Machiavelli and Guicciardini: Historians, Men of Letters, and Political Thinkers

This course focuses on works of historiography and political science by two prominent Florentine Renaissance thinkers: Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini. Texts will include Machiavelli’s Il principe, Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, and Dell’arte della guerra; and Guicciardini’s Storia d’Italia, Considerazioni sui Discorsi di Machiavelli, and Storie fiorentine. Excerpts from each of these texts are analyzed within their historical and generic contexts, paying close attention to the biographical, political, and cultural events that led to their composition