1478

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political events

George, duke of Clarence, is impeached for treason by his brothers Edward IV and Richard, duke of Gloucester and secretly put to death in the Tower of London at age 29, being by some accounts drowned in a butt (cask) of Malmsey (Madeira wine).

Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano come under attack while attending high mass in the cathedral at Florence April 26 in a plot engineered by banker Francesco de Pazzi with help from Pope Sixtus IV to remove the Medicis from power (see 1475). Giuliano, now 25, is stabbed to death by Francesco before the horrified eyes of the poet Politian, but Lorenzo beats back his assailants after sustaining only minor wounds and takes refuge in the sacristy. Florentines rally to the support of the Medici, and Lorenzo wreaks vengeance on the Pazzi, hanging several from the palace windows, having others savagely hacked to pieces then dragged through the streets and thrown into the Arno, while still other supporters of the Pazzi are condemned to death or sent into exile. Those killed on the spot include Francesco Salviati, archbishop of Pisa, whom Lorenzo has refused to recognize; failure of the conspiracy will lead to a 2-year war with the papacy, but it strengthens the power and popular support of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Venice elects Giovanni Mocenigo, 70, as its new doge. A brother of the late naval hero and doge Pietro Mocenigo, who died 2 years ago, Giovanni will conclude peace next year with the Ottoman Empire.

Novgorod loses its independence after a second war with the grand duke of Muscovy Ivan III. The great commercial center has been independent since 1136 (see 1479).

commerce

Lorenzo the Magnificent withdraws 200,000 gold florins from the Florence city treasury to cover the default of the Medici branch at Bruges. He is excommunicated by Pope Sixtus IV, who resents the Medici family's efforts to block papal control of Romagna and has supported the Pazzi family in its conspiracy against Lorenzo (see 1480).

religion

Isabella of Castile and León launches an Inquisition with the approval of Rome to enable the crown to control inquiries into whether or not converted Jews may be "Judaizers" who secretly practice their original faith (see Vatican's Inquisition, 1231; 1252). Isabella hopes to contain a popular movement in the towns, where preachers and theologians have created trouble with wild accusations about neighbors whose grandfathers were converted to Christianity nearly a century ago (see 1481; Torquemada, 1483).

art

Painting: Primavera (Spring) by Florentine painter Sandro (Alessandro di Mariano de Filipepi) Botticelli, 34, for the villa at Costello of Lorenzo Pierfrancesco de' Medici, a cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Botticelli studied under the late Fra Filippo Lippi and has also done work for the palazzo of the great Lorenzo on the Via Larga; St. Sebastian by Perugino.

Brussels becomes the center of Europe's tapestry industry following the destruction of Arras.

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