The
Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles who were
bankA bank is a financial institution licensed by a government. Its primary activities include borrowing and lending money.Many other financial activities were allowed over time. For example banks are important players in financial markets and offer financial services such as investment funds...
ers in
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
in the 15th century. They are now best known for the "Pazzi conspiracy" to murder
Lorenzo de' MediciLorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets...
and
Giuliano de' MediciGiuliano de' Medici was the second son of Piero de' Medici and Lucrezia Tornabuoni. As co-ruler of Florence, with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, he complemented his brother's image as the "patron of the arts" with his own image as the handsome, sporting, "golden boy."As the opening stroke...
on April 26, 1478. Andrea de' Pazzi was also the patron for
Filippo BrunelleschiFilippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. All of his principal works are in Florence, Italy...
's
chapter houseA chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
for the
FranciscanThe term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders, also known as the Orders of Friars Minor, that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St. Francis", or a member of one of these orders. As well as Roman Catholic there are also small Old Catholic and...
community at Florence's Santa Croce church, often known as the
Pazzi ChapelThe Pazzi Chapel in Florence is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Renaissance architecture. It is located in the “first cloister” of the Basilica di Santa Croce. Though funds for the chapel were assembled in 1429 by Andrea Pazzi, head of the Pazzi family, whose wealth was second only to...
. After the conspiracy, the remaining Pazzi were rehabilitated and returned to Florence.
The family stemmed from Pazzo ("the madman"), one of the first soldiers over the walls in the
Siege of JerusalemThe Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15, 1099 during the First Crusade. The Crusaders stormed and captured the city from Fatimid Egypt.-Background:...
during the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
, who brought away with him and returned to Florence a stone from the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. A member of the Pazzi family was accorded the privilege of striking a light from this stone on
Holy SaturdayHoly Saturday is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week, in which Christians prepare for Easter...
when all fires in the city were extinguished, from which the altar light of the
DuomoThe Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi...
would be annually rekindled, and from it all the hearth fires of Florence. The following day,
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
, a
dovePigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
-shaped rocket would slide on a wire from above the high altar to an oxcart loaded with fireworks in the piazza. From the fireworks' explosion (the
scoppio del carro), sparks would be carried to the city's hearths.
The conspiracy
Less powerful and rivals of the
MediciThe House of Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house who first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until...
, the Pazzi were caught up in a conspiracy to replace the Medici as
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
rulers of Tuscany with
Girolamo RiarioGirolamo Riario was Lord of Imola and Forlì in the 15th century.- Biography :Born in Savona, Riario was the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere...
, a nephew of Francesco della Rovere, who was reigning as
Pope Sixtus IVPope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. He founded the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together and introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age.-Biography:Francesco was born to a modest...
. Power politics, often ruthless in the
Italian RenaissanceThe Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
, was the main motive.
The Pazzi family were not the instigators. The
SalviatiSalviati can mean:* The Salviati were a prominent 15th century Florentine-Roman banking family.* The painter Francesco Salviati.* The Salviati family , glass makers and mosaicists in 19th century Venice....
, Papal bankers in Florence, were at the center of the
conspiracyIn a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
. Sixtus was an enemy of the Medici. He had purchased the lordship of
ImolaImola is a town, comune in the province of Bologna, located on the Santerno river, in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy. The town is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna....
, a stronghold on the border between Papal and Tuscan territory that Lorenzo wanted for Florence. The purchase was financed by the Pazzi bank, even though Francesco dei Pazzi had promised Lorenzo they would not aid the Pope. As a reward, Sixtus granted the Pazzi
monopolyIn economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it...
at the
alumAlum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated aluminium potassium sulfate with the formula KAl
2.12H
2O...
mines at Tolfa — alum being an essential
mordantA mordant is a substance used to set dyes on fabrics or tissue sections by forming a coordination complex with the dye which then attaches to the fabric or tissue. It may be used for dyeing fabrics, or for intensifying stains in cell or tissue preparations. A mordant is always a polyvalent metal ion...
in dyeing in the
textileA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
trade that was central to the Florentine economy — and he assigned to the Pazzi bank lucrative rights to manage Papal revenues. Sixtus appointed his nephew
Girolamo RiarioGirolamo Riario was Lord of Imola and Forlì in the 15th century.- Biography :Born in Savona, Riario was the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere...
as the new governor of Imola, and
Francesco SalviatiFrancesco Salviati Riario was the archbishop of Pisa in 1475. A blood-member of the Riario family, and of the Salviati family , he was also related by marriage to the Pazzi, Medici, Vettori, and other powerful families...
as archbishop of Pisa, a city that was a former commercial rival but now subject to Florence. Lorenzo ordered Pisa to exclude Salviati from his
SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic...
