Pasquale Villari was born October 3, 1827, at Naples. At the
age of twenty he produced his first literary effort, a Liberal
manifesto against Neapolitan Bourbonism, which necessitated
his flight from his native city. He retreated to Florence and
there wrote his work on "Savonarola," which at once achieved
fame and was translated into French, German, and English. His
next great book was his "Macchiavelli." Villari had been
appointed Professor of History at Nice, but left that city for
a similar position at Florence. He entered political life in
1862, and has sat as a Parliamentary Deputy several times. In
1884 he was made senator, and in 1891 he was minister of
public instruction in the Rudini Cabinet. Villari's essays on
Dante are much esteemed. His treatise on "The First Two
Centuries of Florentine History" is considered a standard
work. All his books have been translated into our language by
his English wife, Linda Villari, who is herself an
accomplished authoress.
_I.--1452-1494_
The House of Savonarola derived its ancient origin from the city of
Padua. In the beginning of the fifteenth century the family removed to
Ferrara where, on September 21, 1452, the subject of this biography,
Girolamo Savonarola, first saw the light. He was the third of seven
children of his parents. The lad became the favourite of his
grandfather, Michele, who wished to see him become a great physician,
and devoted most assiduous care on the task of training his intellect.
But unfortunately the grandfather soon passed away, and Girolamo's
studies were then directed by his father, who began to instruct him in
philosophy.
The natural sciences were then only branches of philosophy, and the
latter, though employed as preliminary to the study of medicine, was
purely scholastic. The books which came into the hands of the young
Savonarola were the works of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Arabic
commentaries on Aristotle. He was specially fascinated with the works of
St. Thomas, but besides literature he studied music. He also composed
verses.
All particulars, however, of Savonarola's boyhood are unfortunately
lacking. But we can form a vivid idea of the surroundings which must
have influenced him. Ferrara was then the splendid capital of the House
of Este, with 100,000 inhabitants and a court which was one of the first
in Italy, and was continually visited by princes, emperors, and popes.
The lad must have witnessed gorgeous pageants, like the two which
occurred on visits of Pope Pius II., in 1459 and 1460. But during all
this period Savonarola was entirely absorbed in studying the Scriptures
and St. Thomas Aquinas, allowing himself no recreation save playing sad
music on his lute, or writing verses expressing, not without force and
simplicity, the griefs of his heart.
The contrasts that the youth witnessed between the magnificence
ostentatiously displayed and the evidences of tyranny in palaces and
castles in whose dungeons were immured numerous victims, clanking their
chains, made indelible impressions on his mind. Conducted once by his
parents to the ducal palace at Ferrara, he firmly refused ever to enter
its doors again. With singular spiritual fervour in one so young,
Savonarola surrendered his whole heart and soul to religious sentiments
and exercises. To him worldly life, as he saw all Ferrara absorbed in
its gaieties, became utterly repellent, and a sermon to which he
listened from an Augustinian friar determined him to adopt the monastic
life.
April 24, 1475, when his parents were absent from home attending the
festival of St. George, he ran away to Bologna and presented himself at
the Monastery of St. Dominic, begging that he might be admitted for the
most menial service. He was instantly received, and at once began to
prepare for his novitiate. In this retreat he submitted himself to the
severest penances and discipline and displayed such excessive zeal and
devotion as to win the admiration of the monks, who at times believed
him to be rapt in a holy trance.
_II.--1475-1481_
Savonarola's sojourn at Bologna in the Dominican Monastery lasted for
seven years, during which his spirit was occupied not only with faith
and prayer, but with deep meditation on the miserable condition of the
Church. His soul was stirred to wrathful indignation. The shocking
corruption of the Papacy, dating from the death of Pius II. in 1464, was
to reach its climax under Alexander VI. The avarice of Paul II. was soon
noted by all the world, and so boundless was the profligacy of his
successor, Sixtus IV., that no deed was too scandalous for him to
commit.
The state of Italy as well as of the Church was miserable, and the soul
of the young monk was filled with horror-stricken grief, relieved only
by study and prayer. He had been much occupied in instructing the
novices, but now he was promoted to the function of preacher. In 1481 he
was sent by his superiors to preach in Ferrara. Nothing is known of the
effect of the sermons he delivered at that time and place. Savonarola
had not yet developed his gifts of oratory. He was driven from Ferrara
by an outbreak of war with the Venetians, and repaired to Florence,
where, in the Monastery of St. Mark the brightest as well as the saddest
years of his life were to be spent. The Monastery contained the first
public library established in Italy, which was kept in excellent order
by the monks.
