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Primary sourceBookcommissioned 1520, presented 1526, published 1532

Florentine Histories

Niccolò Machiavelli · commissioned 1520, presented 1526, published 1532

Machiavelli's history of Florence, commissioned by a Medici cardinal, tracing the city's politics and factional struggles up to 1492.

Machiavelli wrote this commissioned history, revealing his navigation between Medici patronage and his republican beliefs.

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Photograph of a handwritten manuscript page on aged, yellowed paper, showing dense cursive Italian handwriting in brown ink, with a dedicatory opening line at the top. A small embossed seal or stamp appears at the bottom center, and a faint initial is written at the lower right.
Niccolò Machiavelli, autograph manuscript of Istorie Fiorentine.

About this source

What it is

Florentine Histories is an account of the history of Florence written by Niccolò Machiavelli, commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici and published after Machiavelli's death in 1532. It covers European history broadly before narrowing to Florence's politics, ending with the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in 1492.

Why it matters

Writing this history meant Machiavelli had to balance his Medici patronage with his own republican convictions. The work explores Florence's destructive factionalism and includes detailed accounts of events like the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici. It shows Machiavelli working as a historian, combining factual detail with the political insight gained from his earlier diplomatic career.

Look closer

  • Why might Machiavelli have worried about offending the Medici family while writing this history?
  • How does writing for a patron shape what a historian chooses to include or leave out?
  • What does the manuscript page itself tell you about how such works were produced before printing?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Niccolo Machiavelli on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Niccolò Machiavelli · 10 December 1513

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Discourses on Livy

Niccolò Machiavelli · c. 1517, published 1531

Painting of a man with short dark hair in a black cloak with red sleeves and red collar, resting one hand on a stone ledge and holding a book in the other hand against a dark brown background.Painting

Secondary source

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Title page of a 1556 printed edition of Machiavelli's comedy Mandragola. Large capitals read MANDRAGOLA COMEDIA FACETISSIMA DI M. NICOLO MACHIAVELLI FIORENTINO, followed by Nuovamente corretta & Ristampata. A woodcut of a mandrake plant with roots and leaves is centered between the text. At the bottom reads IN FIORENZA MDLVI.Book

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