.
Salviati and Francesco de' Pazzi put together a plan to assassinate Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici. Riario himself remained in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
. The plan was widely known: the Pope was reported to have said, "I support it — as long as no one is killed." In 2004, an encrypted letter in the archives of the Ubaldini family was discovered by Marcello Simonetta, a historian then teaching at
Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the now secular university was the first institution of higher...
in
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
, and decoded. It revealed that
Federico da MontefeltroFederico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro , was one of the most successful condottieri of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 until his death...
, Duke of
UrbinoUrbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
, a renowned humanist and condottiere for the Papacy, was deeply embroiled in the conspiracy and had committed himself to position 600 troops outside Florence, waiting for the moment. Marcello Simonetta recast the story of the conspiracy in light of the decoded letter and of other original documents in his
The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded, published by Doubleday in 2008.
On Sunday, April 26, 1478, during
High MassHigh Mass may mean:*Solemn Mass, a Tridentine Mass celebrated with deacon and subdeacon *Missa Cantata, a sung Tridentine Mass without deacon and subdeacon...
at the
DuomoThe Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi...
before a crowd of 10,000, Giuliano de' Medici was stabbed 19 times by a gang that included a priest. As he bled to death on the cathedral floor, his brother Lorenzo escaped with serious, but non life-threatening wounds. Lorenzo appeared shortly after, locked safely in the sacristy by the
humanistRenaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement that was a crucial component of the Renaissance, beginning in Florence in the latter half of the 14th century. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery by European scholars of Latin literary and Greek literary texts. Initially,...
PolizianoAngelo Ambrogini, commonly known by his nickname, anglicized as Politian, Italian Poliziano, Latin Politianus was an Italian Renaissance classical scholar and poet, one of the revivers of Humanist Latin...
. A coordinated attempt to capture the
GonfaloniereGonfaloniere of Justice was a post in the government of medieval and early Renaissance Florence. Like Florence's Podestà and Priori, it was introduced in 1293 when Giano Della Bella's Ordinamenti di Giustizia came into force....
and
SignoriaThe Signoria was the government of medieval and renaissance Florence. Its nine members, the Priori, were chosen from the ranks of the guilds of the city: six of them from the major guilds, and two from the minor guilds...
was thwarted when the archbishop and head of the Salviati clan were trapped in a room whose doors had a hidden latch. The
coup d'étatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
failed, and the enraged Florentines seized and killed the conspirators. Jacopo de' Pazzi was tossed from a window. To finish him off, the mob dragged him naked through the streets, then threw him into the
Arno RiverThe Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.- Source and route :The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and takes initially a southward curve...
. The Pazzi family were stripped of their possessions in Florence, every vestige of their name effaced. Salviati was
hangedHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. It hurts a lot. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", although it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would...
on the walls of the Palazzo della Signoria. Although Lorenzo appealed to the crowd not to exact summary justice, many of the conspirators, as well as many people accused of being conspirators, were killed. Lorenzo did manage to save the nephew of Sixtus IV, Cardinal
Raffaele RiarioRaffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario was an Italian Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the one who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He is regarded as one of the most tasteful prelates of his age and a generous patron of the arts...
, who was almost certainly an innocent dupe of the conspirators, as well as two relatives of the conspirators. The main conspirators were hunted down throughout
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
; however, the story of a wider retribution by Lorenzo, including hundreds of killings, is a myth.
In the actual aftermath of the so-called "Pazzi" conspiracy, the Della Rovere Pope placed Florence under interdict, forbidding
MassThe Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church. The term is used also of similar celebrations in Old Catholic Churches, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, in many Lutheran Churches, and in a small amount of High Church Methodist parishes...
and
communionCommunion is a polyvalent term. Though not Christian-specific, the term "communion" has several denotations within the Christian traditions. It may refer to:*Communion , the relationship between Christians as individuals or Churches...
, for the execution of the Salviati archbishop. Sixtus enlisted the traditional Papal military arm, the King of
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
,
Ferdinand IFerdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
, to attack Florence. With no help coming from Florence's traditional allies in
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
and
MilanMilan in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million...
, only Lorenzo's
diplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war,...
saved the day. He sailed to Naples and put himself in the hands of Don Ferrante, who held him captive for three months before releasing him with gifts. Lorenzo's courage and his
MachiavelliNiccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and playwright, but, foremost, he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
an
realpolitikRealpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism...
convinced
Don FerranteFerdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
that the Pope would turn against him if he were too successful in the North.
