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The Pazzi Conspiracy Essay pluck On a sunny Sunday in April of 1478, assassins from the Pazzi family attacked Lorenzo de Medici and his br some other Giuliano. Giuliano lay bleeding on the duomo floor, and later bled to death. Lorenzo, however managed to get to safety non a well thing for the Pazzi family. Up to this destine the Pazzi kindred had been con steadred one of the most noble and well-respected clans. They were financiers who feared and resented the Medicis swaggering new role as political bosses. 4 This failed blackwash enterprise doomed the Pazzi family. The Medicis pull forth swift and brutal r eventidege. sever bothy of the Pazzi family who had taken part in the black lotion attempt was either hanged or be linteled, and the bodies were hung from the windows of the g e trulywherenmental palace. As if this wasnt punishment enough, the Pazzis were forced to change their surname. E very(prenominal) remnant of evidence that the Pazzi family had once been a well- respected clan was wiped divulge by the Medicis. 4It was east wind Sunday within the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Priest was well(p) bringing the Mass to a close, when assassins attacked the deMedici brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano, brutally stabbing them. Giuliano was stabbed a horrifying ninerteen whiles, and the blood drained from his body right there on the cathedral floor.Lorenzo, however, was stabbed only once in the neck, a put d aver that apparently missed any major arteries, and he fought his attackers with all his might until he got free and ran away(predicate) to hide. 5 Of course there was chaos within the cathedral, and some brave instinct ran to pull the bell pull to send out a distress call and summon other Florentines to help contendd off the coup attack taking place within the cathedral walls. shortly thereafter every church in Florence was also tolling their bells, call the men of Florence to defend their Re usual.Who were these Medicis who had t aken control of their government? It is believed that they were descendants of apothecariestodays pharmacistsand were relatively unknown in the 14th century. Giovanni Medici was the wizardry of the family and his line of products acumen and sheer boldness brought the Medici family from the shadows directly to the forefront of the political world in Florence. 6 Giovanni was one of five tidingss. He lived with their mother, a poor widow woman. A wealthy cousin of Giovannis acquired a position for Giovanni as an employee of the Medici Bank in Rome, and it was not keen-sighted before Giovanni, demonstrating his boldness and business prowess, moved straight to the top in the bank, rattling displacing his own cousin.Giovanni was a blatant risk taker, and began launder money for Baldasarre Cossa, commonly known as a pirate. Giovanni even went so far as to put up the money to allow Cossas bid for the Papacy, and in 1410 Cossa was actually elected pope earth-closet XXIII. Of course th e former pirate felt obliged to final payment his good friend Giovanni by making the Medici family the new Papal Bankers. Giovanni became known as Gods Banker.This turned out to be kind of a lucrative venture for both parties involvedthe former pirate, and the former nobody who rose to such a high position. The Medici bank received a hefty ten percent of everything the church brought in. At this time in history there was a rather unscrupulous debt collection service black market by the church itself. If people didnt pay, they were promptly excommunicated, a very powerful motivator. Soon the Medici family were the trey wealthiest family in Florence, much(prenominal) to the dismay of the older, more established families who saw the Medici family as money-grubbing interlopers.Giovanni Medici soon built an broad(a) network of thugs and thieves who both demanded and rewarded unconditional loyalty. He set up the banks so the managers shared a run a risk in their bank, and even b anned loans to Kings or Princes, as he felt they were absolutely the worst risks. He often advised his descendants to Always keep out of the public eyenever constitute pride. 6 It would hurl been better for all involved if they had taken this advice to heart.Giovannis son, Cosimo de Medici was trained from a very early age to take over the banking empire from his father. Cosimo was a dedicated learner, studying classic texts, attention lectures and becoming one of the first generation of Humanists. Cosimo urged his father to turn the familys wealth to civil patronage. 