavel]]
[[gl:Nicolau Maquiavel]]
[[ko:니콜로 마키아벨리]]
[[hr:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[id:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[it:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[he:ניקולו מקיאוולי]]
[[la:Nicolaus Machiavellus]]
[[lt:Nikolas Makiavelis]]
[[nl:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[ja:ニッコロ・マキャヴェッリ]]
[[no:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[pl:Niccolo Machiavelli]]
[[pt:Nicolau Maquiavel]]
[[ru:Макиавелли, Никколо]]
[[scn:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[simple:Niccolo Machiavelli]]
[[sk:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[sr:Николо Макијавели]]
[[fi:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[sv:Niccolò Machiavelli]]
[[tr:Machiavelli]]
[[uk:Макіавеллі Нікколо]]
[[zh:尼可罗·马基亚维利]]

Revision as of 02:10, 10 October 2005

Jews Control The Media

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Niccolò_Machiavelli&oldid=25167128"