Skip to main content

Full text of "The life and martyrdom of Savonarola, illustrative of the history of church and state connexion"

See other formats 


2L9.7i 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,    N.  J. 

G-reen  Fund 


DG  121  ."^1   .M32  1853  v.l 
Madden,  Richard  Robert,  1796 
-1886. 

The  life  and  martyrdom  of 
Savonarola 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/lifemartyrdomofs01madd 


Il|e  J.ife  ^if)S  ?![^^rtD^^oh)  of  §^boi)^i^ol^, 


Cljx  yife  una  P^artjrkm 


OF 

SAVONAROLA, 

ILLUSTRATIVE  OP  THE 

Jfisfoi*l|  of  Ciinl'ci]  ^1)5  Bf^fe  Qo^}^}exlo^}. 

BY 

R.  11/ MADDEN,  M.H.I.A., 

AUTIIOIv  01'  "TR.WELS  IN  TURKEY,  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE,"  "THE  MUSSULMAN," 
"  THE  SHRiNES  AND  SEPULCHRES,"  &C.  &C. 

"  Igne  me  examinasti  ct  noii  est  inventa  in  me  iniquitas." — Psalm  vi. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  L 

LONDON: 

ijfoW'Bs  ^^h^uigb  ir£iDsy, 

WELBECK  STJIEET,  CAVENDISH  SQUARE. 

MDCCCLIII. 


TO  THE 

RIGHT  HONOURABLE  W.  E.  GLADSTONE,  M.P. 
€liis  Wnk, 

ILLUSTKATIYE  OF  THE  CHAEACTEE  AND  CAEEEE  OF 

THE  GREAT  CHEISTIAN  HERO  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY, 

AND  OF  A  SUBJECT 
WHICH  HAS  ENGAGED  THE  ATTENTION  OF  THINKING  MEN 
IN  AGES  LONG  PAST,   AS  WELL  AS 
IN  EECENT  TIMES, 

i         "  THE  STATE,  IN  ITS  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  CHURCH," 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


London,  May  2,  1853. 


INTRODUCTION. 


There  was  a  monk  in  Florence,  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  who  was  of  opinion  that  the  mortal  enemy  of 
Christ's  Gospel,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  had  been  mammon  ; 
that  simony  was  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  the 
interests  of  religion  were  naturally  allied  w^ith  those  of 
liberty  ;  and  that  the  Arts  were  the  handmaids  of  both,  of 
a  Divine  origin,  and  were  given  to  earth  for  purposes  that 
tended  to  spiritualise  humanity. 

Men  of  all  creeds,  who  believe  in  Christianity,  have  an 
interest  in  the  life  and  labours  of  this  monk — Girolamo 
Savonarola,  of  Ferrara — the  great  Dominican  Missionary, 
and  champion  of  Christ's  truth  of  the  fifteenth  century  ; 
who,  m  a  dark  and  degenerate  age,  proclaimed  the  necessity 
of  allying  the  interests  of  religion  with  those  of  civil  liberty 
and  civilisation,  and  who  directed  all  his  teachings,  preach- 
ings, and  writings  to  one  grand  object,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  Avhich  it  seeuied  as  if  it  were  his  destiny  to  "  live, 
move,  and  have  a  being,"  namely,  the  separation  of  religion 
from  all  tvorldly  influences. 

It  was  attempted  in  the  days  of  Savonarola,  and  has  been 


vi 


INTRODUCTION. 


tried  in  our  own,  to  give  this  illustrious  Dominican  the 
character  of  a  mere  demagogue,  an  enthusiast,  and  a  vision- 
ary. Literary  men  of  great  eminence  have  represented 
him  as  a  fanatic  and  a  firebrand ;  a  pulpit  agitator,  who 
perverted  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  charity,  to  the  ends  of 
faction,  strife,  and  selfishness.  Such  representations  have 
been  made  by  writers  who  had  scarcely  any  knowledge  of 
the  works  of  Savonarola,  except  at  the  hands  of  his  cotem- 
poraries,  who  were  friends,  favourites,,  or  admirers  of  the 
Medici,  as  patrons  of  learning,  a  class  of  men  who  were  the 
enemies  of  Savonarola.  Some  philosophical  writers,  who 
w^ere  cotemporaries  of  this  monk,  speak  of  him  disparagingly ; 
writers  who  almost  worshipped  the  Medici  for  substituting 
Platonism  for  Christianity,  having  no  sympathies  with 
spiritual  men,  who  derived  their  inspirations  from  a  Gospel 
preached  by  lowly,  iHiterdte  men,  who  sympathised  with  the 
poor  and  the  oppressed  in  their  times,  and  who  denounced 
hypocrisy,  cupidity,  and  impiety,  in  high  places.  How 
could  the  literary  courtiers,  the  men  of  letters,  who  were 
the  protegees  of  princes,  spiritual  and  temporal,  appreciate 
the  labours,  for  the  renovation  of  religion,  of  a  simple  eccle- 
siastic, without  preferment,  rank,  station,  wealth,  or  influ- 
ence, or  tolerate  his  boldness,  in  dealing  wath  the  vices  of 
the  rich  and  powerful  —  rebuking  cardinal  princes  and 
sovereign  pontiffs,  calling  on  them  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
relaxation  of  Church  discipline,  and  to  stem  the  torrent  of 
ecclesiastical  disorder,  that  was  sweeping  away  all  reverence 
for  religion,  its  ministers,  and  its  truth  ? 

The  Life  of  Savonarola  can  be  written  only  by  one  who 
thinks  the  interests  of  truth  and  justice  must  not  be  sacri- 


INTRODUCTION. 


Vll 


ficed  for  the  purpose  of  upliolding  any  polemical  opinions, 
or  the  character  of  any  power  that  has  dominion  over  them. 

It  is  not  with  a  view  of  gaining  a  martyr  for  Protestant- 
ism, a  saint  for  one  of  the  rehgious  orders — making  an 
adversary  for  one  Church,  or  an  advocate  for  another — 
that  the  life  must  be  written  of  the  great  reforming  Friar 
of  Ferrara,  who  waged  war — fatal,  indeed,  to  himself—, 
with  the  abuses  of  the  Court  of  Rome  and  the  Government 
of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  upwards  of  three  centuries  and  a 
half  ago. 

On  the  subject  of  Church  and  State  connexion  and  its 
results,  some  original  documents  will  be  found  in  these 
volumes,  of  the  highest  interest.  The  materials  for  a 
true  and  faithful  account  of  Savonarola,  must  be  sought, 
chiefly,  in  his  own  numerous  compositions,  sermons,  homi- 
lies, moral  treatises,  revelations,  and  commentaries  on  the 
sacred  writings.  Savonarola,  in  effect,  must  be  made  to 
speak,  from  his  own  works,  for  his  sincerity  as  a  Christian ; 
his  devotedness  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  of  humanity,  as 
a  Reformer ;  his  fidelity  to  his  vows  of  poverty,  obedience, 
and  charity,  as  a  member  of  a  religious  order.  The  pos- 
session of  the  greater  part  of  his  remarkable  performances, 
now  of  great  rarity  (as  the  learned  are  well  aware),  enables 
the  Author  to  carry  this  design  into  execution — namely,  to 
make  Savonarola  the  exponent  of  his  own  opinions,  pur- 
poses, and  methods  of  aiming  at  their  accomplishment ; 
the  recorder  of  his  own  revelations,  the  reporter  of  his  own 
labours,  in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  cloister,  for  the  restoration 
of  religion  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

For  the  sake  of  truth  and  justice,  which  conduce  more 


INTRODUCTION. 


than  all  things  in  this  world  to  the  honour  and  glory  of 
God  and  to  the  good  of  true  religion,  this  Life  of  Savona- 
rola has  been  undertaken — with  a  strong  conviction  on  the 
mind  of  the  Author,  that  to  do  justice  to  it  would  be  to 
render  a  service  to  religion  and  to  humanity  at  large. 

A  man  who  loves  truth  more  than  he  does  sect,  has  a 
difficult  task  to  execute,  who  seeks  to  put  Savonarola  before 
the  v\^orld  as  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  faithful  to  his  cause, 
and  a  martyr  for  it.  Protestants  claim  him  for  their  creed, 
as  the  precursor  of  Luther,  Luther  himself  claimed  him 
for  it ;  so  did  Flaccius,  Beza,  Heidegger,  Arnold,  Fabricius, 
and,  in  later  times,  Milner,  Heraut,  and  Hafe.  Very  many 
Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  such  as  the  prelate  Ambrosio 
Catharino  Polito,  Burchard,  Apostolo  Zeno,  Delrio,  Peller, 
Rochrbaclier,  Brownson,  and  many  more,  readily  admit 
that  claim,  or,  at  all  events,  reject  Savonarola,  as  a  heretic 
or  schismatic,  and  deny  him  a  place  within  the  pale  of 
Catholicity. 

Then  we  have  other  Catholic  divines  and  great  doctors 
of  the  Church,  several  eminent  Dominican  fathers — Bzovius, 
Natalis  Alexander,  Raynaldus,  Burlamacchi,  Benevieni, 
Quetif,  and  others,  extolling  his  sanctity,  and  claiming  for 
him  the  honour  due  to  an  illustrious  confessor  of  the  faith, 
and  a  martyr. 

Bayle  is  content  to  make  it  impossible  for  any  church  to 
claim  him  with  advantage  or  credit ;  and,  to  crown  our 
bewilderment,  we  have  the  trumpets  of  history  giving  most 
uncertain  sounds  in  regard  to  his  merits,  and,  like  the 
people  of  Jericho,  we  are  exceedingly  confounded  by  the 
variable  blasts  of  those  instruments  of  literary  controversy. 


INTRODUCTION. 


ix 


Nerli,  Buddaeus,  Paulus  Jovius,  Nardi,  Machiavelli,  and 
Schrsekh,  cum  multis  aliis,  leave  us  in  doubt  whether  most 
to  admire  the  piety  and  learning  of  the  Friar,  or  to  marvel 
at  his  fanaticism  or  imposture. 

The  majority  of  mankind  require  to  be  thought  for,  it  is 
imagined  by  polemical  writers  in  general ;  and  many  his- 
torical ones  hold  the  same  opinion,  but  do  not  profess  it. 

I  have  written  this  work  with  a  different  conviction,  and 
in  the  manner  that  seemed  to  me  most  calculated  to  enable 
my  readers  to  form  their  opinions  on  the  subject  of  it  justly 
and  correctly. 

With  this  view,  I  have  abstained  from  consulting  any 
persons,  either  of  the  clergy  or  laity  of  any  creed,  or  of  the 
religious  order  of  the  subject  of  this  biography,  on  any 
topic  connected  with  my  undertaking.  I  have  no  doubt  I 
might  have  derived  much  useful  assistance  from  many  of 
the  Dominican  order,  had  I  sought  it ;  but  acting  as  I  did 
on  the  opinion  I  have  just  now  expressed  in  regard  to  my 
readers,  and  resolving  to  think  for  myself,  I  abstained  from 
soliciting  or  accepting  any  aid,  advice,  or  co-operation  from 
them,  except  in  regard  to  the  inedited  correspondence  of 
Fra  Girolamo,  recently  brought  to  hght  by  the  learned 
Padre  Marchese. 

Whatever  may  be  the  merits  or  demerits  of  any  opi- 
nion advanced,  or  information  given  in  my  work,  to  me 
alone  do  they  belong.  My  desire  in  undertaking  this 
work  has  been  to  do  justice  to  the  memory  of  a  man 
whom  I  regard  as  the  great  Christian  hero  of  the  fifteenth 
century ;  and  to  make  the  calamitous  results,  to  religion 
and  its  ministers,  of  connexion  between  Church  and  State, 


X 


INTRODUCTION. 


manifest  to  the  world  as  the  sun  at  noon-day.  If  that 
object  be  one  that  deserves  success  in  the  opinion  of  the 
public,  I  may  venture  to  hope  that  my  work  will  then  have 
some  claim  to  their  favour.  But,  if  I  am  mistaken  in 
respect  to  that  object,  then  have  I  imposed  on  myself  a 
vast  amount  of  labour  and  research  in  vain, 


CONTENTS  or  VOL.  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

THE  STATE  OF  ITALY,  SOCIAL,  POLITICAL,   AND  RELIGHOUS,  PJIE- 

VIOrSLT   TO    THE  SIXTEEJ^TH  CENTURY.  FLORENCE    AND  ITS 

REPUBLIC  UNDER  THE  MEDICI  1 

CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  CAREER  OF  SAVONAROLA,  FROM  HIS  CHILDHOOD  TO  HIS 
ENTRANCE  INTO  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  1475,  IN  HIS  TWENTY-THIRD 
YEAR. — SCHOLASTIC  THEOLOGY  IN  THE  TIME  OF  SAVONAROLA, 
AND  ANTECEDENT  TO  IT  56 

CHAPTER  II. 

MONKS  AND  MONASTERIES  80 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CONVENTUAL  CAREER  OF  SAVONAROLA.  

FIRST  EFFORTS  IN  THE  PULPIT,  AND  FAILURE — 1475  TO  1490     .  90 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  MISSION  OF  SAVONAROLA   101 

CHAPTER  V. 

