HISTORICAL NOTE

The corruption in the Church in the Early Renaissance is well documented and was no secret at the time. As an example, Pope Sixtus IV was deeply involved in the “Pazzi Conspiracy,” a plot to murder two leading Florentines, Lorenzo (“the Magnificent”) de’ Medici and his brother Giuliano, planning to replace them with Girolamo Riario, one of his own nephews. The two de’ Medici were assaulted in front of the altar of the cathedral during Mass. Lorenzo was wounded, but escaped; his brother died. Sixtus also established the Spanish Inquisition and confirmed the notorious Tomás de Torquemada as its grand inquisitor. He was one of the bad popes. Some of his successors were even worse, and yet it was almost fifty years before Martin Luther launched the Reformation.