Machiavelli Essay, Research Paper

Niccolo Machiavelli : Political Genius

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Niccolo Machiavelli was not one, but three men: a political

theorist, a military theorist, and a famous writer.

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469. The

Machiavelli family was one of the most prominent politically in the

city, having 15 Gonfaloniere among his ancestors.1 Niccolo?s

father, Bernardo Machiavelli was a legal consultant in the city,

prominent participant in humanist scholarship of the day, and close

associate of the city?s First Chancellor. Niccolo received the very

top quality humanist education available.

We first hear of him playing an active role in the affairs of his

native city in 1498, when the position for head of second chancery,

came open. He was only twenty-nine years old at the time, and

didn?t have any previous experience. However, his nomination was

confirmed and he was appointed second chancellor of the

Florentine Republic.2 Machiavelli?s official position involved him in

very important duties. The first and second chanceries both

handled official correspondence dealing with Florence?s domestic,

foreign, and military affairs. As head of the second chancier,

Machiavelli was also soon assigned the further job of secretary to

the Ten of War, the committee responsible for the Florence?s

diplomatic relations.3 In addition to his routine office duties, he also

traveled abroad to act as spokesman for the Ten. During the next

fourteen years, Machiavelli was sent on numerous diplomatic

missions to France, Switzerland, and Germany. In June 1500,

Machiavelli was in France at the court of Louis XII, negotiating for

assistance in regaining Pisa, which had asserted its independence

form Florence and tried to establish an independent city-state.4

There in France, Machiavelli saw first-hand the weak leadership of

the king. He also learned about the French Parliament and its

difficulties in resolving power struggles between the hereditary

nobles and the common people.

The Medici reentered the city of Florence in 1512, after

eighteen years. Within weeks the free republic of Florence was

swept away, and in came oligarchy, and the Medici family assumed

absolute power. In November 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed

from his government post and forbidden to leave Florentine territory

for a year.5 In February 1513, he was falsely accused of taking part

in an unsuccessful conspiracy against the Medici and was

imprisoned.6 Early in the same year, Cardinal Giovanni de? Medici

was elected as pope as Leo X. The election greatly strengthened

the new regime in Florence. Along with celebrations, they freed

many political prisoners, including Machiavelli. As soon as he was

released, he tried to get his job back. With no response from the

Medici, he withdrew to his farm at Sant? Andrea.

There Machiavelli began writing ?The Prince?-describes the

means by which a leader may gain and maintain power.

Machiavelli hoped that ?The Prince? would bring him to the attention

of the Medici. He wanted them to see that he was still their loyal

subject, and to impassive that he was a man worth employing.7

The year 1512 is generally considered to have been the

turning point of his life. Machiavelli, throughout his whole life was

involved in politics and writing.. He was a born writer even when he

was not trying. After he was dismissed from office, was when he

used his writing as means to get his job back. The Medici didn?t

agree with the book, and the public was outraged. The public

thought he was cruel and heartless for having such evil thoughts.

Machiavelli never won the trust of the Medici, and never got his job

back. From 1513 to the time of his death in 15278, he wrote

numerous of political works including: The Prince, 1513; The

Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, 1513-1518; The

Discourse on the War with Pisa, 1498; Report on the Fortifications

of Florence, 1526; The Life of Castruccio Castracani, 1520; The Art

of War, 1517-1520, etc. In addition, he wrote several literary works:

Mandragola, a play; Clizia, an adaptation from Plautus; Belfagor, a

novel.9

The Medici was kicked out of Florence a few years later.10

Machiavelli ran to take office, but his reputation with The Prince

made people think that his political views were like the Medici and

was not elected. Machiavelli continued to write and died peacefully

in his home in 1527.11

Even after his death he was criticized for his corrupt ruling.

Machiavelli?s purpose was to describe the realities of political

life-not to set up a school for tyrants. It was believed that rulers like

Napoleon I and Adolf Hitler used The Prince as a kind of textbook

to guide them in the pursuit of power.12 If Machiavelli?s exposition

applies to the nineteenth–or twentieth-century figures like Napoleon

and Hitler, that is much more of an indication of how well he

understood the political dimensions of the human nature than it is

evidence that such figures learned their methods from him.

Machiavelli believes that military training is the source of

human virtue because it forces the individual to sacrifice for

society.13 Ethics comes from the sacrifice of individual interests to

the state. Involuntary recruiting is the main form of education for a

people who want to be free and the best remedy for a people

already corrupted by indolence of peace.14 He thinks of educators

as army leaders, not learned academics.15 The youth of a country

should become used to hardship and work, and get used to fighting

and not fear death. Idleness leads to indolence and corruption.

Frederick of Prussia wrote Refutation of Machiavelli?s Prince,

or Anti-Machiavel between 1739 and 174016. Frederick of Prussia

attacks The Prince, chapter by chapter. He completely missed

Machiavelli?s point, while trying to reconcile his own pessimistic and

militaristic tendencies. ? My intention in this work is to satisfy

myself and to express my true convictions freely. If the reader is

sufficiently depraved not to like the truth or contradictions, he can

throw away this book. No one, assuredly, is forcing him to read

it.?17 Frederick of Prussia criticizes Machiavelli all the way through

the book, making smart remarks ever so often. He states,

?Machiavelli is only striving by this maxim to inspire princes with a

secret jealousy for their generals and allies.?18 He also says that

Machiavelli only wrote for ?petty princes?19. Was Hitler and

Napoleon petty? He says that Machiavelli ?exaggerates so much

that he wants his prince to be nothing but a solider.?20 ?

Throughout Machiavelli?s writings, one can see that he was a

very intelligent man. He was first to see the connection between

foreign and internal affairs, between armed forces and the

constitution. Yet, he is one of the most misunderstood and

distorted of philosophers. While Machiavell?s political career was

much more broad than of other political theorists, it was not in such

an honorable position as to achieve for him the fame he sought.

His books, however, far exceed in value the purpose for which they

were created, and have earned for him even more renown as a

monumental political theorists than he could have possibly

dreamed.

Bibliography

1. Butterfield, Herbert. The Statecraft of Machiavelli.

New York, Collier Books. 1967,c1962. pp126.

2.. Fredrick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786.

Anti-Machiavel. Ohio University press, c1981. pp164.

3. Gilbert, Felix. Machiavelli and Guicciardini.

Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press,

c1965. pp.349.

4. Jensen, De Lamar. Machiavelli: Cynic, Patriot, or

Political Scientist?. Boston, Heath, c1960. pp108.

5. Who2: Niccolo Machiavelli: Profile.

http://www.who2.com/niccolomachiavelli.html

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