Machiavelli Views On The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance’s leader and also one of the greatest political thinkers of that time. He was born in 1469, and came from a Florentine family that was very respected by many. In 1498, Machiavelli entered the political world and was voted the Chief of the Second Chancery and then later on the Secretary to the Ten of Liberty and Peace. It was here where he gained much of his knowledge on military and foreign affairs. Machiavelli was first commissioned in 1499, but his first commission in foreign affairs was in 1500 where he traveled to the French Court of Louis XII. His main goal was for Florence to overtake Pisa and to do this he consulted with Leonardo de Vinci to move the river Arno around Pisa in 1503. Machiavelli plays a significant role in
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establishing Florence’s first militia and because of this he was granted the Chancellor of the Nove di Milizia and was able to capture Pisa in 1509 with an infantry unit that he put together himself. In 1512, Machiavelli showed weakness when his militias of cheap soldiers were defeated and Florence fell to Spanish Soldiers. He was later banished from Florence and imprisoned and later on resigned in his country estate. Machiavelli wrote a lot of different documents, but his most famous was The Prince. The Prince was a book from Machiavelli’s perspective explaining to other rulers how to establish a long lasting government. Machiavelli was a ruler who felt it was better to be feared rather than loved as a ruler. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he talks about many different characteristics that a ruler should have in order for them to be successful. Machiavelli’s main message that he is trying to get across to people is that as a prince it is better to be feared rather than loved.
In The Price Machiavelli says “that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than lived, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with” (Machiavelli XVII). Going along the lines of fear and love, Machiavelli believes that a prince should be considered “element and not cruel,” but should not overuse his cruelness and authority. Machiavelli states in The Prince “therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those, who through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise from which follow murders or robberies” (Machiavelli XVII) He says that people need to be punished for their actions because if they are not punished then citizens will do what they want and if he shows mercy and lets people off the hook then they will not take him seriously. Machiavelli also stresses that in order to be a successful ruler one must be generous to his people, but not too generous or else people will become greedy and ruin his state. Machiavelli believes that if one gives too much to
his people then it would cause the state to become poor. If the state becomes poor, then the only way to bring back up the revenue would be to start taxing the citizens and taking their money. This would cause many people to turn against the prince and it would cause hatred. In The Prince Machiavelli says “and there is nothing wasted so rapidly as liberality, for even whilst you exercise it you lose the power to do so, and so become either poor or despised, or else, in avoiding poverty, rapacious and hatred. And a prince should guard himself, above all things, against being despised and hated and liberality leads you to both” (Machiavelli XVI). Overall, Machiavelli believes that liberality is a bad thing and it is better to be mean and stand up for oneself than to give in to the peoples wants. Another characteristic that Machiavelli stresses to be important, is that a prince must not think twice about his actions. He should not care about what the people think and he should do what he thinks is best. A prince has to be willing to act in manners that are evil and have to be willing to do anything that will benefit the state even if it means taking away promises made to the citizens. Machiavelli believes that it is better to put the state first and is concerned with the ends rather than the means. Overall, Machiavelli stresses that a prince needs to be a strong ruler and show authority over his people in order to take care of his state and should be feared rather than loved.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince during the time that Italy was divided into different city-states and had five major competing powers. Italy was not unified and each city-state continued to try and fight for power. Machiavelli wrote The Prince because he was banished from Florence due to his militia falling to the Spanish soldiers. After his banishment, Machiavelli was imprisoned and tortured because he was suspected of coming up with a plan to restore the government. Machiavelli retired to his country home and that is when he began writing The Prince. The Price was mainly written by Machiavelli because he hoped that he could win back a spot in the government. He was trying to win the favor of Lorenzo de ’Medici, the current prince of Florence by telling him how to run a successful government. Throughout The Prince Machiavelli constantly talks about how great the government is and offers high appraisal to the wealthy people in the government such as the Medici’s and people of the church. Machiavelli ended up writing a lot of other pieces because he was not let back into the government due to the fact that the book failed to impress the Medici family. The Prince was actually looked down upon by many because Machiavelli constantly contradicts himself and people thought that he was a selfish, evil ruler. To Machiavelli the whole point of writing the book was to get back into politics and win over the wealthy government. It was basically a political game for Machiavelli in which he failed to get his point across and ended up being hated by many individuals.
