HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED

All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have beenrnand are either republics or principalities.rnrnPrincipalities are either hereditary, in which the family has been longrnestablished; or they are new.rnrnThe new are either entirely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, orrnthey are, as it were, members annexed to the hereditary state of thernprince who has acquired them, as was the kingdom of Naples to that ofrnthe King of Spain.rnrnSuch dominions thus acquired are either accustomed to live under arnprince, or to live in freedom; and are acquired either by the arms ofrnthe prince himself, or of others, or else by fortune or by ability.rnrn