The Prince Essay Research Paper Niccol

The Prince Essay, Research Paper

Niccol Machiavelli’s The Prince is a blunt political pamphlet concerning the various kinds of principalities, military affairs, the qualities of a Prince, and Machiavelli’s views on Italy’s political status during the Renaissance. Machiavelli uses many specific examples throughout the text both ancient and current to Renaissance era.

To understand the book more completely and Machiavelli’s reasons for writing The Prince, it is necessary to understand Machiavelli’s life and the times he lived in. When Niccolo Machiavelli was born in the spring of 1469, Italy had attained a high spot in the European community, but it would not last. By the time Machiavelli had reached the age of twenty-five, King Charles VIII of France had driven the ruling Medici family out of the city of Florence, the last resisting Italian principality. The Florentines would not stand for this; they ousted the new ruler out of the city and founded the Florentine republic. Machiavelli soon started work as clerk under Adriani, head of the Second Chancery. Four years past by and in 1498, Machiavelli became Chief Secretary of the Florentine Republic, and then later that year, he succeeded Adriani as head of the Second Chancery.

While in this position as Chief Secretary, he went on many diplomatic missions and observed many foreign governments in action. From these experiences, Machiavelli would later draw the conclusions, he writes about in The Prince. He was entrusted with numerous missions to France, ally of the Florentine republic, to meet with King Louis XII in the years 1500, 1504, and 1510. In 1502, Niccol Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini and traveled to Romagna, where he observed the incidents that led to the murder of Cesare Borgia. Machiavelli’s study of Cesare Borgia, his actions and the events leading to his death greatly influenced his political beliefs. Machiavelli returned to Florence in January of 1503, later that year he witnessed the election of Pope Julius II. In December of 1506, Machiavelli submitted his plan to organize a Florentine militia to Pierre Soderini, leader of the Florentine republic. Soderini accepted his request and created the Nove di Miliz. After organizing the Florentine infantry, Machiavelli envoyed in 1507 to meet with Emperor Maximilian II, who was preparing his invasion of Italy. The Florentine militia fought at the capture of Pisa in 1509. Machiavelli went on his last mission to France in 1510. Pope Julius II allied himself with Spain and Venice, together they conquered France, the Florentine’s ally. Then in 1512, the Spanish army invaded Florence and defeated the Florentine militia. The Medici family returned to power and deponed Machiavelli from his station. The Medici family accused Machiavelli of participation in a conspiracy against them; they imprisoned him for a small time. After the election of Giovanni de Medici to the papacy as Leo X, they released Machiavelli.

Machiavelli retired to a small farm in San Casciano, where he would write his arguments on politics. He began writing The Prince and his other lesser known work The Discourses in 1513. In 1515, he wrote a comedy, La Mandragola, a satire on seduction. The Medici family consulted Machiavelli in 1519 on a new Florentine constitution. In 1520, he wrote The Life of Castruccio Castracani, a narrative essay on the life of man, who founded the state of Lucca in Tuscany, in the fourteenth century. Machiavelli published seven books in 1521 entitled The Art of War. The seven books contain Machiavelli’s ideas on war tactics and the superiority of national troops over mercenaries. The Medici family used Machiavelli’s services again in 1525; they commissioned him to write The History of Florence. A year later in 1526, Pope Clement VII, a Medici, contracted Machiavelli to survey the defenses at Florence and then sent him to meet with historian Francesco Guicciardini. In 1527, the imperial army invaded and defiled Rome. Following this desecration of Rome, the Florentines removed the Medici from power and established a second republic. Machiavelli did not return to office, for he was a suspected ally of the Medici. He became very ill and died June 20, 1527. Niccolo Machiavelli is honorably buried at Santa Croce, the church of Florence.

The first several chapters of The Prince explicate the four types of princedoms and the methods in which they are acquired. Chapter I states that all governments are either republics or princedoms. From there, all princedoms are hereditary, mixed, new, or ecclesiastical. Then, Machiavelli goes on to say that hereditary princedoms are easily maintained, granted that the prince not diverge from his ancestors policies. Mixed princedoms arise when hereditary princedoms acquire new territories. These princedoms are not as easily kept, for two reasons. The first is that the people will replace their leader if they feel it would better conditions. Machiavelli gives five defenses for this situation. The first and best is to reside in the new province. Secondly, a prince should set up colonies to serve as connections to the mother country. A prince should then become the chief defender of the less puissant adjacent territories. Then, he should weaken his more powerful neighbors. For no reason, should a prince allow any foreign power to enter the province. The second reason mixed princedoms are hard to maintain is a prince cannot sat