Machiavelli, Niccolò - HighBeam Encyclopedia(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
Other works include Dell'arte della guerra [on the art of war] (1521), which viewed military problems in relation to politics, and numerous reports and brief works.
He also wrote many poems and plays, notably the lively and ribaldcomedy Mandragola (1524).
His correspondence has been preserved and is of great interest.
Etymology: Middle English ribaud person of low status, scoundrel, lecher, from Anglo-French, from Old French riber to be debauched, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German rIban to be in heat, copulate, literally, to rub
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Only after protracted delays could even the bishops be induced to show it any deference.
The crowning dishonour awaited it at Wittenberg, where (10 Dec.), in response to a call issued by Melancthon, the university students assembled at the Elster Gate, and amid the jeering chant of "Te Deum laudamus", and "Requiem aeternam", interspersed with ribald drinking songs, Luther in person consigned it to the flames.
It only drove him to further extremes and gave a new momentum to the revolutionary agitation.
