House of Pazzi

"The Pazzi were a potent and venerable family, reduced to rubble by one young Assassin."

―Rodrigo Borgia, reflecting on the collapse of the Pazzi family, 1485.

The House of Pazzi was a familial group of Tuscan nobles who owned banks throughout the Italian city of Florence during the 15th century. Affiliated with the Templars, the Pazzi family became infamous for their failed attempt to gain control of the city through a conspiracy to murder its rulers, the House of Medici.

History

Conflict with Giovanni Auditore

Less powerful rivals of the Medici family, the Pazzis, along with Rodrigo Borgia, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, planned a conspiracy to overthrow the Medici by killing the family's most prominent members, Lorenzo and Giuliano.

In 1476, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, Lorenzo's close friend and a member of the Assassin Brotherhood, discovered the involvement of the Pazzi family in a conspiracy against the Medici. Moving to forestall this, Giovanni managed to have Francesco de' Pazzi put in jail.However, the plot had already reached members of the Medici government itself. Uberto Alberti, the Gonfaloniere of Justice and secretly a Templar, freed Francesco, and executed Giovanni for treason alongside his sons Federico and Petruccio, removing the Auditore family from Florence.

With Giovanni dead, there was no barrier between the Pazzi and control of the city, until Ezio, Giovanni's only surviving son, planned his revenge. On 14 April 1478, Ezio joined his uncle Mario and his mercenaries, and infiltrated San Gimignano, he witnessed a meeting between the Pazzis and Rodrigo Borgia. During the ensuing battle between the mercenaries and Pazzi forces, Ezio killed his brash and aggressive rival Vieri de' Pazzi, the youngest of the Pazzi family.

The Pazzi Conspiracy

Jacopo de' Pazzi and the Pazzi Conspirators

In 1478, Ezio returned to Florence to spy on the Pazzi as they attended a meeting with other Templars in the catacombs under the Santa Maria Novella church. It was in this meeting that they planned the assassinations of both Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano de' Medici. Among the conspirators were Stefano da Bagnone, Bernardo Baroncelli, Francesco Salviati, Antonio Maffei, Jacopo de' Pazzi and Francesco de' Pazzi. Rodrigo Borgia led the meeting and informed the conspirators that they had been given "spiritual" and military support from Pope Sixtus IV.

The next day, the conspirators executed their plan. They publicly attacked the Medici brothers in front of the Duomo with Francesco and Bernardo brutally stabbing Giuliano to death. At the same time, Stefano and Antonio severely wounded Lorenzo, but fled when he drew his sword. Francesco and others continued to attack Lorenzo, but withdrew when Ezio Auditore da Firenze intervened. Lorenzo was forced to retreat to his Palazzo, while Pazzi forces engaged Medici loyalists in earnest. As Ezio escorted Lorenzo back to his Palazzo, the latter loudly declared that Francesco de Pazzi would die and that his entire family would be erased.

Francesco gained control of the Palazzo della Signoria, but Medici forces continued to resist. Meanwhile, Ezio fought his way to the roof of the palazzo and confronted Francesco. Francesco fled immediately, but was pursued over the city's rooftops, hunted down, and killed by Ezio.

Downfall

Jacopo assassinated by Ezio

When Jacopo arrived at the Palazzo with the support of many Florentine citizens, it was far too late; Francesco's naked corpse had already been hung from the roof, causing the panicked Jacopo to flee the city on horseback. After their plot failed, the conspirators fled Florence to hide in the city of San Gimignano and in the surrounding Tuscan countryside. Despite this, Ezio hunted down and slew all of the conspirators. Jacopo went to plead his case to Rodrigo Borgia, meeting him covertly in an ancient Roman theatre, but was instead fatally wounded and used as bait to trap Ezio. Ezio fought his way out of the trap and ended Jacopo's suffering, and the Pazzi family with it. With its ruling family gone, San Gimignano was taken over by the Medici.

With the rule of the Medici, Lorenzo honored his promise and stripped the Pazzi family of everything, wiped their names from the tombstones, and threw them into prison, even those who played no part in the conspiracy.

Legacy

After the downfall of the family, they lost much of their political power, influence, and social standing. During Ezio Auditore’s confrontation with Lucrezia Borgia at the Castello Sant'Angelo, it was revealed that Lorenzo de’ Medici, driven by a desire for revenge following the Pazzi Conspiracy, went to great lengths to strip the family of all its assets. He had them imprisoned, including individuals who had no involvement in the conspiracy. The women of the family were forbidden to marry, and the family tombs were dismantled, effectively erasing their legacy from historical records.

By modern times, the Templars regarded the Borgias and the Pazzi as a dark chapter in the history of the Order, as both families were more obsessed with acquiring power and wealth for personal gain rather than advancing the Templar agenda of world domination.

From September to October of 2012, Desmond Miles relived Ezio Auditore's genetic memories in order to learn his ancestor’s skills and locate Ezio’s Apple of Eden. Through his ancestor, he witnessed the downfall of the Pazzi conspiracy.

Family tree

Andrea de' Pazzi

Jacopo de' Pazzi

Antonio de' Pazzi

Francesco de' Pazzi

Vieri de' Pazzi

Viola de' Pazzi

Trivia

• The term pazzi is the masculine plural of Italian pazzo, which translates to 'crazy, fool, madman' in English. However, the adjective predates the family name of the House of Pazzi.
• Historically, the Pazzi family had members fight in the First Crusade during the Siege of Jerusalem, the first Christian soldier to climb over the walls of Jerusalem was Pazzino Pazzi, an ancestor of the 15th century family members.
• The Pazzi's personal guards were the only guards to patrol Florence until Sequence 4. However, Medici guards did not appear in Florence from 1476 until 1478 even though the Medici were in power.
• Francesco de' Pazzi was the only non-Assassin to perform a Leap of Faith in Assassin's Creed II, and can be difficult to pursue due to his exceptional freerunning abilities.
• There was also an unnamed member of the Pazzi family, Francesco de' Pazzi's cousin, whom Ezio assassinated during a contract in Venice. It is unknown whether he was involved in the conspiracy or a member of the Templar Order. This man, however, might be a reference to Renato de Pazzi, an actual Pazzi conspirator who was executed along with Jacopo and Francesco.
• The Pazzi's favored colors seems to be gray with white stripes, since Vieri, Jacopo, and Francesco as well as their supporters had this color scheme in their clothes.
• In Assassin's Creed: Renaissance it was stated that the Pazzi emblem was two dolphins on a blue background, as historically accurate, whereas in Assassin's Creed II, it is shown as two dolphins on a red background.
• In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Ezio briefly sung a song about Vieri and Francesco de' Pazzi's deaths while masquerading as a minstrel.
• Historically, the Pazzi owned the Villa di Maiano, the probable inspiration for the Villa Auditore.
• Historically, the Pazzi returned to Florence after Piero de' Medici was overthrown and supported Girolamo Savonarola's rule, only to be banished by the Medici again when they returned to power after the friar's execution.

Gallery

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  Jacopo de' Pazzi
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  Francesco de' Pazzi
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  Vieri de' Pazzi
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  Francesco and Bernardo Baroncelli attacking Giuliano de' Medici
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  Ezio assassinating Vieri
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  Ezio assassinating Francesco
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  The Insignia of the House of Pazzi from Assassin's Creed: Identity

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Identity (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History – Renaissance (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (indirect mention only)