The Prince Group

Question:

atlfalconsga
atlfalconsga
Student
High School - 9th Grade

In what historical period is The Prince set?

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Posted by atlfalconsga on Monday July 30, 2007 at 12:22 AM and tagged with historical context, historical period, machiavelli, the prince.

Answers:


  1. linda-allen Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The Prince, by Machiavelli, is based on the career of Cesare Borgia, an Italian nobleman who lived ca. 1475-1507, during the Italian Renaissance. Machiavelli greatly admired Borgia and with The Prince encouraged other noblemen to follow his style of leadership. See the enotes article at the attached link.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/prince/

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    Posted by linda-allen on Monday November 5, 2007 at 8:35 AM

  2. ecofan74
    ecofan74 Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    Machiavelli's The Prince is set presumably during his own lifetime (1469-1527).  Machiavelli does provide the reader with a number of clues to suggest this.  Two of his favorite examples, Francesco Sforza and Cesare Borgia, as well as other figures such as Alexander VI and Ferdinand of Aragon, lived during Machiavelli's lifetime.  Keeping in mind Machiavelli's intention to provide an instruction book for a ruler who could survive the ruthlessness of sixteenth-century Italian (read Florentine) politics, the advice he gives is in many ways specific to his own time.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/prince/
    http://www.enotes.com/prince/characters

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    Posted by ecofan74 on Thursday July 30, 2009 at 11:10 PM