Commentary on the Pazzi Conspiracy

-pudent. By which arts—to such an extent did fortune have no shame—he both obtained the Archbishopric and was already grasping at the very heavens with his prayers. He, together with Francesco de' Pazzi—who, because of his innate vanity of spirit, had proposed enormous hopes for himself—is said to have agitated for the plan of killing Lorenzo and Giuliano and seizing the Republic long before, in Rome. Finally, they all conspired to commit the crime at the suburban villa of Jacopo de' Pazzi, which is called Montughio. Francesco Salviati himself wrote down the formula of this conspiracy. incoherent. Francesco was born from Antonio, the brother of Jacopo, who, since he was a man of an obstinate character, had assumed great pride and great arrogance. He was wonderfully indignant that the Medici family was preferred to him. He was always railing against Lorenzo and Giuliano, always To slander slandering them, sparing no curses, no insults. He had no scruples, provided he could do them as much injury as was in his power. He spent most of his time in Rome at the very bank of the Pazzi. For at Florence, he felt his own authority was nothing compared to that which the Medici brothers had won for themselves through piety and good morals. Moreover, he himself was—as was peculiar to all the Pazzi—more inclined to flare up in anger than can be told. He was short in stature, with a slight frame, a sallow complexion, and fair hair, in the grooming of which he was almost excessively occupied. Indeed, the state of his body and face, and his gestures, were such that you could easily understand the man's incredible insolence, which, however, he tried his best to hide in his first meetings. Nor