The Prince

A detailed Summary of The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli was a very knowledgeable man. He was born in Florence in 1469 and when he was of the age 43 he wrote The Prince. His first admission into politics happened in1498 with the title as Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria. He held this job through the year 1512 right before the Medici took over Florence. He was very faithful to his elders and to the policies of the government. In 1502 he became assistant to Soderini who was elected chief magistrate of the Republic. One of his finest accomplishments came in the year 1509 when he made Pisa acquiesce after a 15 year struggle. He was mostly credited because he directed the land and sea blockade that brought about Pisa's submission. Three years later the Spaniards attacked Prato. They broke the walls, attacked the defenders, and totally destroyed the town. A couple days later Soderini resigned and went into exile. The Medici took control of Florence and six weeks later dismissed and banished !

Machiavelli for one year. Early in 1513 he was suspected of plotting to overthrow the Medici government. He was first arrested, then tortured, and then released after his innocence was satisfactor

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When one acquires a state that was used to living in freedom one must first destroy it; the second is to go live there; lastly let the citizens continue to live under their own laws. If one has acquired a principality with one's own arms and ability then it will be easier to overcome and remain then if the principality came because of fortune. Those who become princes by virtue of their abilities acquire the principality with difficulty, but then maintain it with ease. But when somebody is given a state either for money or as a gift then they are probably in trouble. They lack knowledge of how to run a state and they also lack arms and a defense that will not respect and be loyal to him. This

Machiavelli shows through out the whole book that he loves his country. He did not mainly write it to get back into power but to inform the present prince in how to make a great country and how to make other states part of Italy's without losing them. In the letter that he wrote to Francesco Vettori only shortly before a year when living on the farm near San Casciano it feels that he screams out to the world that he has loyalty to the government and that he will always feel that way. For there is no reason now to lose it. He states that for 43 years he has been faithful and that his present poverty is a witness to his honesty and goodness.

He is helping the prince out in how to be loved and be a great ruler. He describes very explicitly in how to attack the enemy or how to plan to attack the enemy, either in times of war or peace. In the last chapter he states why Italy has lost in the past decades and how the prince could perfect the future. He is an Italian at heart and he definitely tells it in this book. The book is very logical in how to run a government when one runs one without morals and ethics. Machiavelli believed that moral and politics had no place in dealing with politics. He measured the success of the Prince by how much he has taken over and kept. He is a person that feels the need to take over states. Through out

principalities (inherited or new). Principalities that are inherited are more easily to keep because the citizens already know and are familiar

Some common words found in the essay are:
San Casciano, Medici Florence, Israelites Egyptians, Machiavelli Moses, France Germany, Niccolo Machiavelli, Cyrus Theseus, Francesco Vettori, Chancery Signoria, attack enemy, farm near san, near san casciano, principalities inherited, machiavelli believed, own troops, italian heart, power machiavelli, near san, one's own, farm near, san casciano,

Approximate Word count = 1534
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English