Note 47 — Chapter I · —How the King of France cajoled the English after the Duke of Burgundy’s Death, for fear they should have interrupted him in the Conquest of the Territories belonging to the said Duke.—1477.

The assassination of Lorenzo de’ Medici had been committed, in the first instance, to Giovan Battista Montesecco, a distinguished condottiere in the service of the Pope; and he had willingly undertaken the office, whilst he understood that it was to be executed in a private dwelling; but he shrank from the idea of polluting the house of God with murder. Two ecclesiastics—Stefano da Bagnone, an apostolic scribe, and Antonio Maffei, a priest of Volterra—were therefore selected for the commission of the bloody deed. Maffei aimed a blow at Lorenzo’s throat, which took effect behind his neck, and only roused him to defend himself. Drawing his sword, he drove off his assailants, and made good his retreat to the sacristy.—See Roscoe’s Lorenzo de’ Medici, pp. 142-144.