Niccolò Machiavelli

Machiavelli is a redirect to this article. For the cousin of the same name, see Niccolò Machiavelli (1449–1516) , for further meanings Machiavelli (disambiguation) .

Niccolò Machiavelli in a portrait by Santi di Tito .

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli [⁠ nikolo makjavɛlːi ⁠] (* 3. May 1469 in Florence , Republic of Florence , † 21st June 1527 ) was an Italian philosopher , politician , diplomat , historian , writer and poet .

Mainly because of his work Il Principe (The Prince) , he is considered one of the most important state philosophers of modern times. Machiavelli was here - neutral in its approach - about examining power analytically instead of proceeding normatively and determining the difference between what should be and what is. His analysis was based on what he considered empirically ascertainable. His main political and philosophical work Discorsi has receded into the background.

The term Machiavellian , coined later, is often used as a derogatory description of behavior that is refined, but sees one's own power and well-being as the goal, without the ethical influences of morality and morality. His name is therefore today often associated with ruthless power politics using all means.

The political map of Italy around 1494. Sicily, Sardinia and the Kingdom of Naples belonged to Aragon .

Life

Origin, Republican characteristics and rejection of the Medici

Niccolò Machiavelli came from a respected but impoverished family. He grew up with three siblings Primavera, Margherita and Totto Machiavelli with his parents Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli and his wife Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli in the Florentine district of Santo Spirito south of the Arno . All that is known about his mother is that she was well-read and wrote smaller scripts. The father worked mainly as a lawyer, but was unsuccessful and impoverished in the profession. With his low salary he ran a small library and gave his son Niccolò a comprehensive humanistic education. Machiavelli learned the works of ancient classics on an autodidactic basis early on, including the works of Aristotle , Boethius , Cicero ( De officiis ) and Claudius Ptolemy . He was instructed in the seven liberal arts by private tutors and learned grammar and Latin earlier than is usual today. His biographer Volker Reinhardt writes that under the rule of the Medici he developed a deep aversion to this powerful family and their political manipulations. He recognized early on the nature of political power as a "struggle between interests and social classes". He signed his letters with different variants of his name such as "Niccolò", "Nicolò", "Nicholò", and "Machiavelli", "Macchiavelli", "Machiavegli", "Macchiavegli".

Republican politician and Florentine official

Girolamo Savonarola, portrait by Fra Bartolommeo , around 1498

On May 23, 1498, the Dominican penitential preacher Girolamo Savonarola was burned as a heretic. The subsequent "purges" made Machiavelli's new job vacant, which immediately familiarized him with the tough side of politics. On June 15, 1498, he was elected from among four candidates as State Secretary of the Second Chancellery of the Council of the “Dieci di pace e di libertà” ( Council of Ten , literally: “Ten of Peace and Freedom”) of the Republic of Florence ; until 1512 he was responsible for foreign and defense policy. This choice - out of nowhere for Maurizio Viroli - came as a surprise to Volker Reinhardt in retrospect, as Machiavelli was previously undetectable in public documents and had to stand up to the strong competition of a professor of eloquence and two lawyers. On June 19, the Grand Council of Florence confirmed his appointment. Reinhardt suspects that he had to have “weighty advocates” because the structures of politics were shaped by family networks. Maurizio Viroli names some of these advocates; Machiavelli apparently became Second Chancellor because he was neither close to the expelled Medici nor to Savonarola. Viroli points out that Machiavelli was commissioned by Ricciardo Becchi, the Florentine ambassador in Rome , to attend a sermon by Savonarola on March 1 and 2, 1498 in San Marco. Machiavelli wrote a letter to Becchi on March 9, in which Savonarola did not get off well. In addition, after Viroli, Machiavelli was supported by the First Chancellor, Marcello Virgilio Adriani.

In May 1500 Niccolò Machiavelli became head of his family branch through the death of his father Bernardo. In the summer of 1501 he married Marietta Corsini, as was customary at the time, from a social and economic perspective. With her he had five sons and a daughter. One of the sons of his daughter Bartolommea arranged and published his estate.

Diplomatic missions for the republic

Caterina Sforza, portrait by Lorenzo di Credi

Machiavelli's first business trip took him to Piombino to see Jacopo IV Appiano and had to do with the battle for Pisa . His next trip in July 1499 was to Forlì , where he negotiated with Caterina Sforza about Florence's military support payments (for condottiere ). During his entire term of office until 1512 he was briefed by the office manager (coadiutore) Biagio Buonaccorsi about what was going on in Italy and about the "current chancellery gossip".

In the summer of 1499, Florence relied on French help in the battle for Pisa, but it was unsuccessful. That is why Machiavelli was sent there under the leadership of Luca degli Albizzi. But Pisa was not conquered again. Then Machiavelli was sent under the leadership of the patrician Francesco della Casa to the French court in July 1500 to discuss it with Louis XII. to negotiate. They met the king traveling from castle to castle because of the rampant plague on July 26th in Lyon. Machiavelli came to the conclusion through the negotiations that one was relying on Louis XII. could not leave because he was "greedy, purchasable, treacherous [and] opportunistic". According to Reinhardt, Machiavelli learned from this trip that the closer people got to power, the more they are dominated by ambition (avarizia) , especially when everything has been achieved and nothing can be gained. Machiavelli transferred this to Florence: "With fickleness and indulgence one achieved nothing." On January 14, 1501, Machiavelli arrived again in Florence.

Cesare Borgia as Duke of Valentinois

Cesare Borgia , the son of Pope Alexander VI. , conquered Piombino in 1501; on June 4, Arezzo began an uprising against the Florentine rule. Other places followed the rebellion in which Cesare Borgia was likely involved. To find out more about him, Francesco Soderini, Bishop of Volterra , and Machiavelli were sent to Urbino on June 22, 1502 . There Machiavelli dealt intensively with Cesare Borgia, who later inspired him to write his main work The Prince . After a good three weeks, they separated without signing a contract. After his return, Piero Soderini , Francesco's brother, was elected Florentine head of state for life.

In October 1502, Machiavelli spoke directly to Cesare Borgia for the first time in Imola . On October 23rd he judged him in a letter to Florence: “… As far as his state is concerned, which I had the opportunity to study at close quarters, it is based exclusively on luck (fortuna) . That means that his power rests on the sure opinion that the King of France supports him with troops and the Pope with money. "

On December 31, Cesare Borgia invited his opponents to Senigallia on the pretext of reconciliation ; everyone came. He had two strangled immediately, he kept two hostages and immediately afterwards called Machiavelli in the middle of the night, who was impressed by the "superhuman courage" and later described the events in an exaggerated manner, which gave them "eternal value".

The Pope died on August 18, 1503; the power of his son Cesare Borgia dwindled, although he continued to be supported by France. The newly elected Pope Pius III. died less than four weeks after his appointment. As a result, Machiavelli was sent by the Signoria to Rome for papal election at the end of September , where he held talks with all the powerful of his time.

Pope Julius II, portrait by Raphael

On November 1, 1503, Julius II was elected Pope because, in Machiavelli's view, he had "promised the voters the blue of the sky, and to each of them what he wanted most"; Cesare Borgia was promised Romagna with the Ostia fortress and the leadership of the Pope's troops. In mid-November, Cesare Borgia was captured there and blackmailed, as Machiavelli reported "with unmistakable comfort".

Louis XII.

After the Spaniards had surprisingly defeated the French in a battle on December 28, 1503, Machiavelli became King Louis XII of France on January 19, 1504 . sent and stayed there until the armistice in February 1504.

Machiavelli's military reform: citizen militia instead of mercenary army

The struggle for the breakaway Pisa kept the city of Florence busy. Since, in Machiavelli's view, mercenaries (corroborated by bitter personal experiences with mercenary leaders) are generally unreliable and solely concerned with their own interests, Machiavelli created an army based on the Roman model from 1506, in which Florentine citizens and peasants had to serve. Machiavelli wrote: "... you will still see the difference it makes to get citizen-soldiers after selection of proficiency and not after corruption." According to Volker Reinhardt, Machiavelli wanted to fundamentally transform the community and instead of patronage make performance and merit the basis. These reforms gave Machiavelli a new position in the magistrate; he headed the military authority without additional pay. He was responsible for the conduct of the war as well as the establishment, training and supply of the newly founded militia, from which he hoped the political survival and the rise of the Republic of Florence.

