sst-0508

Machiavelli lived from 1469 to 1527. The philosopher Bertrand Russell referred to Machiavelli’s most well-known book, The Prince, as “a gangster’s handbook”. And while there’s no doubt that certain people have read and used it as such, I think that if we put it into the context of when it was written, which was Italy, especially Florence, in the 15th and 16th centuries, it will be easier to judge Machiavelli’s reasons for writing it. Now, the Italy of that period was made up of a number of city states, often at war with each other. Add to that threats from foreign powers, especially France, and it was a very unstable and dangerous situation. Machiavelli loved his home city, Florence, and wanted to protect its culture, history and above all independence at all costs. One way to do this was to establish an army of Florentines loyal to the city state of Florence.
Much of Machiavelli’s career was taken up with this issue. It must be remembered, though, that he led an active civic life, was deeply into politics, and was an ambassador for Florence. In this way, he got to meet and observe some of the key players of the time and through this came to understand the nature of power and how to hold on to it. The Prince was an attempt to teach Florence the lessons he had learnt.

In today’s class, we will explore nineteenth-century pattern books, which significantly influenced North American house designs. As many homeowners couldn’t afford architects, they utilized these affordable books to select home plans, costing only five dollars compared to architect fees of about one hundred dollars in 1870. Today, pattern books remain vital resources for historians and those restoring old houses.