Girolamo Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo, c. Fra Bartolomeo or Fra Bartolommeo ( di Pagholo) ( March 28, 1472 &ndash October 6, 1517) also known as Baccio della 1498.

Girolamo Savonarola (September 21, 1452 – May 23, 1498), also translated as Jerome Savonarola or Hieronymus Savonarola, was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Events 1430 - Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany He was known for anti-Renaissance preaching, book burning, and destruction of what he considered immoral art. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Book burning (a category of biblioclasm or book destruction is the practice of destroying often ceremoniously, one or more copies of a book or other written material He vehemently preached against what he saw as the moral corruption of the clergy, and his main opponent was Pope Alexander VI. Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja ( He is sometimes seen as a precursor of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, though he remained a devout and pious Roman Catholic during his whole life. Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time

His religious actions have been compared to those of the later Jansenists, although many theological differences exist. Jansenism was a branch of Catholic Gallican thought which arose in the frame of the Counter-Reformation and the aftermath of the Council of Trent

Biography

Early years

Savonarola was born in Ferrara, the capital of an independent Duchy. Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. The Duchy of Ferrara is a former sovereign state of northern Italy According to another source, he was born at Occhiobello, 7 km from Ferrara.

In his youth he studied the Bible, St. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Thomas Aquinas, and Aristotle. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Savonarola initially studied at the University of Ferrara, where he appears to have taken an advanced Arts degree. The University of Ferrara (Università degli Studi di Ferrara is the main University of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern His stance against morally corrupt clergy was initially manifested in his poem on the destruction of the world entitled De Ruina Mundi (On the Downfall of the World), written at the age of 20. It was at this stage that he also began to develop his moral voice, and in 1475 his poem De Ruina Ecclesiae (On the Downfall of the Church) displayed his contempt of the Roman Curia by terming it 'a false, proud whore'. The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope

Florence

Statue of Savonarola in his birthplace, Ferrara, Italy. Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Savonarola became a Dominican friar in 1475, during the Italian Renaissance, and entered the convent of San Domenico in Bologna. The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is A Friar is a member of one of the Mendicant orders. Friars and monks Friars differ from Monks in that they are called to a life of poverty in service The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy He immersed himself in theological study, and in 1479 transferred to the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Finally in 1482 the Order dispatched him to Florence, the ‘city of his destiny’. Savonarola was lambasted for being ungainly, as well as being a poor orator. He made no impression on Florence in the 1480s, and his departure in 1487 went unnoticed. He returned to Bologna where he became 'master of studies’.

Savonarola returned to Florence in 1490 at the behest of Count Pico della Mirandola. Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola ( February 24, 1463 - November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance Philosopher. There he began to preach passionately about the Last Days, accompanied by visions and prophetic announcements of direct communications with God and the saints. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity Such fiery preachings were not uncommon at the time, but a series of circumstances quickly brought Savonarola great success. The first disaster to give credibility to Savonarola’s apocalyptic message was the Medici’s family weakening grip on power due to the French-Italian wars. The flowering of expensive Renaissance art and culture paid for by wealthy Italian families now seemed to mock the growing misery in Italy, creating a backlash of resentment among the people. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic The second disaster was the appearance of syphilis (or the “French pox”), possibly brought back by sailors from the New World, which was a running epidemic and as deadly as the plague. Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. The New World is one of the names used for the non-Eurasian/non-African parts of the Earth specifically the Americas and Australia. In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a Plague is a deadly Infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis. Finally, the year 1500 was approaching, which brought about a mood of millennialism. This is an article on sociological Millennialism You may be looking for the article on Christian Premillennialism. In minds of many, the Last Days were impending and Savonarola was the prophet of the day.

