Machiavelli Writes The Prince

What happened

After the Medici returned to power in Florence in 1512 and stripped him of his post as second chancellor — even imprisoning and torturing him in early 1513 — Niccolò Machiavelli retreated to his farm and wrote The Prince late in 1513. Purging politics of conventional moralizing, he argued that the ruler's real concern is the acquisition and maintenance of power. The book was published posthumously in 1532.

Why it matters

Often called a founding work of modern political thought, The Prince analysed power as it is actually exercised rather than as it ought to be, and its name became a byword for hard-edged 'Machiavellian' realism.

Sources

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Niccolò Machiavelli · Reputable source