At first, his use of the didactic and ob-
scure language of religious scholars turned
listeners away. He left the city in 1487 but
returned under the patronage of Count
Pico della Mirandola in 1490. He contin-
ued his sermons and gained a following
by speaking in a more direct and popular
manner. His accurate predictions of cer-
tain worldly events also earned him a
reputation as a prophet.
In 1491 Savonarola became the prior
of San Marco. His biting criticism of the
Florentine aristocrats and tyrants inspired
the anger of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler
of Florence who advised the monk to con-
trol his tongue or suffer the consequences.
In 1492, the monk boldly denied Lorenzo
absolution of his sins, as punishment for
his tyranny over the city. In the same year,
Savonarola’s accurate prediction of the
deaths of Lorenzo as well as Pope Inno-
cent VIII brought him a fearful respect
among ordinary citizens. After Lorenzo’s
son Piero succeeded his father as ruler of
the city, Savonarola’s influence increased;
his prediction of a coming catastrophe as
punishment for the city’s sins and tyranny
found a receptive audience.
In 1494, Piero de’ Medici was deposed
and Savonarola became the city’s ruler, in-
tending to make Florence a pure, republi-
can example for the rest of Italy. Savon-
arola saved his severest criticism for the
Papacy, which he saw mired in luxury and
corruption, an institution in dire need of
reform. For this reason, he supported the
invasion of Italy by the French under King
Charles VIII, seeing in this event an op-
portunity for Florence and the other cities
of northern Italy to establish democratic
governments and for the Papacy to change
its ways. Savonarola personally negotiated
with Charles after the king deposed Piero
de’ Medici, and convinced Charles to mod-
erate his demands. After this event Savon-
arola became the absolute master of Flo-
rence.
In 1495, Savonarola had passed a new
constitution establishing republic in Flo-
rence. He reformed the tax code, replacing
arbitrary levies with a tax of 10 percent on
property, assessed against all citizens
equally. He made sodomy a capital offense,
banned popular entertainments, forced the
Florentines to don plain clothing, and or-
ganized the famous Bonfire of the Vani-
ties, the destruction of books, artworks,
and vain luxuries (mirrors, musical instru-
ments, games, cosmetics, jewelry, fine
clothing) in the Piazza della Signoria. The
Renaissance of new learning, art, and cul-
ture inspired by the antiquities of Greece
and Rome represented to Savonarola a re-
turn to the paganism of the ancients, and
a defiance of the religious piety and purity
of medieval times.
Savonarola’s sermons on the corrup-
tion of the church, as well as his alliance
with the French invaders, earned him the
enmity of the Duke of Milan and of Pope
Alexander VI, who ordered him to cease
preaching, an instruction that Savonarola
defied. The pope excommunicated the
monk in 1497, upon which Savonarola ac-
cused Alexander of gaining his title
through bribery. Savonarola’s power
among the commoners and middle class
in Florence represented a threat to the es-
tablished church, to the merchant class of
the city, to the Arrabiati (supporters of the
Medici family), and most dangerously to
the pope. He was also opposed by mem-
bers of the Franciscan order, rivals of the
Dominicans.
The pope excommunicated Savonarola
in 1497 and then threatened to put the
entire city of Florence under an interdict
for Savonarola’s continued preaching. The
town fathers took the threat seriously and
ordered the monk to cease his preaching.Savonarola, Girolamo