Savonarola's banner for religious processions, displayed at his former monastery (now the Museo di San Marco), Florence. A banner is a Flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol logo slogan or other message A procession (via Middle English processioun, French procession, derived from Latin processio, itself from procedere, to go forth advance This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany

His Church of St. Mark was always crowded to excess during his celebration of Mass and his sermons. The Mass is the Eucharistic celebration in the Latin liturgical rites of the Roman Catholic Church. A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic Savonarola was not an academic theologian. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective He did not proclaim theological theories or difficult teachings. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective The word theory has many distinct meanings in different fields of Knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. Instead, he preached that Christian life involved being good, practicing the virtues, rather than carrying out displays of excessive pomp and ceremonies. Virtue ( Latin virtus; Greek) is moral Excellence. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual He did not seek to make war on the Church of Rome. Rather, he wanted to correct the transgressions of worldly popes and secularized members of the Papal Curia. The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope

Lorenzo de Medici, the previous ruler of Florence and patron of many Renaissance artists, was also a former patron of Savonarola. Lorenzo de' Medici (January 1 1449 &ndash 9 April 1492 was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Eventually, Lorenzo and his son Piero de Medici became targets of Savonarola’s preaching. Piero de' Medici ( February 15, 1472 &ndash December 28, 1503) called Piero the Unfortunate, was the Gran maestro

After Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494, the ruling Medici were overthrown and Savonarola emerged as the new leader of the city, combining in himself the role of secular leader and priest. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death He set up a rather modern democratic republic in Florence. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its Characterizing it as a “Christian and religious Republic,” one of its first acts was to make sodomy, previously punishable by fine, into a capital offence. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Homosexuality was previously tolerated in the city, and many homosexuals from the elite left Florence. His chief enemies were the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI, who issued numerous restraints against him, all of which were ignored. The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1859 when Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja (

Painting of Savonarola's execution in the Piazza della Signoria. Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy.

In 1497, he and his followers carried out the Bonfire of the Vanities. Bonfire of the Vanities (Falò delle vanità refers to the burning of objects that are deemed to be occasions of sin. They sent boys from door to door collecting items associated with moral laxity: mirrors, cosmetics, lewd pictures, pagan books, immoral sculptures (which he wanted to be transformed into statues of the saints and modest depictions of biblical scenes), gaming tables, chess pieces, lutes and other musical instruments, fine dresses, women’s hats, and the works of immoral and ancient poets, and burnt them all in a large pile in the Piazza della Signoria of Florence. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. ^[1] Many fine Florentine Renaissance artworks were lost in Savonarola’s notorious bonfires — including paintings by Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo Buonarroti, which are said to have been thrown on the pyres by the artists themselves, though there are some who question this claim. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all

Florence soon became tired of Savonarola because of the city’s continual political and economic miseries, where God did not seem to intervene to come to the city's aid, and the Last Days did not seem to come about despite the city government's insistence that the Apocalypse was near to fulfillment.

During his Ascension Day sermon on May 4, 1497, bands of youths rioted, and the riot became a revolt: dancing and singing taverns reopened, and men again dared to gamble publicly. The general and most common understanding of the Christian Doctrine of Ascension holds that Jesus bodily ascended to Heaven in the presence A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Riots are a form of Civil disorders characterized by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of Violence, Vandalism or other

Excommunication and execution

A plaque commemorates the site of Savonarola’s execution in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany

On May 13, 1497, the rigorous Father Savonarola was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, and in 1498, Alexander demanded his arrest and execution. Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja ( On April 8, a crowd attacked the Convent of San Marco; a bloody struggle ensued, during which several of Savonarola’s guards and religious supporters were killed: he surrendered along with Fra Domenico da Pescia and Fra Silvestro, his two closest associates. Savonarola was faced with charges such as heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and even other crimes, called religious errors by the Borgia pope. Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means This is about the law term For other uses see Sedition (disambiguation Sedition is a term of Law which refers to covert conduct

During the next few weeks all three were tortured on the rack. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally All three signed confessions; the torturers spared only Savonarola’s right arm, in order that he might be able to sign his confession, which he did sometime prior to May 8. The confession of one's Sins is a religious practice important to many faiths e On that day he completed a written meditation on the Miserere mei, Psalm 50, entitled Infelix ego, in which he pleaded with God for mercy for his physical weakness in confessing to crimes he believed he did not commit. Psalm 51 ( Greek numbering Psalm 50) traditionally referred to as the Miserere, its Latin Incipit, is one of the Penitential psalms Infelix ego ("Alas wretch that I am" is a Latin meditation on the Miserere, Psalm 51, composed in prison by Girolamo Savonarola On the day of his execution, May 23, 1498, he was still working on another meditation, this one on Psalm 31, entitled Tristitia obsedit me. Events 1430 - Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne ^[2]

Display of Savonarola's monastic habit (Museo di San Marco). A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a Religious order.

