Niccolo Machiavelli Personality

Niccolo Machiavelli and The Prince

Life Sketch:

Niccolo Machiavelli, who went on to become a political theorist, a civil servant and a philosopher, was born in Florence on May 3rd, 1469. He is also known as the ‘Father of Modern Political Theory’ and is a prominent figure of the Italian Renaissance. He was born into a wealthy and influential family. Being the first male child after two daughters, he was closer to his father, Bernardo, an ex-lawyer. His younger brother, Totto, went into priesthood. His mother was a religious woman, contrary to his father, who was skeptical by nature. Niccolo’s thought process thus, can be said to have roots in his childhood, which was perhaps influenced and in tandem with his father and Roman historians. The young Machiavelli also would have found it difficult to accept that there was some significant difference between religious matters and state matters as at that time, religious dictates were also used as political instruments.

Machiavelli received good educational training under Paula da Ronciglione, a renowned Latin teacher and joined the Florentine government as a clerk in 1494. In the same year, the ruling Medici family was sent into exile. He witnessed the expulsion of the Medici family, oligarchic rulers who had ruled Florence for decades, and the rise of Girolamo Savanorola, who took hold of the region shortly thereafter. Soon, he started his diplomatic career and went across various countries like Italy, Spain and France and met