Niccolò Machiavelli was born in the city of Florence, Italy, on May 3, 1469. His father, Bernardo Machiavelli, was a lawyer, although not a very prosperous one, with much of his income derived from family property rather than his law practice. However, he retained his membership in the lawyers' guild, which was influential in Florentine politics. As a lawyer and a man with a love of literature and writing, Bernardo probably had contacts among the powerful in Florence's political circles, which later provided Niccolò with the opportunity to enter public service. Niccolò would grow up to share his father's literary ambitions.
Very little is know about Machiavelli's early life, but it appears that he received a typical education for a boy of the middle class, learning Latin and reading the classical Roman and Greek authors, particularly the histories. Although Florence was supposed to be a republic, ruled by its leading citizens rather than by lords or princes, during Machiavelli's youth, Florence was effectively controlled by the powerful Medici family, with Lorenzo de Medici, called "the Magnificent," at its head. The Florence of Machiavelli's time was a rich, vibrant city—a center of the arts—of which Lorenzo was a great patron, and a hub of intellectual activity. Florence had an excellent university, where Machiavelli may have listened to lectures, and it is possible he had some contact with Lorenzo's son, Giuliano. Lorenzo's truly magnificent public displays and artistic ventures drained the Medici fortune, and his successor, Piero, proved unpopular. The Medici fell from power in 1494, replaced by Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who led a charismatic religious government.
No official records of Machiavelli's life appear until 1498, immediately after the fall of Savonarola's government, when he would have been 29. The Florentine republic had been reinstated, and Machiavelli was appointed as secretary of the Second Chancery, a position in which he coordinated relations with Florence's territorial possessions. How he acquired this position is not clear. Participation in the government was expected of all of Florence's leading citizens, but Machiavelli's intelligence and energy must have attracted particular attention among Florence's politicians. Within a month, he also became secretary to the Council of Ten of War, Florence's foreign policy body, in which he functioned as an envoy, traveling extensively around Italy and Europe to negotiate with potential allies, gather information, and do whatever the Ten needed done. Though not officially an ambassador, a position reserved for members of aristocratic families, he was nonetheless a professional diplomat. In 1501, he married Marietta Corsini, with whom he had seven children. Little is known about their relationship beyond the few domestic details that appear in Machiavelli's many letters. Machiavelli appears to have kept more than one mistress during his extensive travels, a practice that would not have been unusual in his time.
