Savonarola, Girolamo 647his landscapes and spaces have been called ethereal. His
last work was a FRESCOof the Coronation of the Virgin,
once at the Porta Romana in Siena in 1450. He had
numerous Sienese followers. He died in 1450.
See also ANGELICO,FRA;GENTILE DA FABRIANO;
GOTHIC.
Further reading:Bruce Cole, Sienese Painting in the
Age of the RenaissanceBloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1985); John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy, Sassetta
(London: Chatto & Windus, 1939).
Satan SeeDEVIL.
Sava Nemanja of Serbia, Saint (Rastko Nemanyic,
Saba)(1175–1235)patron of the arts, theologian, founder
of the Serbian Church, statesman
Sava of SERBIA, or Rastko, was born about 1170/75, the
third son of Stefan Nemanja (r. ca. 1167/68–96), grand
Zupan or king of Serbia, and his wife, Anne. He became a
monk on MOUNTATHOSin 1192. Sava and his father,
who had joined him in the monastic life, later founded
the Serbian monastery of Chilandar in about 1196. He
established the cult of Saint Symeon near Chilandar and
then at Studenitsa, where the RELICSof this first Serbian
saint were transferred in 1206 or 1207. At Studenitsa or
Studentica between 1207 and 1217, Sava sponsored FRES-
COESand the building of two monasteries in 1208–09.
Highly educated and a connoisseur of the arts, he influ-
enced numerous artistic projects at Studenitsa and else-
where, reproducing the styles of the artists of
CONSTANTINOPLE, thus linking Serbian religious art and
culture to the great artistic centers of Byzantium.
In 1219, having the confidence of the patriarch and
emperor of NICAEAbecause of his consistent Orthodoxy,
Sava was consecrated an archbishop. The Serbian Church
soon became independent under his leadership. In 1220
Sava organized Serbian bishoprics, consecrated bishops,
and drew up dioceses. He founded monasteries in Serbia,
on Mount Athos, and at JERUSALEM, overseeing the draw-
ing of their foundation charters endowments. As the
leader of the Serbian Church, he was carried out impor-
tant diplomatic ecclesiastical missions to CONSTANTINO-
PLE, Nicaea, PALESTINE, Sinai, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, and
ANTIOCH. Sava died at Turnovo in 1235. In 1236/7 his
relics were transferred to Mileseva. In 1594/5 the
OTTOMANTURKSexhumed and publicly burned them at
Belgrade in an attempt to suppress his nationalistic cult.
Further reading:Nicholas Velimirovicˇ, The Life of St.
Sava(Libertyville, Ill.: Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese
for United States of America and Canada, 1951); Alain
Ducellier, “Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria,” in The New
Cambridge Medieval History.Vol. 5, c. 1198–c. 1300,ed.
David Abulafia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1999), 779–795; Mateja Matejic, Biography of Saint Sava
(Columbus: Kosovo, 1976).
Savonarola, Girolamo (Socrates of Ferrara)(1452–
1498)Italian Dominican friar, reformer
He was born at FERRARAin northern ITA LYon September
21, 1452. He received a good education through the
efforts of his grandfather, a Paduan physician at the court
of the ESTE. Perceiving that he had a vocation to the
priesthood, in 1475 he entered the DOMINICAN ORDER
at BOLOGNA. In 1479 he was sent back to Ferrara as a
novice master and in 1482 he moved to Florence and the
Convent of Saint Mark. There he taught biblical exegesis
and began to preach ineffectively at first. At San
Gimignano, in 1485, he felt himself to be inspired with a
prophetic mission for the reform of the church through
preaching. After trips to Bologna and other towns, he
returned to Florence in 1490. There he began preaching
on the theme of living a true Christian life and predicting
that a catastrophe that would soon bring about a new life
for the church.REFORMING IDEAS
On April 6, 1491, he publicly denounced the tyrannical
government of the first citizen of Florence, Lorenzo de’
Medici, the Magnificent (1449–92). After being elected as
prior of Saint Mark’s, he continued to preach along the
same lines. After the death of Lorenzo on May 8, 1492, he
predicted the imminent arrival of a divine punishment
for the city. Savonarola in the meantime published a
series of treatises on his own spiritual life as guides for
others. Assuming that the reform of the whole church
must begin with the one at Florence, he obtained an order
on August 13, 1493 from Pope ALEXANDERVI removing
Saint Mark’s Convent from the Dominican province of
LOMBARDY. This autonomy allowed him to work more
ardently for beginning reform from Saint Mark’s.
In August 1494, King Charles VIII (r. 1483–98) of
France invaded Italy. On September 21 Savonarola
preached in the cathedral to a terrified congregation that
a real retribution for the many sins of the city was on its
way. Piero de’ Medici (1471–1503), Lorenzo’s son and
successor, fled the city. Savonarola met the king of France
and persuaded him to go around the city on his way to
NAPLESto claim his Angevin inheritance of that kingdom
of Naples. Given more prestige by this, Savonarola
preached and sought to persuade Florence to effect inter-
nal peace and a moral reform that would make it a model
for institutional and personal reform. As part of this, he
preached against gambling, carnival festivities, and
worldly adornment and display. Great bonfires of the van-
ities soon followed. Such preaching and officially man-
dated austerity, however, was only temporarily popular.FLORENTINE AND PAPAL POLITICS
The flight of the Medici at the same time led to the estab-
lishment of a new republic of Florence in late December- Nonetheless internal discord remained strong in
the city and led to the formation of two parties, the