The city's aristocrats were not pleased with this otherwise generally recognized citizen militia, as Maurizio Viroli judges, such as Alamanno Salviati, one of the leaders of the aristocratic opposition to Piero Soderini.

Encounter with Pope Julius II and travel to Germany

From August to November 1506 "the human explorer" Machiavelli was sent to Pope Julius II in Rome to get an idea of ​​the Pope and his goals for himself and the city of Florence. Machiavelli described him as follows: "He who knows his nature well knows that he is prone to violence and rush, and that this rush to retake Bologna will be the least dangerous rush to which he will tend"; the Pope therefore strives for nothing other than primacy in Italy.

Maximilian I. Albrecht Dürer , 1519

On June 19, 1507, Machiavelli was elected Chargé d'affaires of the Republic to the later Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I , which was withdrawn a few days later under pressure from aristocrats because the son of an impoverished lawyer did not seem befitting to them. Instead, they sent Francesco Vettori , who did not, however, provide Piero Soderini with the usual required reports. Machiavelli was bitterly disappointed with the decision. He felt betrayed and reset. On December 17th, Machiavelli went to South Tyrol on behalf of the city and on January 11th, 1508, he met the Emperor in Bozen .

The following collaboration with Vettori resulted in a lifelong friendship. Machiavelli's job was to explain Florence to the emperor; insoluble for him, since Maximilian apparently himself was not clear what he wanted. Machiavelli stayed with the emperor until spring and wrote reports on it, including the political state of Germany in the early 16th century .

He reflected on the impressions of the trip to Germany via Switzerland and came to the conclusion that the Swiss enjoyed “real free freedom without any difference in rank - with the exception of those who are elected officials”, in contrast to Florence, where In his opinion there was “an unfree freedom” that was not based on personal merit, but on family. According to Reinhardt, Machiavelli reversed a centuries-old order of values: The Swiss and Germans are no longer barbarians, but rather a role model for Italy.

Victory of Machiavelli's citizen militia in Pisa

In February and March Machiavelli led his peasant militia to Pisa, which surrendered on June 8, 1509 after a brief struggle. In Machiavelli's opinion, Pisa was not punished enough for its long resistance, so that it would rise again at the next opportunity. Nevertheless, the triumphant victory over Pisa was Machiavelli's greatest political success, for which he was thanked only briefly. He himself had to go to Verona , while Luigi Guicciardini, a patrician, took over his much more prestigious assignment in Mantua , which Machiavelli regarded as an “unbearable degradation”.

Contact to Leonardo da Vinci; Empirical thinking

During his time in Florence he worked closely with Leonardo da Vinci . Both were at the court of Cesare Borgia, who was painted by da Vinci. In order to defeat Pisa, consideration was given to building a canal to divert the Arno and in this way cut Pisa from the sea. Da Vinci was involved in this war project as a naturalist and draftsman. He painted a picture about the battle of Anghiari , and Machiavelli described this battle in the Florentine stories . Dirk Höges assumes that Machiavelli learned by working with da Vinci that experiential knowledge ( empiricism ) a safer source than the previously common knowledge of the humanists . According to Hoeges, Machiavelli made the basis of Der Fürst the experience "which over the course of many years has led to a competent perception of reality."

Florence in the power struggle between France and the Pope

In 1510, Florence got caught in the unexpected conflict between Pope Julius II and the French King Louis XII. Machiavelli was then sent to Lyon , where he arrived on July 7, 1510. Florence traditionally had an alliance with the French court, but did not want to mess with the Pope. Florence was in a difficult position between the blocks, which both required support and were both incomparably stronger. This conflict could not be resolved, so that Machiavelli had to stay there until September without finding a diplomatic "clear line". So, which was very unusual, he sent his reports to Florence without any comment. In them he assessed the coming world power position of Spain, which is connected to the Pope, completely wrong. Florence chose France and against the Pope. Volker Reinhardt judges that "the power of tradition" worked here in a crisis situation "also in such an unconventional spirit"; In addition, he had become a “prisoner of his own dogmas”: “Spain did not count because it had departed from the eternally valid models of ancient Rome.”

In October 1510 the aged Pope fell seriously ill, but quickly recovered. If the Pope had died at the time, Machiavelli would probably never have written his major works. In the power struggle, Louis XII. to a council in Pisa on September 1, 1511. Pisa belonged to Florence and agreed to the council, with which Florence finally incurred the hostility of the Pope. The Pope then called himself to a council in Rome in the Lateran .

In May 1511 Machiavelli was sent to Monaco. The mission was unsuccessful, but stands out from the numerous missions of Machiavelli in that he was expressly designated as an ambassador during this mission.

In September 1511 Machiavelli was sent back to the French king in view of the unresolved situation. His mission was to ensure that the compromise-preventing council in Pisa would either be canceled or postponed, or that at least the arriving cardinals would not travel via Florence in order not to further provoke the Pope. But the trip was unsuccessful. The Pope even imposed an interdict on Florence. On October 4, 1511, Machiavelli was recalled to return.

The situation in Florence became increasingly precarious as Ferdinand II and the Republic of Venice formed a Holy League with the Pope . That is why Machiavelli was sent to Pisa in November 1511 as quartermaster with 300 foot soldiers from his militia. The Pisans had so far refused to give the cardinals who had arrived a proper greeting. He should make up for this and get the cardinals to continue the council elsewhere. After that he had to recruit soldiers as Florence was preparing for war with the Pope. In the same month the Pope lifted the interdict again; the cardinals traveled from Pisa to Milan.

The Florentine Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici, who later became Pope Leo X , gained more and more influence in Rome. It seemed that an agreement would be reached with the Pope. Nevertheless, Piero Soderini continued to stand by the French king. Antonio Strozzi was sent as ambassador to Rome to sound out the situation.

In February 1512 French troops conquered Brescia and defeated the troops of the Holy League near Ravenna on April 11, despite many fallen on their own side . Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici was taken prisoner, but was lucky to flee to Rome shortly afterwards.

With Florence still on alert, Machiavelli repeatedly received orders for military missions to raise soldiers and inspect fortresses.

On June 13, 1511, papal troops regained Bologna; Pavia was conquered by the Swiss. Milan was captured on June 20th. On July 11, 1512, the Spanish ambassador in Florence tried to persuade the republic to join the league against France. But the head of state Piero Soderini continued to rely on the French. On July 30, 1512, Florence tried to ransom France for around 30,000 ducats; as Reinhardt judges, “politics in the worst business style”, which Machiavelli had already tried to dominate Cesare Borgias a decade earlier. This compromise also annoyed the French king.

Total diplomatic and military defeat of Florence

On August 22, 1512, Machiavelli was recalled from his military missions. The papal alliance wanted to take action against Florence under Spanish leadership. The Spanish military leader Raimondo de Cardona offered Florence to withdraw against payment of 30,000 florins . Florence refused; but when Prato was conquered and cruelly plundered on August 29, the city was forced to pay the sum to Spain in order not to end up like Prato.

Return of the Medici, fall of Machiavelli

On August 31, Soderini was brought out of Florence; the Medici returned, protected by the Spanish viceroy. Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici, his brother Guiliano and his nephew Giulio took power, assigned posts to their followers and removed those they mistrusted - among them Machiavelli in a prominent place. He lost his offices (annual salary 200 florins) on November 7th, followed by Niccolò Michelozzi. The First Chancellor, Marcello Virgilio Adriani, on the other hand, like most officials, retained his office until he died in 1522. Herfried Münkler sees Machiavelli's impeachment as evidence of the political importance that the Medici ascribed to him. Three days later, on November 10, 1512, Machiavelli was sentenced to deposit 1,000 florins, which should ensure his "future good conduct". Since he didn't have enough capital, three friends stepped in. On November 17, Machiavelli was forbidden to enter the government palace, although public funds were still in his possession and he had to settle them there; no shortfall was found, which speaks for Volker Reinhardt that Machiavelli was right to use the "title of fame" of "being incorruptible".

Imprisonment and torture

The restituted rule of the Medici was not undisputed. Conspirators around Agostino Capponi and Pietropaola Boscoli conspired against the Medici and in February 1513 drew up a list in which they named opponents of the Medici; Machiavelli was in seventh place. He was not home when the state police came to see him, but turned himself in shortly afterwards.

