Who was Niccolo Machiavelli? - What are the Machiavellian principles?

the Renaissance in Italy was a time of great intellectual and artistic achievements in literature and music architecture painting and sculpture but it was also a time of constant warfare of violence and treachery with Italy divided into small city-states forever fighting foreign invaders and each other a shrewd observer of this scene and perhaps the most controversial political commentator of all time was niccolò machiavelli many people have considered Machiavelli's political ideas immoral inciting rulers to acts of violence and treachery but others see him as a realist scientifically describing for the first time how men really acquire and hold power what was the nature of Machiavelli's ideas ideas which exert a powerful influence down to our own time your name you know my name your name niccolò machiavelli profession currently unemployed of fashion 14 years Chief Secretary to the second Chancery here in Florence are you acquainted with a man Pietro booth Scully I've told you I met him oh the man Agostino Capponi no that will be all name your name yeah Machiavelli profession secretary duties diplomatic missions to all major Italian city-states also the courts outside Italy do you know the man Pietro brusquely slightly the man Caponi no or the men valori or funky I've mixed them that will be all what am i accused do you know the man booth Scully yes Capponi no no Laurie yes cool ki know did you conspire with these men no were you aware of the conspiracy between them what kind of conspiracy you will come with us do you understand this device yes hoist him you will now confess to being part of a plot to assassinate our lawful rulers the Medicis know you served the Republic the enemies of the Medici for 14 years until the Republic was overthrown I have not plotted drop him Oh I have shackles on my arms and six drops of the strappado on my back the walls are full of lice so big they seem like butterflies and there never was such a stench as in this fine dwelling of mine mr. Machiavelli a member of our illustrious ruling family the Medicis now reigns as Christ's vicar in Rome the new pope has made it known that he wants a general amnesty declared you are to be released without fine or taint I congratulate you on your fortitude and I would like to say at this time that I am personally delighted may I suggest that your recuperation be done at your villa outside Florence [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] dear Vittori since my misfortune I've led a quiet country life I rise with the Sun and go into the woods to inspect yesterday's work then I go to the spring with a book Dante Pete Rock or a minor poet I eat lunch with my family then go to the inn where I play creak ah or trick track with the butcher or miller of brick makers at nightfall I return home and enter my study I remove my dirty rusty clothes and put on noble dress suitably attired I enter the courts of great men of old and hold conversations with them on the reasons for their actions for hours I feel no weariness and then the no trouble no longer fear poverty or dread death I've recorded what I've learned in a small book called the prince this book I have dedicated to the esteemed ruler of Florence is highness Lorenzo de Medici you you want to come with me now [Music] his highness Lorenzo de Medici you may be seated Machiavelli you wrote your book the Prince hoping to gain employment with me in Florence such was my wish excellency yet you serve my family's enemies loyally for 14 years I'm ready to serve my city loyally again have you heard of my reactions to the book rumors which were that the language in the book was not grandiloquent enough that you prefer your hunting dogs to my thoughts this was the word I spread as a matter of fact I am deeply disturbed by the book so disturbed that I've summoned you here in secret in secret Machiavelli your ideas fly in the face of all I have been taught about governing perhaps you've been taught incorrectly where is the truth there are those who who want me to believe that men are basically good and the effective prince is noblest of all but your book describes a savage world and which only cynical and treacherous rulers flourish now these thoughts of yours must be put to the test you ought to be debated by the philosopher and humanist come Francesco Scully my tutor and well-known expert on governments both ancient and modern Giovanni busoni and the noted theologian and scholar Albury goda Musso I must choose what sort of Prince I am to be if my ideas prevailed I could be commonly Machiavellian I could employ I could suppress your writing I could suppress you as you'll defend yourself Oh directly from your works if you wish Akira Lee what about the goodness of princes a prince should not deviate from doing good if that is possible but he should be ready to do evil if that is necessary let me quote from other thinkers Xenophon by his own virtues the good prince is an example to all Aristotle a prince should be chosen for leadership because of goodness Polybius a man becomes a prince only after the principles of justice and goodness are added to might in power Plutarch justice is the measure of royal greatness pleasing texts but do they have anything to do with the world perhaps these great men imagine things that have never been whereas you possess the truth I have tried to present things as they are not as we want them to be it is my experience that he who forgets what is for what should be is quickly ruined our great contemporary Erasmus states that the qualities necessary for a good ruler are wisdom integrity clemency self-restraint and an interest in truth and liberty I say a prince must appear to have these qualities above all he must seemed to be religious he must fear God neither God nor the devil has brought Italy to the edge of ruin it is our own political and military weakness and neither God nor the devil will save us you patterned your prints after the prince cesare borgia let's consider a specific act of borgers let's consider the siege of Firenze the city held out bravely against a terrible Borgia Duke but inevitably it fell the beloved ruler of Firenze the young as story Manfredi