Machiavelli in Context | Florentine Histories: The Growth of Florence (Lecture 21)

Lecture 21: My main purpose in discussing Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories is to demonstrate that many of the ideas he put forth in The Prince and Discourses are developed and applied in his most important work of history. Machiavelli writes his history as a commission from the Medici. However, he is not afraid to criticize Medici rule of Florence between 1434 and 1494. I will not attempt to be as methodical here as I was with the two works of Machiavelli discussed in previous lectures.

After a glimpse of how Machiavelli approaches the writing of history, I will turn to specific sections that have importance for the understanding of Machiavelli as a political thinker. At the beginning of Book III of the Florentine Histories, for example, Machiavelli takes up a theme from the Discourses: While division in the Roman Republic was a good thing, Florence has suffered from the evils of division.

Recommended Readings:
Harvey Mansfield, “Introduction,” in Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories, translated by Laura Banfield and Harvey Mansfield, pp. vii–xv.
Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, translated by Laura Banfield and Harvey Mansfield, preface and Books I–IV.