Common action seemed impossible.

The Medicean party, or Palleschi, were either extreme in their devotion to the ruling house, and desirous of establishing a tyranny; or else they were moderate and anxious to retain the Medici as the chiefs of a dominant oligarchy.

The point of union between these two divisions of the party was a prejudice in favor of class rule, a hope to get power and wealth for themselves through the elevation of the princely family The popular faction on the other hand agreed in wishing to place the government of the city upon a broad republican basis.

But the leaders of this section of the citizens favored the plebeian cause from different motives.

Some sought only a way to riches and authority, which they could never have opened for them under the oligarchy contemplated by the Palleschi.