April 26
On the morning of April 26, 1478, Giovan Battista arrived at the head of thirty mounted crossbowmen and fifty soldiers of foot on the pretense that he was there to safely conduct the Cardinal back to Rome after his visit. It was then that Battista learned that he was to be Lorenzo's assassin at the luncheon banquet later in the day. Battista was reluctant, but agreed that it would take a man skilled at arms to successfully slay a man quickly in such precarious circumstances as a crowded luncheon. Battista and his mounted crossbowmen escorted the Cardinal and his entourage to the Medici Palace that morning to "inspect the grounds" in order to safeguard the Pope's nephew - in actuality, Battista was familiarizing himself with the layout to facilitate his escape after the assassinations.
Lorenzo had been and gone and was awaiting them at the cathedral as agreed upon. When word came to him that the Cardinal was at the palace he rushed back and met his guests near its entrance. Together they walked to the cathedral where High Mass was being delayed to accommodate their arrival. Battista walked along side Lorenzo, chatting pleasantly, liking the man and suppressing the urge to warn him of the plot.
As the party entered the cathedral, Lorenzo again frustrated the conspirators by stating that Giuliano was still ailing and would not be joining them for the luncheon after High Mass - it almost appeared that Lorenzo suspected such a double assassination attempt and was keeping his distance from Giuliano to prevent it. Panicked, the conspirators searched the cathedral and discovered that Giuliano was not present for High Mass either.
Time had run out - if the assassinations did not take place this day, they would be delayed for months, even years. The Archbishop and Francesco put their heads together and quickly came up with an alternate plan; Francesco would go back to the Medici Palace and bring Giuliano back for High Mass. As mass concluded, they would strike, killing the brothers right there in the cathedral.
As Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli rushed to cajole Giuliano into joining them at the cathedral, Archbishop Salviati informed Messr Jacopo of the change in plan. Both the Archbishop and Jacopo would have to leave the cathedral before Mass ended in order to rally the populace and oversee the taking of the Palazzo della Signoria then send the signal to the troops waiting outside the city walls. But when Archbishop Salviati whispered the change of plan to Giovan Battista, the professional soldier was horrified that the murders were to take place in Florence's holiest cathedral. Battista refused to spill blood on sacred ground - murder was one thing, sacrilege another. But the Archbishop had a back-up plan; He approached the two priests, Maffei and Stefano who were eager to please their religious superior. They held no such qualms and would murder Lorenzo in the cathedral.
High Mass began at last. Lorenzo moved amongst those gathered, quietly chatting with Messr Jacopo and other old friends on the south side of the cathedral near the old sacristy. Maffei and Stefano silently shadowing him; Maffei with a knife in his sleeve and Stefano with a short sword and buckler concealed beneath his priest's robes. Francesco and Bernardo arrived a few minutes later, coming in through the door nearest to the Via de' Servi, with Giuliano in tow. The stage was set. All awaited the signal.
As High Mass neared its end, Archbishop Salviati and Messr Jacopo slipped out to attend their appointed tasks. Maffei and Stefano gripped their hidden weapons and moved in right behind Lorenzo, where he was chatting with his brother-in-law, Guglielmo de' Pazzi. Francesco and Bernardo stood behind and on either side of Giuliano, drawing their own daggers. There was a hush as the Priest spoke the words; "Ite missa est" - "go, it is over", signaling the end of High Mass and unknowingly signaling the murders.
Next: Murder in the Cathedral