The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev Page B

retinue. Giovanni Battista da Montesecco, whom Pope Sixtus had assigned to protect the count, was invaluable for both his fighting skills and his good judgment. But when the trio approached Montesecco with their plot, the honorable soldier demurred, unwilling to believe that the pope would sanction such a drastic solution to his political woes. To persuade Montesecco, Girolamo escorted him to the papal chambers. Though it was conducted behind locked doors and closed windows, the ensuing conversation has nonetheless reached modern ears through an account left by Montesecco himself.
    While Sixtus IV confirmed that he "much desired a change in the government of Florence," deploring Lorenzo as a "villain who had treated us badly," the pope also adamantly stated that he did not want anyone killed. A realist, Montesecco pointed out that to overthrow the Medici government without bloodshed would be very difficult, if not impossible. Girolamo, never one for subtlety, interjected that they weren't deliberately planning to murder anyone, but should the unthinkable happen, he was certain that "His Holiness would pardon whatever [Montesecco] did." This crude response drove the pope into a rage. Bellowing at Girolamo, Sixtus called his nephew "a beast" and forcefully reiterated his point: "I do not want the death of anyone, just a change in government." 6
    When Girolamo spoke to Montesecco alone a few minutes later, he interpreted the pope's equivocating statements as a tacit acceptance of the plan, and Montesecco reluctantly joined the conspiracy.
    Caterina had barely arrived in Rome and was still getting to know the man she had married. While she was undoubtedly aware of furtive conversations between her husband and Franceschino, the last thing she would have imagined was that they were scheming to assassinate the man who had made such a great impression on her when she was a seven-year-old guest at the Medici court. Nonetheless, the worried scowls of her husband's bodyguard and the discomfiting unctuous manner of Archbishop Salviati cast a shadow over her first months as a bride.
    The papal "consent" at last convinced Jacopo de' Pazzi, and by March the plan was fully formulated. The only problem left was how to ambush the two brothers together and unprotected. The conspirators' eyes fell upon sixteen-year-old Cardinal Raffaello Riario, Girolamo's nephew, who was to attend the University of Pisa under the tutelage of Salviati. The adolescent had been elevated to the highest rank in the papal court in December just as the plot was taking shape. If the Pazzis were to invite Raffaello to Florence, the Medicis would not fail to entertain such a distinguished visitor.
    As planned, the young cardinal arrived in Florence, and everything looked promising for the fulfillment of the plot. Then, unexpectedly, Giuliano de' Medici suffered an attack of sciatica and was bedridden, so the plan had to be postponed.
    Cardinal Riario wittingly or unwittingly provided the occasion for the next attempt. The young prelate was fascinated by Roman antiquities and knew that a famous collection of cameos and coins from the imperial age, formerly belonging to Pope Paul II Barbo, had been sold to Lorenzo the Magnificent upon that pope's death in 1471. Lorenzo proudly informed the eager young man that his city palace in Florence contained not only the celebrated collection but also recently excavated ancient statues, including a particularly fine marble Venus whose "smile was enchanting." Enthralled, Raffaello pleaded with Lorenzo to allow him to see it, and they finally agreed that the young cardinal would come to Florence on April 26, 1478, and visit the Medici treasures before they all attended Mass together. It was settled. The murder would take place in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, renowned as the largest church in the world and crowned by the glory of Florence, the gigantic dome designed by Brunelleschi. This imposing structure, visible for miles,