The Tragedies of the Medici by Edgcumbe Staley
page 59 of 270 (21%)
page 59 of 270 (21%)
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the apartment alone. He asked him to be speedy, as he had to join the
banquet to the Cardinal di San Giorgio almost immediately. Salviati said he was the bearer of his family's greetings to the _Gonfaloniere_, and also of a private Brief to him from the Pope. His manner seemed so strange, and his errand so irregular, that Petruccio's suspicions were aroused, and raising the arras, he saw the passage was filled with armed men. At once he called the palace guard to arrest the intruders, and caused every door of exit to be locked. The object, of course, of the Archbishop and those with him was to seize the person of the _Gonfaloniere_ and possess themselves of the Banner of Justice--that they might rouse the citizens to fight in its defence. On the contrary, the people were for the Medici, and "_Palle!_" "_Palle!_" prevailed. Noting that the Salviati did not leave the palace, and that the guards had been withdrawn from the gate and every door was bolted, the populace broke into the building, rescued the _Gonfaloniere_, and the _Signori_ with him, and seized the persons of the intruders. Without more ado they ran the miscreants, Francesco, Giacopo, and Giacopo di Giacopo de' Salviati, Giacopo de' Bracciolini, and Giovanni da Perugia, up to the lantern of the Campanile, and, thrusting their bodies through the machicolations, hung them head downwards! Others of the party and some of the Cardinal's servants, who had accompanied the Archbishop, were flung from the windows. Cavaliere Giacopo de' Pazzi was neither at the Duomo, nor did he accompany the Archbishop to the Palazzo Vecchio. His part was to await |
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