The Most Influential Person of the Renaissance

The Renaissance was both an event as well as a point in time. The Renaissance occurred between the years of 1300-1600AD. It was a time of rejuvenation from the Medieval Ages. During the Medieval Ages people were more concerned about the after life and were less interested in the present. The Renaissance opened the doors into a new ideology called Humanism. There are three concepts/parts to Humanism; the first is Secularism-This is worrying about the here and now what is happening in your life on Earth and not just worrying about the after life. The second concept of Humanism is Classicism-which is the study of Greece and Rome, and the third concept of Humanism is Individualism-which is being an individual, and doing things your own way not what everyone else does. The Renaissance Era was a time of greatness and many great and influential people. Individuals became famous and influential because of their skills and what new ideas and inventions they developed or planned on developing. Influential people had a wide variety of jobs and came from diverse families some with money some had none. However the most influential group of people were the politicians. Even within the many great politicians of the time, there were a select few who stood out among the rest; Machiavelli, Ferdinand and Isabella, and Church Officials were the most influential of all.

The Renaissance had many influential people and groups of people, but the most influential group is the politicians. Niccolò Machiavelli was not as much a politician in his later, years but a greatly respected political thinker. However in his youth he was a politician. Niccolò Machiavelli in his youth was the Secretary for the Florentine Republic and ran twenty-three diplomatic missions to other Countries and States, which him very well known throughout the political world. Because of his extensive knowledge of politics he wrote a very famous book entitled “The Prince.” His book was based on his experience and explained how a person could maintain power. Machiavelli’s inspirations for his book were; Louis XII, France, Pope Alexander VI, Pope Julius II, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Empire, and Cesare Borgia, Holy Roman Empire. “I will only say…that it is necessary for a prince to possess the friendship of the people; otherwise he has no resource in times of adversity… Therefore a wise prince will seek means by which his subjects will always and in every condition of things have need of his government, then they will always be faithful to him.” (The Prince) This is a quote pulled directly from Machiavelli’s book, this demonstrates that any good and/or smart prince will be a friend of his people because otherwise in times of hardships and/or danger he will have no leverage over the people; therefore, a smart prince will look for any means to encourage loyalty among the people. In another quote about power Machiavelli states; “From this we learn that a wise prince sees to it that never, in order to attack someone, does he become the ally of a prince more powerful than himself, except when necessity forces him, as I said above. If you win, you are the powerful king’s prisoner, and wise princes avoid as much as they can being in other men’s power” (The Prince, 1513). After the removal of the Medici Family who were in power in Florence at the time, Niccolò Machiavelli organized the first Citizens Militia to defend the Republic. However, upon the return of the Medici’s Niccolò Machiavelli was arrested, dismissed from his position, and tortured for twenty-two days. Shortly there after Machiavelli left Florence and went to his country home. This is where he wrote his book. Niccolò Machiavelli displays Humanistic qualities through his book “The Prince” because it contains secular ideology. “The Prince” explains how individuals can have a good life on Earth. Machiavelli is an example of a politician who exemplified the characteristics of the Renaissance period.