SAVONAROLA'S  RETURN  TO  FLORENCE.  THE  SCENE  OF  HIS  FUTURE 

LABOURS  AT  THE  INSTANCE  OF  LORENZO DE  MEDICI.  RE- APPEAR- 
ANCE IN  THE   PULPIT  ;    SIGNAL  SUCCESS  THERE. — PREDICTED 

CALAMITIES  OF  ITALY.  BEGINNING  OF  THE  STRUGGLE  WITH 

PAGANISM,  IN  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  RELIGION.      1490        .     .  109 


Xll 


CONTEXTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  CONTENT  OF  SAN  MAECO,  IN  FLORENCE. — FRA 
GIROLAMO  APPOINTED  PRIOR.  BEGINNING  OF  THE  MISUNDER- 
STANDING BETWEEN  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI  AND  FRA  GIROLAMO. 
—  SCENES  IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  SAN  MARCO. — EFFORTS  OF  LO- 
RENZO TO  GAIN  OVER  FRA  GIROLAMO  TO  HIS  INTERESTS.  PULPIT 

SET  AGAINST  PULPIT  BY  LORENZO. — DISSENSIONS  OCCASIONED 

BY  THE  PREACHING  OF  RIVAL  DOCTRINES.      1490  TO  1491    .  .124 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SAVONAROLA  IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  PRIOR  OF  SAN  MARCO. — HIS  CON- 
DUCT IN  THE  CONVENT  135 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEATH  OF  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI.  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  LAST  MO- 
MENTS, AND  INTERVIEW  WITH  SAVONAROLA,  1  492. — SUCCESSION, 
REGIME,  AND  FLIGHT  OF  PIETRO. — DOWNFALL  OF  THE  MEDICI   .  144 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PONTIFICATE  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  SIXTH. — HIS  ELECTION.  

MODE  OF  SECURING  IT. — HIS   CORONATION. — EARLY  CAREER.  

HIS   CHILDREN.  DEATH   OF    HIS    ELDEST   SON,    THE  DUKE  OF 

GANDIA. — ABANDONMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH  BY  HIS  SECOND  SON, 
C.5:SAR  BORGIA,  CARDINAL  VALENTINO.  — THE  CARDINAL  EX- 
CHANGES A  RED  HAT  FOR  A  DUCAL  CORONET  164 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  REFORM  OF  SAN  MARCO.  — FRA  GIROLAMO  CALLED  ON  TO 
PREACH  DURING  THE  LENT  IN  BOLOGNA,  IN  1493.  —  OFFENCE 
GIYEN  BY  THE  PREACHER  TO  THE  WIFE  OF  JOHN  BENTIVOGLIO. 
 ATTEMPT  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  FRA  GIROLAMO. — RETURN  TO  FLO- 
RENCE.— RESUMPTION  OF  THE    LABOURS    OF    HIS  MISSION.  

REFORM  COMMENCED  OF  HIS  ORDER.  —  BEGINNING  OF  THE 
QUARREL  WITH  THE  COURT  OF  ROME. — OFFER  MADE  TO  HIM  OF 

A  cardinal's  hat. — 1493  to  1494    189 


COXTKMS. 


Xlll 


CHAPTER  XL 

PAGE 

PHEDICTED    INVASION   OF    ITALY   BY   CHAKLES   THE   EIGHTH  OF 
FRANCE. — AREIYAL  OF  CHARLES  AND  HIS  ARMY  IN  FLORENCE. 

 FLIGHT  OF  THE  MEDICI. — RESTORATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  

THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SAYONAEOLa's  INFLUENCE  IN  PUBLIC 

AFFAIRS.  SUCCESSFUL  RESULTS  OF  HIS  EFFOBTS  ON  BEHALF  OF 

THE  FLORENTINE  EEPUBLIC,  AND  SUBSEQUENT  MEDIATION  WITH 
THE  KING  AT  FLORENCE  TO  PREYENT  THE  SACKING  OF  THE 
CITY. — DEPARTURE  OF  THE  FRENCH  FROM  FLORENCE. — CLOSE 
OF  THE  YEAR  1494    195 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FLOEENCE  RESTORED  TO  ITS  LIBERTY. — THE  REPUBLICAN  FORM 
OF  GOVERNMENT  EE-MODELLED.  SAVONAROLa's  AID  AND  COUN- 
CIL SOUGHT  FOE  BY  THE  SIGNORIA. — HIS  INTERPOSITION  IN 
SECULAR  AFFAIRS. — HIS  DISCOURSE  ON  GOVEENMENT  BEFOEE 
THE  SIGNORIA.  HIS  TEEATISE  ON  GOVEENMENT.  THE  QUES- 
TION OF  THE  LICITNESS  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  INTERFERENCE  IN 
SECULAR  AFFAIRS. — SAYONAROLA's   MOTIVES  FOR  IT,  AND  ITS 

RESULTS. — 1494  TO  1495    212 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

LETTERS  OF  SAVONAROLA  TO  HIS  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS,  FROM 
THE  LETTERE  INEDITE  OF  THE  PADRE  MARCHESE,  O.S.D.  RE- 
CENTLY BROUGHT  TO  LIGHT  248 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OPPOSITION  TO  SAVONAROLA  OF  SOME  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS, 
AND  OF  THE  FRANCISCANS  ESPECIALLY,  AND  THEIR  ADHERENTS 
THE  PALLESCHI.  FRA  GIROLAMO  AND  THE  USURERS  OF  FLO- 
RENCE. ANTAGONISM  OF  SPIRITUAL   INFLUENCES  AND  SORDID 

INTERESTS. — 1495  TO  1496    266 


CHAPTER  XY. 

ON  THE  DiSCT^RNMENT  OF  SPIRITS      .      .  . 


273 


xiv 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGE 

THE  TEACHING  AND  PREACHING  OF  SAVONAEOLA  297 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  TEACHING  AND  PEE  ACHING  OE  SAVONAEOLA   324 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 


EEFOEMATION  OF  MANNEES. — EEVIVAL  OF  EELIGION. — EELIGIOUS 

PEOCESSIONS.  ATJTO-DA-FE    OF    VANITIES,    AND  LICENTIOUS 

BOOKS  AND  OBJECTS  OF  AET. — THE   "  LAUDE  "  AND  SPIEITUAL 


SONGS  OF  SAVONAEOLA   360 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PAGANISM  IN  EDUCATION  384 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  OBLIGATIONS  OF  CIIEISTIAN  AET  TO  SAVONAEOLA     .      .      .  .399 

CHAPTER  XXI. 


OEIGIN  OF  THE  ANIMOSITY  OF  ALEXANDEE  THE  SIXTH  AGAINST 
SAVONAEOLA. — EFFOETS  TO  GAIN  HIM  OVEE  TO  THE  VIEWS  OF 

ALEXANDEE.  SECEET  INTEIGUES  AGAINST  HIM.  INTEECEPTED 

COEEESPONDENCE  WITH  CHEISTIAN  PEINCES,  UEGING  ON  THEM 
THE  NECESSITY  OF  CALLING  A  GENEEAL  COUNCIL  FOE  THE  EE- 
NOVATION   OF   THE     CHUECH.  PEOHIBITION    TO  PEEACH.  

CITATION  TO  EOME. — EXCOMMUNICATION. — 1496  TO  1498    .     .  417 


APPENDIX. 
No.  1. 

NOTICE  OF  BIOGEAPHIES  OF  SAVONAEOLA  AND  WOEKS  EELATING  TO 

HIM  457 

No.  2. 

NOTICE  OF  AVOEKS,  &C.  OF  SAVONAEOLA  475 


NOTICE 

OF 

PORTRAITS   OF  SAVONAROLA. 


The  most  eminent  artists  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  have 
left  portraits  and  other  representations  of  Savonarola.  Rafael  has  in- 
troduced his'portrait  into  his  picture  of  the  Doctors  of  the  Church,  in  the 
very  loggie  of  the  Vatican,  from  which  the  anathemas  against  the  Friar 
had  been  not  long  previously  fulminated. 

An  artist  of  great  celebrity,  of  the  order  of  Fra  Girolamo,  has  left  two 
portraits  of  the  renowned  prior  of  San  Marco. 

Fra  Bartolomeo  Di  San  Marco,  known  in  the  world  as  Baccio  Delia 
Porta,  was  born  in  1469,  and  died  in  1517.  He  figures  in  the  Lives  of 
the  Eminent  Artists  by  Georgio  Vasari,  as  a  most  excellent  painter,  of 
exquisite  delicacy  of  touch,  admirable  design,  and  great  mastery  of 
his  art.  While  a  secular  man,  living  in  Florence,  greatly  esteemed  for 
his  talents  and  his  worth,  we  are  told  by  Vasari  he  attended  the  preach- 
ings, with  infinite  devotion,  of  "that  renowned  theologian  Fra  Girolamo 
Savonarola." 

The  illustrious  painter's  respect  for  the  person  of  Fra  Girolamo,  and 
his  constant  visits  to  San  Marco,  led  to  an  intimate  friendship,  and, 
shortly  after  the  death  of  the  martyred  friar,  to  the  assumption  of  the 
habit  of  San  Domenico,  in  the  year  1500,  in  the  Dominican  convent 
of  Prato,  ten  miles  from  Florence.  It  would  appear  from  the  way  in 
which  Vasari  mentions  the  portrait  by  him  of  Savonarola,  to  which  he 
refers,  that  it  was  painted  during  the  life-time  of  Savonarola,  in  the 
early  part  of  1498,  certainly  previous  to  the  23rd  of  May  of  that  year. 
Speaking  of  the  Auto  da  fe  of  vanities,  in  1498,  Vasari  says,  "  Not 
long  after  this,  Baccio  dclla  Porto  (Bartolomeo),  moved  by  the  love 


XVI 


NOTICE  OF  PORTRAITS  OF  SAVONAROLA. 


which  he  bore  to  Fra  Girolamo,  painted  a  picture,  wherein  was  his 
portrait,  which  is  indeed  most  beautiful.  This  work  at  the  time  was 
transported  to  Ferrara,  but  was  brought  back  to  Florence  not  a  great 
while  since,  and  is  now  in  the  home  of  Filippo,  the  son  of  Alamanni 
Salviati,  by  whom,  as  being  a  work  of  Baccio's,  it  is  held  in  the  highest 
estimation." 

The  editor  of  Bohn's  edition  of  Vasari's  work  observes  :  "  There 
is  a  fine  portrait  of  Savonarola,  by  Fra  Bartolomeo,  now  in  the  Academy 
of  the  Fine  Arts  in  Florence.  It  has  a  deep  wound  in  the  head, 
doubtless  in  allusion  to  his  martyrdom,  and  is  therefore  not  likely  to 
be  that  here  alluded  to,  although  some  annotatorsj  appear  to  consider 
that  it  may  be  the  one  mentioned  by  Vasari,  as  in  the  possession  of 
Filippo  Salviati.""^ 

■   The  annotators  are  certainly  mistaken  in  the  opinion. 

In  a  very  rare  illustrated  work,  in  Italian  and  English,  entitled  "  Vita 
di  Fra  Bartolomeo,"  published  in  Florence,  in  folio,  by  an  English 
artist,  Thomas  Patch,  in  1772,  in  which  copies  of  all  the  principal  works 
of  Fra  Bartolomeo  are  to  be  found,  there  is  a  fine  copy  of  "  the  por- 
trait of  Savonarola,"  by  Fra  Bartolomeo. 

No  such  wound  as  is  represented  in  the  head  of  the  picture  in  the 
Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts,  is  to  be  found  in  this  portrait. 

The  portrait  painted  by  Fra  Bartolomeo,  which  Marchese  styles  Lo 
Stupende  Ritratto,  is  now  in  Florence,  he  states,  in  the  possession  of 
Ermolao  Rubieri."^'  Another,  by  the  same  artist,  he  adds,  formerly  in 
San  Marco,  is  now  in  the  gallery  of  the  Florentine  Academy.  Several 
medallions  exist  in  bronze.  There  is  a  full-length  portrait  of  Savona- 
rola, in  a  group  of  figures  in  fresco,  at  a  villa  at  Poggio  Cajano,  by 
Pocetti. 

In  the  biography  of  Savonarola  by  Mons.  Carle,  there  is  a  half-length 
portrait  of  Fra  Girolamo,  taken,  with  some  slight  alteration  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  hands,  from  an  original  picture,  said  to  have  existed  in  the 
cell  of  Fra  Girolamo,  in  San  Marco,  ascribed  (perhaps  erroneously)  to 
a  cotemporary  artist. 

There  are  two  portraits  in  oil,  of  Savonarola,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  D.  Macarthy  (residing  in  Bath),  a  gentleman  intimately  acquainted 
with  Italian  art  and  literature.    "  One,"  says  Mr.  Macarthy,  "  is  an 

*  Vasari's  Lives  of  the  most  Eminent  Painters,  &c.,  Bohn's  Eng.  Ed.  in  3  vols. 
1841,  vol.  ii.  p.  449. 
t  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  Introd.  di  Pad.  Marchese. 


NOTK'E  OF   PORTRAITS  OF  SAVONAROLA.  XVll 

original  of  the  time  of  the  renowned  Dominican,  a  very  fine  painting 
and  most  probably  by  a  scholar  of  Fra  Bartolomeo,  representing  the 
head  and  bust  only.  The  other  is  a  copy  of  a  very  indifferent  oil 
painting,  taken  (for  Mr.  Macarthy)  from  the  original  which  is  in  the 
cell  at  San  Marco.  It  is  half  size,  and  represents  the  Father  with  one 
hand  holding  a  crucifix,  and  the  other  uplifted  as  if  in  an  attitude  of 
contemplation.  The  Florentine  gem  by  Giovanni  della  Corniole,  from 
a  cast  of  which  the  small  portrait  (engraved  for  this  work)  is  taken,  is 
doubtless  the  most  authentic  portrait  in  existence." 

