When the subject of the emba.s.sy to Rome--the chief diplomatic appointment of the Republic--was broached, Messer Tommaso, with the utmost sincerity, expressed his fervent wish to meet Lorenzo's views in every respect, but he expressed, quite emphatically, his disinclination to undertake such an arduous duty. Not only did he plead the infirmities of age, but declared that his wife, Madonna Dianora, would never leave Florence. Her love of her own city and its people equalled that of her sister, the Domina Magnifica Lucrezia--their social, charitable and literary interests were alike and equal.

Here was a condition of affairs which called for the exercise of the greatest tact and ingenuity, and Lorenzo committed the task of overcoming the scruples of his uncle and aunt to his mother. Her efforts were entirely successful, and Lorenzo, with a deep sigh of relief, handed Messer Tommaso his credentials, and personally conducted him and his suite to the Porta Romano, and thence speeded him upon his journey.

Francesco de' Pazzi was cast in a very different sort of mould--the very ant.i.thesis in character, demeanour, and aspiration to Tommaso de Soderini--he has very appropriately been called "the Cataline of Florence." Possessed of immense wealth, much of which had come to him from his father, Messer Antonio, he rapidly dissipated it by selfish extravagance: no man surpa.s.sed him in the virtue or the vice--which you will--of self-seeking.

In the bitterness of an overweening and mortified ambition he rejected, with the utmost discourtesy, Lorenzo's overtures, at the same time remorselessly exposing his intentions, and vowing that no Pazzo should "go round the corner" for a Medico! Messer Francesco displayed unreservedly the true character of his family: he was in truth the "Mirror of his race"--"_L'implacabile Pazzi_."

The descent of the Pazzi was one of the most ancient among the n.o.ble families of Tuscany. The senior branch claimed Greek descent, and its members were early denizens of the hill-country about Fiesole. Leaders of men, they became adherents of the aristocratic party--the Ghibellines--and were consistent and energetic in their allegiance to the Emperor. The junior branch of the Pazzi were dwellers in the Vale of Arno--men of peaceful predilections in agriculture and commerce, throwing in their lot with the Guelphs--the democratic party of the Pope.

Giano della Bella's "_Ordinamenti di Giustizia_," in 1293, led to the disqualification of the Pazzi and many other notable families from the exercise of the franchise, and, as a consequence, they were deprived of all share in the Government.

They recognised, even in those early days of the formation of the first of modern states, that the Medici were rivals and opponents not only in domestic and commercial enterprise, but also in political advancement, and no love was lost between the two families. Nevertheless, the Pazzi were beholden to their rivals for the restoration of their civil rights.

On the return of Cosimo de' Medici from exile in 1434, they were reinstated, and thenceforward maintained their position. Messer Andrea, next after Cosimo the most influential citizen of Florence, was elected to the Priorate in 1435, and in 1439 he was called upon to entertain no less a personage than King Rene of France. In 1441 he was _Gonfaloniere di Giustizia_.

Messer Andrea left three sons--Piero, Giacopo and Antonio. Piero served the supreme office of _Gonfaloniere_ in 1462. He was the father of a numerous family--some historians say he had nineteen children by his wife, Madonna Fiammetta de' Guigni! None of them, however, made their mark in the life and history of the city, except the fourth son, Belforte Renato, who was a prominent man but suffered for the ill-doings of his relations.

If Piero and his sons were una.s.suming citizens, Messer Andrea's second son, Giacopo, was of a very different disposition. A man of far greater ability and more vaulting ambition than his brother, he was looked upon as the head of the family. In appearance he was prematurely old and withered up, with a pallid face and palsied frame, with great restless, staring eyes. He perpetually tossed his head about from side to side, as though afflicted with St Vitus' dance. Giacopo was unmarried, a libertine, notorious as a gambler and a blasphemer, a spendthrift, and jealous--beyond bounds--of the popularity and pre-eminence of Piero and Lorenzo de' Medici. He was pointed at as the most immoral man in Florence. In the year of Lorenzo's succession to the place of _Capo della Repubblica_, he obtained by bribery the high office of _Gonfaloniere di Giustizia_ as a set-off, but, by an inconsistency as unexpected as it was transparent, he accepted, on vacating office, a knighthood at the hands of his rival.

