Machiavelli The Prince Chapter Summaries

Machiavelli's The Prince is undoubtedly his most famous work, the book that gave "Machiavellian" to the English language as a synonym for "deceitful." During his service in the Florentine government, he had had the opportunity to deal diplomatically with kings and princes from all parts of Europe. The early 15th century the time of Niccole Machiavelli, Italy was anarchy of states. It was divided into thirty principalities each ruled by a prince. It was a turbulent time of conflict and contradiction new ideas and new technology are rocking like a great earthquake. It was a time where there were murders in Cathedrals and orgies in the Vatican. It was the time of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Columbus, Henry VIII, Protestant Reformation era. The idea that Man is the master of his fate was just developing.
It includes 26 chapters and an opening dedication to Lorenzo de Medici. The book's 26 chapters can be divided into four sections: Chapters 1–11 discuss the different types of principalities or states, Chapters 12–14 discuss the different types of armies and the proper conduct of a prince as military leader, Chapters 15–23 discuss the character and behavior of the prince, and Chapters 24–26 discuss Italy's desperate political situation. The final chapter is a plea for the Medici family to supply the prince who will lead Italy into unification.
Machiavelli starts the book off explaining the different kinds of states, republics and principalities. He then goes on to explain the types of principalities, heredity, mixed, and what he calls "new". New principalities are principalities that have just been created and their leaders are not hereditary. Mixed principalities are like those of the Pope or the sultan, he explains, for they have been established for a long time (like a hereditary principality), but the leadership does not pass from father to son (like a new