Mr.  Macarthy  also  possesses  an  old  and  good  portrait,  said  to  be 
(and  as  he  thinks  truly)  of  Fra  Matteo  Maruffi,  one  of  the  fellow- 
sufferers  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

There  was  a  bust  of  Savonarola  made,  many  years  after  his  death, 
in  porphyry,  by  a  sculptor  of  Fiesole,  named  Checco  del  Tadda,  a  co- 
temporary  of  Fra  Girolamo  (testa  bellissima),  says  Fra  Timoteo  di 
Perrugia.  Of  this  bust  mention  is  made  by  P.  Marchese  (in  his  pub- 
lication "  Documenti  intorne  al  Savonarola,"  ap  Arch.  Istor.  Ital. 
Appen.  25) ;  of  which  there  is  an  account  in  a  letter  of  Padre  Poggio, 
prefixed  to  the  Life  of  Savonarola,  by  Burlamacchi  (in  the  Lucca 
ed.  1764,  Letter  xxxv.).  Michael  Angelo,  in  his  old  age,  recalling 
some  passages  of  Savonarola's  sermons,  which  inspired  him  with  the 
ideas  of  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  Italian  poetry,  in  remembrance  of 
the  martyred  Friar,  suggested  a  symbol  for  the  reverse  of  the  medal 
struck  by  Leone  Aretino,  in  honour  of  Savonarola,  the  figure  of  a 
blind  man  led  by  a  dog,  and  a  motto  for  the  medal — "  Docebo  iniquos 
vias  tuas  et  impii  ad  te  convertentur.'^  * 

The  engraved  gem,  with  the  likeness  of  Savonarola,  the  work  of 
Giovanni  delle  Corniole  (so  called,  from  several  of  his  best  works  hav- 
ing been  executed  in  Cornelian),  in  the  Royal  Gallery  of  Florence,  has 
been  copied  and  engraved  in  Italy,  the  first  time  in  1818  {Vide  Reg- 
gimento  degli  Stati  di  Fra  G.  Savonarola,  8fC.).  This  admirable  object 
of  ancient  art  is  valuable  moreover  for  being  the  best  likeness  of 
Savonarola  in  existence.  It  is  erroneously  asserted  by  several  writers 
that  this  gem  was  executed  by  Corniole,  by  the  orders  of  Lorenzo  de 
Medici.  The  word  "  Martyr"  occurs  in  the  inscription  round  the  face. 
It  was  executed  in  the  old  age  of  Corniole,  after  the  deaths  both  of 
Lorenzo  and  Savonarola. 

*  Prediche  de  Sav.  vol,  unico.  Fir.  1845. 


xvm 


>'OTirE  OF  PORTRAITS  OF  SAVOXAROL-\. 


From  the  engraved  gem,  the  portrait  prefixed  to  this  work  (enlarged 
to  double  the  size  of  the  original)  is  taken. 

The  accompanying  medallion  is  a  fac-simile  of  one  existing  in  the 
Florentine  gallery,  taken  from  the  copy  in  the  "  Academie  Royale  des 
Inscriptions,"  of  Paris. 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

OF 

SAVONAROLA. 


INTEODUCTION. 

THE  STATE  OF  ITALY,  SOCIAL,  POLITICAL,  AND  RELIGIOUS,  PRE- 
VIOUSLY TO  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  FLORENCE  AND  ITS 
REPUBLIC  UNDER  THE  MEDICI. 

Decliirans  a  Tenvi  leur  propre  Republique, 
Lions  centre  Lions,  parens  contre  parens, 
Combattent  follement  pour  le  choix  des  tyrans. 

BoiLEA-U,  Sat. 

 "  Dimmi  la  cagione 

Perche  I'ha  tanta  discordia  assalita  ? 
Superbia,  invidia  e  avarizia  sono 
Le  tre  faville  c'hanno  i  cuori  acccsi." 

Dante,  L' Inferno,  Canto  vi. 

Den  IN  A,  in  a  parallel  between  the  Republics  of  Italy  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  those  of  ancient  Italy  under  the  Romans, 
observes,  Whoever  reads  in  the  annals  of  Lombardy,  and  in 
the  old  chronicles  of  Tuscany,  how  the  free  people  passed  so 
quickly  into  external  wars,  and  civil  tumults,  from  war  to 
peace,  from  amity  to  enmity,  and  kept  up  a  perpetual  succes- 
sion of  alliances,  insurrections  and  discord — might  imagine  the 
accounts  were  reproduced  descriptions,  under  different  names, 
of  the  wars  of  the  Romans  with  the  Latins  and  with  the  Volsci, 
and  the  continual  quarrels  of  the  people  with  the  Patricians, 
and  of  the  senate  with  the  tribunes  ;  and  perhaps,  in  reading 

VOL.  I.  B 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  Florentine  History  of  Scipio  Ammirato,  one  niiglit  fancy  he 
had  before  him  the  work  of  Livy  rendered  into  Italian. 

The  mode  of  intimating  and  making  wars,  and  concluding 
peace,  that  was  practised  in  ancient  Italy  in  the  times  of 
Camillus  and  of  Pyrrhus,  does  not  materially  differ  from  that  of 
the  times  of  Frederick  the  Second  and  of  Manfred. 

"  And  within  towns  and  cities  also,  alike  were  the  haughti- 
ness of  the  nobles  towards  the  people,  and  the  injustice  of  the 
people  in  their  demands  when  they  began  to  feel  their  own 
strength,  and  to  meddle  in  matters  of  government.  The  one 
and  the  other,  I  say,  were  animated  with  the  same  spirit, 
influenced  by  the  same  motives,  and  subjected  to  the  same 
revolutionary  results.  .  .  .  We  observe,  also,  a  most  striking  re- 
semblance in  the  destinies  of  the  tyrants  of  ancient  Italy  and 
those  of  the  Tuscan  and  Lombard  republics,  of  the  times  of 
Frederick  the  Second  and  his  successors ;  and  might  very  well 
find  striking  points  of  resemblance  between  Eccellino  de 
Romano  and  Tarquin  the  Proud ;  the  Marquis  Oberto  Pala- 
vicino,  Buoso  de  Doara,  Martino  della  Torre,  and  Por senna, 
king  of  Chiusi,  and  princes  of  his  character  ;  and  similar  re- 
semblances between  the  supreme  magistrates  of  the  ancient 
Tuscans,  Latins,  Campani,  and  Samnites,  with  the  despots  of 
the  middle  ages.  Amongst  them  we  have  seen  how  free  and 
independent  cities  sometimes  come  under  the  yoke  of  one 
powerful  citizen,  or  under  the  dominion  of  a  tyrant  of  some 
other  neighbouring  city,  in  such  a  way  as  a  lord  of  Padua,  or 
Milan,  or  Verona,  obtained  the  government  of  many  other 
Lombard  cities,  alike  free  and  independent."* 

The  Roman  empire  perished  with  Augustulus,  in  476.  It 
revived  (for  a  short  time)  under  Charlemagne,  about  776,  after 
a.  lapse  of  300  years.  The  different  hordes  of  barbarians,  who 
had  taken  possession  of  Italy,  had  become  enervated  by  idle- 
ness and  sensual  enjojnnents ;  and  the  remains  of  the  old 
Roman  race  had  sunk  into  barbarism,  not  far  removed  from  that 
of  their  conquerors,  being  involved  in  continual  raids  and 
*  Denina,  Eivol.  d'ltal.  t.  ii.  p.  383. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


3 


petty  warfare,  and  living  in  a  state  of  turbulent,  lawless  inde- 
pendence. Society  was  composed  of  different  classes  of  marau- 
ders ;  a  privileged  order,  having  power  to  maintain  their 
position  without  commerce,  arts,  or  agriculture  ;  and  a  serf  class, 
the  people  of  which  were  held  to  have  been  born  for  the  use 
and  advantage  of  counts  and  barons,  feudal  chieftains,  and 
military  commanders  of  those  times. 

The  power  that  revived  the  empire  of  the  west,  and  filled  up 
the  gap  in  history  between  Augustulus  and  Charlemagne,  was 
recognized  by  all  the  barbarian  races  settled  in  Italy,  and  like- 
wise by  the  remnant  of  the  old  Roman  stock,  now  mingled  with 
them  in  a  chaos,  wherein  the  social  elements  of  life  lay  in  utter 
confusion. 

"  From  that  hour,"  says  an  elegant  writer,  "  the  barbarian 
tribes  acquired  a  new  relation  —  one  that  attached  them  all 
simultaneously  to  a  grand  idea  of  general  and  permanent  asso- 
ciation.   This  was  the  beginning  of  modern  Europe."* 

But  what  was  to  maintain  this  association  in  Italy,  when  the 
power  of  the  empire  proved  insufficient,  as  it  did  in  Gaul,  and 
Germany,  after  the  death  of  Charlemagne,  to  sustain  its  mighty 
mission,  and  when  the  new  empire  came  to  an  end  with  the 
founder  of  it  ? 

Guizot  in  part  answers  that  question  :  "  I  believe  I  am  not 
saying  too  much  in  affirming  that  it  was  by  the  Church,  Chris- 
tendom was  preserved  in  those  ages.  As  to  the  conservative 
influence  of  civil  government,  of  law,  of  opinion,  they  had 
absolutely  no  existence ;  in  that  very  crisis,  too,  when  it  is 
certain  that  nothing  but  a  society  strongly  organised  (as  was 
the  Church)  could  have  been  able  to  cope  with  such  disasters, 
and  to  come  out  victorious  from  such  a  hurricane. f 

"  It  was  the  Chmxh,"  he  observes,  "  with  its  institutions,  its 
hierarchy,  its  power,  that  arrayed  itself  firmly  against  the  internal 
dissolution  of  the  ancient  social  order  against  barbarism  ;  it 
conquered  the  barbarians,  it  became  the  link,  the  medium,  the 

*  Dr.  Miley's  Rome  under  Paganism,  vol.  ii.  p.  328. 
t  Hist,  de  la  Civil,  en  Europe,  p.  51. 

B  2 


4 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MAHYTRDOM 


propagating  principle  of  civilization  between  tlie  Roman  world 
and  the  world  of  the  barbarians." 

Leo  the  Third,  from  the  mountains  of  Isauria,  had  ascended 
the  throne  of  the  East,  a.d.  726.  "  Ignorant  of  sacred  and  pro- 
fane letters/'  as  we  are  told  by  Gibbon,  "  the  martial  peasant 
was  inspired  with  an  hatred  of  images."  Having  undertaken 
the  reformation  of  religion,  "  he  demolished  the  images  of 
Christ,  the  Virgin,  and  the  saints  ;  and  a  smooth  surface  of 
plaster  was  spread  over  the  walls  of  the  churches  of  Constanti- 
nople and  the  provinces."* 

In  the  reign  of  his  successor,  Copronymus,  a  general  assembly 
was  convoked  in  a.d.  754,  all  visible  symbols  of  Christ,  except 
in  the  Eucharist,  were  declared  blasphemous  or  heretical ;  and 
the  destruction  of  all  representations  of  saints,  &c.  was  ordained. 
From  this  period  the  war  was  fiercely  waged  of  the  Iconoclasts 
with  monks  and  monasteries,  under  the  mask  of  zeal  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  religion ;  and  this  war  soon  spread  from  the  east  to  the  west. 

It  was  after  the  unavailing  remonstrance  of  Gregory  the  Second 
to  the  Emperor  Leo,  against  the  sacrilegious  outrages  committed 
by  his  orders,  in  churches  and  all  holy  places,  that  the  separa- 
tion of  the  eastern  empire  from  its  former  western  dominions 
was  formally  declared.  The  exercise  of  moral  influence  for 
some  time  sufficed  for  the  protection  of  the  territorial  possessions 
of  the  Church,  obtained  by  bequests  and  donations  during  several 
preceding  centuries. 

It  soon,  however,  became  necessary  to  employ  an  armed  force 
to  defend  them  against  the  Ex-Archate  of  Ravenna,  and  even- 
tually to  make  war,  on  the  lord  of  those  territories,  in  con- 
junction with  the  new  sovereign  of  the  Franks,  and  the  ally  of. 
the  Pontiffs,  King  Pepin. 

The  diadem  of  the  Ceesars  was  placed  ^)n  the  brow  of  Charle- 
magne, the  son  and  successor  of  Pepin,  in  the  year  800,  and 
the  Church  profited  largely  in  temporal  matters  by  the  solem- 
nity. Charlemagne  made  wars,  avowedlj^  to  defend  and  extend 
the  possessions  of  the  Church. 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Rom.  Em.  chap.  xxxv. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


5 


The  wars  of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne,  we  are  told,  were  just  and 
necessary  wars,  which  gave  rights  of  conquest,  and  disposal  of 
territory  to  the  victors  over  the  conquered  people  and  captured 
territory.  "Whether  their  wars  were  just  and  necessary,  is  a 
question  which  might  be  more  easily  debated  than  determined. 

