Pazzi family
Pazzi arms, attributed to Donatello; Palazzo Pazzi, Florence
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| Ethnicity | Italian |
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| Current region | Tuscany |
| Place of origin | Republic of Florence |
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The Pazzi were a noble Florentine family of the Mediaeval and Renaissance periods. In 1342 they gave up their titles of nobility so that members could be elected to public office. Their main trade during the 15th century was banking.
The traditional story is that the family was founded by Pazzo di Ranieri, first man over the walls during the Siege of Jerusalem of 1099, during the First Crusade, who returned to Florence with flints supposedly from the Holy Sepulchre, which were kept at Santi Apostoli and used on Holy Saturday to re-kindle fire in the city. The historical basis of this legend has been in question since the work of Luigi Passerini Orsini de' Rilli in the mid-nineteenth century.
The first apparently historical figure in the family is the Jacopo de' Pazzi who was a captain of the Florentine (Guelph) cavalry at the battle of Montaperti on 4 September 1260, and whose hand was treacherously severed by Bocca degli Abati, causing the standard to fall.
Andrea de' Pazzi was the patron of the chapter-house for the Franciscan community at the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence and commissioned construction of the Pazzi Chapel.
His son Jacopo de' Pazzi became head of the family in 1464.
Guglielmo de' Pazzi married Bianca de' Medici, sister of Lorenzo de' Medici, in 1460.
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