The Pazzi Conspiracy: A Failed Murder Plot To Overthrow The Medici Family
Public DomainA sketch by Leonardo da Vinci of Bernardo Baroncelli hanging.
The House of Medici was a dynastic Italian family who rose to power in early 15th-century Florence under the influence of Cosimo de’ Medici. The family would eventually produce numerous powerful and influential figures, including four popes of the Catholic Church and two queens of France. But even those in the Medici family who did not hold impressive titles still had immense power.
The Medici family prospered for nearly 300 years in Italy, but there were, of course, those who resented the house and their power.
Those resentful of the Medicis included another Florentine noble family: the Pazzis. This bitter rivalry ultimately culminated in an event known as the Pazzi Conspiracy, which saw members of the Pazzi family attempt to assassinate leaders of the Medici family.
The conspirators, led by the Pazzi family, had a fairly straightforward plan. Their goal was to assassinate Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, and his brother Giuliano, therefore knocking the Medicis from their throne.
The Pazzi family had also been competing with the Medicis for years. They, too, had made their fortune through banking and had managed to wrestle control of the Papacy’s finances from the Medicis by the time of the conspiracy. Still, though, the Medicis wielded near-absolute authority in Florence, and the prospect was a point of worry for the Pazzis and other Florentine families.
So, on April 26, 1478, during Easter Sunday Mass, the conspirators put their plan into action. The first man to stab Giuliano was Bernardo Baroncelli, who was quickly followed by Francesco de’ Pazzi. In total, Giuliano was stabbed 19 times before Francesco finished him off.
Two other conspirators, meanwhile, had lunged for Lorenzo — but the would-be assassin’s dagger missed its mark and only scraped Lorenzo’s neck. Lorenzo swiftly grabbed a short sword from someone standing nearby and was able to defend himself until he could flee.
In the end, members of the Pazzi Conspiracy had hoped to steal away the Medicis’ power in Florence, but the assassination of Giuliano and the attempted assassination of Lorenzo only strengthened support for the Medicis. After all, most of Lorenzo’s enemies were now incarcerated for their participation in the conspiracy, and the people sympathized with him for having narrowly escaped death, losing his relative in the process.
