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Niccolò Machiavelli is known to be one of the best-known political philosophers of the Renaissacnce period. Machiavelli is also known for being a historian, writer, statesman, and diplomat. His most recognized work, The Prince, was writtten in 1513 and published in 1532. The book is a guide for obtaining and maintaining political power which emphasized using any tactics to force people to obey and overcome enemies. He also wrote other political works such as History of Florence and Discourses Upon the First Ten Books of Livy. These works did not focus on such drastic measures of rule as in The Prince. “Although he shared with other humanists a profound pessimism about human nature, Machiavelli nevertheless argued that the social benefits of stability and security can be achieved even in the face of moral corruption.“ Machiavelli focussed on the way things are, illustrating his own intensely practical convictions with frequent examples from the historical record. Machiavelli was born in 1469 in Florence, the son of a jurist. He was educated through private study. Niccolò Machiavelli started out his career in politics in 1498 where he served as first secretary of the coucil for the republic of Florence. At this time the Medici family, who had ruled Florence since 1434, was taken over by a reform goevernment. During fourteen years of service, Machaelli became a leading diplomat for the Republic of Florence. He was driven from his post in 1512 when, with the help of Spanish troops, the Medici family regained power, and the republic collapsed. Machiavelli was arrested, tortured, imprisoned, and removed from political life. When he was finally released he devouted the next decade of this retirment to writing about history and political philosophy. During this time he wrote his greatest work, The Prince.
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