6 When Cosimo inherited the position of Capo from his father, the Albizzi family, another wealthy, powerful, family made up treason charges against him out of sheer jealously and Cosimo was actually sentenced to death for these false claims.Luckily he bribed his way from prison and hid out for a while, later reverting to Florence more powerful than ever. However, shortly after Cosimo returned, he was attacked in a d ark alleyway and his attackers cut his face from ear to ear. He lived, but bore the scars known as che brutta figura, which translates into revenge through humiliation.6 Cosimo, much like his own father well understood how politics and power worked. His own advice to his heirs, which was much like his fathers advice to him was, Do not seek power. Wait until they call you.Cosimo had two sons, Giovanni and Piero. Giovanni was sure as shooting his fathers favorite, and was obviously being groomed to take over the family business while Piero was sickly, and stayed out of the public limelight because of his ill health. Piero devoted himself to learning, and became well-respected as a diplomat. In feature, King Louis XI had such a high opinion of Piero that he gave him the specially bestowed honor of permitting Piero to stamp the lilies of France on one of the balls of the Medici fortificationthis one ball colored blue for that purpose. 6 When Pieros brother Giovanni died unexpectedly, Cosimo began grooming his grandson, Lorenzo to take over because he felt Pieros health was unstable and that he couldnt handle the job.Piero had two sons, Lorenzo and Giuliano. Lorenzo, at the tender age of seventeen was well known for his courage and boldness, single-handedly foiling a Pitti family spell to assassinate his father Piero. 6 Lorenzo was indeed well educated in banking and diplomacy in holy order to follow in the family footsteps, but he apparently also had a lust for the other side of life wine, women and song.He married at nineteen and fathered seven tiddlerren, two of them adopted. Lorenzo was a patron of the humanistic discipline and promoted such artists as Bottcelli and Leonardo DeVinci, even going so far as to take a young Michelangelo into his own home and raising him like a son. 6 Lorenzos trademark pronounce was somewhat diverse from that of his father and grandfather He who wishes to be happy let him be so, for of tomorrow there is no knowing.Giuliano de Medici was Lorenzos younger brother, and shared Lorenzos passion for life. He fathered an illegitimate child in his youth, and when he was murdered on that fateful Easter Sunday Lorenzo later adopted that son. firearm Giuliano loved his older brother, there was also some natural resentment involved in their relationship.As for the Pazzi family, consider this heritage During the First Crusade in 1088, as Christian soldiers scaled the walls of Jerusalem, a protagonist named Pazzo Pazzi was the first man over the top. Pazzo was often known as the madman. 11 As a reward for his courage, he was gifted three small stones from the Holy Sepulcher. 7 The Pazzi were an old Florentine family, and two of the family members were even named in Divine Comedy, by Dante. There were also boasts of having a knight in each generation. The Pazzi weapons which reflected their long and noble history contained crescents, battlement towers and twin dolphins on a blue field with nine crosses. 7 The i mplements of war represented Christian faith, generosity and freedom, and the Pazzis dis goldbricked it proudly.Andrea de Pazzi entered into banking in the fourteenth century. He was a sharp businessman and quickly amassed a episode. However, being one of the grande names in the area they were excluded by Florentine law from participating in their own government. Because of this law, Andrea decided to relinquish the status of grande and book his own sons the opportunity to hold public office. 7 During a visit in 1443 by pontiff Eugene IV to the Pazzi family, the pontiff made a deposit of 4000 florin into the Pazzi bank, showing that there were Papal accounts that could be pried away from Medici control.Andrea left three sons, Antonio, Piero and Jacopo, all of whom were well-educated in the banking trade and all of whom held a large fortune and extensive assets. Jacopo was the only son who would live long enough to become enmeshed in the confederation to assassinate the Medici b rothers. 7 Interestingly, however, Jacopo happened to also be a strong supporter of Piero de Medici, Lorenzos father. Jacopo was known passim for his great generosity to the poor, and although he began as an observer, he eventually allowed his nephew, Francesco, son of Antonio, to draw him into the blackwash plot.Francesco, Jacopos nephew was known as diminutive, pale and driven, but apparently he harbored great resentment for the Medicis, in fact it soon became apparent to all that his nuisance of the Medicis had overtaken every aspect of his life, and even allowed him to conveniently freeze that he was in fact related to the Medici through jointure. 7 This urgency that Francesco displayed, along with his discriminating hatred for the Medici clan became the driving force for the assassination plot.So, now we know close the Medici clan and the Pazzi clan. The other factor out in this triangle were the Pope and his court. The confederacy planned by the Pazzi actually had the blessing of the church because Pope Sisto IV contemplated to demolish the dominion of Medici and for this purpose he sustained the groups led by Pazzis family which had replaced de Medici in the office of bankers.Francisco della Rovere was destined from his very childhood for the Franciscan order. 