Pazzi conspiracy
During his lifetime, Raffaello Maffei was in contact with many humanist philosophers including Pico della Mirandola, Angelo Poliziano, and Michele Marullo. He had an amicable relationship with the Florentine Lorenzo de Medici, despite Antonio Maffei's involvement in the Pazzi conspiracy. Raffaello and his brother Mario were close to the first Medici pope, Pope Leo X. When Raffaello left the Papal Curia, he remained aware of Roman events due to his correspondence with family members working in Rome. He was known in the Italian Peninsula and widely in Europe for his humanist writings.