Savonarola

 **Girolamo Savonarola**  

        **   Introduction   **

 Savonarola was a Dominican monk in Florence during the early high Renaissance. He greatly opposed the secular lifestyle of the Florentines and eventually came to rule the city-state. Savonarola turned Florence into a puritanical state and urged the Florenentines to repent, which resulted in the infamous Bonfire of Vanities. Savonarola was imprisoned and executed at the end of his rule.

 **   Early L i fe    **

 Girolamo Savonarola was born in the Italian city of Ferrara on September 21, 1452. He was born into a noble family and was therefore well educated. Even at an early age, Savonarola abhorred the corruption within the ranks of the clerical heirarchy. Savonarola also demonstrated a dislike for humanism, claiming that it led to the corruption of religion. The young Savonarola also displayed a high disregard for festivities of any kind and a court life. He was a devout and austere Christian, and was supposed to have a career in medicine. After a failed romantic advance, Savonarola turned to his religion in 1474 and decided to join the Dominican order in Bologna, Italy. After spending six years in the Dominican monestary in Bologna, Savonarola was sent to his hometown on a missionary trip. He was soon recalled to Bologna and despatched to Florence to preach in the church of San Marco.


 * Clerical Career in Florence **

 Savonarola was initially enthralled by the Florentine vibrance, but he soon became horrifiedat the Florentine  people's lack of religion. In 1482,   Savonarola began his tirade against the church, claiming that it neded to be reformed. Not many people liked Savonarola's radical views           and avoided his preaching all together. After failing to gain followers, Savonarola decided to teach in a convent, but became more religious, claiming to have visions of the Apocolypse. He started preaching in St. Gemignano during the years 1484 and 1485 and gained a lot of influence in the church. Savonarola was asked to return to Florence in 1490 and gave a sermon in St. Mark's which drew the attention of many Florentines. Disregarding advice to preach only about religious matters, Savonarola began to criticize the Medici rule. Savonarola held a lot of power during this time period, and his rule basically began here. When Lorenzo d'Medici died in 1491, Savonarola was the only powerful figure left in the city. The Medici did not last long after Lorenzo, so the city was Savonarola's for the taking. Even while Savonarola was gaining prestige in Florence, he continued to write clerical works such as //The Triumph of the Cross//.

 ** Ruling Florence **

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">The French king Charles VIII became an ally of Savonarola because he was also a devout Catholic, although not so much as Savonarola. Savonarola proved an interesting and initially successful politcial leader. He lowered taxes, eased unemployment, eased starvation and began a democratic government under a constitution. The Florentine people were extremely trusting because they had no recent experience in self-government. Savonarola turned Florence into a puritanical state. There was abstinance for half the year, and hymns filled the streets instead of bawdy songs. Savonarola enlisted the Florentine youth to form their own organization which helped put on the Carnival of 1497 in which the Florentines brought all of their symbols of humanism (paintings, books, ornaments, etc.) and burned them in the Bonfire of the Vanities. The dark side of Savonarola's rule was the emergence of a secret religious police who would enter houses and take away sinful items such as dice and cards. Savonarola still advocated clerical reformation with Florence as the center. Since Savonarola was becoming too powerful, Pope Alexander VI started to bribe him with various clerical positions and ordered him to come to Rome and defend his prophecies--Savonarola knew this was a trap and refused to go. The Pope sent a second papal brief which forbid the monk from preaching. Savonarola completely disobeyed the Pope and continued preaching, this time against Pietro d'Medici, head of the Arrabbiati (a group of political men who despised Savonarola). This did not sit well with the Pope, and therefore Savonarola's relations with the papacy became very tense. Savonarola started preaching violently against the church and their corruption. In May of 1497, he was excommunicated from the Catholic church. Savonarola again disregarded this papal decree and continued to preach and perform his churchly duties. Thereafter, the plague hit Florence, and the Pope was otherwised engaged for a period of time.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 150%; COLOR: #dd4646; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">**Decline and Death of Savonarola**

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Painting of Savonarola's execution in the Piazza della Signoria." Following the plague, Pietro d'Medici's conspiracy plot was discovered, and he along with five other men were killed. Savonarola did not raise his voice in protest and began to lose popularity with the Florentines. The Pope became more adament and said that if the Florentines did not stop Savonarola, then they would have to send him to Rome to be tried by the papacy. Savonarola decided that he would rather stop preaching then go to Rome and be executed. Then, a Franciscan friar named Francesco de Puglia challenged Savonarola to an Ordeal by Fire to prove his prophecies. A ardent follower of Savonarola accepted the challenge, and it was set to take place on April 7, 1948. The challenge was set up, but on the day it did not take place. Instead, the crowd became chaotic, and monestary of San Marco was attacked. Monks were captured and tortured. Savonarola continued to write in his prison cell until he was hanged on the 23rd of May in 1948. His following fell away in Florence, and the Pope finally had Florence under the control of the church, although it was not a theocracy.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13490a.htm http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/savonarola.html http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9065944/Girolamo-Savonarola http://www.nndb.com/people/631/000094349/