PAZZI CONSPIRACY

(1478)

A plot devised to ridFlorenceof theMedicifor thwarting papal expansion. PopeSixtus IVwished to acquire Imola for his nephew, Girolamo Riario. The Medici denied the financial backing needed for this purpose, so instead the pope obtained it from their rivals, the Pazzi. Further resentment between Sixtus and the Florentine rulers resulted when the pope appointed Cardinal Francesco Salviati, a staunch enemy of the Medici, archbishop of Pisa, resulting inLorenzo "the Magnificent" de' Medici's order that the cardinal be excluded from his see. In retaliation, Sixtus, the Salviati, and the Pazzi planned the murder of Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano in theCathedral of Florenceduring the mass. This would take place at the moment when the priest raised the Eucharist in front of the congregation and then Girolamo Riario would be installed as the city's new ruler. On 26 April 1478, at the signal, Giuliano was stabbed multiple times and died. Lorenzo, who was also wounded, managed to escape. The conspirators were seized and executed. Jacopo Pazzi was tossed from a window, dragged naked through the streets of Florence, and thrown into the Arno River. His family's possessions were confiscated; Salviati was hung, and others who were involved were hunted down through Italy and murdered.