Topographies of Free Living: Reflections on Urban Space in Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories

This article contributes to the growing debate in recent historiographical works on the conceptualisation of space according to Machiavelli. In particular, it focuses on three key points in the Florentine Histories: (1) the struggles between the nobility and the people, shaped by the city’s fortifcations and boundaries; (2) Walter of Brienne’s tyrannical interlude, in regard to which Machiavelli highlights the tyrant’s ability to ‘politically inhabit’ diπerent spaces and the heartfelt plea made by an anonymous member of the Signoria, who attempts to dissuade the French nobleman from the coup by pointing out how the urban structure itself constantly rekindles in the citizens their love of lost freedom; (3) the acknowledgement of the political signifcance of noble palaces, which can usher in a new era in city politics. According to the author of this article, Machiavelli sees the urban fabric not just as the by-product of societal forces but as the instigator of particular socio-political dynamics within the urban context.