machiavelli personal context Flashcards
(125 cards)
1
Q
youth
A
- father a lawyer making precarious living
- youyh will ‘guide hisactions for the rest fo his flie’
- good education and father high cultrual capital
2
Q
precarios living
A
“born poor, learned enjoy want before enjoyment.” Makes him more resolutely ascetic and anti-luxury than Guicciardini and Bruni?
3
Q
father high cultural capital
A
knows influential humanists like Scala, whose On Laws and Legal Judgements (1483) dialogue was between him and his “friend and intimate” Bernado Machiavelli.
4
Q
career
A
- second chancery
- 1512- own fortuens collased wit those republican regime
- tortured and imprisoned
5
Q
second chancery
A
- 1498, with the fall of the clerical Savonarola government, gets his first role in the Second Chancery. He got this at just 29 and with no previous administrational experience.
- probs humanist agenda at the Chancery.
- Salutati in 1375 had begun this trend and continued with the appointment of Machiavelli’s family friend Scala.
6
Q
1512
A
- formally dismissed from his post int the chancery
- three days later he was sentenced to confinement within florentine territory for year, surety sum 1000 florins
7
Q
imprisonment
A
- mistakenly suspected of taking part in an abortive conspiracy against the new Medicean government, and after being put to the torture he was condemned to imprisonment and the payment of a heavy fine.
- As he later complained to the Medici in the dedication to The Prince, ‘fortune’s great and steady malice’ had suddenly and viciously struck him down
8
Q
borgia opion
A
- initailly impressed decsiveness, diff dilatory florentie admin
- ‘duke gov is founded on nothing more than his good fortune’ 1502
- but by 1503 dissaporving tone
9
Q
julius ii
A
- Machiavelli noted his tendency to “proceed impetuously” in all affairs.
- Yet, he “was always successful” because the “times and circumstances” were “so in harmony with his way of proceeding.”
10
Q
attempt tto return to power
A
- letters to vettori during the writig of the price detail how he seeks to come to the notice of ‘our medici lords’
although rucellai circle odd choice in 1514 as man of letters as anti-mediciean
11
Q
fortune intelectual roots
A
- classicl aristotle and tactits- distinguished eytween providential fate, unwavering and ddecisive and capricious fortune
- seneca written f need to oppose fortuen wit hseverity
11
Q
anti christainity
A
- by savonarola fall 1498 mach known fiercely anti-clerical critic of his regime- may insppred future appt
- rejected thomist notion outlined in ‘the gov of princs’ that a prince should eschew worldy ends
12
Q
contemp historian on florence
A
- Ridolfi: poor laws and good rulers. This is why Florence continuously produced epochal historians and political theorists. The dysfunctional institutions also placed more emph on the importance of strong political action.
13
Q
1494-1512 transformative
A
- failure of 1494 settlement illustrated that Florences political problems could not be solved using trad assumptions
- hence new historical style born by mach and guicciardini- rational efficiency
- as seen in c15 the prince where eschews ‘imagined republics’ in exchange for ‘effectual truth’
14
Q
where does mach stand w Bruni
A
Mansfield
- Bruni early humanist Aristotelian trad, and thomism over augustinainism
- while Bruni writes panegyric of Florence, mach writing to consider its decline fh
diff to moulakis
15
Q
whilst moulakis
A
- continuity between Bruni and camp, by extensions Aristotle and mach
- ## unlikely w discussions on human nature
16
Q
shift 1494-1512 on history
A
bos and ankersmet are like 1789, humiliations of 1494-1512 bred a new historical consciousness into the Italian s
17
Q
is mach style norm
A
to a degree yes
- using historical examples to guide current political decisions, not only common ut institutionalised and respected even among most powerful leaders and thinkers
- not anachronisti to use roman history- the norm
- as was done with saonarola (controversial preacher) framed through roman precedent what did caesar do w Pompey
- engaging in mainstream political method
18
Q
borugous
A
- mach liberalism align more w bourgeois ideals than high minded civic virtue of classical antiquity
-focus less on heroic self-sacrifice or the republic as an end I itself and more on material security and private property - trinkaus
19
Q
trinkaus
A
discount between renaissance humanism and ealyr modern commercialism
- although Bruni and mach both embrace plural states and material liberty- continuity ideas across renaissance and early modern period
20
Q
other contemporary on state and commercial humanism
A
Dante
bruni
21
Q
Dante- state
A
monarchia
world needs a single monarch to ensure peace and jsucie- universal order
22
Q
bruni state and commercial humanism
A
disagree Dante
mach agree shrunk
believed plurality of states good human flourishing
comp and diversity encourage excellence
23
Q
mercenaries event inform
A
1500 Florentine assault non Pisa, humiliating failure which has to be called off due to the desertion and mutiny of French and Swiss mercenaries
24
tactical ineptitauedes - ifnromed
* Not negotiating with the stronger power: Ferdinand’s Spanish army in the summer of 1512. Results in the sack of Prato, surrender of Florence, fall of the Republic and revival of the Medici tyranny.