Savonarola was half intoxicated with joy during his first days in
Florence. He was charmed by the soft lines of the Tuscan hills and the
beauty of the Tuscan speech. Lorenzo the Magnificent had been ruling
Florence for many years and was then at the climacteric of his fame.
Under his sway everything appeared to prosper. Enemies had been
imprisoned or banished, and factions had ceased to distract the city.
Lorenzo's shameless licentiousness was condoned by reason of his
brilliancy, his patronage of art and literature, and his lavish public
entertainments.
Greek scholars, driven westward by the fall of Constantinople, sought
refuge at the Florentine court. The fine arts flourished and a Platonic
Academy was established. It was even proposed that the Pope should
canonise Plato as a saint. In fact that period witnessed the
inauguration of modern culture.
_III.--1481-1490_
After the first few days in Florence, Savonarola again began to
experience the feeling of isolation. For he speedily detected the
unbelief and frivolity under the surface of the intellectual culture of
the people. Even in St. Mark's Monastery there was no real religion.
Savonarola was soon invited to preach the Lenten sermons in St. Lorenzo.
His discourses produced no special effect, for the Florentines preferred
preachers who indulged in Pagan quotations and rhetorical elegancies
rather than in expatiating in the precepts of Christianity. But a
stirring event was at hand.
Savonarola was sent by his superiors to Reggio to attend a Chapter of
the Dominicans. During the discussion he was suddenly impelled to rise
to his feet and to plunge into a powerful declamation against the
corruptions of the Church and the clergy which transfixed his hearers
with astonishment. This outburst was a revelation of his extraordinary
powers. It instantly secured his fame and from that moment many sought
his acquaintance.
Savonarola's mind from that moment became strangely excited and it is
not surprising that he should have seen many visions. He on one occasion
saw the heavens open. A panorama of the calamities of the Church passed
before him and he heard a voice charging him to proclaim them to the
people. In that year, 1484, Pope Sixtus died. The election of his
successor, Innocent VIII. destroyed the hopes of honest men. For the new
Pope no longer disguised his children under the appellation of nephews,
but openly acknowledged them as his sons, conferring on them the title
of princes.
We may imagine the storms of emotion excited in the soul of Savonarola.
Fortunately, he was sent to preach Lenten sermons at San Gimignano, the
"City of the Grey Towers" in the Siennese hills. Here he found his true
vocation. His words flowed freely and were eloquent and effective. Next
he was sent to Brescia, where his predictions of coming terrors and his
exhortations to repentance produced a profound impression. During the
sack of that same city in 1512 by the fierce soldiers of Gaston de Foix,
when 6,000 citizens were slain, the stricken people vividly remembered
the Apocalyptic denunciations and predictions of the preacher from
Ferrara.
Through the wonderful success of these Lenten sermons the name of
Savonarola became known throughout Italy, and he no longer felt
uncertain as to his proper mission. Yet, the more popular he became the
greater was his humility and the more ardent was his devotion to prayer.
He seemed when engaged in prayer frequently to lapse into a trance, and
tradition even alleges that at such times a bright halo was seen to
encircle his head.
_IV.--1491_
Returning to Florence, Savonarola by his Lenten sermons in 1491 drew
immense crowds to the Duomo. From that moment he became the paramount
power in the pulpit. His vivid imagery and his predictions of coming
troubles seemed to produce a magical effect on the minds of the people.
But this growing influence was a source of considerable vexation to
Lorenzo de' Medici and his friends. Savonarola vehemently denounced the
greed of the clergy and their neglect of spiritual life for the sake of
mere external ceremonialism, and he with equal insistence inveighed
against the corruption of public manners. As Lorenzo was already
considered a tyrant by many of the citizens, and as he was universally
charged with having corrupted the magistrates and appropriated the
public and private funds, it was generally inferred that Savonarola had
had the audacity to make allusion to him.
This only enhanced the Friar's reputation and in July, 1491, he was
elected Prior of St. Mark's. The office made him both more prominent
than before and also more independent. He showed this to be the case by
at once refusing to go according to custom to do homage to the
Magnificent, declaring that he owed his election to God alone, and to
God only would he vow obedience. Lorenzo was deeply offended, yet he
judged it discreet rather to win the new Prior over by kindness than to
wage war with him.
The Seignior only deepened Savonarola's contempt by sending rich gifts
to the convent and by sending five of the chief citizens to him in order
to induce him to modify the strain of his preaching. The gifts were
immediately distributed among the poor, and Savonarola in a pulpit
allusion observed that a faithful dog does not cease barking in his
master's defence because a bone is flung him. To the five citizens, who
hinted to the Prior that he might be sent into exile, he replied that
they should bid Lorenzo do penance for his sins, for God was no
respecter of persons and did not spare the princes of the earth.
