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The Prince — Page 14

English → De Preface Level 8/10

This was followed by the sack of Rome, upon the news of which the popular party at Florence threw off the yoke of the Medici, who were once more banished.

Darauf folgte die Plünderung Roms, auf deren Nachricht hin die Volkspartei in Florenz das Joch der Medici abwarf, die ein weiteres Mal verbannt wurden.

Unhappily he was taken ill soon after he reached Florence, where he died on 22nd June 1527.

Leider erkrankte er kurz nach seiner Ankunft in Florenz, wo er am 22. Juni 1527 starb.

No one can say where the bones of Machiavelli rest, but modern Florence has decreed him a stately cenotaph in Santa Croce, by the side of her most famous sons; recognizing that, whatever other nations may have found in his works, Italy found in them the idea of her unity and the germs of her renaissance among the nations of Europe.

Niemand kann sagen, wo die Gebeine Machiavellis ruhen, doch das moderne Florenz hat ihm ein stattliches Kenotaph in Santa Croce errichtet, an der Seite ihrer berühmtesten Söhne; in der Erkenntnis, dass Italien, was auch immer andere Nationen in seinen Werken gefunden haben mögen, darin den Gedanken seiner Einheit und die Keime seiner Wiedergeburt unter den Nationen Europas fand.

Whilst it is idle to protest against the world-wide and evil signification of his name, it may be pointed out that the harsh construction of his doctrine which this sinister reputation implies was unknown to his own day, and that the researches of recent times have enabled us to interpret him more reasonably.

Während es müßig ist, gegen die weltweite und üble Bedeutung seines Namens zu protestieren, lässt sich darauf hinweisen, dass die harte Auslegung seiner Lehre, die dieser unheilvollen Reputation zugrunde liegt, zu seinen Lebzeiten unbekannt war und dass uns die Forschungen der neueren Zeit in die Lage versetzt haben, ihn vernünftiger zu deuten.

Vocabulary

Darauf
Thereupon, following that event
folgte
Followed, came after something
Plünderung
Plundering, looting of a place
Roms
Of Rome, genitive form of Rome
deren
Whose, of which (relative pronoun)
Nachricht
News, message, piece of information
hin
Toward, in response to (directional particle)
Volkspartei
People's party, popular political party
Florenz
Florence, city in Tuscany, Italy
Joch
Yoke, burden of oppressive control
Medici
Powerful Florentine ruling family in Renaissance
abwarf
Threw off, shook off (past tense)
weiteres
Further, additional (adjective form)
Mal
Time, instance, occurrence of something
verbannt
Banished, exiled from a place
wurden
Were (auxiliary verb, passive past)
Leider
Unfortunately, regrettably (adverb)
erkrankte
Fell ill, became sick (past tense)
kurz
Shortly, briefly, soon after
Ankunft
Arrival, the act of arriving somewhere
Juni
June, sixth month of the year
starb
Died (past tense of sterben)
Niemand
Nobody, no one (indefinite pronoun)
Gebeine
Bones, skeletal remains of a person
Machiavellis
Of Machiavelli, genitive of the name
ruhen
Rest, lie (as in remains resting)
doch
However, yet, still (modal particle)
moderne
Modern (adjective, referring to modern era)
stattliches
Impressive, stately, handsome (adjective)
Kenotaph
Cenotaph, memorial tomb without actual remains
Santa
Saint (Italian/Spanish, used in church names)
Croce
Cross (Italian), part of church name
errichtet
Erected, built, established (past participle)
Seite
Side, page, alongside something
berühmtesten
Most famous (superlative adjective, declined)
Söhne
Sons, male children of a place
Erkenntnis
Insight, realization, knowledge gained
Italien
Italy, country in southern Europe
immer
Always, ever (adverb)
Nationen
Nations, countries, peoples (plural noun)
Werken
Works, writings, literary or artistic output
gefunden
Found (past participle of finden)
mögen
May, might, to like (modal verb)
darin
Therein, in it, within that
Gedanken
Thoughts, ideas (plural of Gedanke)
Einheit
Unity, oneness, political or national unity
Keime
Seeds, germs, beginnings of something
Wiedergeburt
Rebirth, renaissance, spiritual reawakening
Europas
Of Europe (genitive form)
fand
Found (simple past of finden)
Während
While, whereas, during (conjunction/preposition)
müßig
Idle, futile, pointless to do
gegen
Against, toward (preposition)
weltweite
Worldwide, global (adjective)
üble
Bad, notorious, wicked (adjective)
Bedeutung
Meaning, significance, importance of something
Namens
Of his name, name's (genitive form)
protestieren
To protest, to object against something
lässt
Lets, allows, can be (verb)
darauf
On that, thereupon, pointing to something
hinweisen
To point out, to indicate something
harte
Harsh, hard, strict (adjective)
Auslegung
Interpretation, reading of a text
Lehre
Doctrine, teaching, theory or principle
unheilvollen
Ominous, sinister, disastrous (adjective)
Reputation
Reputation, public standing or perception
zugrunde
Underlying, at the basis of something
liegt
Lies, is situated, underlies something
Lebzeiten
Lifetime, during one's life
unbekannt
Unknown, unfamiliar, not recognized
Forschungen
Research, scholarly investigations (plural)
neueren
More recent, newer (comparative adjective)
Zeit
Time, era, period (noun)
Lage
Position, situation, circumstance
versetzt
Enables, puts into a position
vernünftiger
More reasonably, more sensibly (comparative adverb)
deuten
To interpret, to explain meaning of something
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