establishing Florence’s first militia and because of this he was granted the Chancellor of the Nove di Milizia and was able to capture Pisa in 1509 with an infantry unit that he put together himself. In 1512, Machiavelli showed weakness when his militias of cheap soldiers were defeated and Florence fell to Spanish Soldiers. He was later banished from Florence and imprisoned and later on resigned in his country estate. Machiavelli wrote a lot of different documents, but his most famous was The Prince. The Prince was a book from Machiavelli’s perspective explaining to other rulers how to establish a long lasting government. Machiavelli was a ruler who felt it was better to be feared rather than loved as a ruler. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he talks about many different characteristics that a ruler should have in order for them to be successful. Machiavelli’s main message that he is trying to get across to people is that as a prince it is better to be feared rather than loved.
In The Price Machiavelli says “that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than lived, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with” (Machiavelli XVII). Going along the lines of fear and love, Machiavelli believes that a prince should be considered “element and not cruel,” but should not overuse his cruelness and authority. Machiavelli states in The Prince “therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those, who through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise from which follow murders or robberies” (Machiavelli XVII) He says that people need to be punished for their actions because if they are not punished then citizens will do what they want and if he shows mercy and lets people off the hook then they will not take him seriously. Machiavelli also stresses that in order to be a successful ruler one must be generous to his people, but not too generous or else people will become greedy and ruin his state. Machiavelli believes that if one gives too much to
his people then it would cause the state to become poor. If the state becomes poor, then the only way to bring back up the revenue would be to start taxing the citizens and taking their money. This would cause many people to turn against the prince and it would cause hatred. In The Prince Machiavelli says “and there is nothing wasted so rapidly as liberality, for even whilst you exercise it you lose the power to do so, and so become either poor or despised, or else, in avoiding poverty, rapacious and hatred. And a prince should guard himself, above all things, against being despised and hated and liberality leads you to both” (Machiavelli XVI). Overall, Machiavelli believes that liberality is a bad thing and it is better to be mean and stand up for oneself than to give in to the peoples wants. Another characteristic that Machiavelli stresses to be important, is that a prince must not think twice about his actions. He should not care about what the people think and he should do what he thinks is best. A prince has to be willing to act in manners that are evil and have to be willing to do anything that will benefit the state even if it means taking away promises made to the citizens. Machiavelli believes that it is better to put the state first and is concerned with the ends rather than the means. Overall, Machiavelli stresses that a prince needs to be a strong ruler and show authority over his people in order to take care of his state and should be feared rather than loved.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince during the time that Italy was divided into different city-states and had five major competing powers. Italy was not unified and each city-state continued to try and fight for power. Machiavelli wrote The Prince because he was banished from Florence due to his militia falling to the Spanish soldiers. After his banishment, Machiavelli was imprisoned and tortured because he was suspected of coming up with a plan to restore the government. Machiavelli retired to his country home and that is when he began writing The Prince. The Price was mainly written by Machiavelli because he hoped that he could win back a spot in the government. He was trying to win the favor of Lorenzo de ’Medici, the current prince of Florence by telling him how to run a successful government. Throughout The Prince Machiavelli constantly talks about how great the government is and offers high appraisal to the wealthy people in the government such as the Medici’s and people of the church. Machiavelli ended up writing a lot of other pieces because he was not let back into the government due to the fact that the book failed to impress the Medici family. The Prince was actually looked down upon by many because Machiavelli constantly contradicts himself and people thought that he was a selfish, evil ruler. To Machiavelli the whole point of writing the book was to get back into politics and win over the wealthy government. It was basically a political game for Machiavelli in which he failed to get his point across and ended up being hated by many individuals.