When  the  temporal  power  had  been  assumed  by  the  Popes, 
it  is  admitted  by  Gibbon,  "  the  ruins  of  Rome  presented  the 
sad  image  of  depopnlation  and  decay."  The  people  of  Rome, 
and  of  the  papal  territory,  were  benefitted  by  coming  under  the 
power  of  the  see  of  Rome.  They  were  found  by  it  in  barbarity 
and  anarchy.  The  inhabitants,  the  offspring  of  slaves  and 
strangers,  were  despicable,  we  are  told,  even  in  the  eyes  of  the 
northern  barbarians  who  had  conquered  them.  "  In  the  name 
of  a  Roman,"  says  the  bishop  Luitprand,  "  we  indicate  what- 
ever is  base,  whatever  is  cowardly,  whatever  is  perfidious ;  the 
extremes  of  avarice  and  luxury  that  can  prostitute  the  dignity 
of  human  nature."* 

It  is  universally  allowed,  the  influence  of  the  Holy  See  in 
governinent  matters  was  a  beneficent  one,  wherever  it  was  ex- 
ercised. Those  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  who  had  been  scat- 
tered over  the  face  of  Italy  by  barbarian  chiefs  and  feudal  lords, 
wherever  the  power  of  the  Popes  prevailed,  returned  to  their 
old  cities,  towns,  and  hamlets ;  and  those  small  gatherings  of 
people  in  time  became  the  nuclei  of  young  republican  insti- 
tutions. 

"  The  originators  of  those  young  republics,"  says  Denina, 
were  of  the  old  Latin  races,  and  of  the  stock  of  the  Etruscans, 
the  Sabines,  the  Marses,  the  Volsci,  and  the  Herni." 
•  But  the  remnant  of  that  old  Roman  stock  had  assuredly  ter- 
ribly degenerated  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries. 

We  find  the  Holy  See  largely,  if  not  chiefly,  indebted  to 
Pepin  and  Charlemagne  for  its  territorial  possessions  and  tem- 
poral sovereignty.  But  if  the  obligation  had  never  been  in- 
curred, Catholic  doctrine  teaches  that  the  Church  would  have 
subsisted  in  its  integrity  all  the  same. 

•  Ap.  Gibbon's  Dec.  and  Fall,  ch.  xxiv. 


6  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

All  experience  demonstrates  that  the  less  secularized  a  churcli 
is^  the  more  spii-itual  is  its  government  and  its  teachers.  All 
reasoning  on  the  results  of  that  experience  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  more  spiritualized  is  a  church,  the  more  likely 
it  must  be  to  be  regarded  with  favour  by  its  divine  founder. 

Behef,  then,  in  the  doctrine  above  referred  to,  must  neces- 
sarily cause  the  protection,  the  patronage,  the  profuse  bounty 
of  Constantine,  Pepin,  and  Charlemagne  to  the  Church,  to  be 
regarded  as  a  great  calamity. 

The  fierce  contests  betw'een  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  Germany, 
and  Pope  Gregory  the  Seventh,  involved  Italy  in  a  protracted 
warfare  between  the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers. 

"  Up  to  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,"  says  Dr.  Doyle, 
"  when  Pope  Gregory  the  SeA^enth  appeai'ed,  the  papal  power, 
to  which  he  gave  a  certain  form  and  consistency,  though  gra- 
dually gaining  strength,  was  not  such  as  could  create  alarm. 
Its  progress  was  silent,  and  it  was  much  more  occupied  in  ad- 
vancing the  interests  of  religion  amongst  the  nations  newly 
converted,  than  in  making  encroachments  up«n  princes." 

The  new  Pontiff,  with  powers  of  intellect  unsurpassed  by  any 
of  his  predecessors  or  successors,  with  purposes  high  and  holy 
as  ever  were  had  in  view  by  a  prelate  of  his  Chui'ch,  if  the  Pro- 
testant pastor,  Voight,  his  biogi'apher,  has  written  truly  of  him, 
found  the  Church  plunged  in  difficulties  and  disorders  fatal  to 
religion — ^in  simony,  corruption,  scandalous  lining,  in  aU  the 
catIs  that  had  sprung  up  from  an  utter  confusion  of  jurisdictions; 
the  secular  power  seeking  and  obtaining  temporal  advantages 
from  a  control  over  spiritual  offices,  the  spiritual  power  secu- 
larizing itself  for  the  patronage  of  princes,  and  the  protection 
of  worldly  possessions.  Hildebrand  attempted  to  stem  the 
torrent  of  iniquity  which  surrounded  religion,  to  extinguish 
simony,  to  reform  and  renovate  the  administration  of  spu'itual 
afifairs,  but  the  means  at  his  disposal  were  inadequate  to  that 
end  ;  the  evils  of  the  connexion  of  spiritual  and  temporal  power 
in  his  owTi  office  were  too  great  even  for  his  vast  intellect  and 
exalted  virtues  to  surmount. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


7 


Views,  however,  of  a  very  different  kind,  with  respect  to 
Gregory  the  Seventh,  from  those  of  the  Protestant  pastor, 
Voight,  have  been  taken  by  a  very  eminent  Roman  Catholic 
Prelate,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Doyle,  of  this  Pontiff  and  his  acts. 

"  This  Pope,"  says  Dr.  Doyle,  "  excited  by  an  extraordinary 
desire  to  extinguish  simony,  and  to  render  all  mankind  as  fer- 
vent Christians  as  he  was  himself,  conceived  it  necessary  for  his 
purpose  to  subject  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  his  sway.  He 
assembled  his  counsellors,  and  delivered  to  them  and  to  the 
holy  apostles,  whom  he  frequently  addressed,  the  most  impas- 
sioned harangues.  He  resisted  the  Emperor  Henry  the  Fourth, 
not  with  the  prudent  caution  used  by  his  predecessors,  but  with 
violence.  Not  accustomed  to  meet  with  opposition,  he  waxed 
angry, — ^he  took  the  empire  into  his  own  hands,"  &c. 

Denina  attributes  the  consolidation  of  the  independence  of 
the  Italian  republics  to  the  contentions  of  the  Emperor,  Henry 
the  Fourth  of  Germany,  and  Gregory  the  Seventh,  which  left 
it  out  of  the  power  of  that  unprincipled  Emperor  to  prevent 
the  establishment  of  the  several  republics  which  had  sprung  up 
amidst  the  ruins  of  the  empire  of  Charlemagne,  in  places  that 
had  been  either  abandoned,  desolated,  or  neglected  by  the 
Emperor  or  the  Pontiffs,  or  their  several  adherents,  in  the  course 
of  the  long  struggle  between  the  chiefs  of  the  temporal  and  the 
spiritual  poAver  of  Europe. 

But  the  very  ardour  of  the  desire  of  the  young  republics  to 
be  enabled  to  resist  foreign  aggression,  eventually  led  to  the 
overthrow  of  most  of  their  governments  by  domestic  treasons. 

They  raised  forces  for  defence  more  than  were  required  for 
their  secuiity,  or  their  revenues  enabled  them  to  sustain. 

They  realized  in  the  twelfth  century  the  picture  of  the  horrors 
of  a  distracted  people,  involved  in  ceaseless,  and  apparently 
causeless  wars,  that  has  been  left  by  a  great  historian  of  ancient 
times. 

"  The  chiefs  of  the  factions  had  each  of  them  a  specious  name 
and  pretext.  Some  held  forth  a  political  equality  among  the 
citizens,  and  some  a  plan  of  a  more  temperate  aristocracy. 


8 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Their  speeches  had  a  reference  to  the  common  prize  of  contest, 
power  and  sovereignty ;  and  every  art  was  used  by  the  an- 
tagonists to  defeat  each  other.  Having  obtained  their  ends 
either  by  unjust  sentences,  or  by  acts  of  violence,  they  were 
prepared  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  crimes  and  iniquity."* 

The  Suabian  dynasty  of  the  German  empii'e,  from  the  time  of 
Henry  the  Fourth  to  that  of  Frederic  the  First,  surnamed  Bar- 
barossa,  who  was  crowned  in  1155,  was  always  true  to  its  old 
original  hostility  to  the  see  of  Rome. 

AVlien  the  deputies  of  the  Senate  of  Rome  addressed  the 
newly-crowned  Emperor  on  the  subject  of  their  rights,  Frederic 
replied  to  them,  "  Rome  is  no  longer  what  it  was  :  Charlemagne 
and  others  have  conquered  it,  and  I  am  your  master."  In 
reply  to  letters  of  the  Pope,  he  said — "  He  held  his  empire  from 
God  and  the  election  of  princes,  and  not  by  the  bounty  of  the 
Popes  of  Rome."  Frederic  proved  to  the  latter,  as  far  as  de- 
pended on  him,  that  he  had  the  power  of  electing  them,  or  af 
involving  their  elections  in  confusion,  strife,  and  schism,  at  his 
wHl. 

He  contemplated  the  establisliment  of  an  universal  monarchy, 
of  which  he  was  to  be  the  emperor,  and  so  far  had  acted  on  the 
project  he  had  formed,  that  his  chancellor  was  instructed  by 
him  to  substitute  for  the  style  and  title  of  the  European  mo- 
narchs,  that  of  kings  of  provinces. f  The  see  of  Rome  stood  in 
the  way  of  the  reckless  ambition  of  the  prince,  who  projected 
an  undertaking  which  the  genius  of  Alexander  the  Great,  with 
all  his  daring,  could  not  have  accomplished. 

Frederic  proclaimed  himself  to  be  the  source  of  all  authority, 
temporal  and  spii'itual — "  The  Living  Law." 

The  Pope  Alexander  the  Third  had  to  fly  for  refuge  to 
France  from  the  intrigues  and  acts  of  violence  in  his  capital,  of 
which  Frederic  was  the  author. 

The  emperor  was   excommunicated  in  1168.     In  1176, 

*  Thucid.  lib.  i.  sect.  80. 

t  Hist,  de  Saint  Louis  par  M.  le  Marquis  de  Tillanueya,  t.  i.  p.  238. 
Svo.  Paris,  1830. 


OP  SAVONAROLA. 


9 


Frederic,  after  his  defeat  near  Como  by  the  Milanese,  had  to 
sue  for  peace  to  the  Pontiff.  A  reconciliation  took  place  in 
Venice.  Frederic  kissed  the  feet  of  his  holiness,  he  served  the 
Pope  at  mass  in  the  cathedral,  he  led  his  mnle  in  the  public 
square  of  St.  Marc.  He,  Frederic,  the  projector  of  an  universal 
empire,  who  was  to  have  been  the  lord  of  the  wide  world — the 
Living  Law  to  all  mankind,  in  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
matters,  had  to  bend  his  knee  in  humble  obeisance  to  the  power 
of  the  successor  of  the  fisherman,  and  to  hold  the  bridle  of  his 
mule  in  the  face  of  the  people  of  his  court,  to  whom  he  had 
proclaimed  himself  the  master  of  Rome  and  of  its  Pontifis. 

Frederic  atoned  for  his  mistake  and  his  misdeeds,  by  a  cru- 
sade in  1189.  He  gained  two  victories  over  the  Turks,  and 
died  near  Tarsus  in  Cilicea,  in  1190. 

Barbarossa  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  Frederic  the 
Second,  who  had  been  elected  king  of  the  Romans  in  1196. 

His  intervention  in  the  afiairs  of  Italy  was  not  long  delayed 
after  his  accession  [to  the  empire.  He  came  into  Italy,  we  are 
told,  with  a  firm  purpose  of  crushing  the  young  republics,  and 
establishing  a  German  influence  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  from  Sicily  to  Lombardy,  where  ultimately 
in  Milan  he  placed  the  iron  crown  upon  his  head.  He  efiected 
however,  says  Denina,  little  more  by  his  "  jornadas"  in  Italy 
than  his  coronation,  the  devastation  of  some  lands,  and  the 
death  of  some  thousands  of  people  in  this  his  first  expedition. 
In  his  second,  he  effected  little  more  than  resuscitating  ancient 
discords,  and  playing  off  the  old  factions  with  the  Guelphs  and 
Ghibelines,  for  the  promotion  of  his  German  interest. 

He  maintained  an  external  appearance  of  amity  with  the 
Holy  See  till  after  his  coronation,  on  which  occasion  he  swore 
to  be  the  champion  of  the  Chui'ch,  and  a  promoter  of  the  crusades 
against  the  infidels.  Frederic,  iievertheless,  was  of  the  category 
of  those  unbelievers  whom  he  swore  to  extirpate,  if  he  has  not 
been  greatly  slandered  and  wrongfully  anathematized  on  divers 
occasions. 

Frederic  the  Second,  like  his  grandfather,  indulged  in  impe- 


10 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


rial  projects  of  universal  empire,  and  inherited,  moreover,  all 
the  rancorous  hatred  of  his  race  against  the  Holy  See.  He  de- 
clined to  fulfil  the  engagements  into  which  he  had  entered  mth 
the  Pontiff  at  the  time  of  his  coronation  in  regard  to  the  crusades, 
and  was  excommunicated  by  the  Pope.  The  thunders  of  Rome, 
however,  began  to  be  too  frequently  fulminated  to  be  feared 
by  unscrupulous  princes.  Frederic  set  out  for  Palestine,  and 
was  restored  to  the  Church,  and  in  the  year  following,  entered 
into  a  truce  with  the  Mahometan  Sultan,  for  a  period  of  ten 
years. 

The  Pope  Gregory  the  Ninth  disapproved  of  this  step, 
accused  him  of  having  executed  his  sworn  promise  in  an  illusory 
manner,  and  de  novo  anathematised  him. 

The  Pope  assembled  an  army,  seized  on  a  great  part  of 
Apulia,  and  invested  the  father-in-law  of  Frederic,  John  of  * 
Brienne,  with  the  sovereignty.  The  son  of  Frederic  the  Second, 
Henry,  king  of  the  Romans,  in  the  midst  of  those  civil  wars, 
declared  against  his  father,  and  caused  a  report  of  his  death  to 
be  disseminated.  This  false  rumour  occasioned  a  general  revolt 
in  Sicily  and  throughout  Italy. 

