THE PLAYERS
Lorenzo the Magnificent - wise ruler of Florence
Julian Medici - brother of Lorenzo. A man beloved by the people of Florence.
Pope Sixtus IV - a cunning and greedy Pope.
The Pazzi – a family desperate to become the top dog in Florence.
Bandini – savage merchant involved in the plot to kill the Medici.
Father Anthony from Volterra – priest hellbent on revenge.
Sir John-Baptist Montesecco - knight in the service of the Pope.
BUSY LITTLE SPIDERS
Florence, Italy. April 25th, 1478.
You are Lorenzo the Magnificent, leader of the Republic of Florence.
The Pope wants to kill you and your younger brother, Julian. Florence holds lands that the Pope wants to give to his family, and you are too skilled a statesman to allow that to happen. So, the Pope allies with some useful idiots, the Pazzi family. The Pope’s agents and the Pazzi family will kill you and your brother, and the Pazzi family will take control of Florence.
With the Pazzi family in charge, the Pope knows he can tear away land for his family.
Like busy little spiders the Pope’s agents and the Pazzi weave a web of death around you and your brother. They invite you both to a banquet on Saturday, April 25th, 1478. There Sir John-Baptist will poison your drinks.
You go to the banquet, but Julian cannot make it. He is suffering from an infection of the leg.
The assassins know it is of no use to kill just you, since the people of Florence will rally around your popular brother and take revenge on them.
The spiders plot a new attack. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and they will kill you and Julian during Easter Mass.
But there is a problem. The most reliable man among the plotters is Sir John-Baptist. He is the only one of the plotters who has ever killed a man before, the only warrior in the bunch. And the only one with a sense of honor. He refuses to commit murder in a church.
Where can the conspirators find someone willing to kill in God’s Holy House — from amongst the clergy, of course! To kill you, the plotters recruit Father Anthony from Volterra. Father Anthony may not be a man of the sword, but he is filled with rage because Florence practically destroyed his hometown of Volterra. Upon your body he will make justice for Volterra.
The plotters count upon his rage to make up for his lack of skill in arms.
CLOUDY, WITH A CHANCE OF DAGGERS
The next day is Easter Sunday, perhaps the holiest day of the year. You are definitely going to church this day to attend mass. You buckle on your sword and head to church, walking the streets of your city under a slate gray sky.
Already you can see the great dome of the Cathedral of Florence — the greatest church in all of Christendom — looming above the skyline. It fills your heart with intense pride that this fantastic edifice, this marvel to the ingenuity of man, is the church of your town, Florence, the great city of flowers.
As your chaplain is fond of saying, God loves everyone, but He loves Florence a little bit more.
Your brother Julian is still bothered by the infection in his leg and stays home. To rouse him from home the Pazzis go to visit him and convince him that he just has to go to church this day. They tell him that the Cardinal — a nephew of Pope Sixtus — will be delivering mass; tongues will wag if Julian not drag himself there, the cardinal might even complain to the Pope himself.
Reluctantly Julian agrees to join the Pazzis and their friend Bandini and go to church with them. The Pazzi feign a great affection and embrace him. But this is just a ruse to see if Julian has armed himself; he often goes about town with a mail shirt and a war dagger called, ‘Gentile,’ or “Mr. Gentle,” under his clothes.
But not today. His leg hurts too badly to carry Gentile.
Lest Julian suspect anything amiss, the Pazzis joke with him about fast horses, lucky dice and above all, about hot girls, the preferred interests of any warm-blooded Italian youth.
A LAKE OF BLOOD
The great Duomo was packed for Easter Mass. You are there talking with friends when you see Julian enter the great Cathedral with the Pazzis. You are related to them by marriage, your sister is married to a Pazzi. It never occurs to you that they could ever harbor such a wicked plan and so, ironically, you are glad that they dragged your playboy brother out of bed and brought him to church.
You and Julian both know that the Pazzis are political enemies that want to supplant you as rulers of Florence. But you believe they will want to alienate you from the people and have you forced out of the city as has happened to the Medici before.
Murder is the furthest possibility from your mind.
The cardinal mounts the ornate pulpit, a veritable work of genius created by the great Florentine, Donatello. You crowd in close with the rest of your people to hear his words.
