Niccolo Machiavelli's Influence On The Enlightenment

Niccolo Machiavelli and his influence on the Enlightenment

Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, also known as the father of “Modern Political Theory” was a well-known Italian diplomat, politician, humanist, historian, philosopher and writer from the era of renaissance philosophy. He belonged to several schools of thought, namely: Renaissance humanism, Political realism, Classical republicanism.

His claim to fame was his popular book, “The Prince”, which was a handbook for politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving, cunning inspiring the term “Machiavellian.” Before he wrote his book, Machiavelli was a diplomat for 14 years in Italy’s Florence Republic during the Medici family’s exile. Florence had been under a republican government since 1494 when the leading Medici family and its supporters had been driven from power. During this time, Machiavelli thrived under the patronage of the Florentine ‘gonfaloniers’ chief administrator for life, Piero Soderini. In 1512, however, with the assistance of Spanish troops, the Medici defeated the republic 's armed forces and dissolved the government. Machiavelli was a direct victim of the regime change: he was initially placed in a form of internal exile and, when he was (wrongly) suspected of conspiring against the Medici in 1513, he was imprisoned and tortured for several weeks. His retirement thereafter to his farm outside of Florence afforded the occasion and the impetus for him to turn to literary pursuits.

Machiavelli is also