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= Niccolo Machiavelli = **My full name is Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli. I was born on 3rd** **May, 1469 in Firenze (Florence), Italy. I was the third son of Bernado di Niccolo Machiavelli. My family descended from the old Marquesses of Tuscany. I was a political and military philosopher and scientist (the theory, practice and systems of politics), a diplomat, a historian and a playwright/writer. I am most commonly known as the author of //‘The Prince’.// I died in the year 1527.** **I contributed to the Renaissance in the following ways;** ** The Mandragola ** – a comedy. During my lifetime I was mainly known as a playwright and this was my most famous work. It dealt with peoples ambition to get what they want and the cynicism of moral life and the church. ** The Prince – ** My most famous work of all time. I wrote it in 1513. However it was only published in 1532 after my death. This book informed rulers how to gain power, and stated that they should be able to do what ever they needed to do to enforce order. It claims that people should live happy, honourable, secure and strong lives. This book influenced many people with divided opinion as to whether I was a cruel bad person or a good religious person. In 1559 the Pope declared it a banned book. As a result I gained a reputation as being associated with corrupt governmental systems and as being “Diabolical” (showing wickedness typical of the devil). Even today in 2010 people use the word Machiavellian to describe someone or something that is deceptive, cunning, dishonest or wicked in politics. ** The Florentine Histories ** – the history of Florence. **Discourses -** houses many ideas on how a state should be managed and relied heavily on the example of the Romans in terms of military might. **My contributions were particularly important because:** A Renaissance man is related to a person who is well educated and who excels in a wide variety of fields. **I am considered to be one of the most intelligent political and military philosophers of the time and have become known as the father of modern political science** of Western civilisation. **I am one of the most important figures from the Renaissance**. **I wrote books that were like handbooks for rulers**. **I studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders how they should rule.** **During the last 500 years many political leaders have read and been influenced by “The Prince”**. Louis X1V, Napoleon Bonaparte and Mussolini as examples. **My legacy is the strongest in political science. Above all my goal was to understand and explain political theories and practices in scientific terms.**
 * **I entered public office in Firenze (Florence) as secretary of the Second Chancery** **and in that role carried out many important diplomatic missions including in France to the French King, Germany to the German emperor, and the Holy See**. During this time, 1504 – 1511, I studied political tactics.
 * In 1505, **whilst working for chief magistrate Piero Soderini, I persuaded him to pass a law to have a small army of soldiers. In 1509 I led this army to the successful freedom of Pisa**. In 1512, **when the Medici returned to power, I was suspected as a plotter against Soderini leading to his downfall and I was arrested and tortured for it.** I was released fairly quickly and was banished to my country estate where I spent most of my time writing my literary works.
 * **My four major works are as follows:**
 * I wrote many other minor works including a political biography, satirical plays, comments on the history of Rome and many letters, poems and state papers.
 * **In 1521 -1525 I was employed as a historiographer: someone who studies the history of history.**
 * **One of my desires was to see Italy unified but this only happened 300 years after my death.**

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