Q Who was the Machiavelli who gave rise to the term Machiavellian, meaning a corrupt or unscrupulous politician? - C Parker, Peterlee.

A The word derives from the name of Niccolo Machiavelli, a 16th century Italian political philosopher who has been greatly misunderstood and misrepresented.

Machiavelli was born into a relatively poor branch of an otherwise distinguished family in the city of Florence in 1469. During his lifetime, Italy was made up of a collection of independent provinces and city-states and was governed by the powerful Medici family.

In 1494, the Medicis were ousted from power and Florence temporarily became a republic. Machiavelli became a secretary in this new republican government and his political skills and intelligence were soon recognised. He quickly rose through the ranks, eventually acquiring a diplomatic post. This enabled him to travel widely, meeting the Pope, Louis XII of France and several other influential heads of state including Cesare Borgia, the powerful prince of a neighbouring papal state. Borgia's violent and unpredictable methods of leadership made a great impression on Machiavelli and Borgia is said to provide the model for Machiavelli's most famous work, The Prince.

In 1512 the Medicis returned to power in Florence and Machiavelli lost his government post. He retired to his country home and began writing The Prince. It was dedicated to the Medici family, perhaps in an attempt to find favour with them.

The work demonstrated the most effective ways by which a monarch could stay in power, regardless of any moral or ethical framework. It advocated the judicious use of violence, cruelty, deception and unpredict-ability.

Machiavelli was not necessarily championing these methods. In fact he did not even favour rule by monarchy and preferred republican forms of government. Perhaps a clearer picture of Machiavelli's true beliefs can be found in his Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius (1521) in which he looks at the work of republics. Unfortunately Machiavelli and the perception of Machiavellian ideology will always be misunderstood and forever associated with the subject matter of The Prince.

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Published:07/04/2003