Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian statesman, writer, and political theorist. He was born Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He grew up with his parents, Bartoloma and Bernardo, and two sisters, along with a younger brother. He began his education at the age of seven, learning the principles of Latin grammar and rhetoric. He also learned arithmetic later as a teenager. There was not much more known about Machiavelli's early life, but he was said to have worked for a prominent Florence banker in Rome between 1487-1495. Niccolo Machiavelli began his political career at the age of 29 when he was elected to be chancellor and secretary of the second chancellery of the Florentine Republic. He had supreme power in this office, and his job was to execute the policy decisions of others, carry on diplomatic correspondence, and compose reports. During his time in office, he also carried out twenty-three missions to foreign states such as France and Germany, where he conducted diplomatic negotiations and supervised military operations of the republic. The experiences he gained from the missions gave him insight that would be included in his later writings. .
Niccolo Machiavelli's contributions to the Renaissance were his writings and ideas on various subjects. He wrote a variety of things such as books about his fame, plays, and books about war and politics. He composed two major works in his lifetime, one called "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius," and the other "The Prince." In the book "Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius," Machiavelli emphasized that for a republic to survive, it needed to foster a sprit of patriotism and civic virtue among its citizens. Machiavelli's most famous and noted work was called "The Prince," which he wrote in 1532. "The Prince" was a short book that in general, said one thing: all means may be resorted to for the establishment and preservation of authority.
