The Prince — Page 3
His youth was concurrent with the greatness of Florence as an Italian power under the guidance of Lorenzo de' Medici, Il Magnifico.
Sa jeunesse fut contemporaine de la grandeur de Florence en tant que puissance italienne sous la conduite de Laurent de Médicis, Il Magnifico.
The downfall of the Medici in Florence occurred in 1494, in which year Machiavelli entered the public service.
La chute des Médicis à Florence survint en 1494, année au cours de laquelle Machiavel entra au service public.
During his official career Florence was free under the government of a Republic, which lasted until 1512, when the Medici returned to power, and Machiavelli lost his office.
Durant sa carrière officielle, Florence fut libre sous le gouvernement d'une République, qui dura jusqu'en 1512, lorsque les Médicis revinrent au pouvoir et que Machiavel perdit sa charge.
The Medici again ruled Florence from 1512 until 1527, when they were once more driven out.
Les Médicis gouvernèrent de nouveau Florence de 1512 jusqu'en 1527, date à laquelle ils furent une fois de plus chassés.
This was the period of Machiavelli's literary activity and increasing influence; but he died, within a few weeks of the expulsion of the Medici, on 22nd June 1527, in his fifty-eighth year, without having regained office.
Ce fut la période de l'activité littéraire de Machiavel et de son influence croissante ; mais il mourut, quelques semaines après l'expulsion des Médicis, le 22 juin 1527, en sa cinquante-huitième année, sans avoir retrouvé sa charge.
Although there is little recorded of the youth of Machiavelli, the Florence of those days is so well known that the early environment of this representative citizen may be easily imagined.
Bien que peu de choses aient été consignées sur la jeunesse de Machiavel, la Florence de cette époque est si bien connue que le milieu dans lequel grandit ce citoyen représentatif peut être facilement imaginé.
Florence has been described as a city with two opposite currents of life, one directed by the fervent and austere Savonarola, the other by the splendour-loving Lorenzo.
Florence a été décrite comme une ville traversée par deux courants de vie opposés, l'un dirigé par le fervent et austère Savonarole, l'autre par le fastueux Laurent.
Savonarola's influence upon the young Machiavelli must have been slight, for although at one time he wielded immense power over the fortunes of Florence, he only furnished Machiavelli with a subject of a gibe in _The Prince_, where he is cited as an example of an unarmed prophet who came to a bad end.
L'influence de Savonarole sur le jeune Machiavel dut être minime, car bien qu'il ait exercé à une certaine époque un pouvoir immense sur le destin de Florence, il ne fournit à Machiavel que le sujet d'une raillerie dans _Le Prince_, où il est cité comme exemple d'un prophète désarmé qui connut une mauvaise fin.
Vocabulary
- jeunesse
- Youth; the early period of one's life
- fut
- Was; third-person singular simple past of être
- contemporaine
- Contemporary; existing or occurring at the same time
- grandeur
- Greatness, grandeur; impressive scale or magnificence
- tant
- So much; used in 'en tant que' meaning 'as'
- puissance
- Power, might; strength or influential force
- italienne
- Italian; adjective referring to Italy, feminine form
- conduite
- Leadership, conduct; guidance or direction of affairs
- chute
- Fall, downfall; collapse of power or a regime
- survint
- Occurred, came about; past tense of survenir
- cours
- Course; used in 'au cours de' meaning during
- laquelle
- Which; relative pronoun, feminine singular form
- entra
- Entered; third-person singular simple past of entrer
- Durant
- During; preposition indicating time span of an event
- carrière
- Career; professional path or course of employment
- officielle
- Official; formal, pertaining to an office or government
- libre
- Free; having independence or without restriction
- gouvernement
- Government; body that governs a state or nation
- République
- Republic; system of government with elected representatives
- dura
- Lasted; third-person singular simple past of durer
- jusqu'
- Until, up to; preposition indicating a limit in time
- lorsque
- When; conjunction introducing a time clause
- revinrent
- Came back; third-person plural simple past of revenir
- pouvoir
- Power; authority to govern, or ability to do
- perdit
- Lost; third-person singular simple past of perdre
- charge
- Office, post; official position or responsibility held
- gouvernèrent
- Governed; third-person plural simple past of gouverner
- nouveau
- Again, anew; used in 'de nouveau' meaning once more
- furent
- Were; third-person plural simple past of être
- fois
- Time, occasion; used in 'une fois de plus' once more
- chassés
- Driven out, expelled; past participle of chasser
- période
- Period; a defined span or phase of time
- activité
- Activity; work or pursuit carried out regularly
- littéraire
- Literary; relating to literature or written works
- influence
- Influence; power to affect others' opinions or actions
- croissante
- Growing, increasing; adjective from croître, feminine form
- mourut
- Died; third-person singular simple past of mourir
- quelques
- A few, some; indefinite adjective indicating small quantity
- semaines
- Weeks; plural of semaine, a seven-day period
- expulsion
- Expulsion; forced removal from a place or position
- juin
- June; sixth month of the year
- cinquante-huitième
- Fifty-eighth; ordinal number indicating his year of life
- sans
- Without; preposition indicating absence or lack
- retrouvé
- Regained, recovered; past participle of retrouver
- Bien
- Although, even though; used to introduce concession
- aient
- Have; third-person plural present subjunctive of avoir
- consignées
- Recorded, documented; past participle of consigner
- époque
- Era, period; a distinct phase or age in history
- connue
- Known; past participle of connaître, feminine form
- milieu
- Environment, milieu; social or cultural surroundings
- lequel
- Which; relative pronoun, masculine singular form
- grandit
- Grew up; third-person singular simple past of grandir
- citoyen
- Citizen; member of a city or state with civic rights
- représentatif
- Representative; typical or characteristic of a group
- facilement
- Easily; adverb meaning without difficulty or effort
- imaginé
- Imagined; past participle of imaginer, to picture mentally
- décrite
- Described; past participle of décrire, feminine form
- ville
- City, town; an urban settlement or municipality
- traversée
- Crossed, traversed; past participle of traverser
- courants
- Currents, trends; movements or tendencies in society
- opposés
- Opposing, contrary; plural adjective meaning in conflict
- dirigé
- Led, directed; past participle of diriger
- fervent
- Fervent, zealous; intensely devoted or passionate
- austère
- Austere, severe; strict and plain without luxury
- fastueux
- Lavish, sumptuous; marked by great display and luxury
- dut
- Must have, had to; simple past of devoir
- minime
- Minimal, slight; very small or negligible in degree
- car
- Because, for; coordinating conjunction giving a reason
- ait
- Has; third-person singular present subjunctive of avoir
- exercé
- Exercised, exerted; past participle of exercer
- certaine
- Certain, some; adjective indicating a degree of something
- immense
- Immense, vast; extremely large in size or degree
- destin
- Destiny, fate; predetermined course of events in life
- fournit
- Provided, supplied; third-person singular simple past of fournir
- sujet
- Subject, topic; theme or matter under discussion
- raillerie
- Mockery, ridicule; scornful or teasing criticism
- cité
- Cited, mentioned; past participle of citer
- exemple
- Example; an instance used to illustrate a point
- prophète
- Prophet; one who proclaims divine messages or predictions
- désarmé
- Unarmed; lacking weapons or means of defense
- connut
- Met, experienced; third-person singular simple past of connaître
- mauvaise
- Bad; adjective indicating poor quality or misfortune
- fin
- End; conclusion or termination of something
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