when to Borgias battle Ted and begged for mercy not for himself but for his City reenter this city please do not destroy fie Enza enough rise I should kneel to you such valor has scarcely ever been seen in one so young my city there will be no retaliation no new taxes the city's laws will stand how will I know that I will keep my word you're free to leave but if you choose to stay as my lieutenant my strongest sword you will observe in what high regard I hold your city and you I expected to die today preserve I Enza and I will be yours to the death troop attack all news day the next day a story man Freddie appeared at the site of Cesare Borgia before the astonished and then wildly cheering and happenings of lions a few weeks later he was thrown into a dungeon in the castle San Angelo in Rome some time after this a body thought to be his was found floating in the Tiber but it was so badly decomposed identification was difficult there are those who consider this an act of treachery Borja kept his word the city was not destroyed only the prince was destroyed as story Manfredi was loved by his people as long as he lived he was a threat to the Borgias Borja spared rulers who were hated that's mercy consider this the people of high n sir were accustomed to being ruled by princes deprive them of their prince and unable to rule themselves they must turn to and depend on a new prince in this case Borja for this kind of logic a promising life was destroyed Borja used cruelty properly he inflicted the injuries he had to inflict all at once Laura when the city Falls you will see to it that some of your men loot that will be no problem they're always ready after the looting becomes established other men of yours will arrest the looters they will be hanged in a conspicuous place make certain that people know I gave the order I don't understand you would have gotten rid of a few troublemakers and people will see that I stand for the law but if citizens are killed by the looters those who survive will be doubly grateful when this campaign is over you will govern the conquered cities of the Romagna you will be fair but harsh as I am NOT popular you will be even less so better you than me the Romagna had been full of petty feuding tyrants by making an example or two for jurist or order the words an example or to refer to human beings which is worse in a ruler a little selective cruelty or a misplaced sense of humanity which permits destructive disorders to arise order was peered not hated he brought order which meant prize more than Liberty he was respected because he was a success I have been taught that it is better to rule through love than through fear love is a bond men break when it is to their advantage to do so fear of punishment makes men behave Christianity teaches a different ethic Christianity Christianity requires that men look to the next world rather than this one it makes men gentle and humble ready to submit to anything for the sake of going to paradise this is fine for the masses but lethal for the prince the virtues you scorn are man's hope for peace peace a profane word a prince must concentrate on war its organization and discipline there is no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not even the unarmed prophet they in peace even more than in war the prince must not let his thoughts stray from the study and exercise a battle war or the prospect of war prevents boredom Kennels ambition makes men turn to the leader wars can be lost there's no such thing as a safe course of action a prince is always choosing between risks the risk is really taken by the people for the other ones who died for the glory of the prince people like you Machiavelli and your wife and children what can I say war is with us it is a fact wars cannot be avoided they can only be deferred to the advantage of others you worship the Prince and the state when the state becomes all and the Prince becomes a god what restraints are left what of a Prince's obligation to his subjects to humanity to God he feels none because he has made himself with a center of existence he is ready to subordinate all life to his will he has become the Earthshaker a tyrant ready to murder millions to achieve his enemies the Bible says woe unto thee that spoils and deal a stretcher asleep for when thou shalt cease to spoil thou shalt be spoiled between the prints and the beasts is the width of the sheet of paper that says it should be but the Prince lives in a world of men and laws which he must understand and use but he must also use the legacy of the beasts force since the prince must be able to act like a beast he must learn from the beast from say the fox and the lion the lion can be caught by tracks the Fox by wolves therefore he must be a fox to avoid traps and a lion to avoid wolves like Borja yes like Borja when his captains revolted against him Oliver Leone the television law so a list of those who rebelled was long and impressive Oliver so declare me we divaldo metaphor your excellency I have just received word that the fortress of San leo has been taken also there is a rumor that Moncada has fallen we are surrounded what are your orders your orders highness no orders are capito watch over Joe [Music] excellent three two men have arrived they seem to be unaware of each other's presence one is a courier supposedly from the French King but he speaks miserable French and I'm told he bears a certain resemblance to the rebel power Louis eeny the other is dressed as a monk he is thought to be the traitor Valley Oni their ranks are breaking break certain the two are kept separated the rebels do not trust me but they trust each other less tell each of them that I personally guarantee to defend their possessions in turn they must pledge themselves to defend mine all of mine excellency the town of Senegal iya has been taken for you by Oliver lot though the affair me where he has sent word that the Citadel under the captain under your daughter still holds out Doria will surrender to no one but you personally child could see through this trick Dori owes it leaked with them they fear you to such a degree that their only hope is to lure you into a trap and kill you Lord one send word to Oliver Otto that I would be there to