Wk VIII Discussion Machiavelli
The Prince
See suggested paper topics on Machiavelli for themes, issues
Central themes: virtú (courage, manliness, ability),
fortune, necessity, realism, force, violence
Biography of Machiavelli
(1469-1527)
Florentine, educated, not from upper ranks, works as bureaucrat for the
state
Career under Republic: 1498 - 1512
Second Chancellor & Secretary to Council of Ten (foreign policy)
Diplomatic experience: to France, Cesare Borgia, Julius II
1512 Restoration of
Medici: imprisoned, tortured, exiled
begins to write, hoping for employment by Medici
1513 Discourses on Livy: on republican government
1520 Art of War centrality of military force to
history
1520-25 History of Florence = humanist historian
Sources of Machiavelli’s
thought:
Humanist: draws on Roman history, especially Livy on Roman Republic
Political experience as Chancellor for Florentine Republic
lives through the invasions of Italy by French: 1494, 1499
and the Habsburg-Valois Wars
Goals: realism (“the way things are”), utility of knowledge
The Prince written
1512-1513:
Genre: medieval predecessors: advice for the Christian Prince
speculum principis (mirror for princes): how a prince should
act.
Organization of the treatise
Pt I.
Rules of Politics Ch. 1-11 Kinds of states;
Ch. 12-13 Troops
What
are the different kinds of kingdoms?
What examples of rulers does Machiavelli use? (French, Turks)
Why are arms so important? What kind of military force is best?
Pt II The Prince
Ch. 14-24
What should the Prince be like? How should he act?
Case studies: look at some of the examples Machiavelli presents
and the conclusions he draw from them.
Pt III Fortune:
Ch 25 Fortune: metaphors of river & woman
Ch 26 Exhortation to Free Italy from the Barbarians