Cavaliere Giacopo's relations with Lorenzo were fairly cordial, outwardly at least, for as late as 1474, when at Avignon, he wrote several letters to him, full of grateful expressions for favours received and of wishes for a continuance of a good understanding. None of Cavaliere Giacopo's illegitimate children arrived at maturity, and, on account of the failure of his elder brother's sons to achieve distinction, the proud banner of the family was clutched by the hands of the four boys of the youngest of Messer Andrea's sons--Guglielmo, Antonio, Giovanni, and Francesco. Their mother was Cosa degli Alessandri, a granddaughter of Alessandro degli Albizzi, who first adopted the new surname.

The brothers were very wealthy, they had ama.s.sed large fortunes in commerce, and their houses extended for a considerable distance along that most fashionable of streets--the Borgo degli Albizzi. The Palazzo de' Pazzi doubtless was commenced by their grandfather, whose emblem--a ship--is among the architectural enrichments. The building was finished by their uncle, Giacopo--it is in the Via del Proconsolo.

As bankers, the Pazzi were noted for their enterprise generally, and for their compet.i.tion with the Medici in particular. They had agencies in all the chief cities of Europe and the East, but their reputation for avarice and sharp dealing was proverbial. Perhaps no family was quite so unpopular in Florence. Their traditions were aristocratic, whilst the Medici were champions of the people.

This distinction was referred to by Madonna Alessandra Macinghi di Matteo degli Strozzi, in one of her letters to her son Filippo, at Naples. "I must bid you remember," she wrote, "that those who are upon the side of the Medici have always done well, whilst those who belong to the Pazzi, the contrary. So I pray you be on your guard."

The growing importance of the Pazzi gave Piero and Lucrezia de' Medici much uneasiness, and it is quite certain that the marriage of their eldest daughter, Bianca--"Piero's tall daughter" as she was called--to the eldest of the three brothers, was a stroke of domestic policy by way of controlling the race for wealth and power.

Lorenzo, very soon after his accession to the Headship of the State, "took the bull by the horns" and excluded the Pazzi from partic.i.p.ation in public office. It was an extreme measure and not in accordance with his usual tact and circ.u.mspection, and of course it produced the greatest ill-will and resentment against him and his administration in every member of the proscribed family.

The situation became greatly embittered when, in 1477, Lorenzo interfered in a law-suit which concerned the marriage dower and inheritance of Beatrice, the daughter of Giovanni Buonromeo. By Florentine law the daughter should have inherited the fortune without demur, under the express will of her father, who died intestate; but, at Lorenzo's command, the estate was pa.s.sed on to Beatrice's cousin, Carlo Buonromeo, who was the winner of the second prize in Lorenzo's _Giostra_ of 1468. This decision was in direct opposition to Giuliano de' Medici's opinion, and he did all he could to rea.s.sure Giovanni de' Pazzi, Guglielmo's brother, and Beatrice's husband, of friendship and confidence.

These were not the only incidents which followed one another at the parting of the ways of the two families, but the affair of Giovanni and Beatrice was resented with peculiar bitterness by all the Pazzi. "Hence arose," as Francesco de' Guicciardini has testified, "the wronging of the Pazzi!"

In Francesco, the youngest of the brethren, was exhibited the most violent animosity and hatred. Blessed with superabundant self-conceit, which went so far as to cause him to spend hours a day having his unusually light-coloured hair dressed at the barber's and his face salved and puffed at the apothecary's to conceal his muddy complexion, he was reckoned, in the Mercato Nuovo, as little better than an ill-conditioned _braggadoccio_! His shortness of stature he sought to atone for by his accentuation of the Florentine pout and the Tuscan strut--he was well known, too, for his contemptuous jokes at the expense of others.

Francesco denounced Lorenzo and his Government with unmeasured scorn, and, careless of restraint, threatened that "he would be even with him, even though it cost him his life." Macchiavelli says: "He was the most unscrupulous of his family." "A man of blood," Agnolo Poliziano called him, "who, when he meditated any design, went straight to his goal, regardless of morality, religion, reputation and consequences."

Early in March he quitted Florence suddenly, giving out that his presence was required at Rome in connection with the affairs of the Pazzi bank. To say that his departure was a relief to Lorenzo is but half the truth, for he was greatly perturbed with respect to the influence which such a pa.s.sionate and reckless rival would have upon his relations with the Holy See. Francesco was the subject of watchfulness upon the part of the Medici agents in Rome, where Giovanni de'

Tornabuoni set himself to thwart any hostile movement which might be made.