take the key to the castle providing that all my captains are there also including those who recently disagreed with me inform him that I am sending my French Lancers back to France and that now that I have everyone's loyalty again I will disperse my troops and come with only a few men at once my lord with only a small escort the Duke then journeyed to Senegal eeeyah two miles from the city he met and embrace the conspirators and they all entered the city going to the palazzo bernardino Cesare Borgia Ali Bharata dafair me beat a lot so the Duke of Gandia and Paolo Orsini gentlemen we have much to discuss but first I must attend to some business elsewhere I will be back in a few moments you are mistaken you have no business to attend unless we give permission for you to do so you are mistaken as we entered the city so did my troops there is more than one Road to Senegal eeeh all of the route though I would have thought that after campaigning with me you would know enough to watch all possible routes this is bluff my army was until a short time ago in my employ being prudent men they have chosen to return to my service gentlemen I must be gone the collector here will make my wishes known the Duke then wrote a letter informing Italy that after the disbanding of his French troops the conspirators thought in helpless and were about to attack him so in self-defense and with the utmost reluctance he was forced to attack them first providing an excuse was hardly necessary well nearly everyone applauded the beautiful trick as it was called Borgia acted perfectly he waited when it was wise to wait and moved swiftly indecision was needed he assumed men are bad and their viciousness will be revealed at the right moment to preserve power this is an assumption a prince must make mankind survives despite the fraud and deceit of the few not because of it true there are differences and clashes between men but more important there are common interests in every phase of life in in the family in business in the relationship of rule to ruler and Prince - Prince there is there has to be basically trust out of cooperation not trickery men have built civilizations noble sentiments to one side from my experience those who have known how to trick men with that cunning have held power when those who kept their word have fallen then what just failure when everyone discovers that a man practices only deceit what further good are his lies he failed because of the extraordinary malice of 14 when the Borgia Pope died Cesare Borgia was also deathly ill he provided for every emergency except his own sickness he failed because no one trusted him at his moment of weakness all men turned against him for good reason and cast him down imprisoned despised exiled to Spain he finally perished in an obscure and pointless little war he charged the enemy his own troops failed to follow him so he was cut off trapped alone for all the blood he spilled what was gained given more time he would have unified Italy he'll magnify his importance he was no more than another robber baron he was a man in whom some spark seemed to show he had only five years from the time he first drew his sword now who will liberate Italy who will end up imaging of Lombardi and the extortion of the kingdom of Naples and Tuscany if a people must be cast down for a great leader to arise then surely it is our time for we're enslaved and leaderless crushed the spoiled Oh Baraka Valley what if I turn out to be a reformer willing to try new forms of government to improve people's locked you will fail then have no faith in things they have never experienced then you only allow me to rule in your mould one government must dominate until then we're all animals whatever principles our states may profess their practice will be that of the jungle by using your methods I would cure the patient by poisoning him you will use my methods whether you admit it or not if not a gained power than to hold it something has happened to you Machiavelli to your mind perhaps during your arrest I have presented the world as it is a distorted world you think so because it conflicts with the world you carry in your head I wonder what your book will do to the minds of those who dream of absolute power no matter what I say few people will consider that I have lost our debate if I were sufficiently Machiavellian would I admit you wanted at least employ me I waste away in inactivity use me excellency perhaps but a nothing significant escort him back now Machiavelli you are still alive take solace in that a decade later the Medici government in Florence was overthrown and the Republic reestablished Machiavelli sought to gain back his job as Secretary to the second Chancery I am sorry to have to inform you miss Eyre Machiavelli that Francesco taraji has been appointed to the position instead of you Carew G is in mediocrity I'm not in a position to question the Republic's choice new people hate and fear me because I revealed the secrets of your power I expose your politics and yourselves but what you are will be enough I hold up a mirror and show you the real image of yourselves the image of power politics of selfish interests of politicians who lie and cheat and deceive the people do you expect an appointment yet after the fall of the first republic you did everything you could to get work with the Medicis you owe them you grovel before them you dedicated books to them then you expect us to trust you at least give me some things to do go back and scratch on your papers with us you are through ten days later niccolò machiavelli was dead you will use my methods whether you admit it or not if not a gain power then to hold it do you believe Machiavelli's analysis of political reality is valid must politicians adopt Machiavellian principles in order to succeed what relevance do you think Machiavelli's ideas have for us today [Music]

Channel: Educational Video Library

Views: 14,425

Rating: 4.8857141 out of 5

Keywords: machiavelli, niccolò, niccolo, political science, 16th Century, Political Commentator, Italian diplomat, politician, philosopher, Machiavellian principles, Educational film

Id: gZTwyhrRRto

Length: 28min 7sec (1687 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2017