This timeline lists important events relevant to the life of the Italian diplomat, writer and political philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527).
Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469 of an old citizen family. Little is known about his life until 1498, when he was appointed secretary and second chancellor to the Florentine Republic. During his time of office his journeys included missions to Louis XII of France and to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I; he was with Cesare Borgia in the Romagna; and after watching the second Papal election of 1503 he accompanied Pope Julius II on his first campaign of conquest. In 1507, as chancellor of the newly appointed Nove di Milizia (Nine of the Militia), he organised an infantry force which fought at the capture of Pisa in 1509. Three years later it was defeated by the Holy League at Prato, the Medici returned to Florence, and Machiavelli was excluded from public life. After suffering imprisonment and torture, he retired to his farm near San Casciano, where he lived with his wife and six children and gave his time to study and writing. His works included The Prince; the Discourses on the First Decade of Livy; The Art of War and the comedy, Mandragola, a satire on seduction. In 1520, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII, 1523) secured him a commission to write a history of Florence, which he finished in 1525. After a brief return to public life, he died in 1527.
Timeline
(Dates in square brackets are conjectural)
1469
3 May: Birth in Florence of Niccolò di Bernardo Machiavelli to Bernardo and Bartolomea (née de' Nelli).
1471
6–9 August: Cardinal Francesco della Rovere is elected Pope as Sixtus IV.
1480s
1481
With his brother Totto, Niccolò begins at the school of Paolo da Ronciglione.
1484
26–29 August: After the death of Pope Sixtus IV, the papal conclave elects Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cybo as Pope Innocent VIII.
1490s
1491
The Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola begins to win influence in Florence.
1492
9 April: Lorenzo de' Medici the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic dies, and his son Piero di Lorenzo (known as Piero the Unfortunate) becomes head of the Medici family. 11 August: Roderic de Borja, Alexander VI, is elected pope.
1494
The Italian Wars begins when Charles VIII of France invades Italy with a 25,000 men strong army. November: Piero and the Medici are expelled from Florence, when French troops enter the city.
1498
23 May: Savonarola is executed for heresy, after being excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI in May 1497. June: Machiavelli is confirmed by the Great Council as second chancellor of the Republic. July: Machiavelli is elected secretary to the Ten of War (La Guerra dei Dieci), the body that manages Florence's military matters. November: On behalf of the Ten of War he is sent on his first diplomatic mission to Piombino. 1499 Report on the Pisan War, (Discorso della guerra di Pisa). Mission to Caterina Sforza Riario, ruler of Imola and Forlì.
1500s
1500
July: Machiavelli is sent on a six-month diplomatic mission to King Louis XII of France. In France, he also meets the Cardinal of Rouen Georges d'Amboise
1501
Marries Marietta Corsini. [1501-1503] Primavera di Niccolò dei Machiavelli is born. Sometimes referred to as Primerana, most likely named after her paternal aunt Primavera di Bernardo dei Machiavelli; presumably the suck daughter Marietta Corsini wrote about in a letter to Machiavelli from November 24, 1503, suggesting that she died soon afterwards due to a lack of further references.
1502
In the wake of the execution of Savonarola; Piero Soderini is elected gonfaloniere of the Florentine Republic for life by the Florentines, with the pretext of being given the mission to re-stabilise the republican institutions.
[1502-1503]
Miscarriage
1503
Machiavelli publishes Description of the Manner in which Duke Valentino put Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, Lord Pagola and the Duke of Gravina to Death (); Discourse about the Provision of Money (Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro), and On the method of dealing with the Rebellious Peoples of Val di Chiana (Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati).
For Machiavelli's plan to assert Florentine authority over Pisa, which was in revolt against Florence from 1502–1509, Leonardo da Vinci is consulted on a scheme to divert the river Arno around Pisa to the sea at Livorno
