European History

The Prince

The Prince, a political treatise by the Florentine writer Niccolò Machiavelli, was an essential work of the Renaissance. For the first time, politics was presented as an objective science?Machiavelli recorded successful rulers and then drew conclusions without judgments. In other words, Machiavelli's politics were divorced from morality and religion.

Machiavelli's research showed that a successful leader of a nation acted in a number of ways:

• His power should be held as more important to ethics and morals
• It is better to be feared, not loved, but he should never be hated
• His advisors should be truthful and loyal, he should avoid flatterers, and he should select old and experienced advisors because they lack ambition to attempt to steal his power
• He should be the lion and the fox, or brave and cunning
• He should break treaties and promises whenever it benefits him, and he should assume everyone else will do the same