Frederic  thought  it  was  time  to  abandon  the  crusade,  and 
came  to  the  defence  of  his  crown.  He  proceeded  with  his  army 
to  Southern  Italy,  seized  on  Pomagna,  the  Marshes  of  Ancona, 
the  Duchies  of  Spoletto  and  Benevento,  and  besieged  Rome. 

The  soldiers  of  the  army  of  the  Pope,  who  were  called  Guelphs, 
bore  a  badge  with  a  representation  of  two  keys  on  their  shoulders. 
Those  of  the  army  of  Frederic,  designated  Ghibelines,  bore  a 
cross  for  their  distinctive  symbol.  The  troops  of  Frederic  pre- 
vailed in  most  rencontres  over  those  of  the  Holy  See. 

A  reconciliation,  however,  was  effected  in  1230,  advantageous 
to  the  Pontiff.  The  emperor  undertook  to  pay  130,000  marks 
of  silver,  and  to  restore  all  the  places  he  had  taken.  His  son 
was  then  in  revolt  in  Germany.  Frederic  convoked  a  diet  in 
Mayence  in  1233,  had  his  son  condemned  to  perpetual  impri- 
sonment, and  his  second  son,  Conrad,  elected  king  of  the  Romans. 

In  a  short  time  Frederic  was  master  of  nearly  all  Italy,  and 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


11 


again  at  war  with  the  Pope.  Rome  was  besieged  by  him,  and 
during  the  siege,  the  atrocities  committed  by  him  on  the  Guelphs 
he  had  taken  prisoners  were  unparalleled. 

Wlien  the  siege  of  Rome  was  raised,  his  arms  were  next 
turned  against  the  territories  in  which  the  Templars  had  pos- 
sessions. The  chronicles  of  the  time  state,  "  Churches  and  con- 
vents were  ravaged  by  him,  sacred  things  profaned,  the 
graves  of  holy  people  were  violated,  and  their  ashes  scattered 
to  the  winds.  Ecclesiastics  were  cast  into  prisons,  and  some  of 
them  had  their  eyes  torn  out,  others  were  banished  or  put  to 
death  by  the  sword  or  in  the  flames.  Counts  and  barons  of  the 
Guelph  party  were  executed  on  the  scaffold,  others  perished  of 
hunger  and  hardship  in  the  filth  and  vermin  of  subterraneous 
dungeons  of  old  fortresses.  The  homes  of  the  Guelphs  were 
utterly  devastated.  Ezzelino,  a  furious  and  sanguinary  Ghibe- 
line,  caused  to  perish  twelve  thousand  citizens  of  Padua,  shut  up 
in  the  amphitheatre  of  Verona."* 

That  all  the  atrocities  committed  in  these  Guelph  and  Ghibe- 
line  wars  were  not  perpetrated  by  Frederic  and  his  army,  we 
have  evidence  in  the  admissions  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Ninth,  in 
one  of  his  epistles  to  the  effect,  "  That  the  army  of  Italy,  of 
that  Lombard  league  which  defended  the  Holy  See,  with  the 
Pope's  legate  in  the  camp  representing  it  there,  had  committed 
shocking  acts  of  inhumanity  on  their  prisoners." 

Gregory  the  Ninth  gives  expression  to  some  generous  senti- 
ments, in  a  letter  dated  the  29th  of  May,  1230,  addressed  to 
Cardinal  Pelagius,  legate  in  the  camp  of  the  army  of  Sicily,  in 
those  unhappy  wars  waged  by  the  sovereign  of  Rome  ivith  the 
Suabian  dynasty  of  Germany,  in  which  the  fierce  animosities  of 
the  Guelph  and  Ghibeline  factions  were  played  off  against  each 
other  by  the  high  contending  powers,  spiritual  and  temporal. 

"  It  is  the  will  of  God,"  says  Gregory  the  Ninth,  "  that  to 
preserve  the  liberty  of  the  Church,  humility  does  not  prevent  the 
defence  of  it  by  arms,  provided  that  defence  does  not  go  beyond 
the  limits  that  humanity  prescribes.  Hence  it  follows,  that  the 
*  Feller,  t.  iii.  636. 


12  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

defence  of  ecclesiastical  liberty  ought  not  to  recur,  except  rarely 
and  with  reluctance,  to  other  arms  but  spiritual  ones,  against  the 
tyrants  who  persecute  the  Church.  That  he  ought  not  to  desire 
bloodshed  or  spoil,  but  should  seek  rather  to  bring  back  those 
who  have  gone  astray  into  the  right  road,  and  leave  to  him  his 
own  liberty.  It  is  unworthy  of  an  army  under  Christ's  banner, 
as  we  have  learned,  to  our  great  sorrow,  has  recently  happened, 
to  put  to  death  those  whose  lives  might  be  preserved,  and  to 
disfigure  the  image  of  the  Creator.  Ah,  my  brother,  it  does 
not  comport  with  the  office  of  one  whose  duty  it  is  to  call  back 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  which  is  their  mother,  the  children 
who  have  deserted  her,  and  to  irritate  them  by  exulting  in  the 
sight  of  their  sufferings  and  of  their  blood.  The  Church  which 
extends  its  protection  to  criminals,  even  to  save  them  from 
death,  should  be  very  far  from  the  guilt  of  mutilating  or 
slaying  them.  For  these  reasons,  we  command  you  to  pre- 
serve from  all  injury  those  who  fall  into  the  hands  of  our 
troops,  and  to  treat  them  so  that  they  may  rejoice  to  have 
exchanged  a  state  of  culpable  licentiousness  for  that  of  Christian 
captivity.  You  shall  instruct  the  commanders  henceforth  to 
abstain  from  all  kinds  of  violence,  and  the  penalty  of  incurring 
our  indignation,  and  of  being  fined  to  the  amount  that  shall  be 
determined  by  us."* 

In  1239,  Frederic  was  once  more  excommunicated  by  the 
Pope,  and  a  little  later  he  was  again  excommunicated  by  Pope 
Innocent  the  Fourth,  and  deposed  also  in  the  council  of  Lyons, 
in  1245,  after  the  Pope  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  with  him. 

The  fortunes  of  Frederic  from  this  time  declined,  both  in  Italy 
and  in  Germany.  He  was  beaten  by  the  Lombards,  and  in 
1246  the  claims  of  Henry  of  Thuringia,  and  in  1247  of 
William,  Count  of  Holland,  to  the  imperial  throne,  were  pre- 
ferred to  his.f 

*  Rolirbacher,  tome  xviii.  p.  365. 

t  In  1250,  Frederick  tlie  Second  ended  his  unfortunate  career  at  Firen- 
zuela,  at  tlie  age  of  fifty-seven  years  ;  some  say  of  sorrow  and  chagrin,  others 
state  at  the  hands  of  one  of  his  illegitimate  sons. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


Frederic,  with  all  his  faults,  was  a  patron  of  learning,  the 
founder  of  the  university  of  Padua,  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished troubadours  of  his  time ;  and  in  his  testament  there  is 
evidence  that  he  was  not  so  utterly  destitute  of  religious  senti- 
ments as  he  is  represented  to  have  been ;  as  he  ordered  his  son 
Conrad  to  restore  all  he  had  taken  from  the  Church,  and 
bequeathed  100,000  ounces  of  gold  for  the  succour  of  the  holy 
land. 

We  find  the  disputes  of  Frederic  and  his  pred'ecessors  with 
the  Holy  See  referred  to  by  a  pontiff  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Pope  Paul  the  Third  addressed  a  pontifical  letter  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  the  Fifth,  dated  the  Soth  of  April,  1544,  remonstrating 
against  an  edict  issued  by  the  Emperor,  wherein,  with  the 
professed  view  of  putting  a  stop  to  religious  dissensions,  it  was 
intimated,  that  at  the  next  imperial  diet  something  should  be 
determined  with  respect  to  the  calling  of  a  council  to  deliberate 
on  ecclesiastical  matters.  His  Holiness  complains  of  the  Em- 
peror promising  to  call  a  council  without  previously  consulting 
him,  thereby  claiming  an  illegal  jurisdiction,  and  undertaking 
an  investigation  that  was  alien  to  his  ofiSce. 

In  that  remarkable  dociunent,  Charles  is  thus  reminded  of 
the  antecedents  of  his  predecessors  : — 

"  The  first  of  the  emperors  we  read  of  who  broke  out  in  open 
revolt  and  contempt  of  the  Holy  See  was  Anastasius.  Gelatins, 
the  Roman  Pontiflf,  admonished  him  not  to  favour  the  party  of 
Acatius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  who  had  been  condemned  by 
the  Holy  See  ;  but  he  disobeyed  the  admonition.  Hormisdus, 
the  successor  of  Gelasius,  having  sent  delegates  to  him  to  urge 
him  to  desist  from  communion  with  heretics,  he  first  heard 
them  with  contempt,  and  then  dismissed  them  with  insult.  At 
length,  the  divine  anger  struck  him  dead  by  lightning.  He 
was  succeeded  in  his  impiety,  but  at  intervals,  by  other  emperors, 
as  Mauritius,  Constans,  the  second  son  of  Justinian,  Constantinus, 
Pogonatus,  Philip,  and  Leo. 

"  But  it  was  tedious  to  number  up  those  who  perished  by 
deaths,  differing  in  their  nature,  but  all  violent  or  ignominious. 


14  '         THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

after  having  been  previously  stripped  of  their  power  and  dignity, 
that  in  them  divine  justice  might  manifest  itself  in  taking  venge- 
ance on  the  disobedient.  The  series  might  be  continued  as  far 
as  that  Henry,  who  had  long  most  grievously  vexed  the 
Apostolic  See,  but  at  length  made  captive  at  Lodi  by  his  own 
son,  died  in  prison.  Divine  justice,  by  a  most  just  retribution, 
punishing  by  a  son,  him  who  had  in  so  many  ways  molested  and 
disregarded  the  authority  of  one  whom  Divine  Providence  had 
set  over  him  in  the  Church,  in  the  place  of  a  father.  The  same 
thing  may  be  said  of  Frederic  the  Second,  except  that  his  death 
by  strangulation  was  more  disastrous,  inasmuch  as  his  own  son 
was  the  executioner."* 

The  son  of  Frederic  the  Second,  Conrad,  his  legitimate  heh, 
but  not  his  recognized  successor,  was  poisoned  a  few  years  after 
his  father's  death.  He  left  a  son,  named  also  Conrad ;  this 
unfortunate  youth,  the  grandson  of  Frederic  the  Second,  per- 
ished on  the  scaffold,  in  his  seventeenth  year,  and  with  hun 
the  last  of  the  Suabian  princes. 

Rodolph  of  Hapsbourg  was  elected  king  of  the  Romans 
in  1273,  and  governed  his  states  like  a  Christian  sovereign. 
Italy  and  the  Holy  See,  during  his  reign,  enjoyed  peace.  He 
died  in  1291.    It  is  somewhat  strange,  that  notwithstanding  the 

*  The  document  from  which  this  extract  is  taken  is  written  with  ability, 
and  with  equal  moderation  and  affectionate  regard  for  the  illustrious 
sovereign  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Calvin,  however,  sets  no  bounds  to 
the  fury  of  his  rage  in  dealing  with  it.  He  uses  the  following  language  in 
speaking  of  the  writer,  Pope.  Paul  the  Third  : — "  Old  dotard"  with  "  his 
half-rotten  carcass,"  "  unparalleled  monster,"  "  vile  priest,"  "  wicked  apos- 
tate," "this  madman,"  "Eoman  antichrist,"  "savage  beast,"  "impious 
man,"  " Heliogabalus,"  "Saturn,"  "servant  of  the  father  of  lies,"  "less 
than  the  devil  whom  he  invokes"  ! ! ! 

Theodore  Beza,  in  his  life  of  Calvin,  says,  "  He  (Calvin)  was  naturally 
of  a  keen  temper,  and  this  had  been  increased  by  the  very  laborious  life 
which  he  had  led.  But  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  so  taught  him  to  com- 
mand his  anger,  that  no  word  was  heard  to  proceed  from  him  unbecoming  a 
good  man.'' 

Yide  Life  of  Calvin,  Introd.  p.  xcix.,  and  Letter  of  Paul  the  Third  to 
Charles  the  Fifth,  in  the  works  of  Calvin,  translated  by  Beveridge,  Cal. 
Trans.  Soc.  ed.  8.  i.  Edin.  1844.  vol.  i.  p.  246. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


15 


great  virtues  and  zeal  for  religion  of  this  good  sovereign,  the 
Holy  See  constantly  procrastinated  his  coronation  as  Emperor 
of  Germany.  To  his  various  and  urgent  applications  to  the 
Popes,  his  supplications  to  this  effect  received  only  promises  of 
compliance  at  very  distant  periods.  Before  the  last  appointed 
period,  his  death  released  the  Court  of  Rome  from  a  promise 
which  it  had  shewn  manifest  signs  of  reluctance  to  fulfil. 

Albert,  duke  of  Austria,  son  of  Rodolph  of  Hapsbourg, 
counting  on  being  recognized  the  successor  of  his  father  to  the 
throne,  took  possession  of  the  crown  jewels.  The  electors,  how- 
ever, made  choice  of  the  Count  Adolphus  of  Nassau,  who  was 
crowned  king  of  the  Romans  in  1292.  In  his  pecuniary  em- 
barrassments he  had  recourse  to  the  English  sovereign,  and 
obtained  a  subsidy  of  £100,000.  For  this  favour  he  entered 
into  an  alliance  with  Edward  the  First,  against  Philip  the 
Fair,  of  France. 

