The Pazzi Conspiracy Essay Example

to congratulate Pope Paul II on his accession in 1466.

It was obvious that Lorenzo would grow to be a well known figure in Florence as he was meeting with popes at the age of seventeen. A quote by Lorenzo suggests that he was reluctant to take charge of the regime. However, many history books say that Lorenzo asked for military help for his succession just two days before his father’s death. This would lead one to believe that he was not as reluctant as he stated. As the head of the family, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Piero; as he ruled with complete control.

In his advantage, his tyranny was masked by the lashiness of grand events that Florentines enjoyed. According to historian Francesco Guicciardini, Lorenzo’s regime was “that of a benevolent tyrant in a constitutional republic. ” It was most definitely a tyranny mitigated by carnivals, balls, tournament and other common Florentine affairs. However, he was not viewed as favorably by others in positions of power. His arrogance allowed him to rule with no sympathy to others or worry of consequences. In Dr. Knox’s essay he points out that the prior two Medici leaders created an atmosphere where other families thought Florence would be better without Medici rule. Perhaps it is unfair to say that Lorenzo could have changed this, but it is indisputable that he did not try.

The Medici Bank the Medici coat of arms Although the citizens of Florence approved of Lorenzo, he still faced problems with Pope Sixtus IV and the rival Pazzi family. The Medici family was the single most wealthy and powerful family in Florence during the

15th century. Naturally, their power resulted in conflict amongst other members of the Florence elite. Lorenzo noted that “It is hard for the rich to live in Florence unless they rule the state. It was a common idea at the time that if you did not control the state, the state would ruin you. Those who were rich without control were subject to taxation deliberately aimed at impounding their fortune. The Medici made its money through banking and Lorenzo helped reestablish their monopoly in the industry. During the same time the Pazzi family found success in the same field, making the two families bitter rivals in the industry. In Medici Money, Parks points out that Lorenzo was overly suspicious.

Since he had gained his power by education, marriage, and money, he feared that once people recognized his superiority, they would try to bring him down. This fear caused him to overreact anytime he felt threatened or offended. His overreactions often brought on violence and distain from his rivals. The rivalry with the Pazzi family escaladed when Lorenzo and Pope Sixtus IV began to butt heads over power and money in and around Florence. The Pope wanted to regain control of Citta di Castello which was not far from the southern border of Florence. The leader of the territory is a friend of Lorenzo’s.

Lorenzo views the Pope’s actions as a personal insult and sends a small amount of troops to the area. Unfortunately, the amount of troops was minimal and only alienated the Pope, who was his best client. Lorenzo receives a chance to mend the ties with Sixtus IV when the Pope wishes to buy the

lordship of Imola, for his nephew, Girolamo. As Imola lies just north-east of Florence. In order to do so, the Pope had to take out a loan with his banker. It did not seem that the Pope had any motive to take Lorenzo’s power. He simply wanted to give his nephew a gift, as he had done several times before.

However, Lorenzo felt that it should be under his control and again felt threatened by the Pope. He turned down the Pope’s request for money and then warned the Pazzi banks to do the same. As one could assume, the Pazzi’s do not listen. “Not only do they go ahead and lend the cash to Sixtuts, but they actually inform him of Lorenzo’s attempt to stop them, as if the Medici were the merest commercial competitors and not the rulers of Florence. ” Pope Sixtus ends up appointing Francisco Salviati, a close friend of the Pazzi, as the archbishop of Pisa.

In addition to appointing a Pazzi family member, he also calls for an audit on Medici accounts leaving Lorenzo outraged. Lorenzo insisted that he has to be consulted on such matters since Pisa is under the control of Florence. However, the church proves to be too strong and Salviati is allowed to take up his position. The Pazzi then takes control of the Medici’s monopoly in Pisa and the ties between the Medici and Sixtus are severed. Conspiracy Talks Begin While the Pazzi family gained power bit by bit, they realized the only way to gain complete power was to kill Lorenzo and his brother Guiliano.

Therefore the heads of the family conspired to assassinate the Medici

leaders. Francesco de Pazzi was the first member of the family to propose anything against the Medici. Francesco was an ally of the Count Girolamo. According to Machiavelli, they often complained to each other about the Medici and came to the conclusion that Florence would have to change for them to live with comfort. They also believed that they would have to approval of the King of Naples and Pope Sixtus IV if they could find a proper setting for the attack. They first met with Pisa archbishop, Francesco Salviati.

Salviati was quick to accept their proposal and the three of them moved to include Messer Jacopo de Pazzi in their plans. They believed that Jacopo’s presence gave them the greatest possible chance of success. Francesco de Pazzi traveled to Rome in order to persuade Jacopo to join them in their plan, while the Archbishop and count Girolamo stayed in Florence in order to report the results of Francesco’s trip to the Pope. However, persuading Jacopo proved to be a more difficult task then they originally expected. That being said, Archbishop and Count Girolamo pass the information on to Giovan Battista.

Battista was a military leader for the Pope. Battista provided the coup with the skill needed to be effective. While the conspirators laid down their plan, Carlo, lord of Faenza, became ill and eventually passed away. The Pazzi family realized that they could possibly carry out their plan in Rome if Lorenzo came to pay his respects to Carlo. They sent Giovan Battista to Florence to meet with Lorenzo in order to convince him to go to Rome. Much to his surprise, Giovan Battista was welcomed

by Lorenzo who acted rather amicable t him.

