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The Prince
The Prince
Nicolo Machiavelli
The Prince
Table of Contents
The Prince. ...........................................................................................................................................................1
Nicolo Machiavell. ..................................................................................................................................1
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The Prince
Nicolo Machiavelli
Translated by W. K. Marriott
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CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING A CIVIL PRINCIPALITY
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This page copyright © 2000 Blackmask Online.
Nicolo Machiavelli, born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. From 1494 to 1512 held an official post at Florence
which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned in Florence, 1512; later exiled
and returned to San Casciano. Died at Florence on 22nd June 1527.
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The Prince
INTRODUCTION
Nicolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. He was the second son of Bernardo di Nicolo
Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were
members of the old Florentine nobility.
His life falls naturally into three periods, each of which singularly enough constitutes a distinct and important
era in the history of Florence. His youth was concurrent with the greatness of Florence as an Italian power
under the guidance of Lorenzo de' Medici, Il Magnifico. The downfall of the Medici in Florence occurred in
1494, in which year Machiavelli entered the public service. During his official career Florence was free under
the government of a Republic, which lasted until 1512, when the Medici returned to power, and Machiavelli
lost his office. The Medici again ruled Florence from 1512 until 1527, when they were once more driven out.
This was the period of Machiavelli's literary activity and increasing influence; but he died, within a few
weeks of the expulsion of the Medici, on 22nd June 1527, in his fifty−eighth year, without having regained
office.
YOUTH Aet. 1−25−−1469−94
Although there is little recorded of the youth of Machiavelli, the Florence of those days is so well known that
the early environment of this representative citizen may be easily imagined. Florence has been described as a
city with two opposite currents of life, one directed by the fervent and austere Savonarola, the other by the
splendour− loving Lorenzo. Savonarola's influence upon the young Machiavelli must have been slight, for
although at one time he wielded immense power over the fortunes of Florence, he only furnished Machiavelli
with a subject of a gibe in "The Prince," where he is cited as an example of an unarmed prophet who came to
a bad end. Whereas the magnificence of the Medicean rule during the life of Lorenzo appeared to have
impressed Machiavelli strongly, for he frequently recurs to it in his writings, and it is to Lorenzo's grandson
that he dedicates "The Prince."
Machiavelli, in his "History of Florence," gives us a picture of the young men among whom his youth was
passed. He writes: "They were freer than their forefathers in dress and living, and spent more in other kinds
of excesses, consuming their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women; their chief aim was to appear
well dressed and to speak with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound others the most cleverly was
thought the wisest." In a letter to his son Guido, Machiavelli shows why youth should avail itself of its
opportunities for study, and leads us to infer that his own youth had been so occupied. He writes: "I have
received your letter, which has given me the greatest pleasure, especially because you tell me you are quite
restored in health, than which I could have no better news; for if God grant life to you, and to me, I hope to
make a good man of you if you are willing to do your share." Then, writing of a new patron, he continues:
"This will turn out well for you, but it is necessary for you to study; since, then, you have no longer the
excuse of illness, take pains to study letters and music, for you see what honour is done to me for the little
skill I have. Therefore, my son, if you wish to please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do
right and study, because others will help you if you help yourself."
OFFICE Aet. 25−43−−1494−1512
The second period of Machiavelli's life was spent in the service of the free Republic of Florence, which
flourished, as stated above, from the expulsion of the Medici in 1494 until their return in 1512. After serving
four years in one of the public offices he was appointed Chancellor and Secretary to the Second Chancery,
the Ten of Liberty and Peace. Here we are on firm ground when dealing with the events of Machiavelli's life,
for during this time he took a leading part in the affairs of the Republic, and we have its decrees, records, and
dispatches to guide us, as well as his own writings. A mere recapitulation of a few of his transactions with the
statesmen and soldiers of his time gives a fair indication of his activities, and supplies the sources from which
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The Prince
he drew the experiences and characters which illustrate "The Prince."
His first mission was in 1499 to Catherina Sforza, "my lady of Forli" of "The Prince," from whose conduct
and fate he drew the moral that it is far better to earn the confidence of the people than to rely on fortresses.
This is a very noticeable principle in Machiavelli, and is urged by him in many ways as a matter of vital
importance to princes.
In 1500 he was sent to France to obtain terms from Louis XII for continuing the war against Pisa: this king it
was who, in his conduct of affairs in Italy, committed the five capital errors in statecraft summarized in "The
Prince," and was consequently driven out. He, also, it was who made the dissolution of his marriage a
condition of support to Pope Alexander VI; which leads Machiavelli to refer those who urge that such
promises should be kept to what he has written concerning the faith of princes.
Machiavelli's public life was largely occupied with events arising out of the ambitions of Pope Alexander VI
and his son, Cesare Borgia, the Duke Valentino, and these characters fill a large space of "The Prince."
Machiavelli never hesitates to cite the actions of the duke for the benefit of usurpers who wish to keep the
states they have seized; he can, indeed, find no precepts to offer so good as the pattern of Cesare Borgia's
conduct, insomuch that Cesare is acclaimed by some critics as the "hero" of "The Prince." Yet in "The
Prince" the duke is in point of fact cited as a type of the man who rises on the fortune of others, and falls with
them; who takes every course that might be expected from a prudent man but the course which will save him;
who is prepared for all eventualities but the one which happens; and who, when all his abilities fail to carry
him through, exclaims that it was not his fault, but an extraordinary and unforeseen fatality.
On the death of Pius III, in 1503, Machiavelli was sent to Rome to watch the election of his successor, and
there he saw Cesare Borgia cheated into allowing the choice of the College to fall on Giuliano delle Rovere
(Julius II), who was one of the cardinals that had most reason to fear the duke. Machiavelli, when
commenting on this election, says that he who thinks new favours will cause great personages to forget old
injuries deceives himself. Julius did not rest until he had ruined Cesare.
It was to Julius II that Machiavelli was sent in 1506, when that pontiff was commencing his enterprise against
Bologna; which he brought to a successful issue, as he did many of his other adventures, owing chiefly to his
impetuous character. It is in reference to Pope Julius that Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between
Fortune and women, and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will win and hold
them both.
It is impossible to follow here the varying fortunes of the Italian states, which in 1507 were controlled by
France, Spain, and Germany, with results that have lasted to our day; we are concerned with those events, and
with the three great actors in them, so far only as they impinge on the personality of Machiavelli. He had
several meetings with Louis XII of France, and his estimate of that monarch's character has already been
alluded to. Machiavelli has painted Ferdinand of Aragon as the man who accomplished great things under the
cloak of religion, but who in reality had no mercy, faith, humanity, or integrity; and who, had he allowed
himself to be influenced by such motives, would have been ruined. The Emperor Maximilian was one of the
most interesting men of the age, and his character has been drawn by many hands; but Machiavelli, who was
an envoy at his court in 1507−8, reveals the secret of his many failures when he describes him as a secretive
man, without force of character−−ignoring the human agencies necessary to carry his schemes into effect,
and never insisting on the fulfilment of his wishes.
The remaining years of Machiavelli's official career were filled with events arising out of the League of
Cambrai, made in 1508 between the three great European powers already mentioned and the pope, with the
object of crushing the Venetian Republic. This result was attained in the battle of Vaila, when Venice lost in
one day all that she had won in eight hundred years. Florence had a difficult part to play during these events,
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