An Unlikely Prince: The Life and Times of Machiavelli
Niccolò Capponi is a historian and direct descendent of Machiavelli. This well researched book is not about Machiavellian ideas so much as it is about Machiavelli’s life in Renaissance Italy, and Florence, his city.
Florence of the time was a hard town. Its people were nasty, rude, misogynistic, mistrustful, envious, and quick to seek revenge for insults and slights. Accused of a crime, one might be tortured to confess. If a confession were not forthcoming, the sentence still might be death (by beheading).
The city was ruled by the oligarchy, and the oligarchy was ruled by the Medicis. The oligarchs were considered bad employers and poor paymasters so there was a lot of slighting and revenging going on. The politics of the time were unforgiving: a loser’s (dead) body would be dragged through the streets. In Renaissance Florence, family was everything. Political rights only passed through legitimate offspring and marriages were made for convenience, to gain wealth, to prevent war. Single women were kept under lock and key as unplanned pregnancy led to dishonor—even if the one pregnant was only part of the household staff.
Wealth was transferred by inheritance and dowry. One such dowry was described in terms of a financial contract: 20% down, and the rest in bonds. Displays of wealth conveyed prestige, social standing, and spectacle. This was also the time of Savonarola. Savonarola, a priest, thought the people of Florence so materialistic that he collected and burnt domestic goods, creating a spectacle in the street, calling it a bonfire of the vanities. When he criticized the Pope, he was excommunicated but didn’t stop preaching until he was arrested, tortured, convicted, and burned at the stake.
Born in 1469, Machiavelli was neither rich nor poor; his father was a lawyer who wisely kept out of politics. Machiavelli was taught in a private school and was educated in Latin and Roman history. Machiavelli may have been raised a Christian, but he retained an ingrained skepticism and distrust of the Church. He married up, but not by much, and soon left his wife alone, to travel as a diplomatic secretary (not quite a diplomat) for the Florentine oligarchs. Italy of the Renaissance was not a nation but a collection of warring kingdoms. Italy had been invaded in this period by Charles VII of France. A city’s walls constructed during the medieval era could now be breached by cannon, and Florence was under constant threat of sack. When a city is sacked, it means that a city would literally be destroyed by its invaders, the city’s men, women, and children indiscriminately killed or raped.
The armies of the Renaissance were filled by mercenaries from various nations, not today’s conscripts or citizen soldiers. Mercenaries might choose to not engage a battle and demand a raise, quitting if the money was not forthcoming. Mercenaries might also change sides when an opponent offered more pay; but mercenaries did not always hold the upper hand. One city under siege and threat of being sacked sacrificed (tortured and beheaded) its mercenary general to curry favor, as if to proclaim “Hey! Don’t sack us, we’re on your side now!”
Machiavelli as secretary was initially sent on a diplomatic mission to study Cesare Borgia, a political leader who was an expert in murder, deception, and all around thuggery. From Borgia, Machiavelli learned how deceit, corruption, fraud, and murder were considered part and parcel of pragmatic politics. Contemporaries may have been shocked at Borgia’s success, (the ends) but had no moral qualms regarding his methods (means). It appears that the Italians were Machiavellian long before the arrival of Machiavelli (though again, most contemporaries also expressed relief when Borgia died in a minor skirmish after multiple captures and escapes).
Florence’s oligarchs, true to form, would not always pay Machiavelli enough to travel on the missions they sent him on, and he often had to represent Florence alone, making ambassador-level decisions with only a secretary’s title. When sent to negotiate the surrender of the city of Pira, he faced the disdain of Pira’s rulers who protested having to deal with a mere secretary. When bribes were the pragmatic thing to do, the oligarchs would not give him enough money to bribe—not on principle but out of stinginess. And as he did not hold rank, he was constantly being turned down for important posts.
Machiavelli, however, was a match for the period: he was self-involved, unfaithful, a spendthrift, liked good food and good clothes, and acted as his own boss to his masters by not providing reports as often as requested. He was arrogant; ignored the opinions, advice, and feelings of his betters to the consequence that he sacrificed goodwill; and created enemies out of supporters. Machiavelli was a proponent for creating a citizen militia, so as not to have to depend on the fickleness of mercenaries. He started Florence’s militia by going around the Florentine legislative bodies. Eventually they found out but approved the effort after overcoming their initial fear that Machiavelli’s militia would be used for a coup d’état against the oligarchy. Later there would be difficulty in picking a leader. Because of stinginess, only officers were paid, and the ranks were filled by pardoned criminals. There would be no money forthcoming for arms or training. The results were inconclusive when compared against the better trained, better armed, and better lead mercenaries the militia eventually fought.
In the conflict between France’s king and the Pope, Florence supported France but tried to straddle the fence (Florence just wanted to do its own thing). The Pope issued an edict against Florence, preventing mass. Edicts and excommunication at the time were considered political tools, freely ignored by kings and supporting priests in cities at odds with the Pope. The edict was ignored, so the Pope arrested the Florentine merchants in Rome. In retaliation, the Florentine oligarchs taxed the Church in Florence.