Bandini crowds in close behind your brother Julian. Father Anthony from Volterra forces a path until he is standing directly behind you.
The cardinal begins mass, and since it is Easter, he recounts in detail the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. He makes sure to remind everyone that resurrection is possible for all good Catholics that place their face in Christ.
Father Anthony is behind you and stares at your back with such hate that it makes the back of your neck tingle. When you turn to look at him, the priest looks away to the pulpit, where the Cardinal is speaking.
Still, you have a sense of danger, the kind of animal instinct that keeps a man alive in a world that wishes him death. Even though you see no actual danger, you are alert.
As the cardinal leads the mass to its climax, Bandini and Father Anthony reach into their clothes and lay their hands upon their instruments of death.
The cardinal leads the blessing of the bread that transforms it miraculously into the body of Christ. And when he lifts this Eucharist for all to see, the killers have their signal.
Bandini draws a sword from within his clothes and plunges it unexpectedly into your brother Julian’s chest. The other Pazzis surround Julian and the last time you see your brother alive his enemies are surrounding him like hyenas descending on a wounded animal.
Father Anthony hesitates for a fraction of a second. Because you were already alert, you react quickly when he tries to drive a dagger into your throat. You turn about and the dagger pierces your left shoulder instead.
All in one motion — just like your fencing master instructed — you rip the cloak from your shoulders and wrap it about your left arm while you go with your right hand toward your sword.
So adroitly do you arm yourself that Father Anthony and a compatriot that intended to help him freeze in terror. Lorenzo is not afraid. Then, craven in heart at the manifest quality of your virtù, of your force and presence, Father Anthony flees from the church along with his compatriot.
But alas for your poor brother! Where once there was the light of a man, now there is a carcass, a lake of blood and a crowd of wannabe villains driving their daggers into an already dead man.
Bandini, the man to deliver the first blow is no wannabe. He is covered in blood. His sword is covered with blood. His eyes are full of mad bloodlust as they alight upon you and see that you are unscathed! He shouts something incomprehensible, a shout that merges with all their other screams echoing inside the Duomo.
Then Bandini charges at you. The Pazzis watch you and prepare to follow along.
One of your servants cries, “Take shelter, sir. I will fight this assassin!”
You take to your heels and run to the sacristy, a chamber in the great cathedral. Once inside, you and your remaining followers bar the doors and wait for help.
The assassination soon fizzles out. As word spreads that you are alive, a mob gathers to support the the Medici and to kill your assassins. Soon friends will come to free you from the Sacristy and you will be free to pursue justice for the killers of your brother, justice that follow your enemies to the end of the Earth.
All because of your sword and cloak, and the hours you devoted to practice at equipping yourself with them in a hurry.
SWORD & CLOAK CONTEST:
Could you survive the onslaught of Father Anthony? Now is your turn to test your mettle with this life-saving weapon combination. Can you take a cloak from your back and draw your sword with such control and sprezzatura that you force your assassins to run away?
We are hosting a contest to re-enact Medici’s harrowing escape. Francesco Altoni wrote a chapter on the Sword & Cloak describing nine ways to take the cloak from your back, wrap it around your arm and draw your sword. Our contest will be a battle for those best able to use Altoni’s instructions and force their enemy to flee.
For more details on the contest, click HERE
Altoni’s chapter on the Sword and Cloak is available for everyone HERE.
Sources:
The sources for the Pazzi Conspiracy are:
A first hand account by Polizano who was present during the murder.
A description by Macchiavelli in his Istoria Fiorentine written years later.
Wikipedia provided Father Anthony’s motivation.
Some elements of this are fictional to capture the feeling of the event and the spirit of the day:
We do not know how the Pazzi convinced Julian to go to church.
We do not know what homily the cardinal (Rafaele Riario) gave on Easter. But the Resurrection is a pretty solid bet.
There is no evidence that Lorenzo had a chaplain who said God preferred Florence. This is entirely fictitious. But Renaissance Italians were intensely town proud, and Florence had much good cause to be proud.
We do not know for a fact that Lorenzo ever learned fencing, but it seems almost certain he must have learned some self-defense, given the times and the fact that the Medici were always targets.