Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
‘To preserve the state, [the prince] often has to do things against his word, against charity, against humanity, against religion.’
(translation: Robert M. Adams)
The Prince was published in print in 1532, five years after its author’s Niccolò Machiavelli’s death, but it had circulated in manuscript, and caused quite a stir, long before. Machiavelli had been a prominent official and diplomat in the Republic of Florence, but was imprisoned and tortured when the Medici regained control over the city state in 1513. He subsequently wrote the work in exile, ostensibly to regain favour with Florence’s new rulers. Presented as a contribution to the genre of mirrors for princes, moralistic/didactic guides to behaviour of rulers, it broke with that tradition in several ways, including its choice for the (Italian) vernacular instead of Latin, and its preference for a focus on practical specifics over idealized principles. As a result, Machiavelli was accused of proposing an immoral approach to politics. Notorious for its insistence that for the maintenance of the prince’s power, the ends justify the means, The Prince has left its traces on the English language through the description of particularly cunning politicians as ‘Machiavellian’, and even the name ‘Old Nick’ for the devil is often held to refer to Machiavelli. The impact of Machiavelli’s work on political theory cannot be overstated, influencing thinkers from Jean Bodin to Adam Smith, and from Spinoza to Hobbes, while among its readers were also many prominent politicians, from Thomas Cromwell and emperor Charles V, to Stalin and Mussolini.
