Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Infamous Crime Scene: Cathedral of Florence, The Pazzi Conspiracy - Florence, Italy

Cathedral of Florence
The Pazzi Conspiracy
Florence, Italy


N 43° 46.390 E 011° 15.334



Quick Description: 

Failed coup d'etat by a group of high ranking conspirators resulted in the murder of Giuliano de' Medici and the wounding of Lorenzo de' Medici. The attack occurred in the Duomo of Florence.



Long Description:

In an attempt to overthrow the de facto ruling de' Medici family, Francesco de’ Pazzi, who was head of the Pazzi bank in Rome, Francesco Salviati, the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, and Archbishop of Pisa and Girolamo Riario, governor of Imola, conspired with the sanctioning "as long as there be no killing" of Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere) to remove Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici from power in Florence.

In a failed coup d'état, the Medici brothers, Giuliano and Lorenzo were attacked in the Duomo of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria di Fiore, during a high mass on Easter Sunday April 26, 1478, Giuliano de' Medici was stabbed 19 times by Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli and Francesco de' Pazzi. As he bled to death on the cathedral floor, his brother Lorenzo was attacked by two priests, Antonio Maffei and Stefano da Bagnone. Their attack was ineffective as Lorenzo received serious, but non life-threatening wounds. Lorenzo escaped to safety by locking himself in the sacristy. The failure of the plot strengthened the position of the de' Medici dynasty. Francesco de' Pazzi and Francesco Salviati were hanged and the Pazzi family was banished from Florence.

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