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

The Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles, and bankers of Florence during the 15th century. They are most famous for the "Pazzi Conspiracy." They are also members of the Knights Templar in Assassin's Creed II.

Conspiracy
The Pazzi family were established in Florence as one of the most powerful families of the city, with possession of their own personal guards, posted all around the city. However they could not hope to rule, as long as the de facto governors of Florence, the Medici family, still held it. Rodrigo Borgia, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, proposed that they overthrow the Medici by killing its head: Lorenzo de' Medici.

The Start of the Conspriracy
In 1476, Giovanni Auditore, a close friend of Lorenzo and a member of the Assassins, sworn enemies of the Templars, discovered the involvement of the Pazzi family in a conspiracy against the Medici. He managed to put Francesco de' Pazzi in jail. However, the plot had already reached members of the Medici government itself. Uberto Alberti, the gonfaloniere of justice, freed Francesco, and executed Giovanni alongside his sons Federico and Petruccio for treason, wiping out the rival family of the Pazzi from Florence.

With Giovanni dead, there were no more obstacles in the way of the Pazzi, until Ezio, the last surviving son of Giovanni, decided to fulfill his vengeance against the ones responsible for his father's murder. Joining with his uncle Mario, Ezio infiltrated San Gimignano, witnessed a meeting between the Pazzi family and Rodrigo Borgia, and killed his rival, Vieri de' Pazzi.

The Battle at the Duomo
In 1478, Ezio returned to Florence. At the same moment, the Pazzi were having a meeting with the other Templars (excluding the Venetian and Forlì branch) in the catacombs under the church of Santa Maria Novella. Ezio attended it unnoticed, thanks to the help of La Volpe and an Assassin Tomb. There, they planned the assassination of Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano. Among the conspirators were Stefano da Bagnone, Bernardo Baroncelli, Francesco Salviati, Antonio Maffei, the two members of the Pazzi family, Jacopo and Francesco, and the Templar Master Rodrigo Borgia. Additionally, they were given "spiritual" and military supports from His Holiness Pope Sixtus IV.

The next day, they executed their plan. In front of the Santa Maria del Fiore, they publicly attacked the Medici brothers. Francesco and Bernardo brutally stabbed Giuliano to death, while Stefano and Antonio severely wounded Lorenzo, but fled when he drew his sword. Francesco confronted Lorenzo and attacked him with a group of men, but Ezio intervened and slew all the offenders except the primary conspirators. Lorenzo was forced to withdraw to his Palazzo, while Pazzi forces engaged Medici loyalists in earnest.

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

The Conspiracy's Failure
When Jacopo arrived at the Palazzo with the support of many citizens, it was far too late: Francesco's dead body had already been hung from the rooftop of the building. With the failure of their plot, the Pazzi left Florence to hide in the Tuscan countryside and the city of San Gimignano. Despite this, Ezio (again with Mario`s help) hunted down and slew all of the co-conspirators. Jacopo went to plead his case with Borgia, but was instead fatally wounded and used as bait for a trap. Ezio fought his way out of the trap and ended Jacopo`s life, and the Pazzi family with it. With its ruling family gone, San Gimignano (and presumably what was left of the faction) was taken over by the Medici.

Trivia

 * The Pazzi's personal guards are the only guards to patrol Florence, until Sequence 4. This is odd, since the Medici guards do not appear in Florence from 1476 (the beginning of the game), until 1478 (the end of Sequence 4) even though the Medici were in power.
 * Francesco de' Pazzi is the only non-Assassin to have performed the Leap of Faith in Assassins Creed II, and can be difficult to pursue due to his exceptional free-running ability.
 * There is also another unnamed member of the Pazzi Family, Francesco de Pazzi's cousin who you have to assassinate for one of the assassination contract missions. It is unknown whether this family member was involved in the Pazzi Conspiracy or if he was even a Templar.
 * The Pazzi family had members fight during the Crusades. In the First Crusade, during the Siege of Jerusalem, the first Christian soldier to climb over the walls of Jerusalem was Pazzo Pazzi, an ancestor to the Pazzi of the 15th century.
 * The term pazzi, roughly translated, means "crazy".