"Machiavelli: Philosophy, Rhetoric, and History," Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, October 17–18, 2008.

[This conference is past but it might be of interest to some.] This conference provides a venue for a broad interdisciplinary exploration of Machiavelli as a political philosopher, historian, and literary figure in his own time and beyond. Sessions explore Machiavelli's thought as it related to the ancient world, to the historical imagination and history writing, and to public opinion in his own day and earlier epochs, as well as consider the critical study and evaluation of Machiavelli in the twentieth century. The conference homepage is here: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/machiavelli/index.html.

Pierpoint, Claudia Roth. "The Florentine." THE NEW YORKER September 15, 2008.

One method of torture used in Florentine jails during the glorious days of the Renaissance was the strappado: a prisoner was hoisted into the air by a rope attached to his wrists, which had been tied behind his back, and then suddenly dropped toward the floor as many times as it took to get him to confess. Since the procedure usually dislocated the shoulders, tore the muscles, and rendered one or both arms useless, it is remarkable that Niccolò Machiavelli, after reportedly undergoing six such “drops,” asked for pen and paper and began to write. Machiavelli had nothing to confess. Although his name had been found on an incriminating list, he had played no part in a failed conspiracy to murder the city’s newly restored Medici rulers. . . . Read the rest here: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2008/09/15/080915crat_atlarge_pierpont.