Death of 



Francis 



Sforza. 



A. D. 1469. 



858 



Ilittnrf. submitted to his authority. Soon after this event, fol- 

 N "~~/~ 1 * lowed the death of Cosmo di Medici, whose talents and 

 " l46 *- virtues well dc>ervrd the title conferred on him by his 

 fellow-citi/.-iis (.('father of his country. Pope Pius II. 

 having died at Ancona, where he had repaired to join 

 the crusade of the Venetians against the Turks, was 

 succeeded by Paul II. who refused to pay the contri- 

 bution agreed to by hlf predecessor for the crusade, 

 and the expedition did net take place. Sforza having 

 now concluded an alliance with Louis XI. sent his son 

 (inleazzo to.his aid, in the civil war in which he was 

 then engaged. 



This was the last act of that great statesman and 

 warrior, whose character, though tinged with the vices 

 of the age, stands deservedly high in the history of his 

 country. He died of a dropsy at Milan, on the 8th 

 March, 1466, and his son Galeazzo was, without oppo- 

 sition, acknowledged his successor. The death of Sfor- 

 za occasioned an attempt, by the independent party at 

 Florence, to throw off the yoke of Peter di Medici, but 

 without success ; and the struggle ended in the banish- 

 ment of Acciaioli, Soderini, and other friends of liberty. 

 By their influence the Venetians declared war on Flo- 

 rence ; but the war had no decisive results, and peace 

 was concluded by the intervention of Paul II. and 

 Borso of Este, duke of Ferrara and Modena. The 

 power of the Medici was now completely established 

 in Florence ; and, on the death of Peter, his sons Lo- 

 renzo and Juliano, the eldest of whom was only 22, 

 were acknowledged chiefs of the republic. But the 

 actual government of the state continued for some time 

 in the hands of the same persons who, during the ill- 

 ness of -Peter di Medici, had, as his friends, been pos- 

 sessed of the administration. 



A dangerous enemy, however, was soon raised up to 

 the Medici in the person of Sixtus IV. the successor of 

 Paul II. This pope, who was said to have arrived by 

 no very honourable means at that high office, devoted 

 his whole influence to the advancement of his nephews ; 

 some of whom, whose characters but ill qualified them 

 for such situations, were elevated to the highest sta- 

 tions in the church, while the others were invested 

 with temporal principalities, and connected, by mar- 

 riage, with the most illustrious families of Italy. Je- 

 rome Riasio, one of these favoured relatives, had be- 

 come intimate with Francisco Pazzi, a Florentine gen- 

 tleman, whose family, having incurred the jealousy of 

 Lorenzo di Medici, had retired to Rome. In him Six- 

 tus found a proper instrument for the destruction of the 

 Medici. It was agreed, that assassination was the only 

 manner by which their measures could be effected ; 

 and Salviati, archbishop of Pisa, Jacob Pazzi, uncle of 

 Francisco, and other enemies of the Medici, were add- 

 ed to the number of the conspirators. The time cho- 

 sen for their purpose was during the festivities on the 

 visit of Cardinal Riario at Florence ; and the two bro- 

 thers were attacked in the church during the celebra- 

 tion of mass. Juliano was murdered ; but Lorenzo de- 

 fending himself, was surrounded by his friends, and es- 

 caped to his house. In the meantime, the archbishop 

 having attempted to make himself master of the palace 

 of justice, was seized, and hanged, in his priestly dress, 

 from the windows of the palace. Of the conspirators, 

 a similar fate attended the first ; the others were mas- 

 sacred by the people ; and Bandini, the actual murder- 

 er of Juliano, who had taken refuge at Constantinople, 

 was delivered up, a year after, by Mahomet II. to the 

 vengeance of Lorenzo. The pope, aware that his con- 

 nection with the conspiracy was discovered, immediate- 



Histery. 



Conspiracy 

 of the 

 I az/i. 



ITALY. 



ly interdicted Florence, on account of the deal!) of the 

 archbiihop ; and, without dissembling his participation -.^ 

 in the crime, declared waVagainst the republic. 



About the same same period, A>ilan was the scene Murder of 

 of a similar catastrophe. Galeazzo, duke of Milan, the Galeazzo 

 unworthy son of Francis Sforza, had become, by his Sforza. 

 tyranny and licentiousness, detested by the Milanese. 

 Having at last grossly injured Jerome Olgiati, that 

 gentleman, assisted by Carlo Visconti and John Lam- 

 pugnani, determined to revenge himself by the assassi- 

 nation of the tyrant. Their plan was successful, and 

 Sforza fell a victim, in the church of St. Ambrose, to 

 their resentment, or patriotism. Visconti and Lam- 

 pugnani were immediately put to death by the guards ; 

 but Olgiati suffered, with heroic fortitude, a more cruel 

 death by the hands of the executioner. The duke was 

 succeeded by his son John Galeazzo, under the tutelage 

 of his mother, Bona of Savoy. This guardianship was 

 disputed by the brothers of the late duke, who endea- 

 voured to excite an insurrection ; which was suppress- 

 ed by the prime minister Cecco Simon eta. Octavian 

 Sforza was drowned in crossing the river Adda, and 

 his brothers banished to different cities. 



In the war between the pope and his ally, Ferdinand 

 of Naples, against Florence, the latter state sustained 

 the loss of many of their strongest fortresses, by the 

 supineness, or the treachery, of Hercules, duke of Fer- 

 rara, their general, and was obliged to apply for aid to 

 the duchess of Milan and the Venetians : but the for- 

 mer was occupied by the revolt of the Genoese ; and 

 the latter, exhausted by their Turkish war, were una- 

 ble to afford any assistance. 'At this period Rene, se- 

 cond duke of Lorraine, began to assert his claim to the 

 throne of Naples, as representative of the house of An- 

 jou ; and Ferdinand, alarmed lest support should be 

 afforded to him by the Florentines, began to shew him- 

 self inclined towards peace. Lorenzo di Medici, whose 

 affairs were now reduced to the greatest extremity, ta- 

 king advantage of this inclination, determined to have 

 a personal conference with the king, and proceeded to 

 Naples, contrary to the advice of his friends, who 

 dreaded the notorious treachery of Ferdinand's charac- 

 ter. His enterprize, however, succeeded ; and Ferdi- 

 nand, convinced that the friendship of Florence was 

 his best protection against the French, concluded a 

 treaty ; and Lorenzo returned to Florence, where his 

 authority was now implicitly acknowledged, and his 

 power strengthened by that liberality and generosity, 

 which acquired to him the title of the Magnificent. 

 The capture of Otranto by the Turks, now terrified 

 Sixtus into a peace with Florence, and the fortresses 

 taken during the war were restored. 



The last transaction of any consequence during his 

 reign, was his war, in conjunction with the king of 

 Naples, the duke of Milan, (now under the direction 

 of his uncle Ludovico, commonly called the Moor,) 

 and the Florentines, against the Venetians, whom he 

 excommunicated. In a short time, however, the league Death of , 

 concluded a .separate treaty, which so much enraged Sixtus IV. 

 the pope, that it threw the gout into his head, and oc- 

 casioned his death. 



The suffrages of the cardinals were in favour of Bap- A.D. 148*. 

 tista Cybo. This pope, who took the name of Inno- 

 cent VIII. was no less lavish of the honours and trea- 

 sures of the church to his natural sons, than Sixtus 

 had been to his nephews ; and besides this scandal, his 

 indolence of temper permitted the most unbounded li- 

 centiousness and venality in his court. His enmity to 

 the king of Naples was soon evinced, by his interrup- 



