page_title: Girolamo Savonarola
section_title: Florence
hierarchical_section_title: Girolamo Savonarola / Florence
caption_attribution_description: English: Girolamo Savonarola statue - Ferrara, Italy. This statue is immediately proximate to the Castello Estense in the city center.
context_page_description: Girolamo Savonarola, was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. Savonarola is famous for burning books, and for the destruction of what he considered immoral art. Savonarola was a priest but he preached against the moral corruption of the clergy and the Church of Rome. His main enemy was Pope Alexander VI. He is sometimes seen as a forerunner of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, however he remained a devout Roman Catholic.
  In the twentieth century, a movement for the canonization of "Frà Savonarola" began to develop within the Roman Catholic Church, particularly among Dominicans. Many believe that his excommunication and execution were not legal. However, his beatification and canonization is opposed by many Jesuits, who think Savonarola's attacks on the papacy to have been a serious crime.
context_section_description: Savonarola became a Dominican friar in 1475, and entered the convent of San Domenico in Bologna. He studied theology. In 1479 he went to the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli. In 1482 the Dominicans sent him to Florence, the ‘city of his destiny’. After five years, he went back to Bologna where he became 'master of studies’.
  He returned to Florence in 1490 and began to preach about the end of the world. He had visions and prophecies which he said had come to him from God and the saints. Several disasters made his prophecies real. He spoke about the failing power of the ruling Medici family. Savonarola never tried to make war on the Roman Curia. He wanted to put an end to the sins of the popes who cared more about their riches and power than they did about God .
  After Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494, the ruling Medici were removed. Savonarola became the new leader of the city, both as a secular leader and priest. He set up a rather modern democratic republic in Florence. Savonarola wanted to make Florence a city devoted to God, a good “Christian and religious Republic.” Homosexuality had been acceptable in Florence, and many were important people. One of Savonarola's first laws was to make sodomy a crime which would be punished by death.
  In 1497, he and his followers went to the Piazza della Signoria, and began to burn mirrors, cosmetics, obscene pictures, pagan books, gaming tables, musical instruments, fine dresses, women’s hats, and the works of immoral and ancient poets. They also burnt paintings by some famous artists, such as Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo. This event is now called the "Bonfire of the Vanities".
caption: Statue of Savonarola in, Ferrara, Italy.
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