Portrait of Pope Leo X with the cardinals Giulio de 'Medici, later Clement VII and Luigi de' Rossi, painting by Raphael, around 1518–1519, Florence, Uffizi

As was customary at the time, Machiavelli was tortured during interrogation and 'hung' six times without result; Capponi and Boscoli were executed on February 23. On March 11th 1513 Giovanni de 'Medici was elected Pope and called himself Leo X. This was celebrated in Florence and the prisoners were amnestied , so that Machiavelli was free again on March 12th. For Volker Reinhardt, "it is extremely unlikely that he [Machiavelli] got involved in the amateurish plot of February 1513."

The fall of Florence as a break in Machiavelli's life

Machiavelli was deeply affected by the defeat of the Florentine Republic - which had been accompanied by his personal failure. He reflected on the fall of the Republic of Florence in a letter he addressed to an anonymous noblewoman and sharply criticized his political leader Soderini. According to Machiavelli, Piero Soderini was "a prisoner of his illusions". For a few weeks Machiavelli criticized in a letter to Piero Soderini, who had gone into exile in Siena , in the words of Volker Reinhardt that Soderini “not only misunderstood the basic law of politics, that the end justifies the means, but also its fearful opposite has been wrong. He wanted to please many and neglected the statesman's first duty to preserve the state at all costs. ”He did not see or analyze his own political mistakes.

Machiavelli also wrote three epithets about the fall of Florence. One is dedicated to Giovanni Battista Soderini, a nephew of Piero Soderini, and is about Fortuna, the goddess of luck . Machiavelli comes to the conclusion in the poem that Fortuna “can spread disgrace and misery over her enemies”, but “she cannot change the laws of politics.” Because: “The perfectly ordered state can switch off capricious happiness.” The second Poem On the Opportunity is dedicated to Filippo de 'Nerli: Those who have virtù use the opportunity (occasione) without showing remorse. The third poem On Ingratitude , dedicated to Giovanni Folchi, also has a personal reference:

"With this poem I want to tear from my heart
or at least alleviate the pain of the misfortune that
rages and rages in me"

- Niccolò Machiavelli

In his opinion, Machiavelli, the reformer, only reaps ingratitude through the envy and resentment of his fellow Florentine citizens.

live in poverty

View of the house where Macchiavelli stayed during his exile, in San Casciano in Val di Pesa , district of Sant'Andrea in Percussina

In the following years he lived with his wife and now six children on his small estate, the Albergaccio in the village of Sant'Andrea in Percussina, 15 kilometers southwest of Florence. Machiavelli could no longer bear to live inactive in Florence, since he was no longer in demand with the Medici. Within six months of his torture, he wrote his most famous work, Il Principe, 1513. The original title was De principatibus (Of the Principality) and “is a linguistic deception designed to ridicule the humanists .” The chapter headings are in Latin, the text but in the Tuscan vernacular, today's Italian.

Strive for political rehabilitation and return to political office

Machiavelli tried in the time of his gradually relaxed exile to return to offices and dignity through political services and writings. This endeavor determined the rest of his life.

Travels, constitutional analysis and Machiavelli's memoranda

Machiavelli made some business trips (1516 Livorno , 1518 Genoa , 1519 and 1520 Lucca ). In the memorandum on the affairs of Lucca, he wrote that the constitution for Florence "should be exemplary" since the members of the city government did not have too much personal power and the Grand Council was controlled. Anyone who was noted there ten times actually had to leave. Machiavelli wrote in the Discorsi that "the republican fundamental values ​​... would be better protected by the masses" than by influential families.

Lorenzo de 'Medici, Duke of Urbino

After the early death of Lorenzo de 'Medici on May 4, 1519, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII) organized "a real brainstorming" about the future of the city of Florence. Machiavelli contributed with the memorandum Treatise on Florentine Affairs after the death of Lorenzo de 'Medici . Machiavelli recommended to the cardinal, after analyzing the history of the city, that the Medici should initially remain in power, but that there should be "a narrow council of 65, a middle council of 100 and a large council of 1000": the former should be the The executive is incumbent on the third, the legislative and the middle a hinge function. After the Medici died, all power should go to the councils. Machiavelli was sure that the remaining Medici would not live long, since in 1520 only two illegitimate ten-year-old children, Alessandro de 'Medici and Ippolito de' Medici , were available for the next generation of Medici.

In this groundbreaking work, for Reinhardt an "unheard of memorandum", Machiavelli drew the practical benefit of his work on the principalities. Not only was there no role model for such a revolutionary-looking openness, but Machiavelli's conception of man, the ambizione and the avarizia , itself spoke against the fact that the Medici voluntarily renounced power with a view to their expected death. The “Law of History”, which he wrote, also spoke against it. In his role as "outsider [...] across the power and outside of all influential circles" Machiavelli had nothing more to lose; Machiavelli could not fall any deeper than in 1519. But he had nothing to gain from such ruthless considerations. The two Medici did not implement any of Machiavelli's suggestions and did not encourage a new start in his career.

In May 1521, Machiavelli was sent from the Office for Public Affairs in Florence to Carpi (near Modena) to seek out a preacher of fasting. The mission was unsuccessful, but Machiavelli wrote cynical letters about his trip. As a result, he lost his reputation among those in power and his own belief in the effectiveness of his council.

Medici Crisis and Assertion

Leo X died on December 1, 1521 at the age of 46. As expected by Machiavelli and published with little sensitivity, the Medici, in addition to the two young illegitimate sons, were left with Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici, who now called again to collect ideas on how to go on with Florence. Machiavelli did not mince his words this time either and called for "a republic to be created that was based on the common benefit of all citizens:"

"No law is more praiseworthy before God and men than the order that establishes a true, united and holy republic in which one deliberates freely, discusses intelligently and faithfully carries out what has been decided."

- Niccolò Machiavelli

According to Machiavelli, there should be a great council with "extensive powers to legislate"; a middle council "with a hundred members who take care of taxes and finances" and "ten freely chosen" reformers "" should regulate everything else together with Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici, but were not allowed to interfere with the rights of the grand council and theirs Power of attorney was limited to one year. This sealed the end of the Medici for Machiavelli. In June 1522 the Dutchman Adriaan Florisz d'Edel became Pope Hadrian VI. elected. Hadrian VI. tried to push through reforms in Rome and made many enemies; when he died on September 14, 1523, few cardinals mourned. On November 19, the last Medici Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici was appointed Pope Clement VII . Machiavelli was certainly desperate at how lucky the Medici were. In Florence, one of the two illegitimate sons, Alessandro de 'Medici , was named as the deputy of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici. Since Alessandro was only twelve years old, Cardinal Silvio Passerini (* 1469, † April 20, 1529) was appointed as the Florentine trustee; the republic favored by Machiavelli was not introduced by the Medici.

Reluctant arrangement with Medici rule

Cosimo de 'Medici

Machiavelli had little choice but to come to terms with the Medici presence. On behalf of Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici, Machiavelli wrote the story of Florence (Istorie Fiorentine) and received 100 florins for it. In the work he described the Medici positively, but expressed - according to Volker Reinhardt - subliminal criticism: In March 1525 the Istorie Fiorentine was finished by 1492. Machiavelli did not dare to write any further and was afraid of falling completely out of favor with the current Pope if he wrote his view unencrypted. So Machiavelli chose a middle ground. He apparently praised Cosimo de 'Medici (1389–1464) and portrayed him as the perfect prince, but he also portrays him as the godfather of Florence, since everyone was dependent on him thanks to his money. Cosimo pacified Florence, but at the same time paralyzed ambition. This stifled the citizens' drive to be independent. In addition, the followers of the Medici rose in Florence and not the best, which strengthened the Medici, but not the Florentine state.

Machiavelli wrote this historical work in terms of content in contrast to the previously usual - morally evaluative - works, since he described the actual, pessimistically assessed driving forces of human action in history. According to Reinhardt, Machiavelli was about "looking behind the facades of propaganda and showing the forces that held unjust social and state systems together: deception and violence on the side of the powerful, fear and superstition among the oppressed."

