Arte della dissimulazione machiavelli biography

Favola: Belfagor arcidiavolo che prese moglie (novella), 1559, published as The Divell a Married Man; or, The Divell Hath Met with His Match,Divell a Married Man; or, The Divell Hath Met with His Match, 1647, and as A Fable: Belfagor, the Devil Who Took a WifeFable: Belfagor, the Devil Who Took a Wife in The Literary Works of Machiavelli, 1961.

INTRODUCTION

A Florentine statesman and political theorist, Machiavelli remains one of the most controversial figures of political history.

While addressing a wide range of political and historical topics, as well as embracing strictly literary forms, he has come to be identified almost exclusively with his highly controversial manual of state Il principe (The Prince).

This straightforward, pragmatic treatise on political conduct and the application of power has, over the centuries, been variously hailed, denounced, and distorted. Seldom has a single work generated such divergent and fierce commentary from such a wide a