When machiavelli wrote the prince in 1513, he faced a lot of criticism. what were the key ideas of the prince, and how did these ideas influence european rulers?

The key ideas of The Prince were to instruct on how to be a strong, dependent leader. The text suggested that Italy needed a rather ruthless leader to maintain a safe state.Machiavelli received a great amount of criticism for dismissing popular opinions in politics, sticking with his idea of a cruel leader. However, this did influence European rulers to begin thinking in a more realistic way, determining what's likely to come of a human rather than simply hoping for good.