The  Germans  took  offence  at  their  sovereign  becoming  a 
mercenary  dependant  on  the  bounty  of  a  foreign  sovereign,  and 
for  this  and  other  reasons  he  was  deposed  in  1298 ;  and  Albert, 
duke  of  Austria,  son  of  Rodolph,  was  elected  by  three  of  the 
electors. 

By  their  counsel,  Albert  applied  to  the  Pope,  Boniface 
the  Eighth,  to  confirm  his  election,  and  the  deposition  of 
Adolj)hus. 

"  Some  sort  of  ratification  at  Rome  of  the  imperial  title 
appears  to  have  been  at  all  times  sought  for,  and  obtained,  if 
not  as  a  condition  necessary  for  its  legality,  at  least  as  some- 
thing extremely  useful  for  the  undisputed  exercise  of  its  autho- 
rity. The  popes,  long  before  the  time  of  Gregory,  had  been 
the  only  representatives  of  the  honour,  if  not  the  absolute 
sovereigns  of  Rome :  as  such,  they  claimed  to  exercise  the 
rights  which  originally  resided  in  the  senate  and  people.  They 
were,  moreover,  the  ministers  of  religion,  and  entitled  to  anoint 
and  crown  the  emperor  elect.  They  united  all  these  powers, 
and  all  these  claims ;  and  by  commixion,  rendered  them  less 
intelligible,  but  not  less  mysterious  or  sacred.   They  interfered. 


16 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


out  of  Rome  as  well  as  within  it^  at  the  election  of  the  emperors  ; 
and  causes  similar  to  those  which  created  their  influence  in 
conferring,  ratifpng,  or  sanctioning  the  title  to  the  empire, 
enabled  them  afterwards  to  share  in  defining  the  number,  the 
rights,  and  the  proceedings,  of  the  imperial  electors."* 

The  new  king,  Adolphus,  was  crowned  in  his  own  country, 
and  excommunicated  in  Rome.  In  the  meantime,  having  sued 
for  mercy  to  the  Holy  See,  and  submitted  the  rights  of  his 
throne  to  the  decision  of  the  Pontiff,  he  was  pardoned  and 
recognized  by  Boniface. 

In  1308,  Albert  perished  by  the  hands  of  assassins,  and 
Henry,  Count  of  Luxembourg,  was  elected  in  his  stead  king 
of  the  Romans. 

In  the  same  year,  Henry  the  Seventh  of  Germany  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  dignity  of  king  of  the  Romans,  by  Albert  of 
Austria.  In  1311,  Albert  made  a  descent  on  Italy,  more  of  a 
diplomatic  than  a  warlike  kind.  He  traversed  Italy,  seeking  to 
re-establish  German  influence,  feudal  rights,  and  imperial  autho- 
rity. In  some  cities  he  was  received  as  a  sovereign  with 
acclamation,  in  others  he  was  repulsed. 

He  alternately  employed  menaces  and  caresses,  conciliation 
and  severity ;  but  in  1313,  broken  down  in  health,  he  aban- 
doned Italy,  lea\dng  every  part  of  it  more  distracted  than  he 
found  it.  Lewis  the  Bavarian,  and  Frederick  of  Austria, 
contested  the  succession  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  to  the  year 
1322,  when  Lewis  triumphed  over  his  competitor.  In  1327,  he 
made  a  descent  on  Italy,  levied  heavy  contributions  wherever  he 
went,  and  took  on  himself,  in  1328,  on  his  own  proper  authority, 
to  depose  the  Pope  John  the  Twenty-second,  and  to  place  the 
Antipope,  Peter  of  Carvara,  on  the  chair  of  the  Apostle,  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Peter's.  But  the  following  year  he  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  Italy,  "  where,"  says  Muratori,  "  he  left  an 
abommable  memory  with  the  Guelphs,  and  one,  perhaps,  not 
less  odious  with  the  Ghibelines."t 

*  Et.  Eev.  Dr.  Doyle's  Essay  on  CathoHc  Claims, 
t  A-nnal.  dTtalia.  de  Muratori. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


IT 


Charles  the  Fourth  was  crowned  king  of  tlie  Romans  in 
1346,  by  the  interest  and  influence  of  Clement  the  Sixth.  He 
came  twice  into  Italy,  in  1354  and  in  1368.  "  But  instead  of 
establishing  his  authority  and  bringing  peace,"  says  Tiraboschi, 
"  he  was  compelled  to  return  speedily  to  his  own  country,  ill- 
satisfied  vnth.  the  reception  he  met  with,  and  gratified  only  with 
the  gold  he  carried  away  with  him. 

"  He  was  succeeded  by  Wenceslaus,  his  son,  who  was  elected 
king  of  the  Romans  in  1378 ;  but  in  1399,  this  sovereign,  on 
account  of  his  crimes,  was  deposed,  and  succeeded  by  Robert, 
Duke  of  Bavaria."  * 

Of  the  factions  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibelines,  whose  feuds 
so  powerfully  influenced  the  destinies  of  Italy,  it  may  not  be 
displaced  to  say  a  few  words. 

Carlo  Denina,  in  his  work,  "  Delia  Revoluzioni  d'ltalia," 
treating  of  the  origm  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibelines,  says  : 
"  There  flourished  in  Germany  two  families  of  distinction,  one 
called  Arrighi  di  Ghibelinga,  and  the  other  of  Guelf,  of  Alt- 
doi-fio,  in  which,  by  the  marriage  of  Azzo  d'Este  w^ith  Cima- 
gonda,  daughter  of  Guelf  the  Third,  originated  the  house  of 
Este,  therefore  called  Guelf-Estense,  from  w^hich  descended 
the  Dukes  of  Modena,  and  those  of  Brunswick  and  Hanover. 
Of  the  Guelph  family  for  many  years  there  were  many  famous 
dukes  ;  and  those  gaining  power  and  credit  with  the  same 
emperors,  had  many  times  disturbed  the  quiet  of  the  state.  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Fifth,  the  two  families  became  happily 
united  in  relationship,  by  Frederick  of  Swabia  taking  for  wife 
Judith,  daughter  of  Henry,  the  dark  Duke  of  Bavaria,  the  sister 
of  Guelph  the  Sixth,  who  was  at  that  time  the  head  of  the  house 
of  Altdorfio,  thus  uniting  in  Frederick  Barbarosa  the  blood  of 
the  two  rival  families.  He,  finding  himself  head  of  one  of  the 
factions,  and  near  relation,  as  the  son  of  a  sister,  by  whom  he 
washead  of  the  other,  there  was  reason  to  hope  that  such  a 
peflRi,  raised  to  the  Imperial  throne,  would  keep  the  factions 
united,  and  bring  back  tranquillity  and  concord  into  the  repub- 

*  Tiraboschi,  tomo  v.  parte  i.  p.  14. 
VOL.  I.  c 


18 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


lie,  when  in  Frankfort  he  was  declared  King,  not  without  the 
intervention  of  some  Italian  lords."  * 

"  The  Guelphs  and  Ghibelines/'  says  Machiavelli,  "  whose 
dissensions  afterwards  proved  the  destruction  of  all  Italy,  were 
first  called  by  those  names  in  the  city  of  Pistoia.  The  faction 
which  sided  with  the  Church  was  called  Guelphs,  the  faction 
which  was  in  alliance  with  the  Emperors  of  Germany,  and  at 
variance  with  the  Po23es,  was  denominated  Ghibelines."  f 

But  the  best  account  of  those  fierce  rival  factions  is  that  of 
Corio,  in  his  admirable  History  of  Milan : 

Corio  says,  in  the  city  of  Verona  there  was  anciently  two 
factions ;  one  was  called  the  faction  of  Saint  Boniface,  this  was 
the  Guelph  party,  which  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Church  ; 
another  was  styled  the  faction  of  Tegio,  which  was  always 
leagued  with  the  German  interests  of  the  Emperors  ;  and  a 
third  was  called  the  faction  of  the  Scala,  which  adhered  mainly 
to  the  \'iews  of  the  former.  When  the  magistrates  of  the  Pon- 
tiff Boniface  were  driven  from  Verona,  the  Ghibeline  party  had 
introduced  Ezzelino,  after  which  the  party  of  the  tln-ee  brothers 
of  the  Scala  family  obtained  dominion. 

Elsewhere  Corio  observes  : — "  In  the  year  1227,  the  Emperor 
of  Germany,  Frederic  the  Second,  convoked  a  meeting  of  the 
principal  nobility  of  all  the  Italian  states  bordering  on  Lom- 
bardy,  near  Cremona,  to  treat  of  his  coronation  in  Milan;  which 
meeting  not  being  successful,  he  came  to  Verona,  and  there, 
with  Ezzelino's  friends  and  many  other  factions  of  the  Ghibe- 
lines, he  combined  against  the  Roman  Church.  On  hearmg  of 
these  events,  the  Pope  Gregory,  under  pain  of  excommunication, 
commanded  the  Emperor  to  join  the  crusade  against  the  infidels. 
This  proceeding  so  much  enraged  the  Emperor,  that  he  collected 
an  army  against  the  Church,  and  passing  into  Sicily,  occupied 
Apulia,  for  which  act  he  was  excommunicated  by  the  Pope."  J 

At  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  deadly 

*  Denina,  Eevoluzioni  dTtalia,  ed.  12mo.  lib.  ii.  p.  280.  Venice,  1W9. 

t  Historie  Floreutine,  lib.  i. 

X  Historia  de  Milano,  parte  ii.  p.  88. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


19 


feuds  of  the  Guelplis  and  Ghibelines  prevailed,  even  in  the 
states  of  the  Holy  Sec ;  and  one  of  their  factions  was  made 
use  of  in  the  quarrels  of  Boniface  the  Eighth  against  his 
enemies. 

Tiraboschi,  treating  of  the  civil  state  of  Italy  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  observes  : 

"  The  love  of  liberty  and  independence,  which  in  so  many 
Italian  cities  had,  in  the  [preceding  century,  put  arms  in  the 
hands  of  citizens  to  maintain  their  newly-acquired  rights,  had 
already  begun  to  produce  an  effect  totally  contrary  to  their 
desires.  To  present  a  bold  front  to  their  enemies,  they  were 
obliged  to  confide  the  command  of  their  armies  to  some  indi- 
viduals, the  most  powerful  of  their  citizens.  And  these  com- 
manders, after  having  begun  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  authority 
and  the  power  of  governing  masses  of  men  in  the  midst  of  the 
turmoil  of  war,  could  not  be  made  so  easily  to  comprehend  the 
obligation  of  depositing  that  authority  and  power  in  the  breast 
of  peace.  It  was  sought  to  constrain  them  by  force  to  return 
to  the  condition  of  private  citizens.  At  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  the  Torriani,  the  Visconti,  disputed  the  lordship 
of  Milan  and  other  cities  of  Lombardy.  Azzo  the  Seventh,  of 
Este,  was  lord  of  Ferrara,  Modena,  Reggio,  Rovigo,  and  many 
more  castles ;  the  Scotti,  in  Piacenza ;  the  Bisiraga,  in  Lodi ; 
the  Rusca,  in  Como  ;  the  Langoschi,  in  Pavia ;  the  Avvocati, 
in  Yercelli ;  the  Brusati,  in  Novaria ;  the  Maggi,  in  Brescia ; 
the  Corregeschi,  in  Parma ;  the  Scaligari,  in  V erona ;  the 
Buonacorsi,  in  Mantua;*  all  these  maintained  their  power, 
either  by  the  suffrages  of  their  fellow  citizens  or  by  force  of 
arms,  if  they  had  rendered  themselves  masters  of  the  city,  or 
they, combined  together,  or  became  enemies,  and  sought  to  con- 
firm or  to  extend  their  power.  Ample  territories  in  Romagna 
had  J ohn.  Marquis  of  Montserrat ;  the  Lords  of  Polentani  be- 
gan also  to  have  large  possessions  in  Ravenna;  the  Ordelaffi, 
in  Forli ;  the  Malastesta,  in  Rimini ;  and  others  in  other  places. 
Florence  also,  and  several  other  cities  in  Tuscany  divided  into 

*  The  ancestors  of  the  mother  of  Savonarola. 

c  2 


20 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


those  well-known  factions  of  Bianclii  and  Neri,  went  on  lace- 
rating themselves  and  their  country  lamentably ;  and  scarcely 
was  there  a  part  of  Italy  where  one  did  not  encounter  the  strife 
of  factions  and  wars."  * 

Tiraboschi,  to  all  these  calamities,  adds  one  crowning  misfor- 
tune in  1305 — the  transfer  of  the  Holy  See  to  Avignon — "Colpo 
che  fu  all'  Italia  sommamente  fatale." 

During  ''the  captivity"  of  the  Church  in  Avignon,  Italy  was 
harassed  by  domestic  tyrants  and  factions,  that  were  sustained 
or  countenanced  by  foreign  powers,  in  their  efforts  to  disunite 
and  weaken  one  another,  and  promote  the  interests  of  other 
powers.  Occasionally,  too,  we  find  the  German  sovereigns 
making  incursions  into  Italy  ;  always  sowing  discords  and  dis- 
sensions, and  never  eflfecting  any  great  or  important  object. 

Macaulay  enumerates  four  grand  revolts  against  the  Church 
of  Rome,  since  her  authority  was  established  in  Western  Christ- 
endom. 

