He attended lectures by Marcello Virgilio Adriani, who chaired the Studio Fiorentino. Barred from public office in Florence as an insolvent debtor, Bernardo lived frugally, administering his small landed property near the city and supplementing his meagre income from it with earnings from the restricted and almost clandestine exercise of his profession.īernardo kept a library in which Niccolò must have read, but little is known of Niccolò’s education and early life in Florence, at that time a thriving centre of philosophy and a brilliant showcase of the arts.

His father, Bernardo, a doctor of laws, was nevertheless among the family’s poorest members. Early life and political careerįrom the 13th century onward, Machiavelli’s family was wealthy and prominent, holding on occasion Florence’s most important offices. Niccolò Machiavelli, (born May 3, 1469, Florence -died June 21, 1527, Florence), Italian Renaissance political philosopher and statesman, secretary of the Florentine republic, whose most famous work, The Prince ( Il Principe), brought him a reputation as an atheist and an immoral cynic. Among his tasks were to establish a militia, undertake diplomatic and military missions, oversee fortifications, and write an official history of the republic.

SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!įrom the age of 29, when he was placed in charge of the republic of Florence’s foreign affairs in subject territories, Machiavelli held a series of governmental posts.

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