Machiavelli The Prince Chapter Summaries Analysis

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▪ Summary of the main ideas

Machiavelli started his book by glorifying the Prince Lorenzo De Medici that he is writing for, he wanted to present him the most valuable thing he owned; his accumulated knowledge and experiences from his long years working in their contemporary affairs and his continual studying to history before his exile. The book is concerned of how to establish a despotic regime? how to consolidate and maintain this regime after establishment?

▪ In the First part, the Author are discussing 4 types of principalities : the Hereditary, the New, the Mixed and the Ecclesiastical one؛ At the Hereditary principalities, the prince will inherit the throne and all he has to do to maintain his despotic regime through abiding by customs of his ancestors. But if an extreme force had deprived them from power, he could retrieve it back after the usurper run into troubles citing historical events about Duke of Ferrara and the Venetians in 1484 to maintain his argument.
At the Mixed principalities, the prince confiscates the throne and maintain his regime through three methods to establish his
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he is also warning him that carrying this respect and fear to the point of hatred as there’s a thin thread between both and an intelligent ruler must recognize as if they hated him they will abandon him so to avoid losing the solid foundation of his regime which is the support of the people he should avoid people’s hatred by avoiding confiscating their property or disrespecting their

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