Why was “The Prince” Written? Italy was divided between four dominant city-states, and each of these was continually at the mercy of the stronger foreign government of Europe. Since 1434 the wealthy Medici family ruled Florence. Due to a reform movement, Medici rule was temporarily interrupted in 1434, in which Machiavelli became an important diplomat. The Medici family regained power in 1512 with the help of Spanish troops. At this time, Machiavelli was tortured and removed from public …showed first 75 words of 2028 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2028 total…in Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince: New Interdisciplinary essays, ed. Martin Coyle (New York: Manchester University Press, 1995), 36. Garrett Mattingly, Renaissance Diplomacy (London: Alden Pres, 1955). H. C. Butters, Governors and Government in Early Sixteenth-Century Florence 1502-1519 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 225. J. R. Hale, Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1960), 147. Paul Sonnino, The Prince: Niccolo Machiavelli (New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1996), 33,89-91,120. Vickie B. Sullivan, Machiavelli’s Three Romes (Dekalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press,1996), 21-23.