25
excessive clemency - informed
soldering, failed to kill sons of Brutus, opposition factions
26
medici can rule by consent- informed
* This surely informs his view of a corrupted people.
* FH, in the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy, Lorenzo gives a speech in which he references the “complete consensus” on which Medici rule rests 4x.
27
civil discord and tumults- humanism
- horrified humanists
- guicciardini
- Dante and core message
- as to insist rome disorders which 'deserved the greatest praise' was to strike at the heart of one of the most cherished humanist assumptions
28
guicciardini- civil discord
considerations on the discourses
'like praising a sick mans disease because of the virtue of the remedy
29
Dante- civil discourd
importance of ‘living in peace’ had been central to humanist orthodoxy, expounded by Dante among others.
30
social class humanism
guicciardini
although end of 15c changing- brandolini
ficino and mirandola
31
guicciardini- social class
wrote scornfully of the “poor and ignorant” middle class with their “little capacity”; this in contrast to the “noble and intelligent men” from the old elite.
32
social class- brandolini
arguing for abilities so businessmen at end of 15c
33
fiction and mirandola
expressed that Renaissance confidence in human capacity, dignity and rationality in the late 15C.
34
Petrarch humanist
14c
- just as the body is made heavy and sick by excessive induce, so is a city that lives too tranquilly
35
matter palemieri
vita civile 1430s
- linked necc with military virtue
- disagreed Aristotelian assumptions about human nature
- reject that men were brave 'because bravery is beavutify'
- rather that coercion was 'a great help to those imperfect people
36
ethics and morality contempt
luther
guicciardini
37
luther- ethics
reformers ep luther
denied any posibility of morality in business or politics but took the further step of denying man the power of achieving either virtue or justification by his own free will
- salvation came by faith or by election
38
ethics- guicciardini
- serving the papcy after being ousted from his political role
- wrote if 'the position I have served under several popes had not obliged me to desire their greatness for my own self-inetrest...I would have loved Martin luther as myself
39
early humanism
grandezza- harmony and liberty
- sallustian q and danger of idelenss
- war abroad, tranquility at home
- common good over private interest
40
grandezza
- first coined faba in 1240s
- encapsulates distant renaissance ideal of civic greatness, moral and political excellence
- achieved through a combination of internal harmony (social peace, share participation) and liberty
- key part of ideological underpinning of republican civi humanism
41
sallustian q
- recurring concern 13tht o15thc drawn from salts
- danger that idelenss and peace breed corruption
-- too much peace leads to decadence, whiles struggle cultivates virtue
- theme taken up by humanists like braccolini esp in history of the Florentine people
42
resolve q active struggle and internal peace
encourage war abroad whilst preserve tranquility at home
- civic humanist ideal of th evil active- a citizen engage din public life and virtuous action- latini tesoretto
43
society humanism
tend towards common good
collective liberty and civic excellence that transcends individuals ambition
- ideal central to Florentine republicanism, underpins much of the thought from Bruni to mach
44
mach changes humanism
- Subverts internal harmony to tumults, striking at the heart of the Ciceronian Concordia Ordinum
- Common Good vs Justice: they cannot be reconciled as Soderini tried. Hence killing sons of Brutus
45
humanist hist style and tone
Written in Latin, often modelled on classical historians like Livy and Sallust.