Machiavelli reports in the Istorie Fiorentine of the uprising of the wool workers without rights ( Ciompi uprising ) in 1378. According to Machiavelli, their demands were, among other things, to get their own guild and a share in the offices in Florence. According to Machiavelli, the uprising failed because the solidarity of the wool workers was not great enough and they did not see the uprising through to the end for fear of punishment, i.e. not showing sufficient determination. In Machiavelli's view, the wool workers “should have made [they] not be punished for what [they] have done in the past few days. [...] because wherever many break the law, nobody is prosecuted. ”Machiavelli held up a mirror to the passive Florentines:“ All power is robbery and all its justification is pure ideology . ”

Machiavelli handed the work over to Pope Clement VII in May 1525. He gave Machiavelli 120 gold ducats from his personal fortune. He left Rome on June 11th or 12th and reached Faenza on June 21st. On behalf of the Pope, Machiavelli was to speak to Francesco Guicciardini about the behavior of the Italians towards Charles V. Machiavelli's idea to arm Romagna militarily was rejected by Guicciardini and the Pope, so Machiavelli left for Florence on July 26th. During this time he made friends with Guicciardini.

The fall of the Medici and the failed return of Machiavelli

In August 1525, Machiavelli traveled to Venice on behalf of the Florentine wool guild to resolve a conflict between merchants. On May 22, 1526, the League of Cognac was founded as the conflict between the Pope and Emperor Charles V intensified. In the spring, Machiavelli was commissioned by the Pope to strengthen the defense of Florence, supported by Pedro Navarro . As in his time as Second Chancellor, Machiavelli was again active in the Palazzo Vecchio .

On behalf of Florence - in the camp of the Medici Pope - Machiavelli traveled to Francesco Guicciardini, in September 1526 to Romagna and on November 30, 1526 to Modena .

The sack of Rome
painting by Johann Lingelbach from the 17th century

Florence behaved passively again instead of, like Machiavelli, who did not want an imperial and German presence in Italy and preferred to endure the Medici, suggested looking for the decisive battle. The disagreement between the Italians favored the invaders. The imperial army crossed the Apennines , but Florence was not conquered and sacked, but on May 6, 1527 Rome ( Sacco di Roma ). The Pope first fled to Castel Sant'Angelo and, according to a rumor, then to Civitavecchia . Machiavelli was sent there to organize the Pope's escape by ship; on May 22, 1527 he sent from there a letter to Guicciardini, which is Machiavelli's last known writing.

After the fall of Rome, the Medici era in Florence also ended. After a successful rebellion against the "hated Medici" the republic was proclaimed and the previous constitution was put back into force on May 16, 1527. Machiavelli then applied for a secretary's position, but received only 12 against 555 votes at the meeting of the Great Council on June 10, 1527 because of his apparent proximity to the Medicis. Instead, Francesco Tarugi was elected Second Chancellor. Eleven days later, on June 21, 1527, Machiavelli died of a stomach ailment.

Niccolò Machiavelli's grave in the Church of Santa Croce

His tomb is in the Santa Croce Church in Florence. A British admirer had the following inscription affixed 300 years after death: TANTO NOMINI NULLUM PAR ELOGIUM - 'No praise is worthy of such a name', including the name and date of death: OB I T AN. APV MDXXVII - OBIIT Anno A Partu Virginis MDXXVII - died in the year after the virgin birth in 1527.

legacy

Machiavelli's political legacy can be found in his four major works. In addition to his best-known book Il Principe ( The Prince ) of 1513, which first appeared posthumously in 1532, these include the Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio (Treatises on the first ten books of Titus Livius ) , which he wrote from 1513 to 1517 and which were published in 1532, as well as his Istorie fiorentine ( History of Florence ) written in 1521 and his work Dell'Arte della guerra ( On the Art of War ), written in the same year .

There are great contradictions between the individual writings of Machiavelli. The Discorsi are more concerned with the structure and advantages of a republican constitution , while Il Principe deals with autocracy and the related power-political considerations. However, these contradictions can be resolved if one looks at all of his works; his biographer Dirk Hoeges writes: “The misunderstanding to which he is exposed from the beginning results from his reduction to the politician and the author of the Principe; What is required, however, is a look at his entire work and an insight into the inseparable connection between all of its parts for understanding each one.

Machiavelli as a political philosopher

After his overthrow, Machiavelli devoted himself to a more extensive literary activity and aimed at political rehabilitation. During this time his two main works Il Principe , which he wrote down with "crippled hands" immediately after his severe torture, and the Discorsi . Both books were printed in 1531 and 1532.

Il Principe - The prince as ruler

→ Main article : Il Principe

Machiavelli's book Il Principe (The Prince) is only stylistically in the long tradition of the prince mirrors , in terms of content these were for him "hollow chatter", characterized by "wishful thinking". He already breaks with the tradition of normative prince mirrors with the fact that his prince is not an hereditary prince, but has won the throne in the political game himself.

According to Volker Reinhardt, Machiavelli is the first to formulate the principles of raison d' etat in this work , namely that a ruler, in order to fulfill the elementary necessities of the state, must be able to “violate the laws of traditional morality” ( separation of morality and politics ), otherwise he can go he is taking with the state together. For a ruler it is therefore irrelevant whether he is considered good or bad, the only thing that matters is success, which presupposes not being hated by the people and observing the following three commandments: “You should not take pleasure in the goods of your subjects to do; you shall not assault their wives; you shouldn't just kill for fun. "

In addition, successful politics also demand “the art of creating the right bill.” Machiavelli writes in the Fürstenbuch:

“People generally judge by appearance, not with their hands. Everyone can see, but few can understand. Everyone sees how you present yourself, few know how you are. And these few do not dare to oppose the opinion of the many. Because they have the majesty of the state in defense of their point of view. "

- Niccolò Machiavelli

The prince must ostensibly be able to uphold traditional morality, but he must not shrink back from violence and terror - in the interests of the reasons of state.

Machiavelli examines various successful princes in history. Francesco I. Sforza comes very close to the ideal in his judgment, but only Cesare Borgia could be a perfect prince because he had the courage to murder his enemies in Senigalla and because he was cleverly given his power in the conquered territories. However, he made a mistake when, after his father died, he trusted the new Pope, who eventually disempowered him. So Borgia “was weighed and found too light.” In Machiavelli's eyes, history does not know a perfect prince, but he does promise that the Principe's instructions will make it possible to become the perfect prince. Machiavelli dedicated the book to Lorenzo di Piero de 'Medici . In the final passage, Machiavelli gave Lorenzo the task of liberating Italy from the barbarians and uniting it. That is why Machiavelli was revered in the 19th century as the ancestor of the Italian national movement , which, according to Volker Reinhardt, is not the case; Machiavelli only wanted to form “a common defensive front” against external interference. In addition, Volker Reinhardt regards the book as a letter of application to Lorenzo.

Volker Reinhardt sees the work as a “break with the political, philosophical and theological tradition.” Power was absolved from traditional morality. According to Reinhardt, the work triggered two “shock waves”, one by “tearing down the mask of decency from politics and exposing rule as a staging of propaganda”, the second by “describing and analyzing these dismaying facts and without causing any stir Ethical considerations were accepted. ”Francesco Vettori made the first known comment on this work in a letter dated January 18, 1514.

Il Principe was dedicated to Lorenzo di Piero de 'Medici after the author had wanted to dedicate the work to Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici first . “Regardless of the topic, Machiavelli's dedications contain clear and sharp criticism of the Medici of the Cinquecento , designed with the means of humanistic rhetoric , ” for which he has nothing but contempt. When Lorenzo's most important advisor, Francesco Vettori, pointed out the work to him, Lorenzo showed no interest in it. “ He had absolutely no interest in reading a work like The Prince , and if, he had read it, he would not understand it. ”(Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 160., German:“ He had absolutely no interest in reading a work like “Der Fürst”, and if he had read it, he would not have understood it . ")

The city-republic of Florence around 1500

In his most famous work, according to Hoeges Machiavelli, describes how a ruler can gain and maintain political power, with the political goal being the establishment of a republic. The work is often understood as a defense of the despotism and tyranny of such power-conscious rulers as Cesare Borgia , but Borgia, as Hoeges posits, is "not the« principle »of Machiavelli. Borgia is dangerous, "but danger does not make a principle." Borgia is implausible, but according to Machiavelli a prince must be credible . Hoeges comments on this as follows: “What he [Borgia] embodies is the terrifying and terrifying depiction of power that manifests itself in the exploitation of the moment, in virtuoso vabanque, ie. H. risky undertaking, shows and lasts until the next murder. ”In Machiavelli's“ Novella Castruccio Castracani ”[designs…] his model prince , the“ principe nuovo ”” (New Prince), but ““ Il Principe ”knows no real actor , who embodies the prince. As a type he [the new prince] is a humanistic construct , composed of myth , past and present, and derealized as a projection . ”That means, Machiavelli constructs an ideal prince who, however, cannot be reached by any living person. Moses comes, it looks Höges close "more than anyone else," the ideal prince.

