Niccolò Machiavelli

Machiavelli, Niccolò (1469–1527), Florentine politician and political theorist. He served the Republic of Florence, and was its emissary on several occasions. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512, Machiavelli was imprisoned and tortured on suspicion of plotting against Medici rule; on his release less than a year later he devoted himself principally to writing. Despite his belief in political morality and his undoubted love of liberty, as revealed in his Discourses (1531), his master-work The Prince (1532; written 1513) describes the amoral and unscrupulous political calculation by which an “ideal” prince maintains his power. Machiavelli also wrote History of Florence (1532). The expression “Machiavellian” denotes devious political manipulations.