8 On the death of Pope capital of Minnesota II, he was elected pope and called Pope Sixtus IV. Unfortunately Pope Sixtus used his position as Pope to further his own family members by obtaining political appointments for them. When Lorenzo refused Sixtus demand on the Medici bank for a loan of 40,000 ducats to leverage the town of Imola, the conspiracy was set into motion. 8 Sixtus treasured to acquire the town in order to give it to his nephew, Riario.Girolamo Riario was the nephew of Sixtus and was one of the key plotters in the assassination attempt on the Medici brothers. Riario married the daughter of the Duke of Milan, and used this marriage to attempt to sabotage the relationship between the Duke and Lorenzo. Riario fueled Francesco de Pazzis inner fire by intimating that the Pazzi family would play a large part in the next government of Florence, while coveting the future Dukedom of Florence for himself.Archbishop Francesco Salviati was innate(p) into one of Florences most active political families and was related by marriage to the Pazzi, Medici, Vettori, and other very powerful families. 8 Salviati was a flatterer, a gambler, and lusted for the power that could be attained through church favour. 8 He easily became a co-conspirator in the attempted assassinations.Count Riario himself summoned Battista to meet with himself and the Archbishop Salviati. Salviati strongly persuaded the others to agree with him about wanting a coup d tat in Florence, and Riario and Salviati then outlined what they considered to be Lorenzos evil intentions against each of them, telling Battista repeatedly that when the Pope died, Riario and his state would be in grave danger fr om Lorenzo. 10 Riario and Salviati finally bluntly told Battista that the only thing to do was to cut Lorenzo and Giuliano to pieces, to exhaust military realise in secret, and to go into Florence and do this thing. 10. Battista was reluctant, believing they were discussing something very big, and he wasnt sure he wanted to become involved, but the other two were persuasive.Although nobody knew at the time, there were literally hundreds of mercenary troops settled firmly within the borders of Tuscany, poised to invade the city at a signal that never came. It was Salviati and Francesco de Pazzi who masterminded the plot to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano. Riario, always working behind the scenes, remained in Rome. Interestingly enough, the plan was hardly a secret, and was fairly widely known. The Pope reportedly even stated that I support itas long as no one is killed. 11 Rather a silly statement when the plot is an assassination plot.When Lorenzo escaped the assassination attem pt, he locked himself in the sacristy. A coordinated attempt to capture the Gonfaloniere and Signoria was thwarted when the archbishop and the head of the Salviati clan were trapped in a room whose doors had a hidden latch. 11 The assassination attempt had failed, and enraged Florentines seized and killed the conspirators. 11 Jacopo Pazzi was tossed from a window, and if that werent enough to kill him, he was finished off by the angry mob, then dragged naked through the streets and eventually thrown in the river.11 The entire Pazzi family were barren of all their worldly possessions, and every vestige of their name effaced. 11. Salviati, even though he was an archbishop was summarily hanged on the walls of the Pallazo. Lorenzo actually appealed to the crowd to show mercy, but to no avail, as many of the conspirators and even those only incriminate of being co-conspirators were killed. Lorenzo managed to save the nephew of Sixtus and two other relatives of the plotters, and the mai n conspirators were hunted down throughout Italy.During the assassination plot, Marsilio Ficino, who was the son of Cosimo Medicis physician, became important in his own right. In 1478, largely as a result of the war which resulted from the assassination plot, the plague broke out in the city of Florence. Ficino published a very different sort of work a practical guide to the treatment of the plague, and was written in Tuscan to be readily accessible to his fellow citizens. 12 This work went on to be translated into Latin and published aboard Galens work on fevers, as a standard medical work. It is easy to forget that all Ficinos works of profound contemplation and leisurely presentation were written against a backdrop of intense social and political disturbances.Another player in this era was Caterina Storza, an illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza who stop up married, at the age of fourteen, to Girolamo Riario, the nephew of Sixtus, and a primary player in the assassin ation attempt on the Medici family. Caterina came to be known as the Machiavellian mother in Machiavellis works. 