The Pope's Fury
When news of the failed conspiracy and the executions of the conspirators reached Pope Sixtus IV in Rome, he flew into a rage directed at Lorenzo de' Medici and the government of Florence. He immediately began a campaign to destroy Florence and the Medici, beginning with the arrest of all Florentine merchants in Rome. Later, once releasing them, forbade them to send any goods or money out of the Holy City. In June he issued a bull of excommunication naming Lorenzo de' Medici, distributing it to heads of state throughout the Italian peninsula. That same month, Sixtus offered a plenary remission of sins and other Papal indulgences to all men who took up arms against Florence, plus put Florence, Fiesole, and Pistsoia under an interdict - local clergy were to suspend all religious services or face censure themselves. In the ultimate abuse of his power, the Pope coerced King Ferrante of Naples to declare war on Florence.
All of these actions are indicative that Pope Sixtus IV not only knew of the plot to assassinate the Medici brothers, but that he approved of it, for none of his rage was directed at his nephew, Count Girolamo Riario who had hatched the murderous plot supposedly against his uncle's "official" wishes. Little did the he realize that not only would his political posturings and war on Florence fail as miserably as the assassinations and coup d'etat had, but in the end, his sworn enemy Lorenzo de' Medici, would emerge a Florentine hero and go on to stymie Papal political ambitions for the remainder of Sixtus' life.
Next: Pazzi War/Paper War