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Pazzi Conspiracy

Type Event Region Europe Time 1478

On April 26, 1478, the Pazzi family, Pope Sixtus IV, and Naples' Ferdinand I conspired to assassinate the Medici brothers during Mass at Florence's c…

Timeline

  1. 1477–1478Rome and Florence · Papal StatesThe Pazzi family harbored resentment over banking and political rivalry with the Medici. Pope Sixtus IV resented Lorenzo's interference in papal appointments to the Imola–Faenza bishopric; his nephew Cardinal Riario and King Ferdinand I of Naples also joined the plot to eliminate Lorenzo and Giuliano during Easter Mass.
  2. 1478Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore) · FlorenceDuring Easter Mass, the Pazzi and Archbishop Salviati struck inside the cathedral. Giuliano de' Medici was stabbed multiple times and killed; Lorenzo, guarded by attendants, escaped wounded. Meanwhile, Pazzi partisans in the city failed to seize the town hall, and the populace quickly turned to the Medici.
  3. 1478Florence · FlorenceLorenzo rallied citizens to suppress the revolt; Francesco de' Pazzi and Archbishop Salviati were executed, and Pazzi property was confiscated. Florence declared the conspiracy instigated by foreign powers, but the pope refused to admit it and accused Lorenzo of kin-slaying, sowing the seeds of later papal–Florentine conflict.

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