Biography
Girolamo Savonarola was born on September 21, 1452, in Ferrara, Italy, into a family of physicians. His grandfather was a well-known doctor at the court of the d'Este family, and he intended to raise Girolamo to follow him. The boy was a serious and thoughtful youth, with a great love for the Scriptures and for prayer. He studied medicine and philosophy, but he was disturbed by what he saw of the corruption and luxury of the age. He was also troubled by the moral decay of the church. In 1475, at the age of twenty-two, he left home secretly and entered the Dominican order at Bologna. He left a letter to his father in which he explained that he could no longer endure the wickedness of the world.
He spent several years in the Dominican convents, teaching and studying. He was sent to Florence in 1482, to the convent of San Marco. His early preaching was dull and met with little response. He was discouraged and went to preach in other towns. In San Gimignano, in 1485, he gave a series of sermons on the Apocalypse, and he began to speak with prophetic force. He warned of the judgment of God on the church and on Italy. He said that a scourge would come and that the church would be renewed.
He returned to Florence in 1490 at the invitation of Lorenzo de' Medici, the ruler of the city. His sermons in the cathedral drew crowds. He spoke against the vanity and luxury of the rich, the oppression of the poor and the worldliness of the clergy. He insisted that Florence repent and turn to Christ. His preaching was passionate and direct, and it stirred the city. When Lorenzo died in 1492, Savonarola was in the room, though some accounts differ about what passed between them.
In 1494, the French king Charles VIII invaded Italy, and the Medici were driven out of Florence. Savonarola had predicted the invasion, and many saw this as a fulfillment of his prophecy. He became the leading voice in the city, and he helped to set up a new republic. He called for a government based on justice and the fear of God. Under his influence, the city passed laws against gambling, usury and immoral behavior. Children were organized to collect the vanities of the city. In February 1497, a great bonfire was held in the public square, in which luxury items, books, cosmetics, musical instruments and works of art were burned. It became known as the Bonfire of the Vanities.
His strict rule and his attacks on the pope made him powerful enemies. Pope Alexander VI, a corrupt man who had children by his mistresses, was the target of Savonarola's denunciations. The pope tried to silence him, offering him a cardinal's hat. Savonarola refused. In 1497, he was excommunicated. He continued to preach, though some in Florence began to turn against him. The city suffered from plague and famine, and his rivals used these troubles against him. In 1498, he was arrested.
He was tortured and forced to confess to false prophecy. He was tried by a commission and condemned. On May 23, 1498, he was hanged and burned in the Piazza della Signoria, in Florence, along with two of his fellow friars. He was forty-five years old. His ashes were thrown into the River Arno.
His legacy has been debated. Some regard him as a true prophet who called the church to reform. Others see him as a fanatic who tried to impose a harsh rule on a city. Martin Luther later praised him as a forerunner of the Reformation. His life shows the courage of a man who spoke truth to power, and also the dangers of a zeal that seeks to compel a city by law. He is a reminder that reform must be accompanied by humility.