In an unexplained moment of sanity, tax collection stopped, the edict lifted, and Florence declared itself for France just in time for France to start losing battles. Spain takes France’s place as invader and forces Florence to pay recompense for its troops (who had to fight France)—recompense that Florence didn’t have funds for. Similar to now, it was easier to raise loans than tax citizens.
All during this period, Machiavelli was raising and inspecting his militia, handling administrative tasks, visiting fortresses, and organizing the defenses of Florence. Spain attacked the nearby (25 km, 15.5 mi) city of Prato, and after its attack failed, held the city under siege. Feeding an army in hostile territory is not easy, so Spain sent its ambassador to Florence and offered—in exchange for 30,000 ducats and 100 pack-loads of bread—to abandon the siege. Florence chose to do nothing, expecting Spain to go away on its own in the belief that if the Spanish mercenaries were asking for bread they wouldn’t be able to hold the siege. Instead of abandoning the siege, the mercenaries attacked again, this time succeeding and sacking Prato. Spain then demanded 150,000 ducats to not sack Florence, which Florence paid.
As part of this deal, the Medicis (who had been exiled from Florence) were returned to power over the oligarchs. Machiavelli, considered part of the old regime, lost his job. He exiled himself on a small farm that he owned outside of the city. Not long after, there was a plot in Florence against the Medicis. Machiavelli’s name was discovered on a list found on one of the plotters. As Machiavelli was not part of the plot, rather than run away he trustingly turned himself in. Confession was part of the investigation process and Machiavelli was tortured by “strappado:” his arms tied by rope behind his back and then lifted by that rope off the ground. Machiavelli was lucky. Conspirators were often beheaded or sentenced to years in jail.
While waiting for final judgment, the Pope (a different de Medici) died, and amnesty was declared. In spite of this experience Machiavelli continued to petition for a job with the new regime. Impatient in exile, he would attend the local inn, play cards and backgammon, and discuss politics. At home he would don his robes of office and hold imaginary conversations with great men of the past.
Out of this idle period arose De Principatibus, the original title of The Prince, which he was permitted to personally present to the young Lorenzo de Medici (the prince of The Prince), who, from reports of the time, appeared to have been more interested in a gift of dogs presented by another petitioner. This biography does not cover the subject matter of The Prince except to point out that it holds true to Machiavelli’s nature and experience, to his habit of saying what he thought without fear of consequence.
In this, Machiavelli can be accused of a lot but certainly not of diplomacy. The pamphlet supports tyranny and attacks God. It has something to anger everyone, and in 1558 long after Machiavelli’s death The Prince was entered into the Church’s list of forbidden books. If he were alive today, Machiavelli would not have appreciated the reputation this book has brought (and while alive he continued to write similarly themed books but in each attempted to soften its presentation).
Machiavelli, believe it or not, also wrote a play, a sex farce, The Mandrake, which was a success during his lifetime. Music was written for it, and it was seen and enjoyed by Pope Leo X (another de Medici) in Rome in 1519. In 1519 Lorenzo de Medici died. A year later Lorenzo’s mother died, and not long after that, Machiavelli was back in the good graces of the Medicis, again working for the oligarchs of Florence. Machiavelli wrote another book, The Art of War. Although he had experience administering soldiers he had never seen a battle up close and was otherwise ignorant of military matters. Nonetheless, the book was well received, which led to a job at the University of Pisa to write a history of Florence.
In 1527, Machiavelli was acting as military consultant for Florence on fortifications at a time when Rome was being threatened by Naples Imperialists. Pope Clement was forced to flee Rome, and the Imperialists, consisting of Catholic Spaniards, Italians, and German Lutheran mercenaries sacked Rome and raped nuns. The Medicis’ power in Florence waned as a result. In ill health and ailing, Machiavelli took to his bed and soon died. In two years’ time Florence itself came under a siege that lasted for two years. Florence was forced to surrender but was not sacked, and again the Medicis resume rule in Florence, this time holding power till 1737.
An Unlikely Prince—though the book’s title makes no sense—will provide the reader with greater appreciation for the influences of the times on Machiavelli’s writings. The author’s introduction and epilogue exemplify the author’s personal style as engaging, colorful, and extremely amusing. He provides chapter titles such as “Grasping, Envious and Proud,” and “Satan’s Progeny.” His style as a historian however, is an odd combination of flat exposition interspersed with occasional sparks of wit.
Machiavelli himself plays only a bit part in this book, primarily a narration of history narrowly focused on battle (not music, arts, or culture), the Medicis, the various Popes, and the kings of France and Spain. With constant infighting and reversals among factions, the narrative is confusing. One literally needs a scorecard (which is sadly not provided) to keep track. More could have been done to help the reader to provide greater perspective of all this conflict in the greater context of Italian history. The impression left is that no time traveler in his or her right mind would ever want to visit to Florence during the Renaissance. What did its citizens do besides attend to finance, war, and prostitutes?