- With the political situation much worsened followed by his brother's murder, Lorenzo is firm on risking everything to save his city which is excommunicated and family, which now includes his deceased brother's son Giulio.
- Pope Sixtus IV, instigated by his ambitious, warlike cousin Girolamo Riario , has an army ready to invade Florence, where moral is shattered by collective excommunication, which the Tuscan bishops dare not overrule. Lorenzo refuses to go beg in Rome for peace and papal absolution, fearing imprisonment, but enables a crucial prisoner exchange by releasing cardinal-nepote Raffaele, yet when Carlo de' Medici is released form papal jail, horsemen murder him on the way home. Meanwhile Lorenzo relaxes his initial doubts about the boy being accepted by his female household kin as Giulio, bastard of the late Giuliano who escaped by clerical help the murder of his mother by Riario's henchmen. Little notice is taken of Florentine 'prophet' Savonarola, while pious charity declines and misery mounts.—KGF Vissers
- Few years after the barbarous Pazzi Conspiracy resulting in the murder of Giuliano de' Medici, the story starts in a Florentine countryside where few men attack a house of a woman named Fioretta Giorini looking for her son Giulio, whom she hides under her floorboards to escape and to take refuge in a nearby church. Upon discovering her lying about her son the man kills Fioretta mercilessly and her son Giulio after witnessing the murder of his mother escapes narrowly and approaches Priest Timothy. On the other hand, Lorenzo de' Medici much saddened and enraged about him being betrayed and his younger brother being brutally murdered commissions his painter friend Sandro Botticelli to paint the dead figures of the men involved in Giuliano's murder, yet leaving a vacant place to draw the corpse of the last surviving conspirator Girolamo Riario who happens to be Pope Sixtus IV's nephew who then visits the Medici family bringing Pope's last offer of peace with Lorenzo only if he goes to Rome and seeks for Pope's forgiveness for hanging Bishop Francesco Salviati in his holy vestments. While Lorenzo stays adamant for not seeking any sort of forgiveness or penance from the murderous Pope, resulting in Florence city being excommunicated by Pope Sixtus, who then bans all the holy sacraments and orders the lock-down of the churches, thus an attempt to turn the Florentine public against Lorenzo, witnessing this Lucrezia bewares her son into considering the possibility to make peace with the Pope as their city cannot bear a war due to lack of support from Milanese and Venetian allies. However, the Prior Lords of the Priori stay on Lorenzo's side against Sixtus, except Niccolo Ardinghelli and Giacomo Spinelli who ask Lorenzo to submit to Sixtus's terms or the Florentine public would have to tolerate on behalf of his ego as they stand with no potential allies. Lorenzo visits Giuliano's grave in the cathedral and meets Priest Girolamo Savonarola who counsels him and suggests him to handle the papal threat with caution and to show the tyrant side of Sixtus to the people rather than becoming tyrant himself. Moreover, Priest Timothy brings the orphaned and weary Giulio to the Medicis where he tells Lucrezia and Clarice about the boy being fathered by Giuliano. Lucrezia believing this to be absolute true asks Lorenzo to let Giulio live with them to which Lorenzo objects claiming Giulio to be a bastard of anyone but Giuliano but upon Clarice's insistence agrees him to live in their house. Lorenzo who now decides to offer Sixtus peace in another way, releases Sixtus's nephew Cardinal Raffeal (who was taken captive immediately after the conspiracy) while asking the Pope to admit his part in the murder of Giuliano, thus enraging Riario who suggests Sixtus into asking Naples' army to intervene and attack Florence aided by the papal army. Sixtus on the other hand stays reluctant for the war and orders the captive Carlo de' Medici be released in exchange for Raffael. Carlo who upon being released witnesses Riario receiving a letter from King of Naples. Later while on his way back to Florence, Carlo is attacked by two of the guards, but he escapes. Now realizing that the war is coming to hit Florence soon, Lorenzo addresses the Priori to recruit mercenaries for defense, although his suggestions are again opposed by Niccolo Ardinghelli who accuses him of being the reason behind Florence's suffering. While on his way, Lorenzo meets a man named Bruno Bernardi who tends to impress him with his philosophical intellect and political ideas resulting in Lorenzo hiring him to be his counselor in future. On the other side, Riario expresses his true ambitions to his wife Caterina Sforza to acquire real power to himself by gaining Florence and destroying the Medici family and to further serve to his ambitions he persuades Sixtus into attacking Florence with the help of Naples, but much to his dismay Sixtus stays firm on avoiding war so that people would not find him a tyrant Pope. Clarice who happens to be helping the deprived people of Florence under the excommunication through money and food witnesses the ruined state of the people and bewares Lorenzo into thinking of a possible way to avoid the people suffering and turning against him eventually. Lorenzo then convinces the Bishops of Florence to establish an Episcopal Council against Sixtus to lift the excommunication to relieve the suffering of the people, thus enraging the Pope who eventually submits to Riario's suggestions to attack Florence with the aid of Naples. Fortunately, an injured Carlo finally approaches his family in Florence and tells Lorenzo of witnessing a letter from Naples for Riario and alerts him of an upcoming attack over them led by Girolamo Riario and king of Naples.
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