Emphasises elevated tone, rhetorical polish, and moral abstraction.
46
humanist use of sources
Humanists like Bruni often rephrased and reworked vernacular sources such as Villani, Stefani, and Pitti, but stripped them of their immediacy and political rawness.
47
humanist historiographical purpose
teach virtue derive universal lessons
48
causality haumnist hist
systematic teleological causal chainas
49
humanist historiography example figures
bruni poggio guiccaiardini
50
humanist hist vei on liberty
structured constitutional liberty protected
51
mach lang
vernalicar
52
mach toone
blunt analyticalm
53
ach purpose
analyse power and fate
54
mach causality
fate chance but also systematic telogligcal causal chain
55
sourcehandling mach
first hand fragmented emotional but also rewronig these vernacular chornocales but reframed
56
mach view on liberty
cyclical realist
57
humanism origins
Cochrane bruni moment humanisme fully born
classical learning became politicised
baron
58
baron on bruni
civic humanism emerges as an intellectual repose to Florentine crisis (1390s war with gaingaleazzo Visconti) liberty becomes a historically-contingent civic value
59
bruni style
intellectualises history
focus on ideas, morality and constitutional dynamics
claims to pursue truth but Wilcox says it is to craft a political narrative
60
bruni purpose comp mach
- bruni didactic political history educate elites in civic virtue
- mach teach how power wokrs- bluntly pragmatic and often subversive
61
moral focus bruni v mach
bruni- moral subordinated to political ocnetxt
- mach -morality secondary to virtue and efficacy , realism over moralism
62
bruni v mach on fotrui
bruni sparingly to highlight flawed choices
- mach central theme must be resisted wit hvritu, man must shape his fate
63
class orientation bruni v mach
bruni- elitst republicanism distorts broa dpatricipation
- mach- ambivalent admires popular energy but fears an uncontrolled multitude
64
bruni v mach national identity
bruni- storing italiani, distain barbaric foreigners
- mach- strong sense Italian delicate and need national regeneration
65
political analysis - bruni v mach
b- rational classical constitutional models history teaches lesson s
- m- systemises history to expose mechanisms of power and corruption
66
church- bruni v mach
bruni- critical of church role in undermining civic virtue
mach- explicit hostile, church blamed for Italys polical weakness
67
guicciardini comp mach - violence
g nec but limited, wary of excess
- mach 0 boldly justified, even gloried when used effectively
68
public debate- g v mach
distrust can destablise
mach embraces as part of republican energy
69
people g v mach
g- not wise must be guided
mach- can be wise possibly even wiser than elites
70
gv m use of history
g- cautious particularised
mach bold analogies and generalisation
71
tyranny g v mach
deeply cirtical- must be resissted
accept as a phase if it leads to order or reform
72
hist style- g v m
nuanced analytical rigour demanded
thematic punchy often polemical
73
religion - g
anti church in political role like mach
divdies italy , pro lytter critical to church corruption
although anti unification contrasts with mach impact call fr nat unity
74
mach liberty humanist
- humanist and rhetorical as empashsi on speech as most appropriate resolution of conflict
- but comes from view importance of disorder and contention which undermines the most fundamental humanist assumptionsu
75
tumults v humanists
* Criticises Bruni and Poggio for neglecting “civil strife and foreign hostilities”.
