in agriculture and commerce,
throwing in their lot with the Guelphs--the democratic party of the
Pope.

Giano della Bella's "_Ordinamenti di Giustizia_," in 1293, led to the
disqualification of the Pazzi and many other notable families from the
exercise of the franchise, and, as a consequence, they were deprived of
all share in the Government.

They recognised, even in those early days of the formation of the first
of modern states, that the Medici were rivals and opponents not only in
domestic and commercial enterprise, but also in political advancement,
and no love was lost between the two families. Nevertheless, the Pazzi
were beholden to their rivals for the restoration of their civil rights.

On the return of Cosimo de' Medici from exile in 1434, they were
reinstated, and thenceforward maintained their position. Messer Andrea,
next after Cosimo the most influential citizen of Florence, was elected
to the Priorate in 1435, and in 1439 he was called upon to entertain no
less a personage than King Rene of France. In 1441 he was _Gonfaloniere
di Giustizia_.

Messer Andrea left three sons--Piero, Giacopo and Antonio. Piero served
the supreme office of _Gonfaloniere_ in 1462. He was the father of a
numerous family--some historians say he had nineteen children by his
wife, Madonna Fiammetta de' Guigni! None of them, however, made their
mark in the life and history of the city, except the fourth son,
Belforte Renato, who was a prominent man but suffered for the ill-doings
of his relations.

If Piero and his sons were unassuming citizens, Messer Andrea's second
son, Giacopo, was of a very different disposition. A man of far greater
ability and more vaulting ambition than his brother, he was looked upon
as the head of the family. In appearance he was prematurely old and
withered up, with a pallid face and palsied frame, with great restless,
staring eyes. He perpetually tossed his head about from side to side, as
though afflicted with St Vitus' dance. Giacopo was unmarried, a
libertine, notorious as a gambler and a blasphemer, a spendthrift, and
jealous--beyond bounds--of the popularity and pre-eminence of Piero and
Lorenzo de' Medici. He was pointed at as the most immoral man in
Florence. In the year of Lorenzo's succession to the place of _Capo
della Repubblica_, he obtained by bribery the high office of
_Gonfaloniere di Giustizia_ as a set-off, but, by an inconsistency as
unexpected as it was transparent, he accepte