Free Republic

It may be surprising for many to hear that a Reformation occurred in Italy. We normally use the term “Reformation” to describe the defection of Protestants from Roman obedience in places like Wittenberg, Strasbourg, Zurich, and Geneva. But surely the Italian peninsula was always loyal to the papacy? Yet Italy was also poised for gospel renewal in the opening decades of the 16th century. Waves of invasions by French and Habsburg armies, epidemic diseases such as syphilis, harvest failures, and a growing resentment toward clerical authority produced a generation of troubled hearts. And, as they did else elsewhere, reformers in...

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...