Main theme: Michelangelo's formative years and the world of 15C Renaissance Florence.

Part 5. The Political World of Florence

• The Pazzi conspiracy, 1478. The new humanism notwithstanding, Florence was not a peaceful place. Endless dynastic wars, political feuds, assassinations and popular uprisings disturbed the flourishing city. The Pazzi conspiracy, that is the attempted assassination of Lorenzo and his brother during mass in the Cathedral in 1478 was one such example. The assassination itself was very violent, Giuliano's body laid sprawled by the door leading to Via de' Servi while the panic-stricken church-goers fled in all directions. The brutal execution of the conspirators was all the more gruelling though, the conspirators executed and left dangling from a window at Palazzo Signoria. In the end the pope excommunicated Lorenzo who had survived. In response Florence's clergy excommunicated the pope.
• Palazzo Signoria (Vecchio). Returning from Naples, Lorenzo created the Council of Seventy with powers superseding those of the Signoria. Gradually Florence was loosing its republican virtues. A description of Palazzo Signoria and Florence's political setup.
• The rise of the Medici. During the 1480s, Michelangelo's formative years, Lorenzo the Magnificent was the undisputed power broker of the Signoria. The rise of the Medici dated back to Lorenzo's great grandfather Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici's founding of the Medici bank at the end of the 14C.

Sites and art works:

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Palazzo Vecchio (Signoria)