Stefano da Bagnone (1418 – 3 May 1478) was an Italian presbyter, known for having taken part in the

Pazzi conspiracy The Pazzi conspiracy () was a failed plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence. On 26 April 1478 there was an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother ...

against

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

Biography

Stefano was born in 1418 in

Bagnone Bagnone is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa in the Lunigiana, facing the Monte Sillara, which has a peak elevation ...

. Having taken his religious vows, he entered the service of Jacopo de' Pazzi, a Florentine banker, as chaplain and tutor to his daughter

Caterina Caterina is a feminine given name which is an Italian form of the name ''Katherine''. Notable people with the name include: In music: * Caterina Assandra, Italian composer and Benedictine nun * Caterina Bueno, Italian singer and folk music hist ...

. Of republican and liberal ideas, he was hostile to the government of

because he considered it tyrannical. For this reason, in April 1478, he agreed to take part in the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

conceived by Jacopo to kill Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano. Initially, the two were to be eliminated during a dinner in their

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

by the mercenary Giovanni Battista Montesecco, but Giuliano's absence prevented the project from being carried out. The conspirators then decided to eliminate the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

brothers during the Easter mass on 26 April 1478, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. However, Montesecco refused to kill on sacred ground, so the task of killing Lorenzo was entrusted to Stefano, Antonio Maffei and Bernardo Bandini. The three failed, both through inexperience and through the intervention of Francesco Nori, and Lorenzo survived with only a few minor injuries. Later, Lorenzo turned the crowd against the conspirators, who in a few days were almost all captured and killed. Stefano and Antonio were captured, tried and tortured, having their ears and nose cut off. On 3 May 1478, after making a complete confession, they were hanged from the windows of

Palazzo della Signoria A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Popular culture

* Stefano da Bagnone appears in the video game ''

Assassin's Creed II ''Assassin's Creed II'' is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second major installment in the Assassin's Creed, ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and the sequel to 2007's ''Assassin's Creed ...

'', as one of the victims of the protagonist Ezio Auditore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnone, Stefano da 1418 births 1478 deaths People executed by Italy by hanging Italian criminals 15th-century people from the Republic of Florence 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests