CHARACTERS, 
wards Florence, so as to be in _rea- 
diness at the time appointed for 
striking the blow. 
Shortly afterwards, the archbi- 
shop requested the presence of the 
cardinal at Florence, where he im- 
mediately repaired, and took up 
his residence at a seat of the Pazzi, 
about a mile from the city. It 
seems to have been the intention of 
the conspirators to have effected their 
purpose at Fiesole, where Lorenzo 
then had his country residence, to 
which they supposed he would in- 
vite the cardinal and. his attendants, 
Nor were they deceived in this 
conjecture, for Lorenzo prepared a 
magnificent entertainment on this 
occasion; but the absence of Giuli- 
ano, (the brother of Lorenzo,) on 
account of indisposition, obliged the 
conspirators to postpone the at- 
tempt. Disappointed 1n their hopes, 
another plan was now to beadopted ; 
and on farther deliberation it was re- 
solved, that the assassination should 
take place on the succeeding Sun- 
day, in the church of the Reparata, 
' since called Santa Maria del Fiore, 
and that the signal for execution 
should be the elevation of the host. 
at the same moment the archbishop, 
and others of the conspirators, were 
to sieze on the palace, or residence 
of the magistrates, whilst the office 
of Giacopo de’ Pazzi was to indea- 
vour, by the cry of liberty, to in- 
cite the citizens to revolt. The 
immediate assassination of Giuliano 
was committed to Francesco de’ 
Pazzi, and Bernardo Bandini, and 
that of Lorenzo had been entrusted 
to the sole hand of Montesicco. 
This office be had willingly under- 
taken while he understood that it 
_ was to be executed in a private 
dwelling, but he shrunk from the 
idea of polluting the house of God 
oe 
with so henious a crime. Two 
ecclesiastics were therefore selected 
for the commission of a deed, from 
which the soldier was deterred by 
conscientious motives. | There were 
Stefano da Bagnone, the apostolic 
scribe, and Antonio Maffei. 
The young cardinal having ex- 
‘pressed a desire to attend divine 
service in the church of the Repa- 
rata, on the ensuing Sunday, being 
the 26th day of April, 1478, Lo- 
Tenzo invited him and his suite to 
his house in Florence. He accord 
ingly came with a large retinue, 
supporting the united characters of 
cardinal and apostolic legate, and 
was received by Lorenzo with that 
splendour and _ hospitality, with 
which he was always accustomed to 
entertain men of high rank and con- 
sequence. Giuliano did not appear, 
a circumstance which alarmed the 
conspirators, whase arrangements 
would not admit of longer delay, 
They soon, however, learned that 
he intended to be present at the 
church. The service was alread 
begun, and the cardinal had taken 
his seat, when Francesco. de’ Pazzi 
and Bandini, observing that Giuli- 
ano was not yet arrived, left the 
church, and went to his house, in 
order to insure and hasten his at- 
tendance. Giuliano accompanied 
them, and, as he walked between 
them, they threw their arms round 
him with the familiarity of intimate 
friends, but in fact to discover whe- 
ther he had any armour under his 
dress; possibly conjecturing, from 
his long delay, that he had suspect- 
ed their purpose. At the same 
time, by their freedom and jocula- 
rity, they endeavoured to obviate 
any apprehensions which he might 
entertain from such a proceeding. 
The conspirators having taken their 
stations 
