caption predecessor successor succession birth_place death_date death_place birth_date image article_title reign
girolamo museo di san marco , florence . savonarola by fra bartolomeo , c. 1498 , piero de ' medici '' republican restoration '' ruler of florence ferrara , duchy of ferrara 23 may 1498 florence , republic of florence 21 september 1452 girolamo savonarola.jpg girolamo savonarola
 1494 -- 1498
girolamo savonarola

girolamo savonarola -lrb- ; 21 september 1452 -- 23 may 1498 -rrb- was an italian dominican friar and preacher active in renaissance florence .
he was known for his prophecies of civic glory , the destruction of secular art and culture , and his calls for christian renewal .
he denounced clerical corruption , despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor .
he prophesied the coming of a biblical flood and a new cyrus from the north who would reform the church .
in september 1494 , when charles viii of france invaded italy , and threatened florence , such prophesies seemed on the verge of fulfilment .
while savonarola intervened with the french king , the florentines expelled the ruling medici and , at the friar 's urging , established a `` popular '' republic .
declaring that florence would be the new jerusalem , the world center of christianity and `` richer , more powerful , more glorious than ever '' , he instituted an extreme puritanical campaign , enlisting the active help of florentine youth .
in 1495 when florence refused to join pope alexander vi 's holy league against the french , the vatican summoned savonarola to rome .
he disobeyed and further defied the pope by preaching under a ban , highlighting his campaign for reform with processions , bonfires of the vanities , and pious theatricals .
in retaliation , the pope excommunicated him in may 1497 , and threatened to place florence under an interdict .
a trial by fire proposed by a rival florentine preacher in april 1498 to test savonarola 's divine mandate turned into a fiasco , and popular opinion turned against him .
savonarola and two of his supporting friars were imprisoned .
under torture , savonarola confessed that he had invented his visions and prophecies .
on may 23 , 1498 , church and civil authorities condemned , hanged , and burned the three friars in the main square of florence .
savonarola 's devotees , the piagnoni , kept his cause of republican freedom and religious reform alive well into the next century , although the medici -- restored to power in 1512 with the help of the papacy -- eventually broke the movement .