Among prominent men with whom Francesco de' Pazzi was thrown into contact were Archbishop Francesco de' Salviati and Count Girolamo de'

Riari. The Archbishop and Francesco were no strangers to one another; their families had risen to affluence and power side by side in Florence, actuated by like sentiments and engaged in like activities--hatred of the Medici was mutual.

Sixtus had proposed, in 1474, to bestow upon Francesco de' Salviati the Archbishopric of Florence, but the _Signoria_, instigated by Lorenzo, refused to confirm his appointment and declined to grant him the temporalities of the See. The Pope yielded very ungraciously to the representations of the Florentine Government and named Rinaldo d'Orsini, Lorenzo's brother-in-law, to the vacancy. This intervention was adduced by Sixtus afterwards as insubordination worthy of punishment, and he did not forget to take his revenge.

The following year Francesco de' Salviati was chosen as Archbishop-designate of Pisa, and again the Florentines objected--being joined by the Pisans, who conspired to prevent him taking possession.

The Archbishop was, according to Agnolo Poliziano--the devoted historian and poet-laureate of Lorenzo il Magnifico--"An ignorant man, a contemner of all law--human and divine--a man steeped in crime, and a disgrace to his family and the whole State."

Count Girolamo de' Riari, accounted a nephew of Sixtus, was, like his elder brother Piero and Caterina his sister, a natural child of the Pope. The three were treated with parental affection by the pontiff, and had their home in his private apartments, being waited upon by their unrecognised mother in the guise of nurse and guardian.

Piero de' Riari was created a Cardinal when a spoilt boy, and became, as a man, infamous for his debauchery and villainy. Sixtus had the effrontery to select him as successor to Archbishop Orsini in Florence, but his action was prompted by a motive, which was firmly fixed in his heart. This was nothing less than the supplanting of Lorenzo de' Medici by Piero or Girolamo! So far, however, as Cardinal de' Riari was concerned, Sixtus' ambitions were wholly disappointed by his sudden death, due to violent excesses of all kinds.

Like his brother, Count Girolamo, the offspring of illicit l.u.s.t, and brought up in the depraved atmosphere of the Papal court, was a reprobate; but Sixtus' vaulting ambition stopped not at character and reputation. He was bent upon the permanent aggrandis.e.m.e.nt of all the branches of the Delle Rovere family. Casting about for territorial dignity, the Pope set his heart upon the Lordship of Imola, where Taddeo Manfredi of Faenza, being in financial difficulties, had surrendered the fief to the Duke of Milan.

The proposal to bestow the Lordship upon Count Girolamo de' Riari by purchase was warmly resented by the Florentines. Sixtus approached the question in a most underhand and suspicious manner. He knew perfectly well that negotiations were on foot for the acquisition of the property and t.i.tle by Lorenzo, on behalf of the Florentine Government.

Nevertheless he sent a secret mission to Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan, offering the handsome sum of fifty thousand gold ducats, with a proviso, that the Duke should bestow the hand of his illegitimate daughter Caterina upon Girolamo.

By way of adding insult to injury, Sixtus impudently sought a loan from the Medici bank, with which to pay the Duke: this greatly offended Lorenzo and all the leading men in Florence. What made the Pope's conduct more despicable, was the knowledge that he regarded this matter as the first step in a line of policy which aimed at supersession of the Medici by the Riari in the direction of Tuscan affairs--himself being Over-Lord.

The Pope's demand was refused indignantly by Lorenzo, who, in the name of the _Signoria_, administered to his Holiness a severe rebuke for his interference in the affairs of Florence. The relations between the two Governments became strained, but Sixtus was perfectly indifferent to opposition where personal interests were concerned.

His next move was the withdrawal of the Duke of Urbino, his relative, from the military service of the Republic, and his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Papal forces. This manoeuvre was regarded with alarm by all the Italian States, and a league was formed by Florence, Venice, and Milan, to check Papal encroachments.

Sixtus made overtures to the Duke of Milan to detach him from the alliance, but, apparently, they failed of their object. The Duke was friendly with Lorenzo and had no wish to become embroiled with Florence.

