Pazzi conspiracy

The Pazzi conspiracy (Italian: Congiura dei Pazzi) was a failed plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence.

On 26 April 1478 there was an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano. Lorenzo was wounded but survived; Giuliano was killed.

In the aftermath of the plot many of the conspirators – and others accused of being conspirators – were executed, some by hanging from the windows of the

Background

For

Girolamo Riario, Francesco Salviati and Francesco de' Pazzi put together a plan to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici. Pope Sixtus was approached for his support. He made a very carefully worded statement in which he said that in the terms of his holy office he was unable to sanction killing. He made it clear that it would be of great benefit to the papacy to have the Medici removed from their position of power in Florence, and that he would deal kindly with anyone who did this. He instructed the men to do what they deemed necessary to achieve this aim, and said that he would give them whatever support he could.^[1]: 254 An encrypted letter in the archives of the Ubaldini family, discovered and decoded in 2004, shows that Federico da Montefeltro was deeply embroiled in the conspiracy and had committed to position 600 troops outside Florence, waiting for the right moment.^[5]

Attack

The attack took place on the morning of Sunday, 26 April 1478, during

Many of the conspirators, as well as many people accused of being conspirators, were killed; more than thirty died on the day of the attack.[3] Most were soon caught and summarily executed. Renato de' Pazzi was lynched and hanged. Jacopo de' Pazzi, head of the family, escaped from Florence but was caught and brought back. He was tortured, then hanged from the Palazzo della Signoria next to the decomposing corpse of Salviati. He was buried at Santa Croce, but the body was dug up and thrown into a ditch. It was then dragged through the streets and propped up at the door of Palazzo Pazzi, where the rotting head was mockingly used as a door-knocker. From there it was thrown into the Arno; children fished it out and hung it from a willow tree, flogged it, and then threw it back into the river.^[2]: 141

Lorenzo did manage to save the nephew of Sixtus IV, Cardinal

The Pazzi were banished from Florence, and their lands and property confiscated. Their name and their coat of arms were perpetually suppressed: the name was erased from public registers, and all buildings and streets carrying it were renamed; their shield with its dolphins was everywhere obliterated. Anyone named Pazzi had to take a new name; anyone married to a Pazzi was barred from public office.[2]^: 142 Guglielmo de' Pazzi, husband of Lorenzo's sister Bianca, was placed under house arrest,^[2]: 141 and later forbidden to enter the city; he went to live at Torre a Decima, near Pontassieve.^[8]

Repercussions

Sixtus IV reacted strongly to the death of Salviati: with a

The events of the Pazzi conspiracy affected the developments of the Medici regime in two ways: they convinced the supporters of the Medici that a greater concentration of political power was desirable and they strengthened the hand of Lorenzo de' Medici, who had demonstrated his ability in conducting the foreign affairs of the city. Emboldened, the Medicean party carried out new reforms.[12]^: 223

Shortly after the attack Poliziano – who was in the Duomo when it took place – wrote his Pactianae coniurationis commentarium, a dramatic account of the conspiracy. It was published by Niccolò di Lorenzo della Magna; a revised edition appeared in 1480.^{[13][4]: 157}

References

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