In 1368 Petrarch wrote De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia (On his own ignorance and that of many others), which became a significant example of the contrast of humanism of the Renaissance to scholasticism of the Middle Ages. ... It was during this expulsion that he wrote The Prince, which not only was based on previous Roman political examples, but it combined some humanistic ideals into his innovatory view of the state. Machiavelli stressed the need to conquer new lands and for princes to maintain their power through any means necessary, using Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia, and Julius II as h...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate