Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He is know for his prophecies, 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. Savonarola intervened to save Florence when the French King invaded Italy. He changed the city from despotic rule to becoming a Christian republic, with God at the center. However, his harsh criticism of the church and the pope eventually led to him being excommunicated, arrested, tortured, hanged and burned as a “heretic”.
The early life of Girolamo Savonarola
Born in Ferrara in 1452, Girolamo was the third of seven children born to Niccolo di Michele Savonarola and Elena. His grandfather, Michele Savonarola, was a wealthy physician who oversaw Girolamo’s education. After earning an arts degree from the University of Ferrara, he was preparing to become a physician like his grandfather, but later abandoned those plans.
Savonarola began expressing his preoccupation with the state of the Church and world at an early age. In 1472, he wrote a poem entitled “On the Ruin of the World”, and three years later wrote “On the Ruin of the church”. In this latter poem, he expressed his strong disapproval of the condition of the church, especially the papal court in Rome.
Savonarola was persuaded to abandon the world after hearing a sermon preached in Faenza. In April 1475, he went to Bologna, knocked on the door of the Friary of San Domenico, and asked to be admitted. He took the vow of obedience and a year later became an ordained priest. He then enrolled in the theological faculty to prepare for an advanced degree.
Becoming a teacher and preacher
However, Savonarola’s studies were interrupted in 1478 when he was sent to Ferrara as an assistant master (teacher) to novices in the Dominican priory. But rather than returning to Bologna, Savonarola was assigned as a teacher in the Convent of San Marco in Florence. It was here that he taught logic to the novices and wrote instructional manuals on ethics, logic, philosophy and government. He also composed devotional works and prepared his sermons for local congregations.
As he was studying Scripture, he suddently conceived “about seven reasons” why the Church was about to be scourged and renewed. While he broached these themes in his Lenten preaching at San Gimignano in 1485-86, he said nothing about his revelations in Florence after he left San Marco for a new assignment. For the next few years, Savonarola lived as an itinerate preacher. His chief message was one of repentance and reform in the cities and convents of north Italy.
In 1490, Savonarola was reassigned to San Marco. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, one of the best known philosophers of the Renaissance, was impressed with Savonarola’s learning and piety. So, he persuaded Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Medice de facto ruler of Florence, that Savonarola would bring prestige to the convent of San Marco and its Medici patrons. After some delay, Savonarola returned to Florence in May or June of that year.
The passionate preaching of Savonarola
Savonarola labored in his preaching until he found himself growing in eloquence and gaining a large hearing. He captivated Florence with his preaching. His sermons from Revelation shook the people, as he warned them of the wrath to come. And tears would come as he spoke to them about the tender mercies of God. Though he would castigate the people, the clergy, and even Lorenzo de’ Medici from the pulpit, crowds would pack the cathedral on a daily basis to listen to him.
In 1491, Savonarola was elected prior of St. Mark’s Convent in Florence. But rather than following the established etiquette of paying homage to Lorenzo, whose family had enriched the convent, Savonarola refused. For he said his election was from God, not the Medicis! He told some of Lorenzo’s friends to bid him to do penance for his sins, for the Lord is not a respector of persons. He does not spare the princes of the world.
When Lorenzo was on his deathbed, he was oppressed by his sins. So, he called for Savonarola to absolve him. Savonarola promised to do so on three conditions. First, he must repent and have faith in God’s mercy. Second, he should give away his ill-gotten wealth. And finally, he should restore the republican liberties of Florence. Lorenzo readily agreed to the first condition, reluctantly agreed to the second, but would not agree to the third. So, Savonarola left without absolving him. Lorenzo died shortly after that.
Savonarola’s role in preserving peace and forming a republic
In September 1494, King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy. This convinced many people in Florence of Savonarola’s gift of prophecy, since he had publicly predicted it would happen. As he approached Florence, Charles threatend to punish the city for refusing to support his expedition. The populace then took action to expel Lorenzo’s son and successor, Piero the Unfortunate. To press for peace, Savonarola took a delegation to the French King’s camp in November to push for Charles to spare Florence and urged him to take up his divinely-appointed role as reformer of the Church.
After a short, tense occupation of Florence and a second intervention by Savonarola, the French resumed their journey to the south. After the overthrow of the Medici, Savonarola was the sole leader of Florence, setting up a democratic republic. With the Medici rulership gone, Savonarola declared that by answering his call to repentance, the Florentines had begun to build a new Ark of Noah which had saved them from the waters of the divine flood.
Savonarola was able to prevent King Charles from sacking Florence. He was also able to use his influence to move the city towards a more godly government. He wanted a Christian republic with God as the governor. The new reforms brought relief to the starving population, shops were open to give work to the unemployed, a bank was established for charitable loans, and taxes were reduced. The council passed strong regulations against vice, frivolity, gambling, and extravagant dress.
There were two key ideas behind the reform. First, government by one man would become tyrannical. And second, the people were the source of power, with the right to elect magistrates.