Wonderful was the effect of Savonarola's preaching on the corrupt and
pagan society of Florence. His natural, spontaneous, heart-stirring
eloquence, with its exalted imagery and outbursts of righteous
indignation, was entirely unprecedented in that era of pedantry and
simulation of the classic and heathen oratory. The scholastic jargon
indulged in by the preachers of the time was utterly unintelligible to
the common people. Savonarola's voice was the only one that addressed
the multitude in familiar and fascinating tones and in an accent that
evinced true affection for the people. They knew that he alone fought
for truth and was fervently devoted to goodness. Thus he was the one
truly eloquent preacher of the time, who restored pulpit preaching to
its pristine honour, and he well deserves to be styled the first orator
of modern times.
_V.--1492-1494_
A wasting disease from which Lorenzo suffered had by the beginning of
April, 1492, made such inroads as to end all hopes of his recovery. The
Magnificent turned his thoughts to religion and suddenly asked to
confess to Savonarola. Though astonished at the request, the Prior
acceded to it and found Lorenzo in great agitation, which he sought to
calm by reminding the sick man of the goodness and mercy of God.
A painful scene ensued. Savonarola added that three things were needful.
First, a living faith in God's mercy. Secondly, Lorenzo must restore all
his ill-gotten wealth, or at least command his sons to do it in his
name. Lastly, he must restore liberty to the people of Florence. The
sick man, collecting all his remaining strength, angrily turned his back
on his Confessor, who at once left his presence. On April 8, 1492, the
Magnificent, in an agony of remorse, breathed his last. On July 25 of
the same year Pope Innocent VIII. expired.
The next Pope, Alexander VI., was notorious for his avarice and his
profligacy. The announcement of his elevation to the papal chair was
received throughout Italy with dismay. The worst apprehensions were soon
fulfilled, for the Pope proved to be guilty of shocking extortion, the
object of which was to provide more lavishly for his dissolute children.
This deplorable state of things caused men to look wistfully to
Savonarola. The times he had foretold seemed to be at hand, and the
excitement was intensified by two visions which he declared had been
manifested to him as celestial revelations. He had seen a sword in the
sky and had heard voices proclaiming mercy to the righteous and
retribution to the wicked.
In the other vision a black cross hung over the city of Rome, stretching
its arms over the whole earth. On it was written, "The Cross of God's
wrath." But from Jerusalem rose a golden cross, inscribed, "The Cross of
God's compassion." Discontent was growing in Florence. The insolence and
the rapacity of Pietro de' Medici increased. In the autumn of that year
Savonarola delivered a famous course of sermons on Noah's Ark, warning
all to take refuge from the coming flood in the mystical Ark of mercy.
The flood came indeed, for suddenly all Florence was startled as if by a
thunderclap by the news that a foreign army was pouring over the Alps
for the conquest of Italy. The terror was overwhelming. Italy was
unprepared, for the princes had no efficient armies for resistance.
The invader was the new King of France, the young and adventurous
Charles VIII. His army was a model to all Europe in the art of war. It
possessed weapons of the latest invention and its main strength lay in
its splendid infantry. Florence was entered without a blow, and King
Charles demanded as a ransom a far larger sum than the Republic could
pay. He remained day after day in the city, showing no inclination to
depart. Then was manifested a proof of the wonderful influence of
Savonarola's personality.
The Prior being earnestly entreated by the citizens to ask the French
king to depart, he readily undertook the mission and presented himself
to Charles, who, surrounded by his barons, received him cordially and
listened graciously to his proposal. Savonarola admonished him not to
bring ruin on the city and the anger of the Lord on himself.
The Prior's overtures were completely successful, for on November 28,
the king departed with his army. And now all was changed in Florence.
The partisans of the Medici had vanished magically and Savonarola ruled
the city at the head of the popular party. He speedily proposed a new
form of government suggesting as the best model, a Grand Council like
that of Venice. The new Government was formed of a Grand Council and a
Council of Eighty answering to an Assembly of the People and a Senate.
All the proposals of the Prior were adopted, and laws were framed almost
in his own words.
_VI.--1495-1497_
Germs of civil discord were not lacking, and these soon developed so as
to divide Florence into factions, the two chief of these being the
Whites, who were favourable to popular liberty, and the Greys, who were
adherents of the Medici. The latter were dangerous and treacherous
enemies of Savonarola and of the Republic. For a time the Prior's
preaching confounded his foes, for it completely changed the aspect of
the city. The women cast off their jewels and dressed simply; young
profligates were transformed into sober, religious men, the churches
were filled with people at prayer, and the Bible was diligently read.
