Niccolò Machiavelli(1469-1527)
- Writer
Born into a time of extreme political upheaveal, Niccolò Machiavelli
was a member of the old Florentine nobility. He received a proper
humanistic Renaissance education, and as a young man began the climb up
the perilous political ladder of Italy. In 1502 he was sent to Romagna
as an envoy to Cesare Borgia, the infamous papal prince and despot who
would later influence Machiavelli's political philosophy. The return of
the Medici dynasty in 1512 resulted in Machiavelli's downfall. He lost
his office and was imprisoned and tortured before finally being
banished from Florence. It was during his exile that Machiavelli wrote
his most famous work, "Il Principe (The Prince)", a handbook of sorts
for autocratic rulers. Though his sympathies lay with republicanism, he
was first and foremost intensely pragmatic, a quality which did not
endear him to later, more idealistic, generations.