76
classical education
- humanists sought to learn lessons from the ancients to inform their moral political and military decisions
77
mach didactic history qyote
in preface to discourses emphasised the need to look more to the ancients for lessons to gain a 'true understanding of the histories'
- perhaps danger using fortresses Florence did whilst rome did not
- inefficient financially, money better spent on 'good armies' and encourage a quashing of the liberty of civilians
- ineffectiveness see pope julius iii constructed fortress bologna yet bolognese rebelled and pope lost fortress
78
polybius didactic history
'particular attention and study are required to truly understand the constitution'
79
mach physical experience
- cautious Phil 'armchair emperors'- as may be praised for imdivdi Marcus Aurelius (as cicero or Petrarch may have) governed by Phil not necessity, more suited to study than the battlefield
- Borgia learnt from
80
background Borgia
- borgia Duke of Romagna in 1501, quickly embarked upon an expansionist mission, take over duchy of Urbino as wel as faenza and piombino
- threaten Florence as raised val di china in rebellion against Florence in 1502
81
what mach learnt Borgia
role as diplomat negotiate
role model for effective leadership
prince- mach points to Borgia virtu as he 'decided he wouldn't depend on the 'fortune of others'
broke up house of colonna and killed all the leaders to minismie any potential opp
- Borgia leadership centralised as he 'controls evetrtging by himself' and governs with 'extreme secrecy' minimising threats whilst showing virtue as can lea singularly
82
classical humanist virtu
moral excellence reasoned action in accordance with justice and the common good
83
mach virtu definition
capacity to act decisively strategically dn effectively even morally if needed
84
model ruler- classical v mach virty
model- philosopher king, orateor- statesmen morally upright citizen
- mavh- effective prince brogue secures power ans stability
85
classical v mach virtu political priority
political proprity- ruling justly and virtuously educating citizens in virtue
- mach- mainting power and order in the fae of istabioity and Fortuna
86
attitude to fortune- classical v mach
fortune mitigated by wisdom foresight and virtue
- fortune wild woman beaten and dominated with audacity
87
moral absolutes classical v mach
rule must act within moral bounds
ruler must do what is necessary
88
goal of politics- classical v mach
moral improvement of the individuals and comunity
acquisition and maintenance of power, rpeservation of the state
89
historical heros - classcal humanist
scipio cato cicero brutus- moral patriots
90
historical heros mach
Borgia romulus moses- bold founders even if violent
- Romulus killed brother
cleomenes murdered ephors order to rule alone
'all men are evil ' they will always act according to the wickedness of their nature
91
what needed to be gained through education/politcis
love of 'lost ideals' and 'lost greatness' as set out in Aristotle ethics or cicero de officciis could be rekindled
92
humanist with positive view Hua nature
bruni
- cicero and Aristotle
- believed humans capable of reason virtue and active political participation
- civic participation as moral expression, bruni part of republic not just a duty, realisation of human nature, people want to contribute to common good
93
mach as a historian classical works
- discovered no classical texts himself edited none and copied just a few
- productive comp Francesco patrizi of siena 'unquestionable the most widely read of its literary fugues
94
mach understanding classical works
classical works 'weak knowledge of ancient ones' preface discourses
- did classical education Florentine commune da poppy, relatively limited in accomplishments in humanist movement
95
bruni reading classical works
tougher lorenzzo villa highly regarded humanist one of earliest Italians read greek
96
where mach humanist trialing
oricellari gardens
discussed discourses whilst working on it
perhaps explaining why discourse holds much more classical ref than the prince
97
why critical of church mach
- broadly in line other humanists outspoken critic clerical corruption igrnoance such as Savonarola
- sassi teachers Florentine cathedra school molest pupil last time his eductaion
- traumatic how religion enabled exploitative power
98
cirstianity corrupt humanist
gianotti- chirtsinaity mad ehumand weak and 'effeminate'
99
mach religion reform
mach - religion reforme d on model of roman republic rather than christianity
for sake of political adv rather than for genuine betterment of population
numa- Rome religion 'maintianing a civilised soc' cretaed obligation and conformity', 'controlling the armies, giving courage to the plebeians , keeping men god, roman people yielded to his every deiciosn
- reform enhance ones own power and create conofmrity
100
mach disagreed by humanists- religion
religion reform for guide betterment of pop- da fiano or bracciolini
100
oricellari gardens
safe space for intellectuals mach develop republican ideas
gardens one dopp of medici regime
discussed discourses
101
civic humanism biro
bruni poggio
emphases active participation in state by virtuous citizens, focus on public virtue, idcivd expected to contribute to common good- political and military
102
mach diff civic humanism - governance
- how power is veiwed
- civic -moral duty and public virtue
- mach survival control and pragmatism
103
renaissance rpeublicanism
republican liberty as moral ideal empowers citizens to wok towards the flourishing of thetstae
-system relies on citizens adherence to roman and civic virtues like justice and temperance
104
mach divergence w lesdership
- Mach and masses- giannotti wary gibing port people, mach masses source of energy for state if supported
- terror- strict control
- moral flexibility may be dubious sometimes
105
contemp historians
francesco guicciardini
giovnni botero
106
guicciardini
1483-1540
Relationship: Personal acquaintance and sometime friend; both Florentine statesmen.