All these plots and counterplots were exactly to the liking of Francesco de' Pazzi, and he laid himself out to make capital out of them. Not only did he encourage the Pope in his inimical policy, but he placed at his command the sum of money which had been refused by the Medici bank.

Sixtus was delighted with his new and wealthy adherent, and forthwith gave the presidents of the Medici bank in Rome notice that they no longer retained his confidence as Papal bankers, and that, accordingly, he had transferred the accounts of the Curia to the care of the rival Pazzi house. Upon Francesco de' Pazzi he conferred the accolade of knighthood. This hostile action of course further estranged Lorenzo and the Government of Florence, and, quite naturally, a system of quarrelsome incidents was set up, with a very complete equipment of spies.

Sixtus never concealed his desire for the overthrow of Lorenzo and the subversion of the Florentine Government, and his hostility found a whole-hearted response in the persons of Count Girolamo de' Riari, Archbishop Francesco de' Salviati, and Cavaliere Francesco de' Pazzi.

The Pope exulted openly in what capital he could make out of tales and gossip about Lorenzo and his entourage. Two prominent Florentines fomented this factious spirit. Giovanni Neroni--the Archbishop of Florence in succession to Archbishop d'Orsini, brother of the notorious Diotisalvi, who was banished in 1466--and Agnolo Acciaiuolo--also banished the same year, who resided in Rome and was an especial favourite at the Vatican.

Charges of opposition to the policy of the Pope were freely thrown in the teeth of Lorenzo, and some of them were true, for the actions of the Pope led all observant men to the conclusion that he proposed to a.s.sume the role of arbiter in the affairs of all the Italian States. On the other hand, Lorenzo's policy was peaceful, his aim being the consolidation of Medicean domination in the affairs of the Republic.

Causes such as these brought about the initiation of the dastardly plot known in history as "The Pazzi Conspiracy." The name is somewhat open to criticism, for, although the Pazzi were the chief instruments employed, and exceeded all others in detestation of the Medici, the "forefront and head of the offending" was no less a personage than Pope Sixtus IV.

"His Holiness hates Lorenzo," said Count Girolamo de' Riari; this was the cue to all that followed. Doubtless the Pope was much in the power of sycophants and adventurers--all immoral rulers are. Each knew his man and held him in the palm of his left hand; and none were backward in impressing this knowledge upon him.

"We can always make our lord the Pope do as we please," was Archbishop Salviati's very apposite declaration! It was re-echoed by Francesco de'

Pazzi, who added significantly, "and we mean to rid Florence of the Medici."

All through the year 1477 the three arch-conspirators were elaborating their plan of action. Possibly Sixtus--and we may give the miscreant the favour of the doubt--at first merely wished to upset the Government of Florence and banish Lorenzo and Giuliano by direct means. When, however, it was borne in upon him that the immense popularity of the Medici would, in the event of their supersession, only lead to their triumphant recall, he agreed that there was nothing for it but the removal of the two brothers in a more summary manner.

This a.s.sociation of Giuliano with Lorenzo was a miserable exhibition of personal spite. He had refused him the Cardinalate simply because he foresaw the succession of a Medici to the Papal throne, whilst he purposed handing over the triple tiara to his son, Cardinal Piero de'

Riari. Nevertheless, there was some idea in the mind of Sixtus, which he conveyed to his fellow-conspirators, of making an agreement with Giuliano, that if he would condone the exile of his brother, then his should be the reversion of the Popedom after Cardinal de' Riari!

Some authorities say Giuliano lent a not unwilling ear to those overtures, but a saner view is that expressed by Agnolo Poliziano in an epigram:--

"Lorenzo--Giuliano--one spirit, love, and aim Animate you both--this, truly, I, your friend, proclaim."

Giuliano's love for Lorenzo was, like that of David and Jonathan, "a love surpa.s.sing that of women." He consistently submitted his own ambitions to the exaltation of his brother's magnificence.

The cogitations of the leaders of the conspiracy were disturbed by the fact that, however excellent their schemes might be, there was absolute necessity for the co-operation of other influences. Rome unaided could not cope with Florence, backed as she was by France, Venice, Milan, Ferrara, and Mantua. Sixtus consequently broached the subject of the suppression of the Medici to the King of Naples and to the Duke of Urbino--the support of Siena was always a.s.sured in any attack on her great rival.