Machiavelli Essay, Research Paper
Niccolo Machiavelli: Political Genius
by
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.
www.who2.com/niccolomachiavelli.html