This essay in an evaluation of the importance of the relationship between Niccolo Machiavelli and the powerful Medici family that dominated Florentine politics during the time of Machiavelli.

The powerful Medici family had a profound impact on a great many lives, but few to the extent of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). As a leading political thinker Machiavelli personally dealt with the Medici, and as a writer their influence was all the weightier, exemplified especially in The Prince and The History of Florence (Hereafter Istorie); both works in which Machiavelli paid considerable attention to the way the Medici would envisage his work. The relationship between …

…orentine politics this is not the case, and as a result, Machiavelli has tied his legacy to that of the Medici whether he would have liked to or not. Amidst an abundance of controversy regarding Machiavelli's work and his true intentions for writing, the fact remains that all of his work was inexplicably tied to that of the Medici government, and thus, the relationship placed upon Machiavelli was more than profound, but nearly total.