"  The  first  of  these  insurrections,"  says  Macaulay,  "  broke 
out  in  the  region  where  the  beautiful  language  of  Oc  was  spoken. 
That  country,  singularly  favoured  by  nature,  was,  in  the  twelfth 
century,  the  most  flourishing  and  civilized  portion  of  Western 
Europe.  It  was  in  no  wise  a  part  of  France.  It  had  a  distinct 
political  existence,  a  distinct  national  character,  distinct  usages, 
and  a  distinct  speech.  The  soil  was  fruitful  and  well  cultivated  ; 
and  amidst  the  corn-fields  and  vineyards  arose  many  rich  cities, 
each  of  which  was  a  little  republic,  and  many  stately  castles, 
each  of  which  contained  a  miniature  of  an  imperial  court." 

The  doctrines  of  the  ancient  Manichees,  dressed  up  in  new 
garbs  in  the  Levant,  had  been  conveyed  into  the  provinces  of 
Languedoc  and  Provence  by  the  merchants  and  traders  who  came 
from  the  East  to  the  maritime  places  bordering  on  those  pro- 
vinces. Those  doctrines  spread  rapidly ;  and  the  leading  one  of 
them  seemed  to  be  hostility  to  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
This  feeling  prevailed  first  among  the  feudal  lords  and  military 

*  Tiraboschi,  Storia  Delia  Letteratura  Italiana,  tomo  v,  parte  i.  p.  3. 
Ed.  8vo.    Fer.  1807. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


21 


chiefs ;  then  it  found  an  exponent  in  the  poetry  of  the  trouba- 
dours ;  and  finally  it  gained  ground  more  than  could  have  been 
imagined,  not  only  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  but  the 
rural  population. 

"  The  danger  to  the  hierarchy/'  continues  Macaulay,  "  was 
indeed  formidable.  Only  one  transalpine  nation  had  emerged 
from  barbarism ;  and  that  nation  had  thrown  off  all  respect  for 
Rome.  Only  one  of  the  vernacular  languages  of  Europe  had 
yet  been  extensively  employed  for  literary  purposes  ;  and  that 
language  was  a  machine  in  the  hands  of  heretics.  The  geo- 
graphical position  of  the  sectaries  made  the  danger  peculiarly 
formidable.  They  occupied  a  central  region,  communicating 
directly  with  France,  with  Italy,  and  with  Spain. 

"  A  war,  distinguished  even  among  wars  of  religion  by  mer- 
ciless atrocity,  destroyed  the  Albigensian  heresy,  and  with  that 
heresy  the  prosperity,  the  civilization,  the  literature,  the  national 
existence,  of  what  was  once  the  most  opulent  and  enlightened 
part  of  the  great  European  family.  Rome,  in  the  meantime, 
warned  by  that  fearful  danger  from  which  the  exterminating 
swords  of  her  crusaders  had  narrowly  saved  her,  proceeded  to 
revise  and  to  strengthen  her  whole  system  of  polity.  At  this 
period  were  instituted  the  Order  of  Francis,  the  Order  of 
Dominic,  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inqnisition.  The  new  spiritual 
police  was  everywhere.  No  alley  in  a  great  city,  no  hamlet  on 
a  remote  mountain,  was  unvisited  by  the  begging  friar.  The 
simple  Catholic,  who  was  content  to  be  no  wiser  than  his  fathers, 
found,  wherever  he  turned,  a  friendly  voice  to  encourage  him. 
The  path  of  the  heretic  was  beset  by  innumerable  spies ;  and 
the  Church,  lately  in  danger  of  utter  subversion,  now  appeared 
to  be  impregnably  fortified  by  the  love,  the  reverence,  and  the 
terror  of  mankind."* 

The  spiritual  power  in  Italy  throughout  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries,  in  its  various  contests  with  the  feudalism 
of  those  ages,  sometimes  successful,  more  frequently  defeated, 
always  militant,  underwent  many  vicissitudes. 

*  Macaulay 's  Essay  on  Eankc's  Lives.    Ed.  Eev, 


22 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Wherever  it  was  successful^  the  material  interests  of  the  people^ 
it  is  universally  admitted,  were  benefitted  by  its  protection,  or  the 
domination  of  its  influence. 

But  whether  the  Church  itself  benefitted  by  its  intervention 
in  the  political  affairs  of  states — an  intervention  necessitated  in 
those  times  by  its  own  connection  with  temporal  power  and  ter- 
ritorial dominion — is  a  question  that  a  curt  and  flippant  aflirma- 
tion  will  not  answer  satisfactorily. 

We  find  the  contest  of  the  spiritual  with  the  temporal  power 
— whenever  entered  into  for  mere  political  purposes  or  terri- 
torial interests — productive  of  great  evils  to  the  Church.  We 
find  Italy  in  those  ages  we  have  just  referred  to,  with  short  inter- 
vals of  repose  on  various  occasions,  a  scene  of  strife  and  war- 
fare between  the  partisans  of  rival  competitors  for  the  papal 
throne.  We  find  the  rival  factions  of  the  aristocracy  and  the 
democracy,  of  conflicting  feudalism  in  all  its  branches,  the 
champions  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibelines,  the  Bianci  and  the 
Neri,  the  Piagnone  and  the  Tepidi,  the  Pazzi  and  the  Medici, 
always  leagued  with  such  competitors,  or  arrayed  against  them. 

Boniface  the  Eighth,  in  1294,  brought  the  qualities  that  are 
fit  for  the  protection  of  temporal  interests  and  territorial  pos- 
sessions, into  his  contests  with  secular  princes.  He  brought 
few  to  his  great  spiritual  office  of  Supreme  Pontiff",  that  were  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  interests  of  peace,  or  to  establish  the 
principles  of  the  Gospel. 

His  continual  interference  with  the  affairs  of  foreign  princes, 
his  feuds  and  warfare  with  nearly  all  the  rulers  of  the  Christian 
commonwealth,  were  more  mischievous  to  Italy,  and  more 
injurious  to  Catholicity,  than  all  the  ravages  of  the  barbarians 
in  Rome  and  its  territories. 

The  great  intellectual  energies  of  Innocent  the  Eighth,  who  was 
created  Pontiff" in  1447,  were  pushed — in  the  promotion  of  objects 
political,  or  at  least  auxiliary,  to  the  protection  of  temporal  in- 
terests— to  the  extreme  length  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
power  exercised  by  Boniface  the  Eighth.  The  king  of  Naples 
was  excommunicated  and  deprived  of  his  kingdom  by  his 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


23 


Holiness,  and  subsequently,  on  submission,  was  pardoned  and 
restored  to  his  own  dominions.  In  this  pontificate,  civil  wars 
in  which  the  diplomacy  of  the  court  of  Rome  was  too  frequently 
found  engaged,  prevailed  in  several  parts  of  Italy.  Among  the 
unfortunate  results  of  such  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  foreign 
countries,  is  to  be  accounted  the  sentence  of  excommunication 
and  deposition  of  the  king  of  Naples. 

The  removal  of  this  sentence,  on  the  king's  submission,  did 
not  remove  the  evil  impression  it  left  on  the  minds  of  Catholic 
princes,  that  the  motives  for  it  were  reasons  of  state,  and  that 
the  interests  of  religion  had  not  much  to  do  with  them. 

The  consequences  of  the  quarrels  of  Innocent  the  Eighth 
with  the  king  of  Naples,  extended  to  the  times  of  Charles  the 
Eighth  of  France,  and  the  Neapolitan  king,  Ferdinand. 

"  Before  Charles  the  Ninth  of  France  had  passed  into  Italy 
(in  1494),  that  country,"  says  Machiavelli,  was  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Popes,  the  Venetians,  the  King  of  Naples,  the 
Duke  of  Milan,  and  the  Florentines.  The  power  most  jealously 
watched  by  the  smaller  states  was  that  of  Rome  and  of  Venice. 
To  keep  the  Venetians  in  check,  the  union  of  all  the  other 
states  was  required  ;  and  to  keep  down  the  Papal  influence,  the 
power  of  the  Pontiff  was  secretly  neutralized,  by  engendering 
jealousies  and  animosities,  and  causes  of  disunion  in  Rome  between 
the  principal  houses  of  the  nobility.  Diplomacy  did  the  work 
of  war  in  Italy  in  those  times,  without  manifesting  hostile  in- 
tentions. These  dissensions  were  sedulously  promoted.  The 
magnates  of  Rome  were  divided  into  two  factions,  the  Orsini 
and  the  Colonnas,  pains  being  taken,"  continues  Machiavelli, 
"  to  have  them  with  arms  in  their  hands  under  the  eyes  of  the 
Pontiffs,  and  thus  to  keep  the  court  of  Rome  weak  and  dis- 
united."* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  people  of  Lombardy,  Genoa,  Pisa, 
Fcrrara,  and  Bologna,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  had  their  subtle 
agents  at  work  in  Florence.    It  could  be  no  small  amount  of 
intrigue,  circumvention,  diplomatic  cajolery,  corruption,  and 
*  Mac.  Hist.  Flor.  Del.  Prin.  cap.  xi.  p.  28. 


24 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


state  strategy,  which  could  have  kept  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibe- 
lines,  the  Pazzi  and  the  Medici,  the  Strozzi,  Ridolfi,  Soderini, 
Carducci,  the  Viscontis,  Sforzas,  Ezzolinis,  the  Galeazzos,  and 
Mirandolas  in  continual  war,  or  preparations  for  mutual  injury, 
for  so  long  a  period. 

Florence  and  its  Republic  under  the  Medici. 

Florence  had  its  origin  in  the  debris  of  the  surrounding 
colonies  of  Fiesole,*  which  were  established  by  Sylla,  of  which 
mention  is  made  by  Cicero. f  The  territory  in  which  Florence 
was  built,  was  called  "  Florentia,  or  ager  Florentinus,"  and 
the  Colonia,  according  to  Borghini,  was  established  about  forty 
years  before  Christ.J 

In  the  eleventh  century,  Florence,  the  offshoot  of  the  vene- 
rable city  of  Fiesole,  having  acquired  sufficient  strength  to 
begin  aggressions  on  neighbouring  places,  exhibited  its  young 
vigour  and  sense  of  obligation  to  the  city  that  gave  it  birth,  by 
an  attack  on  it,  and  its  utter  demolition. 

Nardi,  whose  "  Historia  Delia  citta  de  Firenze  "  begins  with 
the  affairs  of  1494,  describes  the  population  as  being  divisible 
into  three  classes ;  the  nobility,  the  bourgeosie,  il  popoliff rosso 
and  the  labouring  poor,  "  il  popoli  minuto.^^  Other  writers 
have  sub-divided  the  aristocracy  into  three  orders ;  the  nobles, 
the  grandees,  and  the  gentry,  "  delle  famiglie.^^  All  were  of 
one  accord  in  respect  to  their  hostility  to  the  republic.  It  was 
ill  regarded  or  abhorred  by  the  aristocracy.§ 

The  extremes  often  met  in  the  Republic ;  the  highest  and 
the  lowest  class  frequently  coalesced  to  disconcert  and  to  oppose 
the  middle  class.  The  nobles  made  use  of  the  labouring  poor 
against  the  popolo  grasso,  because  they  had  no  apprehensions 
of  the  former  meddling  in  governmental  affairs.     The  middle 

*  The  ruins  of  the  ancient  Fiesole  arc  about  three  miles  from  Florence, 
t  Cic.  ii.  in  Catil. 

X  Discorsi  di  Borghini,  Milano,  8vo.  in  i  tomos.  1808,  vol.  i.  p.  15. 
§  Nardi,  Hist,  della  Fir.  p.  2. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


25 


class  had  to  strengtlien  themselves  as  best  they  could^  with 
governmental  aid  and  influence  against  both.* 

At  various  periods,  prior  to  1494,  there  had  been  serious 
differences  between  the  court  of  Rome  and  the  Florentine  Re- 
public, and  there  never  was  at  any  time  a  very  cordial  attach- 
ment— "  I  Fiorentini  consueti  certamente  d'essere  sempre  reve- 
renti  e  ossequiosi  ma  non  mai  sudditi  a  santa  chiesa."t 

In  1378,  the  contests  between  the  Church  and  the  Republic 
having  been  carried  on  with  great  rancour,  with  excommuni- 
cations and  interdicts  on  one  side,  and  most  abominable  out- 
rages on  the  other  part,  against  sacred  things  and  offices — moke 
cose  indegne  et  impie,  contra  la  dignita  e  autorita  ecclesiastica — 
frightful  tumults  broke  out  in  Florence  between  the  partisans 
of  the  Church  and  those  of  the  ruling  powers,  under  the  turbu- 
lent magistracy  of  the  state,  Salvestro  de  Medici  being  Gon- 
faloniere  of  Justice.  On  this  occasion,  the  populace  was  called 
to  arms  from  the  windows  of  ,the  Gonfaloniere's  palace  by  his 
instructions,  to  repress  the  nobles  who  were  giving  umbrage  to 
the  rising  power  of  the  Medici.  The  people  flew  to  arms,  and 
the  first  use  they  made  of  them  was  to  slaughter  several  citi- 
zens, to  sack  the  churches  and  convents.  This  is  called  by  the 
historian  of  Florence,  "  The  first  tumult  of  the  excommunicated 
people  of  Florence. 

The  tumultuous  populace  and  the  scandalous  abettors,  the 
magistrates  of  the  Signoria,  with  Salvestro  de  Medici,  were, 
however,  ultimately  put  down.  Then  came  the  magistracy  of 
the  Signori  Priori,  Luigi  Guicciardini  being  Gonfalioniere,  in 
the  room  of  Salvestro  de  Medici.  The  former  Signoria,  with 
Salvestro  de  Medici,  now  stirred  up  the  lowest  class  of  the 
people,  "  infima  plebe,''  to  another  revolt.  Several  of  the  in- 
surgents having  been  taken  up  and  tortured,  "  to  get  at  the 
truth,"  Salvestro  was  found  implicated  in  this  conspiracy,  and 
being  examined,  acknowledged  the  plot  had  been  got  up  by 


*  Nardi,  Le  Storie  di  Firenza,  p.  2.  4to.  Fir.  1584. 
t  lb.  p.  3.  +  lb.  p.  4. 


