Posted on 02/25/2004 10:53:57 AM PST by blam
Italy's Medici Murder Plot Solved
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
Lorenzo dei Medici
Feb. 24, 2004 — One of the most notorious crimes of the Renaissance, the attempted assassination of Florence's grandest son, Lorenzo dei Medici, has been solved more than 500 years later.
Known as the Pazzi conspiracy, the plot was led by Francesco dei Pazzi, whose banking family had resented for years the Medici climb to power.
The Pazzi plotted to kill Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano during a High Mass in the city's cathedral in April 1478. Wounded, Lorenzo managed to escape and barricade himself behind the bronze sacristy doors, but Giuliano bled to death on the cathedral floor.
Read about researchers working in the field featured in our Discovery Quest series.
Learn more about history in our History Guide.
New findings now reveal that the plot was more than the result of a feud between two families. Behind the Pazzis lay a larger network of powerful conspirators who aimed to destroy Lorenzo the Magnificent and his expansionist ambitions for the Florentine state.
"One of the prime movers in the plot was none less than Federico da Moltefeltro, Duke of Urbino, always portrayed as a good friend of Lorenzo," Marcello Simonetta, a historian at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, told Discovery News.
The proof lies in a secret letter to Urbino's ambassadors in Rome that lay forgotten in the private Ubaldini archive. The letter was encrypted, but Simonetta had one advantage when he tried to decipher it: a 15th-century booklet written by an ancestor of his, explaining how to decode diplomatic correspondence.
"The letter reveals that Federico sent 600 of his well-trained troops to the gates of Florence. They were supposed to seize the city after the killing of the Medici brothers," Simonetta said.
Immortalized by Piero della Francesca in a stupendous, impassive portrait, Federico da Montefeltro was a great warrior and patron of the arts.
The portrait, an icon of the Renaissance, shows the Duke in all his imposing authority: a bull-necked man with raven hair slipping out from a red top hat, looking fiercely at his wife, represented in profile in another portrait.
"He has always been considered the ultimate humanist condottiero. Now we know he was involved personally in the conspiracy, inspired by Pope Sixtus IV and King Ferrante of Naples," Simonetta said.
Published in the Italian Historical Archives and in Simonetta's latest book, "Secret Renaissance: the World of the Secretary from Petrarch to Machiavelli," the decrypted letter has caused controversial reactions among historians.
"Simonetta's coded letter provides an interesting detail, namely, the Duke of Urbino's readiness to contribute 600 soldiers to the plot, but adds nothing of substance to what was already known.
"We already knew that the Duke was deeply involved in the conspiracy, that he was a soldier in the pay of Pope Sixtus IV, and that he had no love for Lorenzo il Magnifico. But he was certainly not the arch-conspirator.
This role belonged to Pope Sixtus, to Count Girolamo Riario, to the banker Francesco de' Pazzi, and even, perhaps, to the King of Naples," Renaissance scholar Lauro Martines, author of "April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici," told Discovery news.
According to Ronald Witt, professor of history at Duke University, Simonetta's discovery has indeed great historical importance.
"This is one of those rare finds that historians long to get their hands on. Although we knew well who the immediate perpetrators were, the letter reveals how elaborate and far-reaching the plot was," Witt told Discovery News.
Now that's a cold case.
The beginings of mafia ?
PBS just showed a very beautifully filmed historical special on 'The Medici' (6 hours in length?) chronicling who they were, the entire dynasty, their rise to power, what they did (both good and bad), and how it affected both the secular and religious aspects of civilization at the time, and STILL echos today.
VERY recommended!
See my Post #9......The Medici, and other families at that time, carried with them many of the societal traits of the Italian/Sicilian Mediterranian ethos, one of which was what we today would characterize as Mafia-like: Nepotism, only a trust of close family members and the installing of them into positions of power, murder of rivals, etc., etc. (ie. very 'Godfather'-like, or the Baathist party of Saddam Hussein, for that matter).
I have a question about this Simonetta. He said he decoded the letter according to information from a publication by his ancestor. Does that mean his own ancestor? Has anyone else looked at it and agreed with his interpretation of what it says and how it applies to the letter in question?
Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance tells the story of a violent, dramatic and compelling age; a critical turning point in Western history.
http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/show/prog.html
Sounds like it to me.
From the PBS Website:
Regular salons inside the Medici Palace bring together the cream of Florence's literati. Inspired, Botticelli creates an entirely new genre of art. Into a world dominated by the Church, Lorenzo injects a spirit of secular freedom yet he is also making enemies fast.
The Pazzi family are jealous of Lorenzo's awesome power. With the support of the Pope, they plot to murder both Lorenzo and his brother.
Murder in the Cathedral
Easter Sunday, April 26, 1478: Thousands pack inside the great cathedral of Florence. Amongst them, Lorenzo, his brother, and the Pazzi family. At the height of the ceremony, hired assassins swoop on the Medici brothers. Giuliano is stabbed 19 times and dies in front of his horrified family. Lorenzo vanishes.
The city descends into chaos. Word spreads of assassination, and the Pazzi try to seize control. Suddenly, at the windows of his palace, Lorenzo emerges, blood-soaked and wounded, but alive.
The city turns on the Pazzi, and its vengeance is brutal.
Il Magnifico
Giuliano's murder shocks Italy. Allies of the Pazzi want to finish the job that they started, and declare war on Florence. Lorenzo travels alone, to negotiate with the godfathers of the south. ?Perhaps God wills that this war, which began with the blood of my brother and myself, should be ended by my means.?
He returns to Florence triumphant, having bribed the King of Naples and foiled the Pope. Hailed il Magnifico (magnificent) by his grateful city, Lorenzo eliminates all opposition. He adopts his dead brother's bastard son, and brings the entire government under his personal control. Lorenzo is now a dictator.
The Hatfields and McCoys might bristle at the comparison
Italian/Sicilian Mediterranian ethos, one of which was what we today would characterize as Mafia-like: Nepotism, only a trust of close family members and the installing of them into positions of power
huh - go figure
Dad and Gramps used to call it "a loving family".
The family unit you describe is patriarichal, and is consistent with communities and societies not having been adulterated by the melting pot of American societal influences.
The contention of a murderous ethos on the part of mainland Italians and Sicilians is broadly bigoted at best - but then you top it by comparing us to the Baathist party of Sadaam Hussien
Simply charming
There's a lesson in this somewhere.
Saddam was a BIG fan of the 'Godfather' series. His regime has been characterized as Mafia-like, in that he appeared to 'parrot' some of the movie's philosophy.
"...broadly bigoted at best..."
No, I don't think so: From my Post #9, a point which was not pursued in the previous Posts..........{"...what they did (both good and bad)..."}.......that you have seemed to overlook.
They weren't all bad, my thin-skinned friend. They also are considered responsible by many historians, because of their patronage of the arts, for the Rennaissance!!!!!!!
One must also remember that this was the age of Machiavelli's THE PRINCE. THAT is maybe the point: Looking back on them now they are filled with the inconsistencies of not only their age, but of ours too, ie. ruthlessly pursuing power and wealth while cultivating a refined appreciation of the arts and civics. Maybe you could also consider them to be the Rockefellers of their day.
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