After Maurizio Viroli, Machiavelli breaks with two traditions in the book of princes. According to the old traditions, a good prince should not be wild and brutal as a lion and not as cunning and deceptive as a fox, but should rule virtuously. According to Viroli, Machiavelli teaches exactly the opposite. Viroli quotes a passage from the work:

“And because a prince should be able to play the beast, he must accept the fox and the lion from these; for the lion cannot escape the snares, and the fox cannot escape the wolf. So he has to be a fox to know the snares and a lion to frighten wolves. "

- Niccolò Machiavelli

Second, Machiavelli breaks with the tradition that a prince has to be generous in giving friends and living in luxury himself. A prince who obeys this, however, only flatters a few fellow travelers and ruins his principality with the luxury life.

According to Viroli, Machiavelli does not teach that the end justifies the means, but that the prince does not have to fear being brutal and stingy, and that he must do what is necessary to achieve the goal.

The Discorsi - The essence of a strong republic

→ Main article : Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio

In the work Discorsi , which was probably created parallel to the Prince's Book, Machiavelli develops the apparently astonishing ideal of a republic without princes against the background of Il Principe . Thus “power and personal status should always be separated” and the “state treasure should always be well filled, but the citizen poor”. The Discorsi are a commentary on the historical work of Titus Livius , which describes the history of the Roman Republic . Machiavelli draws on Roman history in order to gain and consolidate his convictions from it: “Machiavelli could scoff at everything, including himself, but not at the greatness of Rome. This belief gave him stability, orientation, certainty and a little bit of optimism in the years of political coldness and isolation. "

After Maurizio Viroli, Machiavelli was astonished that the lawyers of his time based themselves on Roman law , the artists imitated classical art and the doctors learned from antiquity, but “no ruler and no free state, no general and no citizen on the examples earlier times back [resorted] ”. For Maurizio Viroli, the Discorsi became an intellectual and political guide for everyone who welcomed a free republic. During Machiavelli's lifetime, the discorsi hardly achieved any meaning.

For the time being, both works were only intended for reading by selected readers. Francesco Guicciardini was able to read the Discorsi after Machiavelli's death and particularly criticized the belief in Rome because "Livius' story of the early Roman period consisted of patriotic legends [but Machiavelli] read these edifying legends as pure truth". In addition, the time of the Roman Republic can no longer be compared with the Florence of the 16th century.

The art of war

→ Main article : The art of war (Machiavelli)

In August 1521 About the Art of War ( Dell'Arte della Guerra ) was printed. Machiavelli also wrote this work for his friends in the Orti Oricellari group. Machiavelli associated with them during this unsatisfactory time, which helped him to give meaning to his life. It is dedicated to Lorenzo di Filippo Strozzi, who occasionally gave it during the dark years and introduced it to Cardinal Giulio de 'Medici.

Maurizio Viroli claims that for Machiavelli the practice of the art of war is the conclusion and the basis of civil life. Machiavelli is aware that war is devastating, but a republic or principality must be able to defend itself. A ruler must love peace and know when to wage war.

The work was touted by important contemporaries such as Cardinal Giovanni Salviati. In the 16th century, About the Art of War was reprinted seven times and translated into different languages.

History of Florence

On behalf of Cardinal Giulio de Medici, Machiavelli wrote his treatise on the history of Florence from 1521 to 1525, covering the period from the founding of the city to the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. This history of Florentine domestic politics and party struggles is not a reliable historiography, but follows humanistic traditions with historical didactic pieces in rhetorical language ( Historia magistra vitae ) and exemplifies Machiavelli's political ideas - especially through the inclusion of fictional reflections and speeches by the actors described.

Machiavelli's image of history and man

According to Alessandro Pinzani, the “traditional Aristotelian definition of man as zôon politikon ” is rejected by Machiavelli. “In Machiavelli's eyes, man is a being for whom an ideal of individual perfection - as with Aristotle - no longer applies. Thus the teleological conception of history of political Aristotelianism is also rejected, according to which the telos of history is the perfection of human nature - in other words: the political nature of man. According to Machiavelli, political society does not arise on the basis of any plan of nature, but 'by chance' ( Discorsi I 2.11) ”.

Machiavelli sees history “by no means in continuous progress 'for the better', as Kant and Hegel would later claim, nor is it to be read as a history of salvation ”. Rather, “humanity moves infinitely in a circle”. After Alessandro Pinzani, Machiavelli adopts Plato's theory of the constitutional cycle through Polybios . That is why the minimal goal for Machiavelli is only to "slow down the inevitable decadence of the republic as much as possible". That is why the constitution of the republic must be a hybrid. Machiavelli wrote the following in the Discorsi :

“In my opinion, therefore, all these forms of government are perishable, the three good ones because of their short-lived nature and the other three because of their badness. Recognizing these shortcomings, wise lawmakers have avoided each of the three good forms of government on their own and have chosen a composite of all three. They considered this to be stronger and more permanent, since prince, nobility and people, united in one and the same state to form government, supervise each other "

- Niccolò Machiavelli

Alessandro Pinzani presents a cycle of history that runs through the Discorsi in his opinion:
After a “well-ordered republic”, “moral decline and political decadence” results in the “state of anarchy ”. Anarchy will become a “well-ordered republic” again through a “reorganization by a prince or legislator”, etc.

August Buck claims that Machiavelli took over the constitutional cycle, but changed it: “While Polybius' believes in the constant repetition of the cycle, Machiavelli doubts that one and the same state goes through the cycle more often, since it is usually terminated beforehand by external influences. "Gennaro Sasso notes that" the mixed government is actually the final conclusion of the cycle of recurring state constitutions "for Machiavelli.

According to Dirk Hoeges, Machiavelli's historiography emerged from a criticism of previous historiography , which displaced the internal affairs of the city of Florence and emphasized the external ones; He saw this as a partisan historiography in which the conflicts within the city would be hidden. "The deliberate elimination of inner history by Leonardo Bruni and Poggio Bracciolini , sympathizers of the Medici, changes his own conception of writing the history of the city." According to Hoeges, this was how Machiavelli discovered the "elementary movement of their history [...] that in Destruction and discord, in disharmony and competing destructive opposites . ”The absence of these elements prevented Florence from becoming as big as Rome or Athens .

Peter Schröder , according to the ideas of Machiavelli resemble the concept of the sociologist Max Weber in his talk politics as a profession in which this the responsibility ethicists grants more political expertise because he expected the wickedness of the world, as a supporter of the ethics of conviction . Schröder postulates: "The only difference between Machiavelli and Weber lies in the fact that the first utters this fact without make-up, while Weber dresses it in a pleasant, so to speak civilized vocabulary."

Virtù, Fortuna, Ambizione, Necessità and Occasione

" Virtù (virtue / ability) is the key term in Machiavelli's theory and political doctrine." Machiavelli understands the term virtù to mean political energy or the drive to do something. "His advice, which is based on political reality, is not geared towards a desirable ( virtue ) ideal, but rather on its suitability for practical use." This virtù is never evenly distributed. Wherever it was, however, it led to great empires. Thus the Roman Empire had achieved such great power because its leaders and its people were inspired by much virtù . Consequently one can not force this metaphysical power, but one can create favorable conditions for it, e.g. B. in the structure of the constitution . Citizens must be brought up to be virtu.

The opponent of virtù is fortuna based on the goddess of luck and fate of Roman mythology. It stands for fate , chance , but also for opportunity. It is the unpredictable factor in the political bill. "This concept allows Machiavelli to break with Christian ideas." Machiavelli always sees the ruler in a fight against fortuna . However, this only accounts for about half of the success ; the other half is determined by willpower ( virtù ) and practical preparation. For the latter, a large part of Machiavelli's work is a practical guide for social action .

According to Schröder, other important terms are ambizione ( ambition ), necessità ( necessity ) and occasione (opportunity). For Machiavelli, Ambizione is the decisive driving force behind human action. "This term [...] has largely negative connotations for Machiavelli, since ambition often subordinates the common good to private, egoistic interests." Necessità "is used by Machiavelli as an expression of the exceptional political and state situation introduced. ”When a political community is threatened by internal or external threats, moral concerns play a subordinate role; one is forced to act amoral. All means are then permitted for the purpose of self-assertion .