Now came danger from without. The departure of the French had endangered
the security of Florence. The Pope and Venice desired the reinstatement
of the fallen tyrant Pietro de' Medici, and he prepared to attack the
city. But he was foiled by the energy to which the Prior roused the
Florentines for measures of defence. Meantime, Savonarola once more
displayed his noble independence by spurning the offer on the part of
the Pope of a Cardinal's hat. And terrible in their vehemence and
audacity were his denunciations against the vices of Rome, delivered in
his Lenten sermons of 1496.
In his usual strain, but with increasing power, Savonarola graphically
and vividly described the woes of Italy, as though he were gifted with
prophetic vision. One of his sermons was interdicted by the Pope, but
the preacher modified nothing and defied the Vatican. And now, while the
enthusiasm of his followers was developing into fanaticism, the hatred
of his enemies was approaching a climax, and the war was waxing furious.
The fame of this marvellous preacher was now extending throughout the
world by means of his printed sermons. Even the Sultan of Turkey
commanded them to be translated into Turkish for his own study. Of
course the individual aim of Savonarola was simply to be the regenerator
of religion. The Florentines, however, adulated him as the real founder
of the free Republic. Hence they displayed immense ardour in defending
him against the Pope, seeing that thus they were upholding their own
freedom, because the Pope was aiming at reinstating the Medici in
Florence.
The Pope had hoped that the Prior would moderate his tone, but this was
only more aggressive than ever, and threatening messages arrived from
the Vatican. Attempts by his friends, some of them of high and
influential position, to defend him, only the more enraged Pope
Alexander Borgia. He summoned a consistory of fourteen Dominican
theologians who were ordered to investigate Savonarola's conduct and
doctrine. The strange issue was he was charged with having been the
cause of all the misfortunes that had befallen Pietro de' Medici.
After Lent the Prior went to preach a course of sermons at Prato, and on
his return to Florence he delivered a sermon in the Hall of the Greater
Council in the presence of all the magistrates and leading citizens of
the city, in which he openly and courageously defied all the wrath of
Alexander Borgia. Then he once more set himself to the work of serving
the Republic, though, as the sequel shows, he was fated to meet with a
base reward.
Commerce and industry had been paralysed in Florence by the incessant
commotions of past years. The immense sums paid to the French king had
together with sums spent on war drained the public resources and lowered
the credit of the Republic. And now famine was threatened, for the
people in the rural districts were pinched with hunger. The starving
peasantry began to flock in great numbers into the city, so that the
misery increased. Terror was occasioned by a few cases of death from
plague. Florence was at war with Pisa, but without success, for many of
her mercenary soldiers were deserting and the forces besieging Pisa were
dwindling for lack of supplies.
Fresh adversities were in store for the Florentines. Though the rumours
of a second invasion of Italy by King Charles proved unfounded, for he
renounced all idea of returning, new enemies arose. The Emperor
Maximilian was marching towards the frontier, and the Pope felt
encouraged to enter into open war with the Florentines. His forces and
the troops from Sienna actually attempted an incursion into the
territories of the Republic, but they suffered repeated repulses, and at
length were put to flight. But this conflict weakened still more the
forces before Pisa, at which city Maximilian arrived with 1,000 foot
soldiers, receiving a cordial welcome from the Pisans.
The Florentines did not quail before the storm. Their courage never
failed. They collected fresh stores and sent abundant provisions to the
camp. But the hatred of the Pope grew more intense, especially against
Savonarola, who, however, had not returned to the pulpit, being actuated
by a wish not to accentuate the situation. For the general misery in
Florence daily increased and the plague was extending its ravages. The
hospitals were full. And the faction against Savonarola, named the
Arrabbiati, seemed positively to regard the distress with glee, for
these fanatics went about crying aloud, "At last we can all perceive how
we have been deceived! This is the happiness that the Friar predicted
for Florence!" Moreover they proclaimed that now was the time to
overthrow the Government.
But the Seigniory entreated Savonarola to come forth again from his
retirement. He entered the pulpit on October 28, but only to look on
people whose faces were marked by distress and terror. Yet his sermons
administered such comfort to the citizens who in the majority still
adhered to him, though the Arrabbiati mocked at his words. Temporary
relief was at hand, for suddenly, as if by a miracle, ships arrived from
Marseilles bringing long-expected reinforcements and supplies of corn.