1 Eventually, after the assassination attempt, the tables were turned and Riario was murdered by a group of conspirators in his own home, just after lunch. The bloody group then took Caterina, her mother, her two half sisters, an illegitimate son of Girolamos and her six children, captive.Although the aim of the assassination attempt was to get rid of the Medici family, and show Lorenzo in a bad light, the consequence of the fateful Easter Sunday actually showed quite the opposite. Lorenzo had kept his head during the entire chaotic episode, and he would show time and time again as things progressed that he was intelligent and calm in the very worst of circumstances. When the conspiracy fell apart, Sixtus was furious and drew up an ecclesiastical censure against Florence, withdrawing sacraments and the right to a Christian burial from all the citizens of Florence.He ex communicated Lorenzo all on his own, which actually had little effect, so he formed a military alliance with King Ferrantes of Naples and began planning an attack on Florence itself. 3 The allies that had previously helped the Medici were not anxious to help the Medici fight the Pope, and even though it seemed there would be another disaster, Lorenzos magnificent tact, averted it. Switching effortlessly from avenger to peace-maker, he personally traveled to Naples to confer with the King, and an understanding was achieved without resorting to war. From then on Lorenzo became known as the Savior of Florence.Lorenzo followed closely the policy which was begun by his grandfather Cosimo. He managed to maintain a balance of power between the five chief Northern Italian states, forming defensive alliances and thus property a check on invasions from foreign powers. 3 The Medici Bank had been somewhat neglected since Cosimos time, as he had turned more and more to politics, and though Lore nzo did his best to turn this around, he found himself, for possibly the first time in his life, in financial difficulties. To keep himself afloat, he resorted to embezzling Public Funds, and it was this that later undermined his rule.Although we have all been led to believe that history belongs to the victors, it is still very sad to understand that every make of the Pazzi family, one of Florences oldest and most respected families, was wiped out following the attempted coup. 13 The Pazzi coat of arms was torn off their buildings. A special governmental commission spent the next two historic period disentangling Pazzi assets with a view to confiscation. Anyone with the name of Pazzi was forced to change it. Women of the family were forbidden to marry in Florence, which was as good as not allowing them to wed at all. No portrait of any Pazzi adult is known to have survived.It is an entire piece of history completely destroyed as a result of one act. The aftermath of the Pazzi Con spiracy continued for many, many years after the event itself. As stated, Lorenzo became something of a hero, despite his misappropriation problems, and when he died at the young age of forty three, there was a massive display of public grief and the entire population attended his funeral. He was buried in the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo, where his brother Giuliano already rested. 3 Lorenzo left behind quite a legacy however his fleck son Giovanni and his nephew Giulio (the illegitimate son of Giuliano, who had been captured with Caterina after Giulianos death) were later to become very powerful popes, Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII. 3Works Cited1. Hairston, Julia L. Skirting the Issue Machiavellis Caterina Sforza. reincarnationQuarterly, Volume53, Issue 3, (2000)http//www.questia.com/PM.qst? carry out=printdocId=5001097598 (October 17, 2006)2. History of Florence. The Pazzis Conspiracy. (2004).http//www.aboutflorence.com/pazzi-conspiracy.html. (October 13, 2006).3. Lorenzo. Lorenzo the Magnificent. 2005.http//www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-19-2004-53113.asp (October 16, 2006).4. Martinez, Lauro. April Bood Florence and the Plot against the Medici. OxfordUniversity Press, USA (April 1, 2003).5. McClelland, Aaron D. The Pazzi Conspiracy (2005).http//www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazzi.html (October 15, 2006).6. McClelland, Aaron D. The Medici. (2005).http//www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-medici.html(October 15, 2006).7. McClelland, Aaron D. The Players, The Pazzi. (2005).http//www.3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-pazzi.html(October 15, 2006).8. McClelland, Aaron D. The Pope and His Court. (2005).http//www3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazziplayers-pope.html.(October 15, 2006)9. McClelland, Aaron D. The Conspiracy. (2005).http//www3.telus.net/Auattrocento_Florence/pazzi-conspiracy.html(October 15, 2006).10. McClelland, Aaron D. The Second Meeting. (2005).http//www3.telus.net/Quattrocento_Florence/pazzi-se cond.html(October 15, 2006).11. Pazzi. Pazzi Conspiracy. (2005). http//www.answers.com/ issuing/pazzi(October 17, 2006).12. Rees, Valerie. Marsilio Ficino Renaissance Man. History Today, Volume 49, Issue7, July, 1999. http//www.questia.com/PM.qst?action=printdocId=5001275749(October 13, 2006).13. Walters, Colin. A Florentine Family Tires of Medici Rule. The Washington Times,May 18, 2003. http//www.questia.com/PM.gst?action=printdocId=5001929719(October 14, 2006).