Occasione "describes the historical moment that a special, virtuous man ( uomo virtuoso ) or the leadership of a state must understand how to use in order to distinguish itself as a legislator or general." Machiavelli writes that Fortuna can not only have a negative effect, but one Create a favorable opportunity in which a good ruler can do good for the common good, but in which a bad ruler will also take advantage of this.

Functionalization of religion

In order to secure the power of decision and action contained in the Virtù concept, Machiavelli relies on a rational goal-means relationship. In this sense, Cornel Zwierlein admits Machiavelli to “discover the functional equivalence”. Religion, too, is assigned the position of a means to an end, as becomes clear in the 12th chapter of the Discorsi . In this sense, Helmut Hein emphasizes that the Florentine would advocate “the thesis of a psychological and social indispensability of religious ideas and feelings”, but that he “no longer takes their content really seriously”, but analyzes “the function of religion (which cannot be substituted for the time being) in the soul balance of the individual and for the functioning of the most diverse social institutions and processes ”.

Hans-Joachim Diesner emphasizes that Machiavelli makes “no difference in principle between monotheistic and other religions” and “in any case does not see Christianity as an exaggeration or even perfection of the religious”. He compares "without scruples paganism, Judaism and Christianity - relatively seldom and with a few lines, but still full of commitment." Peter Schröder summarizes that with Machiavelli religion "stripped of its original transcendent character and placed completely at the service of the state ". will.

Machiavelli as a poet

Satirical works

In addition to political and philosophical writings, Machiavelli wrote three comedies . Andria is a translation of the Terenz comedy of the same name . The Mandragola is a stand-alone comedy that is still performed today. It is about a young man who falls in love with the wife of an influential Florentine doctor and conquers her with sophistication and intrigue. This comedy has been widely read as a political allegory . The date of its creation (probably 1518) has not yet been clearly established. It is followed by the comedy Clizia , premiered in 1525 , a commissioned work that does not quite reach the level of the mandragola . Clizia is based on the Casina von Plautus , but no longer a direct translation. The place and time of the action were moved from ancient Greece to contemporary Florence .

Machiavelli's satirical works include early mockery and carnival songs as well as a novella with the extensive title:

“The arch devil Belfagor is sent to earth by Pluto with the obligation to take a wife. He comes, takes a wife, and unable to bear her arrogance , he would rather return to hell than reunite with her. "

There is often a pronounced cynicism in Machiavelli's works . In a letter to Francesco Guicciardini he writes:

"I never say what I believe again and never again believe what I say, and if a true word does slip out of my mind, I hide it behind so many lies that it cannot be found again."

Poems

Machiavelli's dramatic oeuvre comprised six works, of which only the three mentioned above have survived. During the Rinascimento and the reflection on the old masters of antiquity , more and more translation activities began around 1500, which were closely linked to the principle of " imitatio ". In addition to the drama genre tragedy in the received medieval low estimated Comedy citing Terence and Plautus a higher profile. Through the principle of aemulatio , which complements the imitatio , Machiavelli's pen creates the lost piece Le Maschere after Aristophanes , of whose existence we know from Machiavelli's nephew Giuliano de 'Ricci.

Machiavelli also wrote poetry. On November 8, 1504, he published a rhymed "ten-year story"  Decennali . "Machiavelli, as later evidence shows, considered himself a great poet in the succession of Dante and on an equal footing with a Ludovico Ariosto ." In this poem he mocked Cesare Borgia (Duke of Valence), among others.

“When the heavens took Alexander
, the rule of Valentino was
ruined and split up many times
…
Only Julius nourished him with great hope;
and this duke believed he found
honesty in others that he had never known himself. "

- Niccolò Machiavelli

This poem by Machiavelli also names his political goal. "After 548 lines of verse, [...] the moral of the story followed: Florence needs a new military system if it wants to exist as a state among states, that is, as a wolf among wolves."

reception

Niccolò Macchiavelli (statue at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence)

Memorial plaque at the place where he was born (Via Guiccardini, Florence)

Otfried Höffe claims that a simple classification of the contributions to Machiavelli is not possible. "To be ambiguous and inexhaustible is the signature of a classic."

According to August Buck , the reception of Machiavelli took place like "no other author ... in the form of a polemic burdened by ideologies , which continues even after the scientific engagement with his work to the present day." According to August Buck, this began with one A treatise by Agostino Nifo in 1523. "With this moral ostracism of Machiavelli, the polemics of anti-Machiavellism began while he was still alive."

Höffe sees a disparaging and highly emotional polemic in Reginald Pole , Innocent Gentillet and Leo Strauss . Höffe recognizes constructive criticism from Jean Bodin and political rehabilitation from Baruch de Spinoza , Arthur Schopenhauer , James Harrington and Andrew Fletcher, as well as moral rehabilitation from Johann Gottfried Herder , Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel .

Nevertheless, according to Höffe, "Machiavelli's thinking, especially that of Principe , ... became a European cultural asset in the course of the 16th century". Machiavelli's reception was "dominated by the quarrel between the denominations, which accused each other of Machiavellian sentiments."

Machiavelli's concept of raison d'etat was “at the center of political discussion” in the 17th century. In Tacitus "one believed to be able to discover Machiavellian principles". In the discussion, the name Tacitus was also used because, on the one hand, the outlawed name Machiavelli was avoided and, on the other hand, the Roman name "dealt with the Christian doctrine" could be avoided.

You can still find advisory literature such as Machiavelli for women or Machiavelli for managers , but otherwise, according to Höffe, Machiavelli has lost his magic, because "some of his theses now seem to be taken for granted." Machiavelli is only effective if one considers his political behavior Names opponent as Machiavellian, that is, describes it as unscrupulous.

In Germany, historians of ideas, political scientists and sociologists such as Hans Freyer and René König still deal with Machiavelli. Niklas Luhmann dedicates a longer section to Machiavelli in The Morals of Society . But according to Höffe, Machiavelli is "no longer an issue for philosophers."

According to Peter Schröder there are two reception lines. At the instigation of the Jesuits , Pope Paul IV placed Machiavelli's works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1559 . This was the beginning of the early, pure rejection on the European continent in the Counter Reformation . The Contre-Machiavel , published in 1576, was written by Innocent Gentillet , a Huguenot, after St. Bartholomew's Night . “The name Machiavelli was thus drawn into the religious dispute and its teaching was disavowed by Catholics and Protestants as morally vile. Machiavelli's bad reputation was established very early and on the basis of a relatively transparent range of interests. You have to keep this background in mind if you want to classify the particularly momentous dispute by Friedrich von Prussia in a meaningful way. "

The second line of tradition lies in England and Scotland. James Harrington makes explicit reference to Machiavelli in his major work The Commonwealth of Oceana . The Scot Andrew Fletcher "adopted Machiavelli's republicanism like hardly any other thinker in a small but significant pamphlet ( Discourse of Government with relation to Militia’s , 1698)."

Schröder also mentions Montesquieu's work On the Spirit of Laws , which "also shows unmistakable references to Machiavelli's conception of republicanism."

According to Volker Reinhardt, there are seven main streams of Machiavelli reception. First, the “Christian outrage over the diabolical corruptor of politics”, for example by Cardinal Reginald Pole . Second, "political thinkers like [...] Giovanni Botero [who] tried to accomplish the difficult synthesis of reasons of state and Christianity." Cardinal Richelieu then put this into practice. Third, the monarchists who " denounced Caterina de 'Medici as a devilish student of Machiavelli." Fourth, Thomas Hobbes took Machiavelli's ideas about war "as the starting point of his main work Leviathan ". Fifth, the Anti-Machiavel of Frederick II. Founded the Antimachiavellismus . Sixth, it influenced Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who saw Machiavelli as a revolutionary in disguise, and demonstrated “how one could get rid of the tyrants.” In addition, Machiavelli, according to Rousseau, shows what a good republic needs: “a civil religion that generated patriotism, and a common will that strengthened and consolidated the state. ”Seventh, Carl von Clausewitz was influenced by Machiavelli's ideas about war.

Reinhardt further notes that Machiavelli turned out to be a “miserable prophet”, since the Florentines followed the opposite ideas of his correspondent Francesco Vettori . Florence experienced a heyday well into the 18th century, but was not a republic in the sense of Machiavelli and the imperial cities that were exemplary for Machiavelli did not belong to the future in Germany. "The modern state did not emerge from the few remaining republics such as Venice and the federal cantons, but from the centralized monarchy."

