Machiavelli Drafts The Prince
1513
Exiled from Florence and tortured on suspicion of conspiracy, Niccolo Machiavelli retired to his farmhouse at Sant' Andrea and, at night, changed into courtly robes to converse with the ancients. In a few months he produced a short, icy handbook on how rulers should seize and keep power. His letter describing evenings in courtly dress after days with woodcutters is one of the most human documents of the Italian Renaissance.
In context
Also in 1513 (6 other events on record)
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Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.