Pazzi Conspiracy

Destroying the Pazzi

There was more to reasserting control that nasty executions. The most dramatic was the utter erasing of the Pazzi family. The Medici did not seek to profit by the destruction of the Pazzi, but there's no doubt their friends and allies did. Even so, the legal actions the followed after the executions were aimed not so much at aggrandizement as eradication. Most of the actions were at the direction of the Council of Eight, which was specifically charged with dealing with matters of internal security and treason.

On the very day of the plot, the city wrote a letter to a ship's captain, ordering him to sail at once to Pisa, there to give over the entire contents of his ship, for it was filled with Pazzi goods. Also on the same day, guards were set at each of the Pazzi homes in the city, to make sure they were not looted by the mob.

All assets and possessions of the Pazzi were declared seized by the commune. This included lands and estates, and all furniture, livestock, crops, cash, jewelry, clothing, everything, even down to the business records, which the city used as a way to create an inventory. All who owed debts to the Pazzi now owed those same debts to the republic of Florence. As early as May 5, the city was auctioning livestock. On June 1 came the auction of clothing, furniture, pictures, and other movables.

On 23 May a law was passed: all surviving Pazzi must change their surname and coat of arms within six months, and must register with the Eight, or else be declared rebels. Every public emblem or reference to the Pazzi must be removed. Any artist who dared to represent the Pazzi by using the twin dolphins that were the family insigia, faced a fine of fifty florins. Worse yet, any Florentine who married anyone related to the Pazzi (going back three generations) was automatically "suspect" and thereby forfeited any right to hold any public office or dignity (e.g., an ambassador). This effectively meant that no Pazzi women could find a husband, for no Florentine would touch her and no foreigner would marry her without a dowry. The law was so far-reaching that the city had to recall and melt down certain coins, for they bore the twin dolphins on their reverse.

In addition, the grand ceremony on Easter Eve was cancelled. This involved the lighting of a sacred fire struck from one of three flints. These flints were supposedly brought to Florence by a member of the Pazzi family, who family legend said was the first over the wall in Jerusalem. The flints were taken from the stones of Calvary itself and were given to Pazzi by Godfrey of Bouillon, Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre. It was the chief prize and honor of the family, but no longer. Nothing of the Pazzi heritage was to remain or persist.