The disputes about Machiavelli accompany the entire modern political theory and history of ideas up to fascism theory and the concept of totalitarianism . Early on, against the formed Machiavellianischen directed flow of views Antimachiavellismus , the main action Cleric , noble , humanist philosophers free spirits, reconnaissance and ethics adhered. They branded Machiavelli as a misanthrope . Your most famous writing is probably Frederick the Great's Antimachiavell , a sharp attack on the paths suggested by the prince , although Frederick knew how to use these means himself.

The Founding Fathers of the United States were not directly influenced by Machiavelli after Bradley C. Thompson, but they were Machiavellians after Thompson without realizing it. An exception was John Adams , who read Machiavelli and processed his ideas. Adams himself claims to have been a "Machiavelli student".

The political philosopher Hannah Arendt repeatedly draws on Machiavelli's ideas. She writes that “Machiavelli was the first to anticipate the coming or return of a purely worldly realm, whose principles and rules of conduct were emancipated from the commandments of the church and whose moral values ​​would no longer be founded or justified by any transcendence . This is the real meaning of his often misunderstood doctrine that politics is about learning to »not be good«, namely not to act in the sense of Christian moral concepts. ”According to Arendt, Machiavelli advocated a clear separation between church and state . Her conclusion in her work About the Revolution is: “Appear as you want to be, and by that meant: How you are in truth has no meaning for this world and its politics; it consists only of appearance anyway , and true being does not play a role in it ... "

In his lecture The Governmentality , Michel Foucault referred to Machiavelli (especially Il Principe ) and anti-Machiavelli literature (e.g. Thomas Elyot or Guillaume de La Perrière ) to develop the concept of governmentality .

Editions and translations

original language

• Jean-Jacques Marchand et al. ( Edizione nazionale delle opere di Niccolò Machiavelli.) Rome from 2006, 14 volumes (= national edition).
• Franco Gaeta (Ed.): Opere di Niccolò Machiavelli. Volume terzo: Lettere. Turin 1984 (= Epistular apart from the chancellery; not yet included in the national edition according to the edition as of 2019).

Several works

• Collected works in one volume , ed. v. Alexander Ulfig. Two thousand and one, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-86150-774-1 .
• Dirk Hoeges : Niccolò Machiavelli. Poet poeta. With all poems, German / Italian (= Dialoghi / Dialogues: Literature and Culture of Italy and France. Volume 10). machiavelli edition, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-9815560-3-2 .

Il principe

• The Prince. Italian German. Translated, introduced and annotated by Enno Rudolph, with the assistance of Marzia Ponso. Meiner, Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7873-3622-7 .
• The Prince, Italian / German. Translated and edited by Philipp Rippel (= Reclams Universal Library. Vol. 1219). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-001219-8 .
• The prince . Translated from the Italian by Friedrich von Oppeln-Bronikowski. 5th edition. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-458-32907-2 .
• On the government art of a prince and anti-Machiavel or attempt at criticism (anonymously by Friedrich II of Prussia) with an afterword by Heiner Höfener, Harenberg, Dortmund 1978, ISBN 3-921846-50-1 .
• Der Fürst , translated and edited by Rudolf Zorn , 6th edition. Alfred Kröner Verlag Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-520-23506-4 .

Discorsi

• Discorsi. State and politics. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2000, ISBN 3-458-34251-6 .
• Discorsi, thoughts on politics and governance , translated, introduced and explained by Rudolf Zorn, Alfred Kröner Verlag Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-520-37702-0 .

Other works

• Niccolò Machiavelli, Cesare Borgia. How the Duke of Valentinois proceeded in the murder of Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, Mr. Pagolo and the Duke of Gravina Orsini. Detective novella. Translated and commented by Dirk Hoeges machiavelli edition, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-9815560-4-9 .
• The life of Castruccio Castracani from Lucca. Translated and edited with an essay on the aesthetics of power. v. Dirk Hoeges , CH Beck, ISBN 3-406-43357-X .
• La Mandragola . Publishing house of the authors, Frankfurt 2000.
• Niccolò Machiavelli - Mandragola , Italian / German; translated by Helmut Endrulat, illustrated by Joachim John, ed. by Gero Alfred Schwalb and Hans-Peter Klaus; edition schapeti, Langenhagen 1996.
• Dirk Hoeges, Niccolò Machiavelli, Der Esel / L'Asino. Bilingual edition. Translated, annotated with an essay: Literary Eseleien by Dirk Hoeges. machiavelli edition, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-9815560-2-5 .
• Dirk Hoeges (translator): Niccolò Machiavelli, Descrizione del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, il signor Pagolo e il duca di Gravina Orsini / Description of how the Duke of Valentinois in the murder of Vitellozzo Vitellis, Oliverottos da Fermo Fermo, Mr. Pagolo and the Duke of Gravina Orsini. In: Romance journal for the history of literature. Issue 3/4, 2013, pp. 455–475.
• History of Florence . 3. Edition. Zurich 1993 ( Manesse Library of World History ).

literature

• August Buck : Machiavelli. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1985, ISBN 3-534-01294-1 , online .
• Frank Deppe : Niccolo Machiavelli. To the criticism of pure politics. Pahl-Rugenstein, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7609-1126-9 .
• Sebastian de Grazia : Machiavelli in Hell. Vintage 1989, ISBN 978-0-679-74342-2 .
• Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-004350-0 .
• Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. The power and the appearance. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Peter Lang Edition, Frankfurt am Main 2014, ISBN 978-3-631-61701-4 .
• Jürgen Huber: Guicciardini's criticism of Machiavelli. DUV, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-8244-4603-0 .
• Ralf Jeremias: Reason and Charisma. The foundation of political theory in Dante and Machiavelli - in Max Weber's view (= Konstanzer Schriften zur Sozialwissenschaft. Vol. 66). Hartung-Gorre, Konstanz 2005, ISBN 3-86628-004-1 .
• Wolfgang Kersting : Niccolò Machiavelli. 3. Edition. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54128-3 .
• Josef Lehmkuhl: Erasmus - Machiavelli, Zweieinig against stupidity Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8260-3889-1 .
• Harvey Mansfield : Machiavelli's Virtue. Chicago & London 1996, ISBN 0-226-50368-2 .
• Karl Mittermaier: Machiavelli. Morals and Politics at the Beginning of Modern Times. Casimir Katz, Gernsbach 2005, ISBN 3-938047-07-0 .
• Herfried Münkler : Machiavelli. Frankfurt 2004, ISBN 3-596-16178-9 .
• John Najemy (Ed.): The Cambridge companion to Machiavelli. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-67846-9 .
• Gabriele Pedullà: Machiavelli in Tumult: The Discourses on Livy and the Origins of Political Conflictualism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York 2018.
• Volker Reinhardt : Machiavelli or the art of power. A biography CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63017-0 .
• Gennaro Sasso: Niccolò Machiavelli. History of his political thought. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1965.
• Martin Schewe:  Niccolò Machiavelli. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 524-529.
• Carlo Schmid : Macchiavelli. Selection and introduction. Fischer Bücherei 133, Frankfurt 1956.
• Peter Schröder : Niccolò Machiavelli. Campus introductions, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-593-37571-0 .
• Quentin Skinner : Machiavelli for an introduction. 5th edition, Junius, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-88506-350-6 .
• Nicolas Stockhammer: The principle of power. The rationality of political power in Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Michel Foucault. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8329-2801-8 .
• Bernhard HF Taureck : Machiavelli ABC. Reclam, Leipzig 2002.
• Maurizio Viroli: The smile of Niccolò (Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli) Rowohlt, Reinbek 2001, ISBN 3-499-61307-7 .

reception

• Sydney Anglo: Machiavelli - the First Century. Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-926776-6 .
• Peter S. Donaldson: Machiavelli and Mystery of State. Cambridge University Press, New York et al. 1988, ISBN 0-521-34546-4 .
• Giuliano Procacci: Machiavelli nella cultura europea dell'età moderna. Laterza, Bari 1995, ISBN 88-420-4613-2 .
• Cornel Zwierlein, Annette Meyer (Ed.): Machiavellism in Germany. Code of contingency, domination and empiricism in modern times. Oldenbourg, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-486-59213-9 .