Savonarola pushed for moral reforms
Lorenzo de Medici was a patron to the arts and brought great men there to heighten the culture of Florence. However, he also had led the city into a self-centered, wealth-oriented life. It was into this worldly city that Savonarola took his role as preacher and reformer seriously.
Savonarola was a passionate reformer. He was convinced that he spoke with the authority of a divine call. And for a time, he was able to enforce rigorous moral reform. He organized boys to march through the city singing hymns and taking collections for the poor. In 1496, the boys went from house to house collecting trinkets, cosmetics, luxury items, and obscene books to be burned on the last day of the carnival. A huge “bonfire of vanities” was then created in the public square.
For a time, there was great enthusiasm for the changes Savonarola brought to Florence. He had virtually become the censor of the morals of Florence. He was even bold enough to declare that popes could err, and he denounced the pope as the servant of Satan.
The papal reaction and arrest of Savonarola
Pope Alexander VI wanted to silence Savonarola’s public condemnations of corruption and immorality in the church, so he offered to make him a cardinal. But Savonarola refused. So, the pope condemned him for announcing he was a special messenger from God and excommunicated him. In response, Savonarola tried to gather European leaders together to remove he pope from office, but failed.
In March of 1498, Savonarola withdrew from public preaching after much debate and pressure from a worried goverment. He led others to believe he might perform miracles to prove his divine call, but he was challenged by a Franciscan preacher to prove it by walking through fire. A trial was then set for April 7th. The crowd filled the public square, eager to see if God would intervene. The contest was delayed for hours due to the nervousness of the contestants. Then, a sudden rain drenched the crowd and government officials cancelled the event. The crowed angrily left, and Savonarola was blamed for the fiasco, because the burden of proof had been placed on him.
Then on Palm Sunday in 1498, an angry mob attacked St. Mark and Savonarola was arrested by the Florentine authorities, along with two of his most ardent followers, Friars Domenico and Salvestro. All three were cruelly tortured before being condemned as heretics and handed over to the secular authorities by two papal commissioners.
The death of Savonarola, Domenico and Salvestro
On the morning of May 23, a scaffold had been erected on a platform in the Piazza della Signoria. Three halters dangled from the heavy beam, and wood for burning was heaped up below. (They were to be hanged and subsequently burned.) A crowd of Florentines gathered and screamed abuse at Savonarola and his two companions. They were formally unfrocked and left in their under-tunics with bare feet and hands tied. And in accord with custom, their faces were shaved. When a priest nearby asked Savonarola how he felt about his impending martyrdom, he answered, “The Lord has suffered as much for me.”
Friars Domenico and Salvestro were hanged first, slowly and painfully. Then Savonarola climbed the ladder to the place between them. The executioner tried to delay Savonarola’s demise so the flames would reach him before he was dead, but failed. He died of strangulation at about 10 am. He was forty-five years old. What little was left of the three Dominicans was thrown into the River Arno.
The Legacy of Savonarola
Both Catholics and Protestants have honored the memory of Savonarola. This is partly due to his ideas on faith and grace, which anticipated Luther’s own doctrine of justification of faith alone. Luther read some of his writings and praised him as a martyr and forerunner of the reformation. In Wittenberg, the hometown of Luther, a statue of Girolamo Savonarola, was erected to honor him.
In France, Savonarola has become regarded as a precursor of evangelical, or Huguenot, reform, even though he had remained a believer in the dogmas of the Catholic church and also defended the institution of the papacy in his last major work.
Within the Dominican Order, Savonarola was seen as a devotional figure, “the evolving image of a Counter-Reformation prelate.”1Polizzotto, The Elect Nation – The Savonarolan Movement in Florence 1494-1545. Clarendon Press, Oxford. p 443. The Catholic theologian and church historian, Joseph Schnitzer, presented Savonarola as the last best hope of the Catholic Church before the catastrophe of the Protestant Reformation.2Joseph Schnitzer, Savonarola Ein Kulturbild aus der Zeit der Renaissance 2 vols (Munich, 1924); Italian translation Savonarola trans. Ernesto Rutili 2 vols (Milan, 1931). No English translation.
For a brief period after Savonarola’s death, his inspired republic stayed alive until the Medici returned in 1512. And it was briefly revived when the Medici were forced out in 1527. But in 1530, Pope Clement VII restored the Medici rule, and Florence became a hereditary dukedom.
Reflections on the life of Savonarola
Hungering for righteousness is predicated on deep conviction of sin and judgment to come
The Bible calls us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). But only the Holy Spirit can bring a true conviction of sin and godly sorrow that leads to genuine repentance.
From an early age, Savonarola hinted in a letter to his father that he was troubled by desires of the flesh. Therefore, He decided not to pursue a medical career, but instead joined the Dominican Order. He was also troubled by the state of the church and of the world. And in an unfinished treatise, he called upon readers to flee from this world of adultery, sodomy, murder and envy. Such despair over the sinful state of man can only be arroused by the Holy Spirit, who convicts the world of sin (See John 16:8).
