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~Machiavelli |
Niccolo
Machiavelli was born on
May 3, 1469, in
Florence, Italy. He
eventually became a man
who lived his life for
politics and patriotism.
Right now, however, he
is associated with
corrupt, totalitarian
government. The reason
for this is a small
pamphlet he wrote called
The Prince to
gain influence with the
ruling Medici family in
Florence. The political
genius of Niccolo
Machiavelli was
overshadowed by the
reputation that was
unfairly given to him
because of a
misunderstanding of his
views on politics.
Machiavelli's life was
very interesting. He
lived a nondescript
childhood in Florence,
and his main political
experience in his youth
was watching Savanarola
from afar. Soon after
Savanarola was executed,
Machiavelli entered the
Florentine government as
a secretary. His
position quickly rose,
however, and was soon
engaging in diplomatic
missions. He met many of
the important
politicians of the day,
such as the Pope and the
King of France, but none
had more impact on him
than a prince of the
Papal States, Cesare
Borgia. Borgia was a
cunning, cruel man, very
much like the one
portrayed in The
Prince. Machiavelli
did not truly like
Borgia's policies, but
he thought that with a
ruler like Borgia the
Florentines could unite
Italy, which was
Machiavelli's goal
throughout his life.
Unfortunately for
Machiavelli, he was
dismissed from office
when the Medici came to
rule Florence and the
Republic was overthrown.
The lack of a job forced
him to switch to writing
about politics instead
of being active. His
diplomatic missions were
his last official
government positions.
When Machiavelli lost
his office, he
desperately wanted to
return to politics. He
tried to gain the favor
of the Medici by writing
a book of what he
thought were the
Medici's goals and
dedicating it to them.
And so The Prince
was written for that
purpose. Unfortunately,
the Medici didn't agree
with what the book said,
so he was out of a job.
But when the public saw
the book, they were
outraged. The people
wondered how cruel a man
could be to think evil
thoughts like the ones
in The Prince,
and this would come back
to haunt him when he was
alive and dead. However,
if the people wanted to
know what Machiavelli
really stood for, they
should have read his
"Discourses on Livy",
which explain his full
political philosophy.
But not enough people
had and have, and so the
legacy of The Prince
continues to define
Machiavelli to the
general public.
A few years later the
Medici were kicked out
of Florence. The
republic was
re-established, and
Machiavelli ran to
retake the office he had
left so many years ago.
But the reputation that The
Prince had
established made people
think his philosophy was
like the Medici, so he
was not elected. And
here the sharp downhill
of his life began. His
health began to fail
him, and he died months
later, in 1527.
Machiavelli had been
unfairly attacked all of
his life because of a
bad reputation. But it
only got worse after he
died. He was continually
blasted for his
"support" of
corrupt ruling. In fact,
Machiavellian now means
corrupt government. Only
recently has his true
personality come to
light. The world must
change it's vision of
the cold, uncaring
Machiavelli to the
correct view of a
patriot and a political
genius. |
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