Niccolo Machiavelli
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Niccolo Machiavelli wrote, in his novel The Prince, that strong central political leadership was more important than anything else, including religion and moral behavior. Machiavelli, writing during the dramatic change that was happening during the Italian Renaissance, displayed attitudes towards many issues, mostly political, which supported his belief that strong government was the most important element in society. These attitudes and ideas were very appropriate for the time because they stressed strong, centralized power, the only kind of leadership that seemed to be working throughout Europe, which was also the element Italy was lacking. Machiavelli understood that obtaining such a government could not be done without separating political conduct and personal morality, and suggested that the separation be made.
To understand the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, it is necessary to understand what was happening in Renaissance Italy. The region was not one nation as it is today, rather a collection of several city-states, which contained internal fighting between powerful families, fighting with each other. This era differed from the preceding Middle Ages in many respects, the pope’s power was weakened, money controlled power instead of noble birth, and there was a revival of ancient Greek and Roman literature, architecture and art by a new breed of people, the humanists. These changes created the environment in which Machiavelli lived. He saw how the quarrelling was weakening the area, leaving it unable to withstand French attack. He witnessed the corrupt popes of Rome attempting to gain power just as many wealthy families did. These events and people left impressions on him that would become recommendations for strong, ruthless, central government in his writings.
Machiavelli stated that princes needed to be harsh in their treatment of both new and old principalities combined. There is in all new and old principalities a “natural hazard the willingness of men to change one lord for another, believing thus to improve their lot.” To avoid against rebellions, the prince must be very harsh, disarm the common people, and always be cautious. It is easier for a prince to hold control after he has already subdued one rebellion, then he can use it as an excuse to establish himself more solidly, by strengthening his power.
To maintain control of a city is much more difficult than acquiring control of a city according to Machiavelli. After a city is acquired, there are three ways of keeping control of it, “the first is to destroy it, the second is to go there in person, and the third is… setting up a government composed of a few men who will keep it friendly to you.” Once a prince takes control of a city, he must not forget it, for it can easily be lost. Even if following one of Machiavellis three ways to keep a city, it is still possible to lose control. Rebellions were routine in Renaissance Italy, and to protect against them it was necessary to constantly keep the city under the prince’s power, a task easier said than done.
According to Niccolo Machiavelli, law was one of the two most important parts of a nation. “The two most essential foundations for any state… are sound laws and sound military forces.” The military force’s most important function is to defend and implement the laws, because without something to back them up, laws are nothing. He goes onto say that “Nothing so much honors a man newly come to power as the new laws and new ordinances he brings into being.” If a prince is able to create and enforce new laws that bring good, then he will be known as a capable ruler. There is, however, a flip side; if a ruler cannot create beneficial laws he is quickly labeled unworthy of his position. It is laws that make a state and its ruler what they are.
Machiavelli lived in an era and location that allowed him to witness the upper most corruption in the Christian church, causing him to view the pope as just another prince on a quest for increased power. The year The Prince was written, Pope Alexander VI, used the papacy to promote the careers of his children, caused a French invasion of Italy, and focused on nothing but his quest for more power. Viewing this, it would have been hard for anyone, including Machiavelli, to view the papacy or any other ecclesiastical power in a positive light. Instead, he saw the popes as nothing more than princes attempting to strengthen and expand their empires.
War was not something to be taken lightly. “A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war… for that is the only art expected of a ruler.” No matter how much his subjects like him, or the immensity of kingdom and wealth, a prince is nothing unless he can withstand foreign invasion. Nations and states are constantly trying to expand, and according to Machiavelli, a prince must protect his kingdom from these troubles.
To Machiavelli, fear was the emotion that a successful ruler caused in people. The excellent rulers also inspired love and avoided being hated, but without the element of fear, this was worthless. “It would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved.” Fear forces subjects to comply with the prince’s laws, no matter how harsh. Love makes subjects