The paper
shows that Machiavelli's "The Prince", written in 1513, gives us an insight to Italian Renaissance politics and culture at the time. It shows how Machiavelli's
work reflects a changing attitude, where a person had more choice in determining his station in life by his own actions. A peasant could now work through the ranks to become an elite, an act that had not previously been possible in the Dark Ages.
More abstracts about the Machiavelli, Keys to a Changing Political View