Pazzi Chapel
On another level, perhaps the greater mark on history left by the Pazzi is the Pazzi Chapel built under the direction of
Filippo BrunelleschiFilippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. All of his principal works are in Florence, Italy...
in a discreet cloister of the
FranciscanThe term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders, also known as the Orders of Friars Minor, that follow a body of regulations known as "The rule of St. Francis", or a member of one of these orders. As well as Roman Catholic there are also small Old Catholic and...
church,
Santa CroceThe Basilica di Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 metres south east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls...
. After some early agreements, the chapel was begun in 1442. It is one of the
incunabula of
Renaissance architectureRenaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, in which there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture.The Renaissance style places...
: severely restrained, made of
pietra serena and white plaster, and unrelieved by color. A hemispherical dome (completed after Brunelleschi's death following his plans) caps a cubical sacristy for the Franciscan church: within it the Pazzi family were permitted to bury their dead.
A
saintSaints, individuals of exceptional holiness, are significant in many religions, particularly Christianity.-General characteristics :Though the term is mostly used for Christians considered holy or virtuous, many religions use similar concepts to elevate people worthy of respect, e.g. see Hindu...
was to arise from among the family, the Carmelite
nunA Nun, or also known as a Sister in some cases, is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
Maria Magdalena de' Pazzi (1566-1607).
Palazzo Pazzi (Palazzo Pazzi-Quaratesi)
The main seat of the family, at
canto Pazzi, where Borgo degli Albizi crosses the via del Proconsolo was rebuilt 1462–1472 for Jacopo de' Pazzi to designs by
Giuliano da MaianoGiuliano da Maiano was an Italian architect, intarsia-worker and sculptor, the elder brother of Benedetto da Maiano, with whom he often collaborated.- Biography :...
, the
sculptorSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
-
architectFor a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings and other physical structures for human shelter or use....
favored by the family. Above its wholly traditional rusticated ground floor of the yellow-ochre sandstone Florentines call
pietra forte it has a
stuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a coating for walls and ceilings and for decoration...
ed facade in a new taste, with delicate designs round the windows in the manner associated with Brunelleschi. The central court is surrounded on three sides by round-headed arcading, with circular bosses in the spandrels.
Next to it is the smaller 16th-century three-story Palazzo Pazzi-Ammannati, rebuilt for Antonio Ramirez di Montalvo, housing Florence's small museum of natural history and host to temporary exhibitions. Its design is attributed to
Bartolomeo AmmanatiBartolomeo Ammanati was a Florentine architect and sculptor, born at Settignano, near Florence. He studied under Baccio Bandinelli and Jacopo Sansovino and closely imitated the style of Michelangelo.He was more distinguished in architecture than in sculpture...
.
In fiction
Two members of the Pazzi family are placed in
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
in
DanteDurante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
's
Inferno, both in the circle of the
traitorsIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
;
The Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy , written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a...
does not reference the Pazzi Conspiracy, however, being written nearly 200 years earlier.
Thomas HarrisThomas Harris is an American author and screenwriter, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter...
's 1999 novel
HannibalHannibal is a 2001 psychological thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. Set ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, the premise is that one of Hannibal Lecter's surviving victims, the extremely wealthy Mason Verger, is determined to capture,...
features a character named Rinaldo Pazzi, a corrupt policeman descended from the Pazzi family. He is murdered and disemboweled by
Hannibal LecterHannibal Lecter, M.D. is a fictional character in a series of novels by author Thomas Harris. Lecter is introduced in the thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. This novel and its sequel, The Silence of the Lambs, feature Lecter as one of two primary...
, and then hung from the balcony of the Palazzo della Signoria, just as his famous "ancestor" was. In the 2001 film adaptation, he is played by
Giancarlo GianniniGiancarlo Giannini is an Italian actor and dubber.Giannini was born La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. He studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome, and made his film debut in a small part in Fango sulla metropoli in 1965...
.
A fictionalized version of the Pazzi conspiracy was the basis for the
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
ElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others that...
story "Black Masterpiece," in
BatmanThe Batman, originally referred to as the Bat-Man, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger , appearing in publications by DC Comics...
Annual #18, which features a Renaissance-era Batman and
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
.
The Pazzi Conspiracy is the foundation for the book
I, Mona Lisa, by
Jeanne KalogridisJeanne Kalogridis , also known by the pseudonym J.M. Dillard is an American writer of historical and horror fiction....
. In 2007 the Spanish writer Susana Fortes wrote her sixt novel,
Quatttrocento, drawing on the recent discovery of the Duke of Urbino's involvement in the conspiracy (Planeta).
Primavera, a YA novel by Mary Jane Beaufrand, tells the story of the Pazzi Conspiracy from the point of view of the youngest Pazzi daughter, Flora.
External links