Response:
Guicciardini read The Prince and Discourses and explicitly critiqued Machiavelli's tendency to apply ancient Roman models to modern Italy.
He argued that Machiavelli overgeneralized from Roman history and neglected the complexity of real-world circumstances.
In his Ricordi (political reflections), Guicciardini adopts a more skeptical, relativistic, case-by-case approach to politics.
107
botero
1544-1617
Technically later, but one of the first major counter-Machiavellians.
Key Work: Della Ragion di Stato (1589), directly challenges Machiavelli’s secular, amoral concept of statecraft.o
108
how botero challeges mach
Botero presents a Catholic, moral vision of politics in contrast to Machiavelli’s idea that rulers may need to lie, kill, or deceive to maintain power.
Often seen as the first to coin “anti-Machiavellianism” in the context of moral governance.
109
classical humanists who shaped mach trad
bruni
bracciolini- via classical texts
niccoli- unlikely to have read firsthand
salutati
ficino
110
bruni role
1370-1444
florentine historian statesman foremost early civic humanist
111
how bruni shaped mach
runi revived Roman republican ideals by writing a History of the Florentine People modeled explicitly on Livy.
He emphasized the moral and civic virtues necessary for a republic’s survival, especially liberty, active citizenship, and civic participation.
Machiavelli inherits Bruni’s civic humanism but rejects its optimism and moral idealism, focusing instead on power, conflict, and pragmatic governance.
112
bruni explicit influence
Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy follows Bruni’s model of extracting political lessons from Roman history but replaces Bruni’s virtue ethics with a harsher analysis of conflict and virtù.
113
braccioliii
1380-1459
Poggio discovered and preserved key classical texts (like Livy and Tacitus) that became primary sources for Machiavelli’s historical writing.
He exemplified the humanist ideal of returning to original classical sources instead of relying on medieval commentaries.
114
niccoli
1364-1437
elped standardize classical Latin prose style, influencing the linguistic and rhetorical tools Machiavelli used in his writings.
Though Machiavelli adopted a more straightforward style, the intellectual environment Niccoli contributed to valued classical clarity and learning
115
salutati who was he
1331-1406
chancellor of florence
key early civic humanist
116
salutati how shaped mach
Salutati emphasized the political utility of history and rhetoric, inspiring later humanists to apply classical lessons to contemporary governance.
His writings connected classical learning to the defense and improvement of Florence, a theme central to Machiavelli’s political concerns.
Explicit influence:
Machiavelli’s History of Florence continues Salutati’s tradition of civic pride and learning as political tools.
117
ficino who was
1433-1499
philosopher and trasnlator of plato, head of the florentine platonic academy
118
ficino
Although Ficino’s Platonic idealism contrasts with Machiavelli’s realism, Ficino’s work contributed to the broad humanist revival of classical antiquity.
Ficino’s blending of philosophy, politics, and morality provided the intellectual backdrop that Machiavelli both engaged with and rebelled against.
achiavelli’s political realism can be read as a reaction to Ficino’s idealism, pushing Renaissance humanism toward secular political science.
119
mach opp about virtuous v virtu
castiglione 1478-1529
known mostly book of the courtier
not historian in same way
emphasised sprezzatura- effortless grace and courtly behaviour, whilst mach blunt about harsh realities of power
- ideal v pragmatic rulership
120
oricellari gardencs. contemp
Francesco Cattani da Diacceto
poliziano
landino
121
Cattani da Diacceto
1466–1522)
A prominent Platonist philosopher and part of the intellectual circles around the Oricellari Gardens.
Known for his efforts to synthesize Platonic philosophy with Christian thought, representing the Florentine Renaissance intellectual climate.
Machiavelli’s political realism can be seen as an alternative to this more philosophical, idealistic humanism.
122
other intellectual circles
Florentine Academy (Platonic Academy) founded by Marsilio Ficino — a hub for classical philosophy and humanism that deeply influenced Renaissance thought.
123
