Machiavellianism a life of writing, which led to the publishing of his most famous work, "The Prince." The book would become infamous for its recommendation for rulers to be ready to act in unscrupulous ways, such as resorting to deceit and cunning, political assassination, and the usage of fear as a means of keeping order. In the 16th century, immediately following the publication of "The Prince", Machiavellianism was seen as a foreign plague infecting northern European politics, originating in Italy, and having first infected France. It was in this context that the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572 in Paris came
Niccolò Machiavelli made the word "Machiavellian" a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Even if Machiavelli was not himself evil, Leo Strauss declared himself inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was self-consciously a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception. Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make. German philosopher