How Does Niccolo Machiavelli Influence On Religion

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence while it was under the rule of the Medici family. At this time, Italy was a collection of independent city states. As a direct result of this lack of unity, it was often overrun by other European powers. Following the expulsion of the Medici in 1492, Machiavelli became active in the political affairs of Florence. Primarily he served as a diplomat for the city, visiting the courts of the most powerful rulers in Europe. His accounts of these visits can be found in Portraits, which he published in 1508 and 1510. In 1512 the Medici family regained control of Florence, imprisoning Machiavelli along with other members of the opposition. Upon his release, he retreated from the city and began composing
However, unlike most other works in this genre which emphasized the importance of Christian morality, Machiavelli emphasized pragmatism over ethics. In other words, the ends of political stability could justify all sorts of unethical means, such as deception and violence. Like other humanists, Machiavelli was more interested in the possibility of human action within the world than any dedication to the Christian afterlife. Machiavelli’s emphasis on the realism of political rule instead of idealism led his work to be widely criticized. In fact the term, Machiavellian is still used today to signal the immorality of politics. At the end of ”The Prince”, however, Machiavelli moves away from his realistic depiction of politics into an idealistic vision as he imagines a unified Italy under a strong ruler capable of controlling its destiny ( south university online lecture, 2016). He actually says
In fact Machiavelli took on several positions in the government and he even served as a political advisor for the Borgia family. Therefore he has established several political views of his own (Angelo M. Codevilla, 1997). He also had gathered several ruling strategies from the Borgia family which can be depicted in the quote below where he advised “The Prince” to pretend in a bid to seize the enemy, "My Prince, I advise you to treat with Caterina Sforza under a white flag... Therefore my advice is this. Treat with Caterina Sforza under a white flag and under the pretense of peace. Then seize her and take her captive. Once she is captive, strip her of her fine garments and place in her in an iron cage to parade her in front of the rebel troops, and rape her before their eyes before you kill her. The enemy forces will know their leader is captured and humiliated, and the magnitude of this deed will so horrify them that in they will flee from battle and fear and never raise arms against your might