On the day of his execution he was taken out to the Piazza della Signoria along with Fra Silvestro and Fra Domenico da Pescia. Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. The three were ritually stripped of their clerical vestments, degraded as "heretics and schismatics", and given over to the secular authorities to be burned. Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century The three were hanged in chains from a single cross; an enormous fire was lit beneath them; they were thereby executed in the same place where the "Bonfire of the Vanities" had been lit, and in the same manner that he had condemned other criminals himself during his own reign in Florence. Jacopo Nardi, who recorded the incident in his Istorie della città di Firenze, wrote that his executioner lit the flame exclaiming, “The one who wanted to burn me is now himself put to the flames. Jacopo Nardi ( 1476 - March 11 1563) was an Italian Historian from Florence. ” Luca Landucci, who was present, wrote in his diary that the burning took several hours, and that the remains were several times broken apart and mixed with brushwood so that not the slightest piece could be later recovered, as the ecclesiastical authorities did not want Savonarola’s followers to have any relics for a future veneration of the rigorist preacher they considered a Saint. The ashes of the three were afterwards thrown in the Arno beside the Ponte Vecchio. History and construction The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times when the Via Cassia ^[3]

Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince, also witnessed and wrote about the execution. Il Principe ( The Prince) is a political Treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist The Medici subsequently regained control of Florence.

Character and influence

His religious actions have been compared to those of the later 17th and 18th century Jansenists, although theologically many differences exist. Jansenism was a branch of Catholic Gallican thought which arose in the frame of the Counter-Reformation and the aftermath of the Council of Trent Savonarola did not produce a theological doctrine on salvation, and faithfully adhered to even minor theological definitions of the papal Magisterium. However Savonarola's call to simplicity in church interior and his rigorous moral stances have been compared to those of Jansenists. Also the insistence on the immediate danger of hell and the fewness of the elect can be considered to be a similarity. Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering

After Savonarola's death, a secret Catholic group known as the Piagnoni sprang up in Florence to preserve his memory, organized into a sort of Catholic guild. Franciscan Friars were prominent among the Piagnoni, and they briefly re-appeared in 1527 when they once again overthrew the Medici, but through intervention of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation it was brought to an end in 1530 at the Battle of Gavinana and the Medici were restored to power. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Battle of Gavinana was a battle in the War of the League of Cognac.

Savonarola left many admirers throughout Europe, in particular among religiously pious humanists who valued his deep spiritual convictions. Erasmus, who refused to become a Protestant is said to have remained Catholic due to the lecture of Savonarola. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation.

In the twentieth century, a movement for the canonization of Frà Savonarola began to develop within the Roman Catholic Church, particularly among Dominicans, with many judging his excommunication and execution to have been unjust. Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a Saint and is included in the canon or list of recognized saints The Order of Preachers ( Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum) after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is His potential beatification and canonization is opposed by many Jesuits, who consider Savonarola's (secular) conflict with the papacy to have been an intolerable crime. Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed via Greek μακάριος makarios) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic church The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and ^[4]

Notes

References

• Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, James Lawson, Warner Press, 1911, pp. 73–84.
• Bonfire Songs: Savonarola's Musical Legacy (1998), Patrick Macey, Clarendon Press, Oxford
• New York Times, Savonarola, Second Lecture of the Course by Dr. Lord at Association Hall, January 10, 1871, pp. 2–3.
• Joachim Weinhardt, Savonarola als Apologet. Der Versuch einer empirischen Begründung des christlichen Glaubens in der Zeit der Renaissance (Berlin–New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003), Pp. xi+296 (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte, 83. )

