How a mercenary’s detailed testimony became a primary source for one of history’s most famous plots.
Giovanni Battista da Montesecco. From Montesecco. Count. Brother of Leone da Montesecco.
Born: 1450 ca.
Death: 1478, May
| Year, Month | State, Mercenary Company | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
| 1469, Aug. | Church | Rimini | Romagna | He fights in the war of Rimini against Roberto Malatesta. He is wounded in the battle of Mulazzano. For his merits, he is given command of the infantry garrison of Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome. | |
| Forlì | |||||
| 1474, June | Church | Città di Castello | Umbria | He serves under the orders of Pino Ordelaffi. He besieges Niccolò Vitelli in Città di Castello; he has a squad of men-at-arms under his command. During the operations, he positions himself with Girolamo Riario towards the gate that faces Borgo a San Sepolcro (Sansepolcro). | |
| 1476, Nov. | Milan | Piedmont | At Crova, at the review of his company. | ||
| 1477, May-June | Lazio | He meets secretly in the Vatican with the Archbishop of Pisa, Francesco Salviati, and Francesco dei Pazzi: the foundations are laid for a conspiracy against Lorenzo and Giuliano dei Medici in Florence. For his participation, Giovanni Battista da Montesecco is promised the lordship of Sassoferrato. | |||
| 1477, Oct.-Nov. | Church | Manfredi | Romagna | He is sent to Faenza to support the cause of Carlo Manfredi, who is attacked by his brother Galeotto, who aspires to the lordship of the city. | |
| 1478 | He is also proposed by the lord of Forlì, Girolamo Riario, and by Pope Sixtus IV (Papa Sisto IV) to go to Florence and assist the Pazzi in their attempt to seize the lordship of Florence from Lorenzo and Giuliano dei Medici. | ||||
| 1478, Apr. | Romagna and Tuscany | He leaves Imola with 30 crossbowmen on horseback and 50 infantrymen; he goes to Florence under the pretext of reaching Montone to besiege Carlo di Montone there. He meets with Lorenzo dei Medici and takes lodging at the Campana inn; according to some sources, he is immediately seized by doubts about the goodness of the task entrusted to him. He refuses to kill the Medici in the cathedral as he was ordered. The murder in the church is thus undertaken by two priests, Antonio Maffei of Volterra and the apostolic secretary Stefano di Bagnorea: the plot fails. According to other testimonies, upon the killing of Giuliano dei Medici, Giovanni Battista da Montesecco tries to kill his brother Lorenzo who, although wounded in the neck and left arm, is able to barricade himself in the sacristy with the help of some priests. The condottiero with many crossbowmen on horseback and Jacopo dei Pazzi occupy the Porta di Santa Croce to keep the escape route open: he heads to the square and the Palazzo dei Signori. No popular reaction arises; at the same time, the troops that are supposed to arrive from Forlì and Città di Castello to support his action are delayed. Having fled, he is captured in Val di Bagno, hidden in a Benedictine convent: he spontaneously confirms the details of the plot in writing. He presents himself as a faithful soldier in the service of the pope, who followed superior orders disinterestedly, while raising doubts about the feasibility of the plan. He is the only one among the conspirators not to suffer the humiliating hanging. He is beheaded (after commending himself to the Madonna) the same evening at the door of the Palazzo del Podestà. His head is placed on the same threshold. |
Sources
-“Condottiere esercitato in armi e amicissimo al conte Hieronimo (Girolamo Riario) per molti benefici ricevuti.” VALORI
-“Uomo riputatissimo per senno e sperienza..Avea fama di esser fra ‘condottieri pontifici uno dei più onorati e più riputati da Sisto (Sisto IV).” BRUTO
-“Era uno dei primi condottieri del suo tempo.” PEROSA
-“Uomo molto d’assai e quello che era stato molto adoperatore in detto tradimento (la congiura dei Pazzi).” PRIORISTA
-“Uomo valente, animoso ed esercitato.” MACHIAVELLI
-“Erat is magni vir ingenii, multi consilii et sagacis animi, ad obeundas res maxime dexter, neque vero in iis non saepe exercitatus.” POLIZIANO
-“Homo d’arme e animoso pel passato.” PARENTI
-“A mercenary soldier in the service of Girolamo Riario.” BROWNING
-“La (sua) Confessione è contenuta nella difesa della Repubblica fiorentina redatta dal suo cancelliere Bartolomeo Scola in data 11 agosto 1478 e fu pubblicata per la prima volta da Giovanni Adimari, in appendice all’edizione del “Commentarium Pactianae coniurationis” di Angelo Poliziano.” FALCIONI
-“Uomo valente, animoso ed esercitato.” GUICCIARDINI
-“Quello sciagurato mercenario, che pure aveva avuto un momento di pentimento, sperava forse con quelle rivelazioni di avere salva la vita, ma non ottenne altro vantaggio che di morire di scure invece che di capestro, il che si giudicava allora un modo meno vituperevole e più consono all’onore militare.” DORINI
-“Cresciuto nella professione delle armi, questo nobilotto era il prototipo dei molti capitani reclutati dalla costa adriatica di Marche e Romagna, per secoli terra di coltura di mercenariato… Per la notorietà conquistata con la confessione, Montesecco passò alle cronache dell’epoca come un uomo onorevole e di equilibrato giudizio, nonostante fosse legato a doppio filo ai suoi capi, il conte Girolamo Riario e lo zio del conte, papa Sisto IV.” MARTINES
-“A noted condottiere who led a company of Perugian condottieri. From Montesecco’s own confession, it would appear that he joined the plot with some reluctance and had warned conspirators.. He finally agreed to and the plot on condition that he was not asked to act against Lorenzo de’ Medici personally… Montesecco, the reluctant condottiere conspirator provided a confession, presumably under torture, and was beheaded in the Bargello. His confession survives in the Florence archives and is the main source on the failed conspiracy.” MURPHY
Featured image: wikipedia
