War and Foreign Affairs in Machiavelli'sFlorentine Histories

Bibliographic Data

ID6403701
AuthorsChristopher Lynch (0000-0003-0298-1407, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume74
Issue1
Pages1-26
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670512000034
OpenAlexW2148933861
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited13

This article argues that issues of war and foreign affairs predominate in Machiavelli'sFlorentine Histories, a work generally taken to be devoted to the internal politics of Florence. The well-known narrative of the rise and fall of Medici rule is in fact driven by a counternarrative of the rise of mercenaries such as Francesco Sforza to the point of becoming the true arbiters of Italian affairs. TheFlorentine Historieslays out the progressive disarming of Italian powers, details the rise of a corrupt system of foreign affairs dominated by mercenary arms and their attendant papal meddling, and urgently counsels statesmen to arm their cities with arms of their own. Seeking to reframe interpretive approaches in this manner, the article sheds new light on Machiavelli's teaching on the desirability of well-managed domestic discords as they relate to military preparedness

Art · Cognitive reframing · Foreign policy · International relations · Literature · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Preparedness · Sociology · Law · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

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