Machiavelli, mak ee uh VEHL ee or mah kyah VEHL lee, Niccolo (1469-1527), was an Italian statesman and writer whom many people consider the father of modern political science. He ranks as one of the most important political thinkers of the Renaissance, a period of great intellectual activity between the 1300's and the 1600's. The experience he acquired as a government official and his study of history led him to view politics in a new way. The political writers of the Middle Ages treated politics idealistically, within the framework of religion. But Machiavelli sought to explain politics realistically, based on his view of human nature within the framework of history.