250 word summary

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Conflicts in Europe and Niccolo Machiavelli

· Europe in the late 15th and early 16th centuries was marked by unrest, as well as political and religious turmoil, including...

· Protestant Reformation became sites of political resistance to papal authority. Princes--like Henry VIII (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. --took control of the religious institutions --> "by nationalizing religious authority, monarchs claimed for themselves more and more rights that traditionally had belonged to the Pope" (Norton 1611)

· This unrest shifted attention from questions of Godly authority (like in St Augustine's Confessions) to earthly authority. 

· Thus... "Machiavelli broke with a long tradition of advisors who preached moral behavior to their rulers, recognizing instead the exigencies of his time and the importance of projecting strength and authority" (Norton 1614)

· Italy during the Renaissance was not a unified country. It was a fractured group of "polities, constantly overrun by the armies of France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire" (Norton 1625)

("The States of Italy during the Renaissance, c.1494 via World Civilizations)

("Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. " by Santo di Tito via Wikipedia)

· Machiavelli lived during this time-period, and held a variety of governmental positions in Florence, including: secretary to the Secondary Chancery, diplomatic envoy, and managing Florence's militia