THE PRINCE by Niccolò Machiavelli

In this lesson from a TEACHER we explain one of the political treaties most important in history, Princeby Nicolás Machiavelli (1469-1527, Florence). Which, is considered one of the most remarkable politicians and philosophers of the Renaissance, because he has to his credit an interesting and extensive work, developed in two stages: during the performance of his political career in Florence and during his political retirement (1513-1527) at San Casciano in Val di Pesa (Florence).

Precisely, Prince It is part of the second stage and the most prolific of the Italian author. Erecting this as his most controversial and important work. Pay attention because here you go a summary of Prince by Machiavelli.

Machiavelli was born in 1469 in the city of Florence, into a middle-class family but related to the humanistic environment. In this way, Machiavelli soon came under the tutelage of the teacher Paolo da Ronciglione and later completed his training at the University of Florence. In this early stage of his life, Machiavelli resided in a Florence that was first ruled by

The Medici and later by the Dominican monk Savonarola, whose government fell in 1498.

That same year, a new government was created, of which Machiavelli was part being Secretary of the Second Chancellery in charge of the Foreign affairs. This position led him to carry out important diplomatic missions before the King of France Louis XII in 1500, Emperor Maximilian I and César Borgia, among others.

In 1512, the republican regime of which Machiavelli was a part fell (along with him) and the Medeci returned to power. A year later, Machiavelli was imprisoned after being accused of treason for having been part of a plot towards the Medici government.

Shortly thereafter, he was released (through the Pope Leo X) and from that moment on he retired to his house from where he observed a political scene of which he was not a part. It was at this time that he wrote what is considered his masterpiece, Prince (1513)Dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici and whose objective was gain the trust of the family to obtain a position in the government of him, nevertheless, the only thing that he obtained was that they entrusted to him missions of little importance.

Finally, in 1527 the Medici were expelled from Florence and a new Republic was established in which the participation of Machiavelli was discarded, who disillusioned died June 21, 1527.

Prince of Machiavelli is a treatise on the art of politics and in which Machiavelli tells us embodies his particular vision of politics, based on his own experience as a diplomat and his extensive knowledge of history.

The first mention of this Machiavelli's work we find her in 1513, in a letter addressed to her friend Francesco Vettori and in which he tells her that he has composed a short treatise, entitledBy principatibuso Leadership. However, Prince as we know it we will not see the light until 1532.

This is made up of a dedication and twenty-six chapters that can be structured in four large thematic blocks:

1. Kinds of principalities, ways of acquiring and ruling them. Chapters 1-11: In this block the author tells us about the hereditary, new, mixed, civil and ecclesiastical principalities, of the two forms of governing (absolute power held by the prince or the power shared with a group of nobles), what are the ways to seize a principality (through arms and virtue or through the weapons and fortune of others), how it should be govern a state that previously had laws of its own (destroy it, establish itself in it or maintain a government akin to the prince) and how cruelty should be properly used to govern.
2. Defense and militia. Chapters 12-14: The importance of the army is established to show / maintain the power and dexterity that the prince must have with arms.
3. The qualities, ways of acting and the prudence of the prince. Chapters 15-25: Here he tries to explain to Lorenzo de Medici the ways of acting and qualities that a prince must have to maintain the government of a city or region, for which everything is justified. In this way, he looks for examples in the ancient Romans and in their contemporaries, such as: César Borgia, Ferdinand the Catholic, Julius II... As Machiavelli tells us: “Let the prince therefore be done what is necessary to overcome and maintain the State, and the means that he uses will always be considered honorable and will be praised by all ”.
4. Exhortation to the Medici to reclaim and liberate Italy from the barbarians, chapter 26: By way of conclusion, Machiavelli explains to us the reasons why the princes of Italy have lost their states and urges Lorenzo de Medici to free her from the foreigners / barbarians.

With this work a new conception of politics: the separation of politics from morality, a new concept of the State (separate from the Church), a new ideal of the ruler... Therefore, Ferdinand the Catholicbanned their publication in their realms, because it clashed with his policy closely linked to the Church and in which the king considered himself the defender of the faith.

Likewise, the thought of the Florentine has lasted throughout history and has reached our days, hence why today we use concepts such as Machiavellianism. An idea that the State puts before any ethical or moral question to maintain power, that is, that the actual exercise of power obeys the laws of power and not morality. As the Italian established: "Politics has nothing to do with morals”.