Early LifeNiccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He was born when Italy was divided into four substates, into a chaotic, poor family. Italy was constantly threatened by other countries as Machiavelli grew up. He worked for a banker growing up, and became a diplomat in the Florentine Republic, during the Medici family exile. He was well known for his cunning, deviousness, and deceptive ways. As a young man, Machiavelli was very interested in politics and leadership. This transformed into his many writings, including The Prince[7].
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Expulsion from PoliticsMachiavelli married Marietta Corsini (1502) and had 6 kids. He lived in Florence his whole life. At first, Machiavelli was a successful diplomat, but when the Medici family returned to power Machiavelli was thrown in jail, tortured, and banned from politics because of his attempt to overthrow the Medici family in a coup (1512). Machiavelli then became a scholar of Roman history and wrote The Prince, one of his most famous works.[8] He begins The Prince by criticizing past Roman leaders, and dedicates the book to a past ruler of Florence, and the original Medici merchant, Lorenzo de Medici. Machiavelli then continued to write books and plays, including On the Art of War (1521), The Mandrake (1524), and many others. The church condemned Machiavelli’s writings because of their contrary ideas and neglect of ethics and morals.[9] Machiavelli died on June 21, 1527 at 59 years old. His tomb is in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, which he had been banned from because of his disagreement with the church on leadership roles.[10] Although Machiavelli’s ideas were not respected during his life, many politicians have read and been influenced by his works today. He is known as the father of modern politics.
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