Florence's best-remembered write during the early 16th century is Niccolo
Machiavelli (1469-1527), a noble, a diplomat, and the chancellor of the
Florentine republic. His major work was Il Principe (The Prince), begun
in 1513 but only published psothumously in 1532, a masterpiece of
policitcal analysis that linked political science (the reason of state)
with a penetrating study of human nature. Today Machiavelli's name is
synonymous with devious political machinations, something not borne
out by study of his writing -- Machiavellian was originally a French
term used to denigrate not Machiavelli, but all things Italian.
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