Born in 1469, Niccolu Machiavelli entered public life for the first time in 1498. He proceeded to achieve the post of First Secretary of the Republic. He later became Head of Second Chancery, an official who was partly in charge of the war office. While in these positions, Machiavelli was entrusted with several foreign missions. His responsibilities often included traveling on diplomatic errands to foreign states. He never distinguished himself as an outstanding diplomat, but made use of his keen abilities of observation and analysis to learn about power. By traveling to Rome and foreign lands such as France and Germany, Machiavelli gained a political education that very few men of his time were privy to. These experiences proved to be of great value in his later writings.
Machiavelli's Italy. The Italy of Machiavelli's day had fallen on political hard times. Plagued by terrible corruption, it consisted of several citystates, each operating as an independent republic. Adding to this chaotic political situation was the fact that Italy was also home to the pope, who controlled his own territory and, because he was the leader of the Catholic Church, exerted an influence far beyond that of a prince of the other Italian city-states.
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