19579 - Machiavelli’s The Prince

Course Overview

Among the many books dating from the Italian Renaissance era, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince is perhaps the best known. Machiavelli was a student of history and served in a number of low-ranking political offices in his native city of Florence. He is best known as one of the first political scientists.

Machiavelli’s work, part of a genre known as “mirrors of princes,” was radical for the time because it actually recommended that a would-be ruler set aside his Christian morals when they came into conflict with his path to power.

We’ll focus on Machiavelli’s personal history and the political and social struggles of the Italy of his day to shine a light on his motive for writing a book that has remained a staple of political theory into the modern era.