Lorenzo’s kindness shone a new light on Battista’s perspective of him. Finally, after the meeting with Lorenzo, he met up with Jacopo, who believed insisted that they take it slow and make sure to get both brothers together. That being said, the conspirators made their final move to Florence in order to gather everything necessary to execute the plot. The Conspiracy Sixtus IV sent Count Girolamo’s nephew, Rafaelle di Riario, to the University of Pisa in order to study ecclesiastical law. While there, he is appointed to Cardinal.

The conspirators deemed it beneficial to bring the new Cardinal to Florence so they could use his presence to get the two brothers together and in turn execute the plot. The conspirators managed to have the Cardinal invited to a banquet with the brothers. It was at the banquet that the conspirators aimed to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano. Much to the dismay of the conspirators, Giuliano did not attend the banquet, so the assassination was put on hold. The plot had to be executed on both brothers at the same time, which ended up being the down fall of the conspirators plan.

After Giuliano did not attend the first banquet, they invited the brothers to another banquet on Easter Sunday, April 26, following mass. The conspirators met Saturday night to make all the necessary plans on the following day. However when Sunday rolled around, the plan hit its worst road block yet. On Sunday morning, Francesco was informed that Giuliano would once again not be attending the scheduled banquet. The conspirators quickly met again and decided that the plot could not be

postponed any longer due to the amount of people who knew about it. They decided to attack the brothers during mass in the cathedral.

Giovan Battista was assign to kill Lorenzo, while Francesco de Pazzi and Bernardo Bandini were to kill Giuliano. A large problem arose when Giovan Battista, the talent of the operation, refused to follow through with his job to kill Lorenzo. “He said that he would never have audacity enough to commit so great an outrage in church, and thus add sacrilege to treason. ” Machiavelli noted this instance as “the beginning of the ruin of their plot. ” Being that they were pressed for time, the conspirators gave the job to Messer Antonio da Volterra and the priest Stefano, both of which were unfit for such an undertaking.

The conspirators met one last time and agreed the signal for action would be when the priest called for communion, then took their positions around the targets. Once again, Giuliano made the job harder as he was not there when they entered the church. Francesco and Bernardo therefore went to his house and convinced him to go to the church. Several things are odd about that situation. First of all, why would Giuliano willingly go with them? Secondly, why didn’t Francesco and Bernardo simply kill Giuliano at his house so that they would only have to worry about Lorenzo during Mass.?

The first question can be answered, but the second still remains a mystery. Giuliano willingly went with them because he had no fear for his life even though he knew that they wanted his power. He was convinced that they would not resort to violence

and would rather go about gaining power through civil proceedings. He was obviously wrong. Finally, both brothers were together. The conspirators placed themselves near their assigned target and waited for the signal. When communion started, Bernardo struck Giuliano in the chest with a small dagger.

As Giuliano fell to the ground, Francesco jumped on him and began to stab him uncontrollably. He attacked him in such fury that he ended up stabbing himself in the leg leaving him barely able to walk. At the same time, on the other side of the cathedral, Antonio and Stefano attacked Lorenzo but he was able to get away with a wound to the throat. Lorenzo and several friends fled to the church’s sacristy and hid out until he was safe. After the cathedral empties, several Medici loyalists knock on the sacristy doors to let Lorenzo know it is safe to come out and also that his brother was killed.

The Aftermath Pazzi family crest (twin dolphins) The Pazzi’s attempt to gain control of Florence had definitely failed. The Medici only become more powerful and set out to destroy those responsible for the attack. After Antonio and Stefano were unable to dispense Lorenzo, they fled to hide from the Medici’s wrath. They were eventually found and were put to death. In fact, no time was wasted at executing the assailants. “Francesco de Pazzi was hanged on the day of the plot. His uncle Jacopo and first cousin Renato were hanged two days later. The crowd outside of the church sided with the Medici and tore the conspirators limb from limb. The body of Jacopo Pazzi was said to have been dragged

through the city streets by the noose from which he was hanged before being dismembered and thrown in the river. Lorenzo remained the leader of Florence until his death in 1492. During that time, the Pazzi family was absolved from any type of power or clout in Florence. Many actions against the Pazzi family were handled by the Council of Eight, which dealt with internal security and treason.

On the day of the plot, the city of Florence ordered a ship to sail to Pisa and give up its contents as it was filled with Pazzi goods. The most blatant move to erase the Pazzi came on May 23. “On 23 May a law was passed: all surviving Pazzi must change their surname and coat of arms within six months, and must register with the Eight, or else be declared rebels. Every public emblem or reference to the Pazzi must be removed. ” They went as far as to fine any artist who dared to use the twin dolphin insignia from the Pazzi’s family crest.

Lastly, anyone who married a Pazzi family member lost any right to hold public office. The law made it nearly impossible for a Pazzi woman to find a husband since no Florentine men would consider them. The complete failure of the Pazzi Conspiracy proved to be the downfall of the family. It is possible that results would have differed if things would have gone as planned, but no one can be sure. The conspirators knew the horror that awaited them if the assassination was not executed perfectly. It was for that very reason that they insisted on getting the brothers together in

the first place.

After the plans had fell apart on April 26, the crowded church and lack of experience by Lorenzo’s assassins proved to be obstacles the Pazzi’s could not overcome. The Pazzi’s plan seemed strong as they had the support of the pope and several other prominent figures in Florence. The plan’s main weakness was than too many people became involved, making the conspirators unable to wait until the most opportune time for the assassination. If the conspiracy had been kept quieter, they would not have been forced to take action at mass on Easter Sunday.