The literary, historical and philosophical sources of Machiavelli's thought and works

A specific feature of the Renaissance is that humanists and artists rediscovered and imitated ancient models. The Renaissance did not follow its sources slavishly, but creatively, translating them into their respective contexts and adapting them to their times. Since Jacob Burckhardt (1860), Machiavelli has been at the center of discussions about the Renaissance and one of its protagonists. The aim of the conference is to examine the sources of Machiavelli’s thought, i.e. the preceding literary, historical, and philosophical texts relevant to it, in an interdisciplinary way. Over the centuries, Machiavelli’s oeuvre has been as much contested as it has been glorified. A judgment on its originality can only succeed by deepening and advancing research on its ancient, medieval, and contemporary sources. The German-Italian collaboration of renowned Machiavelli experts should help to overcome the deficits of national traditions of reception.