d, when he heard the news, that
the peace of Italy was banished by this act of lawlessness. Lorenzo,
disapproving of all outbreaks against tyranny, promised to support the
widowed Duchess of Milan. The control he exercised during her brief
regime came to an end in 1479 with the usurpation of Ludovico, her
Moorish brother-in-law.

Then Riario, the Pope's nephew, saw that the time was ripe for a
conspiracy against the Medici which might deprive them of their power
in Italy. He allied himself closely with Francesco dei Pazzi, who was
anxious for the aggrandisement of his own family. His name had long
been famous in Florence, every good citizen watching the ancient _Carro
dei Pazzi_ which was borne in procession at Easter-tide. The car was
stored with fireworks set alight by means {38} of the Colombina (Dove)
bringing a spark struck from a stone fragment of Christ's tomb. The
citizens could not forget the origin of the sacred flame, for they had
all heard in youth the story of the return of a crusading member of the
Pazzi house with that precious relic.

The two conspirators hoped to bring a foreign army against Florence
and, therefore, gained the aid of Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa. The
Pope bade them do as they wished, "provided that there be no killing."
In reality, he was aware that a plot to assassinate both Lorenzo dei
Medici and his brother, Giuliano, was on foot, but considered that it
would degrade his holy office if he spoke of it.

It was necessary for their first plan that Lorenzo should be lured to
Rome where the conspirators had assembled, but he refused an invitation
to confer with the Pope about their differences and a new plan had to
be substituted. Accordingly the nephew of Riario, Cardinal Raffaelle
Sansoni, expressed a keen desire to view the treasures of the Medici
household, and was welcomed as a guest by Florence. He attended mass
in the Cathedral which was to be the scene of the assassination, since
Lorenzo and his brother were certain to attend it. Two priests offered
to perform the deed of sacrilege from which the original assassin
recoiled. They hated Lorenzo for his treatment of Volterra, and drove
him behind the gates of the new sacristy. Giuliano was slain at the
very altar, his body being pierced with no less than nineteen wounds,
but Lorenzo escaped to mourn the fate of the handsome noble brother who
had been a model for Botticelli's famous "Primavera."

He heard the citizens