The people were frantic with joy and solemn thanksgivings were offered
in the churches.
The Pope was now designing measures to entrap the Prior. A new
Vicar-General was appointed with power which would invest him with such
authority over Savonarola that the latter would lose his independence.
But he displayed no disposition to yield to Rome. On the contrary, he
delivered in the Duomo those eight magnificent, fearless, and immortal
sermons which intensified the bitter struggle with Rome, while for the
time being they made the great Reformer's name and authority again
ascendant, and rendered the popular party once more master of the
situation, notwithstanding the strategy of the Pope and the machinations
of the factions.
_VII.--1497-1498_
During Lent, 1497, Savonarola continued his course of sermons on
Ezekiel, and in these discourses he said much that bore on the conflict
with Rome, now daily growing more virulent. He inveighed against the
temporal wealth of the Church and launched many accusations against
Rome. The impression produced was the deeper because of the general
presentiment in men's minds of the coming uprising of Christendom
against the abominations of Rome.
Savonarola now daily expected to be excommunicated and he was determined
to defy the Pope. The plague increased in Florence and the Seigniory
prohibited preaching in the churches for a time, but Savonarola
persisted in preaching on Ascension Day. The factions were infuriated.
They denied the pulpit with filth and draped it with the skin of an ass,
and threatened the life of the Prior. His friends implored him not to
preach at the risk of his life. He refused to yield, but a fearful riot
took place in the church which was talked of through all Italy.
The storm was now gathering. The fury of the factions increased, as also
did the wrath of the Pope. At length, on May 13, the excommunicatory
brief was despatched from Rome, directed against a "certain Fra Girolamo
Savonarola who had disseminated pernicious doctrines to the scandal and
grief of simple souls." The event threw all Florence into confusion. The
Arrabbiati were triumphant. But the city was filled with lamentation and
disorder. The rabble rejoiced. The churches were quickly deserted; the
taverns were filled; immorality returned as if magically; and again
women attired in dazzling finery paraded the streets. In less than a
month, so rapid was the transformation, Florence seemed to have relapsed
into the days of the Magnificent, and piety and patriotism were alike
forgotten.
Meantime, the Prior was calm and composed and took measures for his
defence. He wrote an Epistle against surreptitious excommunication,
addressed to all Christians beloved of God. He followed it by a second
letter, also breathing courage and defiance. A conflict ensued. The
Arrabbiati sent accusations against the Prior to Rome, while the
Seigniory sought to vindicate him, most of the members, newly elected,
being his friends. The plague grew so terrible that on some days there
were a hundred deaths. In the autumn it abated, and gradually
disappeared. Savonarola's energy in fighting the pestilence was
unwearied throughout.
The Prior soon commenced to preach again. On Christmas Day he put an end
to all suspense as to his policy by thrice performing high mass,
afterwards leading his monks in solemn procession through St. Mark's
Square. He continued to issue new tracts and to preach regularly. But on
February 26 the Pope announced that Savonarola's preaching should be
tolerated no longer. The Prior was conscious that the end was near. His
last sermon was delivered, after he had preached in Florence for eight
years, on March 18, 1498. His adherents were terrified, and seemed to
vanish.
On April 8, Palm Sunday, the Arrabbiati attacked St. Mark's Convent.
Savonarola was seized and bound by a brutal rabble, and he and two of
his monks were lodged in prison. Cruel proceedings followed. For a whole
month he was brought day after day to examination and he was repeatedly
subjected to torture. The Pope's Commissioners were never able to
extract from him any confession of guilt. Savonarola was from first to
last unflinchingly consistent with himself.
On May 22 sentence of death was passed on Savonarola, on Fra Silvestro,
and on Fra Domenico. They prepared to face death firmly and well. The
tragedy was enacted next morning. Three platforms had been erected on
the steps of the Ringhiera, on which sat the Bishop of Vasona, the
Apostolic Commissioners, and the Gonfaliero with the Council of Eight.
On a gibbet in the form of a cross hung three chains, and combustibles
were piled beneath. Sad and solemn was the silence of the vast throng
assembled in the Piazza, excepting where members of the factions were
raging like wild beasts and venting indecent blasphemies.
The three friars were publicly stripped of their monkish robes and
degraded. Tranquilly they mounted the scaffold, the dregs of the
populace assailing them with vile words. But silence reigned at the
moment of the execution. As soon as life was extinct the flames were
kindled beneath the bodies of the three victims. The tragic and awful
spectacle elicited bitter grief amongst the people on the one side,
while cries of wild exultation were raised on the other.
* * * * *