[snip] Pazzi conspiracy, (April 26, 1478), unsuccessful plot to overthrow the Medici rulers of Florence; the most dramatic of all political opposition to the Medici family. The conspiracy was led by the rival Pazzi family of Florence.
In league with the Pazzi were Pope Sixtus IV and his nephew Girolamo Riario, who resented Lorenzo de' Medici's efforts to thwart the consolidation of papal rule over the Romagna, a region in north-central Italy, and also the archbishop of Pisa, Francesco Salviati, whom Lorenzo had refused to recognize. An assassination attempt on the Medici brothers was made during mass at the Cathedral of Florence on April 26, 1478. Giuliano de' Medici was killed by Francesco Pazzi, but Lorenzo was able to defend himself and escaped only slightly wounded. Meanwhile, other conspirators tried to gain control of the government. But the people of Florence rallied to the Medici; the conspirators were ruthlessly pursued and many (including the archbishop of Pisa) were killed on the spot.
The failure of the conspiracy led directly to a two-year war with the papacy that was almost disastrous for Florence. But the most important effect was to strengthen the power of Lorenzo, who not only was rid of his most dangerous enemies but also was shown to have the solid support of the people. [/snip]Pazzi conspiracy | Last Updated: November 8, 2024 | Encyclopaedia Britannica
I’ve read the first one:
April Blood: Florence and the Plot against the Medici
Lauro Martines
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/255135.April_Blood
The Pazzi Conspiracy: The Plot Against the Medici
Harold Acton
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113164.The_Pazzi_Conspiracy
I wholeheartedly recommend April Blood, and this one, which serves as a sort of dual biography from the Florentine Renaissance:
Fortune is a River:
Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Magnificent Dream
to Change the Course of Florentine History
Roger D. Masters
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472863.Fortune_is_a_River
From the write-up, he doesn’t seem like he was somebody I would want to emulate as a Christian!
[snip] An encrypted letter in the archives of the Ubaldini family, discovered and decoded in 2004, shows that Federico da Montefeltro, the father-in-law of Giovanni della Rovere, was deeply embroiled in the conspiracy and had committed to position 600 troops outside Florence, waiting for the right moment. [/snip]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazzi_conspiracy#Conspiracy
(during the Pope’s continued war on the Medici and Florence, Lorenzo did an end run and had a nice long talk with one of the Pope’s allies and enemy of Florence, the King of Naples. He took along a chest of money. He convinced the King of the fact that Pope Sixtus IV didn’t have money other than what he borrowed, and didn’t pay his debts, probably because he tended to have people whom he owed money bumped off. He flipped the Duke to his side, with Rome right between their two cities.)
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/italian-history-biographies/lorenzo-de-medici