Machiavelli's Theory Of The State.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Machiavelli's Theory Of The State

Sandra Butt

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469 the son of a doctor of law. His family were relatively wealthy and held a prominent position in public office but his father was debarred from any office due to being classed as an insolvent debtor and this meant Machiavelli's education suffered. His father had a large library and Machiavelli taught himself by reading the books his father had at home, this was said to have "Preserved the originality of his thought" by saving him from the faults and excesses of humanistic erudition.

Florence had always regarded itself as a republic, however the Medici family who where a wealthy and prominent banking family dominated Florence for most of the 15 century. With the Medici in power Florence was an oligarch state and Machiavelli tried to gain favour with them although he had no respect for them and their way of ruling went against his ideas at that time.

Machiavelli's theory of the state to make Florence as strong as possible by: uniting the people and their customs under the rule of a single Prince; to be a great leader; to make Florence