Further reading

• Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola in IV volumes (1888) by Pasquale Villari
• Scourge and Fire: Savonarola and Renaissance Florence (2006) by Lauro Martines, ISBN 0224072528
• Savonarola and Florence (1970) by Donald Weinstein
• The Life of Girolamo Savonarola (1959) by Roberto Ridolfi
• The Meddlesome Friar (1957) by Michael de la Bedoyere
• Savonarola (1930) by Piero Misciattelli (trans. Pasquale Villari ( 3 October 1827 &ndash 11 December 1917) was an Italian historian and politician Roberto Ridolfi or di Ridolfo ( November 18, 1531 – February 18, 1612) was an Italian and Florentine nobleman by M. Peters-Roberts)
• Savonarola: A Biography in Dramatic Episodes (1927) by William Van Wyck. (A play. )
• The Renaissance (1953) by Will Durant
• The Florentine Monk (1869) by Charles Spurgeon
• The history of the popes, from the close of the Middle Ages : drawn from the secret archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 40 vols. William James Durant ( November 5, 1885 &ndash November 7, 1981) was a prolific American popularizer in the fields of History Charles Haddon Spurgeon, commonly CH Spurgeon, ( June 19, 1834 &ndash January 31, 1892) was a British Reformed The Vatican Secret Archives ( Latin: Archivum Secretum Apostolicum Vaticanum) located in Vatican City, is the central repository for all of the acts promulgated (1891) by Ludwig von Pastor. Ludwig Pastor, later Freiherr von Campersfelden ( January 31, 1854 – September 30, 1928) was a German historian and a diplomat See vol. V, 171ff. , Corruption of the Italian Clergy of all Ranks, and 181ff. , Fra Girolama Savonarola.
• Savonarola: his Contest with Paganism (1851) by Orestes Brownson

Fictionalizations

• The novel Romola by George Eliot features Savonarola as a central character. Romola (1862–63 is a Historical novel by George Eliot set in the fifteenth century and is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence Mary Ann (Marian Evans ( 22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880) better known by her Pen name George Eliot, was an
• The novel The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason makes extensive references to Savonarola. This article relates to the 2004 novel For the legal term see Rule of four The Rule of Four is a Novel written Ian Caldwell is an American Novelist After graduating from Princeton University in 1998 he and his childhood friend Dustin Thomason co-wrote Dustin Thomason is an American Writer. He co-wrote the 2004 Novel The Rule of Four with his childhood friend Ian Caldwell
• The novel The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant makes extensive references to Savonarola. The Birth of Venus A Novel is a 2003 Novel by Sarah Dunant, a bestselling British Author. Sarah Dunant (born Linda Dunant 8 August, 1950, in London, England) is the author of many international bestsellers most recently
• In Natahan Combs' The Burning of Girolamo Savonarola 2006 film, Savonarola deplores the way history has treated him and his legacy. Includes a reenactment of the Bonfire of the Vanities.
• Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Palace, a novel of the Comte st. Germain, features Savonarola and his Bonfire of the Vanities
• The novel I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis also features Savonarola as a central character. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is a professional writer The Count Saint-Germain is a fictional character from a series of novels written by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
• The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi, by Jacqueline Park, features Savonarola as a rather menacing character.
• The novel The Jamais Vu Papers, by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin, features Savonarola as a character in the dream world, perpetually burning, and father to scientist Imogene Savonarola.
• The short story, "Savonarola Brown" by Max Beerbohm features a spoof play about Savonarola. Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm ( August 24, 1872 &ndash May 20, 1956) was an English parodist and caricaturist.
• The novel The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone describes Michelangelo's brother as a later-regretful disciple of Savonarola and the effect of Savonarola on the Medici family. Irving Stone ( July 14 1903 San Francisco California – August 26 1989) was an American Writer known for his Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all Girolamo Savonarola ( September 21, 1452 &ndash May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from Girolamo Savonarola ( September 21, 1452 &ndash May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from It also describes how Savonarola was eventually assassinated and hung upside down a la Mussolini. Girolamo Savonarola ( September 21, 1452 &ndash May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from
• The novel The Magus by John Fowles refers to Savonarola's confinement prior to his execution, "Sometimes rooms seem to imbibe the spirit of the people who have lived in them- think of Savonarola's cell in Florence". John Robert Fowles ( March 31, 1926 &ndash November 5, 2005) was an English Novelist and Essayist.
• The play, Bonfires and Vanities, by Candida Cave features the struggle between Savonarola, Lorenzo de'Medici and Pope Alexander Vl.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Girolamo Savonarola
• NNDB entry on Girolamo Savonarola