Web links

Commons : Niccolò Machiavelli  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Niccolò Machiavelli  - Sources and full texts (Italian)

Wikisource: Niccolò Machiavelli  - Sources and full texts

Wikiquote: Niccolò Machiavelli  - Quotes

• Works by Niccolò Machiavelli in the Gutenberg-DE project
• Works by Niccolò Machiavelli in Project Gutenberg ( currently not usually available to users from Germany )
• http://www.niccolo-machiavelli.de/ Extensive presentation: biography, bibliography, texts
• Literature by and about Niccolò Machiavelli in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Niccolò Machiavelli  in the German Digital Library
• Entry in Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .
• ZeitZeichen : 05/03/1469 - Niccolò Machiavelli's birthday

Footnotes

1. ^ Herfried Münkler : Machiavelli. The foundation of modern political thought from the crisis of the Florence Republic. Frankfurt am Main 2004, p. 40.
2. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. 2000, ISBN 0-374-52800-4 , p. 8.
3. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. The power and the appearance. Munich 2000, p. 132.
4. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 43.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli, p. 28.
6. ^ Rudolf Zorn: Introduction, p. XXV, In: Niccolò Machiavelli: Discorsi , Stuttgart 1977.
7. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 25.
8. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 26f.
9. ↑ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 29 f.
10. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 30.
11. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 90.
12. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 145.
13. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 60.
14. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 33.
15. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 63.
16. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 70.
17. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 79.
18. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 80.
19. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 43.
20. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 86.
21. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 88.
22. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 95.
23. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 102.
24. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 104.
25. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 110.
26. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, pp. 111–113.
27. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. The power and the appearance. Munich 2000, p. 101.
28. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 119.
29. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 123.
30. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 124f.
31. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 127.
32. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 137.
33. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 141.
34. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 86.
35. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 95.
36. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 142.
37. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 144.
38. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 146.
39. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 98.
40. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , pp. 98f.
41. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 149.
42. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 151.
43. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 154 f.
44. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 160f.
45. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 165.
46. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. The power and the appearance. Munich 2000, p. 79.
47. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 167.
48. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 173 f.
49. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 179.
50. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 182.
51. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 185.
52. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 194.
53. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 195.
54. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 199.
55. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 201.
56. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 203.
57. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 205.
58. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 206.
59. ↑ ^{a b c d} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 207.
60. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 135.
61. ^ Herfried Münkler: Machiavelli. The foundation of modern political thought from the crisis of the Florence Republic. 2nd Edition. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 11.
62. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 220.
63. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 221.
64. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 223.
65. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 227.
66. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 209.
67. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 214.
68. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 215.
69. ^ Maurizio Viroli, Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 144.
70. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 251.
71. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 308.
72. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 309.
73. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 311.
74. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 313.
75. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 314.
76. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 315.
77. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 337.
78. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 338.
79. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 340.
80. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 197.
81. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 347.
82. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 351.
83. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 349.
84. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 228f.
85. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 230.
86. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 238.
87. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 363.
88. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 364.
89. ^ Rudolf Zorn: Introduction, p. XXXIX, In: Niccolò Machiavelli: Discorsi , Stuttgart 1977.
90. ^ ^{A b} Rudolf Zorn: Introduction, p. XL, In: Niccolò Machiavelli: Discorsi , Stuttgart, 1977
91. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 364.
92. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 10.
93. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 252.
94. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 254.
95. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, pp. 255f.
96. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 256.
97. ↑ ^{a b c} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 260.
98. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 262.
99. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 33.
100. ↑ ^{a b c} Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. P. 159.
101. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 37
102. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 84.
103. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 98.
104. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 97
105. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 63
106. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 177.
107. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 157.
108. ↑ Der Fürst , Frankfurt am Main, Insel Verlag, 2001, p. 87.
109. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 265.
110. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 276.
111. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. P. 184.
112. ^ Niccolò Machiavelli: Discorsi. Alfred Kroener Verlag, 1977, p. 5.
113. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. P. 190.
114. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. A biography. Munich 2012, p. 276.
115. ^ ^{A b} Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 216.
116. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 217.
117. ^ Maurizio Viroli: Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli , p. 219.
118. ↑ Wolfgang Kersting : Niccolò Machiavelli (= Beck'sche series. Thinker. ). 3. Edition. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54128-3 , p. 26 f .
119. ↑ ^{a b c} Alessandro Pinzani: But a republican? , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , Berlin 2012, p. 167.
120. ↑ Alessandro Pinzani: But a republican? , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , Berlin 2012, p. 168
121. ^ Discorsi , Insel-Verlag, 1977, Frankfurt a. M., p. 15.
122. ↑ Alessandro Pinzani: But a republican? , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , Berlin 2012, p. 170.
123. ↑ ^{a b c} August Buck: Machiavelli , Darmstadt, 1985, p. 129
124. ^ Gennaro Sasso: Niccolò Machiavelli. History of his political thought , 1965, p. 222.
125. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 39.
126. ^ Dirk Hoeges: Niccolò Machiavelli. Die Macht und der Schein , Munich, 2000, p. 44.
127. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , Frankfurt, 2004, p. 44, FN4.
128. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 161
129. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 42.
130. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 160.
131. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 161, italics in the original.
132. ↑ Cornel Zwierlein: Discorso and Lex Dei. The emergence of new frames of thought in the 16th century and the perception of the French wars of religion in Italy and Germany. Göttingen 2006, p. 49.
133. ↑ Helmut Hein: Subjectivity and Sovereignty. Studies on the beginning of modern politics with Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. Frankfurt am Main 1986, p. 34.
134. ^ Hans-Joachim Diesner: Niccolò Machiavelli. People, power, politics and the state in the 16th century. Bochum 1988, p. 132.
135. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolò Machiavelli , Frankfurt am Main 2004, p. 76. On the general quality of the functional in Machiavelli cf. Christoph Kammertöns : Functionality as a core element of state power in the thinking of the Florentine Niccolò Machiavelli. A historical classification. Hagen 2018 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.18445/20200402-005009-3 ).
136. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 129
137. ↑ Niccolò Machiavelli: Die Dezennalen , Dt.-It., translated and commented by Dirk Hoeges Cologne 2018, p. 65.
138. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 131.
139. ↑ Otfried Höffe: On Machiavelli's Effect , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , Berlin, 2012, p. 195.
140. ↑ Otfried Höffe: On Machiavelli's Effect , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , S. 182. Jérémie Barthas: Machiavelli in political thought from the age ofrevolutions to the present. In: John Najemy (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Machiavelli. Cambridge 2010, pp. 256-273.
141. ^ Otfried Höffe: On Machiavelli's effect , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , p. 180; see. also: August Buck: Machiavelli , p. 132.
142. ^ August Buck: Machiavelli , p. 132.
143. ↑ ^{a b} August Buck: Machiavelli , p. 134.
144. ↑ August Buck: Machiavelli , p. 137.
145. ↑ Otfried Höffe: On Machiavelli's Effect , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , p. 196.
146. ^ Hans Freyer: Machiavelli , Leipzig 1938 (2nd edition Weinheim 1986, with afterword by Elfriede Üner to Freyer's Machiavelli reception).
147. ^ René König: Niccolò Machiavelli. On the crisis analysis of a turning point , Erlenbach-Zurich 1941, new edition Munich 1979.
148. ↑ Otfried Höffe: On Machiavelli's Effect , in: Otfried Höffe (Ed.): Niccolò Machiavelli: Der Fürst , p. 195.
149. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 134.
150. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 126f.
151. ^ Peter Schröder: Niccolo Machiavelli , p. 122.
152. ↑ ^{a b c} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 369
153. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 370.
154. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 371.
155. ↑ Volker Reinhardt: Machiavelli or The Art of Power. Eine Biographie , Munich 2012, p. 372
156. ^ Bradley C. Thompson: Adams's Machiavellian Moment , in: Paul A. Rahe: Machiavelli's Liberal Republican Legacy , Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 189f.
157. ^ Hannah Arendt: About the Revolution , 1965; Piper, 4th edition, Munich 1994, p. 43.
158. ↑ Hannah Arendt: About the Revolution , p. 129.
159. ↑ Cf. Michel Foucault: Die Gouvernementality. In: Ulrich Bröckling, Susanne Krasmann, Thomas Lemke (eds.): Governmentality of the present. Studies on the economization of the social. Frankfurt am Main 2000, pp. 41-67.