Pazzi Conspiracy

War with the Pope

The murder of a Medici, followed by the execution of so many men, including a number of high-ranking clerics, set off a chain reaction across Italy. The pope, of course, was directly implicated and needed to react. Milan had been asked to send aid, which in turn invoked both alliances and enmities. Naples was involved as well.

Reaction in Rome was immediate. The pope ordered the arrest of all Florentine bankers and merchants in the city and all their property was confiscated. The execution of the archbishop of Pisa was the pretext, but everyone understood what was really happening. The Florentines were released again when it was learned that Cardinal Raffaele Riario was in Florentine custody, but the pope kept the property. He also repudiated all debts owed to Florence, which caused grievous financial harm specifically to the Medici. Sixtus also excommunicated Lorenzo and sent a letter to the city demanded that he be handed over, along with all those who had abetted in the executions. This pretty much meant the entire government of Florence.

The language of the documents is suitably dramatic. Lorenzo is described as a "son of iniquity and foster-child of perdition." He and his accomplices were "pronounced culpable, sacrilegious, excommunicate, anathematized, infamous, unworthy of trust and incapable of making a will." Moreover, "all their property is to revert to the Church, their houses are to be levelled to the ground, their habitations made so desolate that none may dwell therein. Let everlasting ruin witness their everlasting disgrace." The pope gave the city two months to cooperate or else be placed under interdict, along with all towns and lands under its control. As if that weren't enough, and it clearly wasn't, the pope declared war on Florence and was joined by King Ferrante of Naples.