Savonarola, Girolamo 1452-98
Italian religious and political reformer

He was born into a noble family in Ferrara, and in 1474 entered the Dominican order at Bologna. After initial failures he was soon acclaimed as a great and inspiring preacher and in 1489 he was called to Florence, where a humanist revival in art and literature was supported by Lorenzo de' Medici. Savonarola's preaching pointed to a political revolution as a divinely ordained means of spiritual regeneration. When, after the intervention of Charles VIII of France, the Medici were expelled and a republic was established in Florence, Savonarola became its leader. The republic of Florence was to be a Christian commonwealth, of which God was the sole sovereign, and his Gospel the law; many flocked to the public square to fling down their costliest ornaments, which Savonarola's followers made into a huge 'bonfire of vanities'. His claim to the gift of prophecy led to his being cited (1495) to answer a charge of heresy in Rome, and when he failed to appear he was forbidden to preach. He disregarded the order, and was excommunicated in 1497. In the following year the Medici party came back into power. Savonarola was again forbidden to preach. He was tried for false prophecy and was hanged in Rome. His works are mainly sermons, theological treatises, the chief The Triumph of the Cross, an apology of orthodox Catholicism, some poems, and a discourse on the government of Florence.

Bibliography: Roberto Ridolfi, The Life of Girolamo Savonarola (1959)