The Bible teaches that all people are by nature rebels against God and hostile to Jesus Christ. They are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). Part of that “draw” to Jesus is the conviction of sin. The Holy Spirit not only convicts people of sin, but He also brings them to repentance (Acts 17:30; Luke 13:5).
God may act contrary to His normal ways to accomplish His good purpose
There are times when God may choose to providentially act in ways that can perpetuate confusion, but He does so for good reason.
Savonarola apparently believed that predictive prophecy was possible in his day, even after the apostolic age had ended and that gift was no longer given. It appears that God chose to act in such a way that would seem like his prophecy was fulfilled when the King of France invaded Italy. Though this may have allowed the delusion of Savonarola and the populace to continue, it had the positive effect of rallying the people of Florence to follow the friar’s leadership.
Knowing our calling and authority from God enables us to stand up against worldly forces
When we are convinced of the way God has appointed us to serve Him, we no longer fear those who would otherwise stand in our way to serve Him.
If Savonarola feared anyone, it would have been Lorenzo de Medici, the despostic ruler of Florence, and the pope himself. However, he obviously feared God more than he feared man. For he paid no homage to Lorenzo and was highly critical of the pope. Savonarola knew that God had appointed him to his high position in Florence and therefore gave him the authority needed to carry out his calling.
Unredeemed people may masquerade holiness for awhile, but it is only a charade.
True holiness springs out of the heart of one who has been reborn by the Holy Spirit. Others can modify their behavior to serve their own self-interests for a time, but their motive does not come from a heart that loves God.
Savonarola was determined to turn Florence away from its ungodly ways and to live like a city devoted to God. This would have been possible if everyone was a genuine believer in Christ, but there is always a mixture of believers and unbelievers during this age. So, the city was half-heartedly willing to cooperate with the preacher due to his strong preaching about sin and judgment. But this would not last. While some Florentines willingly submitted to the moral restraints imposed upon them, many others evidently submitted out of a sense of guilt or due to social pressure.
There’s a popular saying, “You cannot legislate morality.” However, Savonarola’s story proves you can legislate morality, but it won’t work because people are naturally sinners.
Knowing the extent to which Christ suffered for us prepares us to suffer for Him
Jesus warned us that if the people hated Him, who was without sin, they will also hate His followers. We honor Him and demonstrate our love for Him as we are willing to suffer all things for His sake.
The last words of Savonarola,“The Lord has suffered as much for me”, reveal that he knew in whose steps he was following and that he was willing to pay the ultimate price to remain faithful to Him. We know we can’t suffer to the same extent that Christ suffered for us. But it is sufficient for us to follow in His example.
Our faithful obedience to God has a ripple effect that we cannot measure
We will never know, on this side of eternity, what the full impact of our obedient service to God has had and will have over time.
It’s hard to believe that Savonarola could have imagined the effect his life would ultimately have on the generations to come, both among Catholics and Protestants. It would be hard for anyone to remain humble if they knew how God would use their obedience to impact untold numbers of people. Yet God is faithful and does only what is right. He will undoubtedly reward our obedience in ways we won’t fully realize on this side of heaven.
Seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness
When we are more preoccupied with God than with ourselves, we will place His will above our own. We know from Scripture that all of creation and history is about God’s love for His Son. It is His unfolding story about giving a redeemed people to His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, as a gift of love to Him. (See John 6.) And those whom God has chosen to redeem are predestined to be transformed into the likeness of His Son. For this reason, Christ becomes our shining star, the One whom we strive to emulate (Romans 8:29).
Unless we belong to Christ by faith alone, our efforts to reach God will inevitably fail. We must believe in the Person and work of Christ to be saved. This faith is not something we conjure up on our own; It is a free gift of faith that is given us from above. It is a faith that will never be lost, for God’s gifts are irrevocable. If this is the faith you want, outwardly confess, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).
For a fuller understanding of God and reasons to believe in Jesus, visit my blog, How to Begin Your Life Over Again. And click here if you would like to view some excellent YouTube video presentations on the Gospel.
Sources and References
Sources
A. Kenneth Curtis, J. Stephen Lang, Randy Petersen. The 100 Most Important Events in Christian Church History. Fleming H. Revell (Baker Book House), Grand Rapids, MI. 1998 ed. 93-95.
Sinclair B. Ferguson. In the Years of Our Lord – Reflections on Twenty Centuries of Church History. Ligonier Ministries, Sanford, FL. 2018. 155-158.
Girolamo Savonarola. https://en.wikipedia/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola – His Life Story and Death. www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/savonarolas-preaching-got-him-burned-11629883.html
Execution of Girolamo Savonarola. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/execution-girolamo-savonarola
References
- 1Polizzotto, The Elect Nation – The Savonarolan Movement in Florence 1494-1545. Clarendon Press, Oxford. p 443.
- 2Joseph Schnitzer, Savonarola Ein Kulturbild aus der Zeit der Renaissance 2 vols (Munich, 1924); Italian translation Savonarola trans. Ernesto Rutili 2 vols (Milan, 1931). No English translation.
