Montesicco was instructed to make himself and his lieutenant familiar with the stage upon which he was destined to play his part of the plot, and especially to observe the persons and the habits of the two Medici princes.  Furthermore, he was directed to seek a personal interview with Lorenzo, on the pretence of submitting suggestions, propounded by Count Girolamo, with respect to the acquisition of some poderi near Faenza.

Lorenzo received his visitor with his usual courtesy and hospitality, and, whilst he wondered why Riario should depute such a redoubtable warrior to deal with peaceful matters, he never dreamt that foul play was intended.  Montesicco was greatly impressed by the Magnifico’s ingenuousness and nobility of character, and still more by the evident esteem and affection in which he was held by all classes of the population.  He earnestly reconsidered the bargain he had made:  “I resolved,” he said in his confession, “that my sword should not slay that just man.”

The counsels at Montughi were divergent and acrimonious.  At length a resolution was agreed to, as offering a suitable and secure locality for the perpetration of the deed in contemplation, namely, to invite Lorenzo to Rome in the name of Sixtus.  Such a step would be regarded as a proof that the Pope no longer opposed Lorenzo’s government, but that a modus vivendi had been reached, agreeable to all parties.  Giuliano was to be included in the invitation as well.  Of course the hope was entertained that a favourable opportunity would be afforded, during the Papal hospitalities, for the murder of the two brothers.

The Archbishop took the lead in all these deliberations—­he and Giacopo de’ Pazzi were boon companions.  “They made no profession of any virtue,” wrote Ser Varillas, in his Secret History of the Medici, “either moral or Christian; they played perpetually at dice, swore confoundedly, and showed no respect for religion.”

Confident in the general support of all the members of his family, in any demonstration against the hated Medici, he took into his personal confidence his brother, Giacopo de’ Salviati—­“an obscure, sordid man”—­and his nephew, Giacopo—­“a wastrel and a fanatical anti-Medicean.”

Among the trustworthy Florentine confederates the Archbishop enrolled Giacopo, son of the famous scholar, Poggio Gucchio de’ Bracciolini, originally a protege of Lorenzo, but “dismissed his service for insolence and rapacity”; Giovanni Perugino, of San Gimignano, a physician attached to Cavaliere Giacopo’s household; Giovanni Domenico, a bridle-maker and athlete, but “an idle sort of fellow”; and Napoleone de’ Franzesi, a friend of Guglielmo de’ Pazzi, Lorenzo’s brother-in-law.  Another adherent was Messer Giovanni da Pisa, a notary, but “a factious and bad man.”