The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Vorderschnitt unregelm�g, sonst ein sehr gutes und sauberes Exemplar ohne Anstreichungen / fore edge irregular, otherwise an excellent and clean copy with no markings. - The Italian Renaissance is remembered as much for intrigue as it is for art, with papal politics and infighting among Italy�s many city-states providing the grist for Machiavelli�s classic work on take-no-prisoners politics, The Prince. A murderous attack on the Medici brothers in the Duomo in Florence in 1478, called the Pazzi Conspiracy, is one of the best-known examples of the ruthlessness of the age. While the assailants were known to be the Medici�s rivals, the Pazzi family, questions have always lingered about who really orchestrated the attack. More than five hundred years later, Marcello Simonetta found the answer. Working in a private archive in Italy, he stumbled upon a coded letter written by Federico da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino, to Pope Sixtus IV. Using a codebook written by his own ancestor to crack its secrets, Simonetta unearthed proof of an all-out power grab by the Pope for control of Florence. Montefeltro, long believed to be a close friend of Lorenzo de� Medici, was in fact conspiring with the Pope to unseat the Medici and put the more malleable Pazzi in their place. In The Montefeltro Conspiracy, Simonetta unravels this plot, showing how it came together and how its failure (only one of the Medici brothers, Giuliano, was killed; Lorenzo survived) changed the course of Italian history for generations. In the course of this gripping narrative, we encounter the period�s most colorful characters, relive its tumultuous politics, and discover that two famous paintings, including one in the Sistine Chapel, contain the Medici�s astounding revenge. / CONTENTS PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS PROLOGUE part l Winter 1476-Spring 1478 I. Milan Is for Murder 2.Overly Cautious 3. Nothing Unsaid 4. The Invisible Hands 5. Eliminate Them! part II: Spring 1478-Summer 1482 6. Florence Is for Fear 7. Extreme Measures 8. Lives at Stake 9. Traveling South 10. Resting in Peace part III: The Sistine Chapel and Botticelli�s Spring 11. Ominous Ends afterword ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SOURCES NOTES OTHER SOURCES ILLUSTRATION CREDITS INDEX. ISBN 9780385524681