Pays the cost to be the boss

The Life and Times of

Niccol de Bernardo dei

Machiavelli: Teacher of Rulers

Is it better to be loved or is it better to be feared?

Quick Facts
May 3, 1469-June 21, 1527 From Florence, Italy during the Renaissance
Chaotic times:
Popes wage war on city-states Leaders and cities fall at any moment Foreign powersFrance, Spain, Switzerlandcontend for power in Italy Short-lived governments Shaky alliances that backstab each other

Historian, diplomat, philosopher, Humanist, and writer Considered the founder of modern political sciencespecifically, political
Machiavellis Italy divided into cliques

The Beginning: Politicians Eyes

1494: The Medici Family (the merchant kings) expelled from Florence. Republic is restored 1498: Savanarola (the ideal ruler) is executed
June: Machiavelli (age 29) appointed Head of Second Chancery

July: Machiavelli appointed Secretary of Dieci di libert e Pace

1503-1506: Responsible for Florentine militia

Distrusted mercenaries & built up citizen militia Defeats Pisa in 1509 with his citizen soldiers
Power players in Machiavellis life (clockwise from top left): Girolamo Savonarola, Pope Julius II, Pope Clement VII and Charles VIII of France

August, 1512: Defeated by the Medici with Spanish forces and Pope Julius IIs assistance Republic is dissolved; Medici are top dogs again

Chrysalis: Political Prisoner

1512: Machiavelli stripped of power and titles 1513: accused of conspiracy, arrested, and imprisoned, and subjected with the rope He denies his involvement with any conspiracy and is released Pope Leo X (Giovanni de Medici) is elected into power when The Prince is written; has Machiavelli released from prison Machiavelli retires to his home and writes political theory
Writes plays that are popularly received His passion is politics; he writes letters to his political friends to stay updated on who is in power, etc.

Strappado: with the rope

Final Phase: Political Genius

The following are a list of some political papers Machiavelli wrote:
Discorso sopre le cose di pisa (1499) Del modo di trattare i popoli de la valdichiana ribbelatti (1502) Discorso sopra la provizione del danaro (1502) Ritratti delle cose di Francia (1510) Il principe (1513) Ritracto delle cose della Magna (1508-1512) DellArte della Guerra (1519-1520) Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze (1520) Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca (1520) La vita di Castruccio Castracani di Lucca (1520) Istorie Florentine (1520-1525)

An early cover of Il Principe

His Legacy: Il Principe

1513: Machiavelli writes The Prince
Dedicated to Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, the hopeful Prince of Florence Not printed until 1532, five years after Machiavelli died Allowed by Pope Clement VII (a Medici)
The book was banned by previous popes because it attacked the Churchs power The book was also hated by Protestants
Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, to whom The Prince was dedicated

The Prince: What Is iT?

An analysis on how to acquire and maintain political power Contents:
Dedication to the Medici family (Lorenzo in particular) Twenty-six chapters divided into four sections:
I. Chapters 1-11: focus on different types of principalities or states II. Chapters 12-14: focus on different types of armies and a princes conduct as military leader III. Chapters 15-23: focus on the appropriate behavior of a prince IV. Chapters 24-26: focus on Italys desperate political situation
Last chapter is a desperate plea for Medici family to step up and provide a leader who can save Italy

I: Principalities
There are four types of principalities:
Hereditary: inherited by a ruler Mixed: territories annexed to a rulers existing territories New: acquired in several ways:
By ones own power By the power of others By criminal acts or extreme cruelty By the will of the people (civic principalities)

Ecclesiastical: the papal states belonging to the Church

Top: Royal crown Bottom: Papal tiara

II: Types of Armies

A prince must always pay attention to military affairs if he is to remain in power. Machiavelli lists four types of military:
Mercenaries or hired soldiers: dangerous and unreliable Auxiliaries: troops borrowed from other rulersalso dangerous Native troops: from ones own citizensmost reliable and desired Mixed troops: a combo of native, hired, and/or borrowed; okay, but still less desirable than an all native army

A heartbreaking day to be a fiorentino and an inspiration for Machiavellis writing: Siege of Florence (fresco by Giorgio Vasari, 1558)

III: Princely behavior

Machiavelli recommends the following behavior for a prince:
It is better to be stingy than generous It is better to be cruel than merciful It is better to break promises if keeping them would be dangerous to ones own interests Avoid being hated or despised; the goodwill of the people is the best defense over any fortress Undertake great projects to enhance ones reputation Choose wise advisors and

From left to right: Charles the V of Spain (Catholic king) and Henry the VIII of England (Protestant king) were among the first generation of royals to read The Prince

IV: Italys sad situation

Machiavelli outlines the following:
Italys rulers have lost their states because theyve ignored the political and military tactics Machiavelli suggests Fortune controls half of human affairs, but free will controls the rest, leaving the prince free to act
Few princes adapt their actions to the times

Final chapter implores the Medici to follow Machiavellis advice and save Italy from a lame fate of foreign domination
Italia: divided we fall

A most famous passage

Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved Love endures by a bond which men, being scoundrels, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present. ~The Prince, chapter XVII

Your Assignment:
I. Look through your lecture notes and create a SOAPSTone for the previous quote

II. Create Three questions based on the homework sheet I gave you (use the sentence stems):
i. One Compare and Contrast question ii. One Proposition and Support question iii. One Explain and Describe question

III. Share out in class

Homework Assignment
Take and read all of the most important quotes from The Prince

Make a SOAPSTone for 10 of the 15 quotes. Use complete sentences!

Choose FIVE QUOTES you want to closely analyze.
Use the Small Group Discussion sheets to create and write one question for each quote to be answered in small groups the following class session
Use the sentence stems to help you make questions Use your knowledge from the lecture and previous EMPIRES research Use your experience from the film Throne of Blood Use your experience/notes from the Greek tragedies