Nicolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on 3rd May
1469. He was the second son of Bernardo di Nicolo
Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea
di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were
members of the old Florentine nobility.
His life falls naturally into three periods, each
of which singularly enough constitutes a distinct
and important era in the history of Florence.
His youth was concurrent with the greatness of Florence
as an Italian power under the guidance of Lorenzo
de’ Medici, Il Magnifico. The downfall
of the Medici in Florence occurred in 1494, in which
year Machiavelli entered the public service.
During his official career Florence was free under
the government of a Republic, which lasted until 1512,
when the Medici returned to power, and Machiavelli
lost his office. The Medici again ruled Florence
from 1512 until 1527, when they were once more driven
out. This was the period of Machiavelli’s
literary activity and increasing influence; but he
died, within a few weeks of the expulsion of the Medici,
on 22nd June 1527, in his fifty-eighth year, without
having regained office.
Although there is little recorded of the youth of
Machiavelli, the Florence of those days is so well
known that the early environment of this representative
citizen may be easily imagined. Florence has been
described as a city with two opposite currents of life,
one directed by the fervent and austere Savonarola,
the other by the splendour-loving Lorenzo. Savonarola’s
influence upon the young Machiavelli must have been
slight, for although at one time he wielded immense
power over the fortunes of Florence, he only furnished
Machiavelli with a subject of a gibe in “The
Prince,” where he is cited as an example of an
unarmed prophet who came to a bad end. Whereas
the magnificence of the Medicean rule during the life
of Lorenzo appeared to have impressed Machiavelli
strongly, for he frequently recurs to it in his writings,
and it is to Lorenzo’s grandson that he dedicates
“The Prince.”
Machiavelli, in his “History of Florence,”
gives us a picture of the young men among whom his
youth was passed. He writes: “They
were freer than their forefathers in dress and living,
and spent more in other kinds of excesses, consuming
their time and money in idleness, gaming, and women;
their chief aim was to appear well dressed and to speak
with wit and acuteness, whilst he who could wound
others the most cleverly was thought the wisest.”
In a letter to his son Guido, Machiavelli shows why
youth should avail itself of its opportunities for
study, and leads us to infer that his own youth had
been so occupied. He writes: “I have
received your letter, which has given me the greatest
pleasure, especially because you tell me you are quite
restored in health, than which I could have no better