26 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


persons  who  were  desirous  to  see  the  honours  and  dignities 
restored  to  him,  of  which  he  had  been  deprived. 

The  new  government  acted  with  mistaken  lenity  towards 
Salvestro  ;  he  again  conspired  with  the  dregs  of  the  people,  and 
this  time  the  rabble  had  a  complete  triumph.  During  their 
reign  of  terror,  burning  of  houses,  banishing  of  citizens,  menacing 
supposed  enemies,  was  the  order  of  the  day.  The  reigning  rab- 
ble were  pleased  to  make  a  Cavaliere  of  their  patron  Salvestro 
de  Medici,  and  to  support  the  dignity,  they  decreed  that  he 
should  have  the  revenue  of  certain  shops  on  the  old  bridge  of 
Florence.  It  did  not  comport  with  the  morality  of  the  mob, 
that  those  of  their  order  should  commit  robbery,  when  they 
committed  the  crime  of  arson.  They  erected  a  gallows  in  the 
great  square  of  the  city,  to  hang  all  offenders  against  the  law 
that  was  laid  down  by  them. 

All  persons  w^ho  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  populace,  who  were 
in  arms — and  this  government  of  malefactors  was  comi3osed  of 
about  six  thousand  persons — were  put  to  death.  The  domina- 
tion of  this  rabble,  due  to  the  acts  of  Salvestro  de  Medici, 
was  the  greatest  scourge,  in  the  opinion  of  th#  principal  Floren- 
tine historians,  which  which  Florence  was  \dsited  since  the 
invasions  of  the  Goths.* 

Things,  however,  gradually  settled  down,  and  the  republic  w^as 
reduced  into  a  state  of  order  again  in  a  period  of  time  so  brief, 
as  to  seem  almost  incredible ;  its  powers  were  duly  distributed, 
its  administrative  departments  remodelled. 

The  dignity  of  the  office  of  Gonfalioniere  de  Gustizia  differed 
only  from  that  of  the  eight  members  of  the  supreme  magistracy 
of  the  Signori  Priori,  with  the  new  adjunct  de  Liberia;  in  point 
of  dignity,  the  Gonfalioniere  had  precedence  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  supreme  magistracy,  and  in  some  other  privileges  of 
slight  importance. 

The  supreme  magistracy  sat  for  a  term  of  two  months  in  the 
palace,  living  there  during  this  brief  period  of  the  administra- 
tion of  public  affairs,  together  with  their  colleagues,  w^ho  were 

*  ]S"ardi,  p.  6. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


27 


sixteen  Gonfalionieres,  representing  the  several  companies,  or 
divisions,  of  the  people,  and  the  twelve  "  good  men,"  who  were 
the  appointed  counsellors  of  the  Signoria.  The  entire  body  of 
this  magistracy,  in  the  aggregate,  was  called  the  College,  and 
also  the  Signoria,  and  the  College.  Besides  this  magistracy, 
there  was  the  senate,  whose  numbers  varied  with  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times.  There  was  also  the  greater  councils,  in 
which  ordinarily  projects  of  laws  were  deliberated  on  and 
enacted ;  general  plans  and  proposals,  and  private  matters  too, 
were  examined  into.  Up  to  the  year  1494,  there  were  two  of 
these  councils,  one  called  the  Council  of  the  People,  in  the 
business  of  which  the  citizens  of  the  people  class,  cittadini  popo- 
lani,  intervened  ;  the  other  the  Common  Council,  in  the  affairs 
of  which  both  nobles  and  people, popoZawi,  took  a  part  in  common. 

Magistrates  were  appointed  by  a  special  council,  and  the  se- 
lection of  persons  for  the  magisterial  office  was  made  by  scru- 
tiny, a  process  which  they  called  "  lo  squittino," — a  corruption 
of  the  Latin  word  scrutinum, — ^because  they  inquired  minutely 
into  the  qualities  of  every  man  there  was  an  idea  of  appointing. 
The  scrutiny  was  made  only  once  in  every  three  or  five  years ; 
and  this  being  an  innovation  on  the  old  custom  of  the  republic, 
and  the  intervals  between  the  scrutinies  being  far  too  long, 
great  evils  arose  from  the  new  mode  of  election.* 

The  special  duties  of  the  Gonfaloniere  were  as  follows :  with 
their  subordinate  Gonfalioniere,  and  several  companies,  to  defend 
the  city  from  domestic  and  foreign  enemies  when  necessary :  to 
preside  over  the  safety  of  the  city  from  fire,  and  to  divide  the 
city  into  four  wards,  and  depute  a  certain  number  of  the  magis- 
tracy to  act  for  him  in  case  of  fire  in  the  several  wards. 

All  the  laws  and  provisions  of  a  public  or  a  private  nature, 
proposed  in  the  council  of  the  Signoria,  to  have  effect,  should 
be  submitted  to  the  magisterial  college,  and  sanctioned  by  it ; 
afterwards  submitted  to  the  senate,  and  sanctioned  by  it,  and 
finally,  by  the  above-mentioned  supreme  council  of  the  Signoria.f 

AVhen  one  considers  the  barbarism  out  of  which  this  republic 
*  Nardi,  p.  7.  t  Ibid. 


28 


THE  LIFE  AND  MAllTyRBOM 


had  so  recently  emerged,  and  carefully  examines  the  nature  of 
those  institutions,  there  is  not  a  little  to  wonder  at  in  the  wisdom 
to  which  they  owed  their  origin,  and  the  various  amendments 
that  had  been  made  in  them. 

The  republic  of  Florence,  before  the  time  the  power  of  the 
Medici  became  wholly  predominant,  had  been  frequently  torn  by 
factions,  as  we  have  seen.  The  Plebeians  and  the  Patricians 
comprehended  a  variety  of  conflicting  social  influences  and  local 
interests.  Eventually,  these  factions  merged  into  the  partizans 
of  the  Medici  and  Pazzi,  the  aristocracy  and  democracy  of  the 
state,  and  a  little  later,  the  adherents  of  the  democracy,  who 
looked  to  Prance  for  the  restoration  of  the  freedom  of  the 
Florentine  republic.  Of  the  latter,  those  who  especially  de- 
nounced the  disorders  of  the  Pontiff  and  the  Court  of  Kome, 
were  accounted  not  unjustly  enemies  to  the  Medici,  and  were 
accordingly  looked  on  unfavourably  by  them. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  Medici,  at  all  periods,  to  see  Eome 
reduced  to  weakness,  divided,  discredited,  and  degraded  in  the 
sight  of  Christendom. 

With  all  the  dissensions  that  prevailed  in  the  Florentine 
republic  from  the  earliest  times,  there  were  elements  of  power 
and  popular  privileges  tolerably  well  secured  in  it,  that  gave  the 
Florentine  State  a  sort  of  moral  pre-eminence  over  the  other 
Italian  countries,  while  its  physical  strength  was  far  inferior  to 
that  of  Milan,  Naples,  and  Venice.  The  government  was  essen- 
tially democratic,  and  the  people  were  ever  jealous  of  their 
liberty,  and  deemed  the  security  of  it  depended  on  the  state 
never  being  subjected  to  the  will  and  rule  of  one  man. 

They  were  particularly  jealous  of  the  great  families  of  Florence, 
whose  power  and  influence  were  capable  of  becoming  at  any 
time  dangerous  to  the  republic,  and  very  often  unjustly  suspicious 
of  the  designs  of  the  leading  citizens.  This  led  to  a  kind  of 
ostracism,  which  ultimately  proved  most  injurious  to  the  re- 
public. 

A  vast  number  of  Florentine  refugees,  called  Fuorusciti,  were 
to  be  found  in  all  the  adjoining  states,  carrying  on  intrigues 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


20 


with  theii*  partizans,  and  urging  on  the  enemies  of  the  republic 
to  acts  of  hostility  against  its  government. 

The  power  exercised  by  the  Medici  in  Florence  was  not  a 
recognized  authority,  attached  to  any  very  exalted  office,  such  as 
that  of  President  or  Primate  ;  but  was  an  influence  silently 
accorded  and  acquiesced  in,  arising  from  great  wealth,  aptitude 
for  public  affairs,  a  reputation  for  prudence,  diplomatic  skill, 
and  a  good  knowledge  of  the  circiunstances  and  the  designs  of 
the  principal  Italian  governments. 

The  Medici,  from  the  time  of  Cosmo,  had  made  a  sophism 
of  the  Republic.  They  engrossed  all  the  power  of  the  state, 
without  overtly  arrogating  to  themselves  official  pre-eminence. 
Their  apparent  moderation  caused  then-  stealthy  encroachments, 
gradually  carried  into  effect,  to  attract  little  attention,  till  it  was 
too  late  to  resist  a  tyranny  firmly  established,  but  withal  ren- 
dered less  odious,  or  burdensome,  or  unbearable,  to  the  citizens 
of  Florence,  than  any  previous  despotism  had  been,  by  the  per- 
version of  state  power  to  the  ends  of  private  interests. 

The  power  which  enabled  a  man  of  leading  influence  in 
Florence  to  carry  the  appointment  of  the  magistracy,  constituted 
that  person  virtually,  though  not  nominally,  the  head  of  the 
Kepublic. 

The  Medici,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  were  simple  citizens 
of  Florence.  They  began  at  the  close  of  it  to  obtain  authority 
and  distinction  in  the  Republic,  and  to  exert  an  influence  in  its 
affairs ;  "  the  result,"  says  Tiraboschi,  "  of  the  riches  they 
gained  in  commerce,  and  of  their  astuteness  in  making  use 
of  it." 

The  first  authentic  account  of  the  employment  of  one  of  the 
Medici  family  in  a  high  office  of  trust  in  the  Republic,  is  that 
of  Giovanni  de  Medici,  in  the  year  1351,  in  a  military  command 
of  importance. 

In  1379,  Salvestro  de  Medici,  a  partisan  of  the  democratic 
party,  exercised  the  authority  of  a  chief  magistrate  of  the 
Republic. 

After  his  death,  his  son,  Giovanni  Veri  (or  Averardo)  de 


30 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


Medici,  of  the  same  principles  as  his  father,  filled  offices  of  high 
rank  in  Florence. 

Giovanni  de  Medici  (son  of  Averardo),  a  merchant  of  great 
opulence,  and  endowed  ivith  that  peculiar  sagacity  and  prudence 
which  distinguished  so  many  of  his  descendants,  filled  the 
highest  offices  in  the  state. 

Nardi  observes,  that  John,  by  his  excessive  riches,  and  quali- 
ties which  are  apt  to  aggrandize  a  man,  was  exalted  above  the 
condition  of  civil  equality,  which  was  convenient  in  a  republic, 
and  many  cavaliers  and  other  grandees  and  citizens  of  repute 
were  opposed  to  him.  These,  by  the  friends  and  partizans  of 
the  coterie  of  iMedici — amici  e  fautore  della  setta  de  Medici — 
were  called  Uzanesi,  and  afterwards  E-inaldeschi,  from  the  names 
of  the  adverse  cavaliers ;  while  the  partizans  of  the  Medici  in 
the  time  of  Cosmo  were  called  by  the  opposite  faction  Puccini, 
the  name  of  two  persons  of  bad  repute,  of  great  influence  over 
Cosmo.  John  de  Medici  died  in  1428,  leaving  two  sons,  Cosmo 
and  Lorenzo,  the  former  born  in  1389. 

"  In  1434,  the  family  of  INIedici,"  says  Machiavelli,  in  the 
persons  of  the  descendants  of  Giovanni,  began  to  acquire  more 
influence  and  authority  than  any  other  republican  magnates  in 
Florence."* 

"  Cosmo  and  Lorenzo,"  says  Tii'aboschi,  "the  sons  of  John 
de  Medici,  were  the  first  to  have  a  great  name  in  Florence,  and 
to  become  leaders  of  the  faction  which  then  divided  Florence. 
These  persons  became  so  formidable  in  1433,  that  Cosmo,  having 
rendered  himself  too  much  suspected,  was  by  the  machinations 
of  his  rivals  shut  up  in  prison,  and  was  afterwards  with  others 
of  his  family  exiled.  But  he  managed  to  get  himself  recalled, 
and  those  of  his  family  who  were  with  him  in  exile,  the  year 
following  to  Florence,  with  the  highest  honour,  and  the  uni- 
versal applause  of  the  citizens,  as  we  learn  from  Poggio,  the 
Florentine,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Cosmo  himself.  He  con- 
tinued at  Florence  to  his  death  in  1464,  having  arrived,  though 
one  in  a  private  station,  to  the  high  position  of  being  the  arbiter 
*  Historie  Florentine,  p.  6.  Prsemio  Ed.  4to.  Roma,  1550. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


31 


of  the  republic  which  he  swayed  by  his  genius.  The  pru- 
dence of  his  acts,  but  more  especially  the  wealth  of  which  he 
was  wisely  prodigal  on  fitting  occasions,  conciliated  the  esteem 
and  affection  of  his  own  people,  gained  for  him  the  respect  and 
admiration  of  foreigners,  and  obtained  for  him  also  the  glorious 
title  of  father  of  his  country."* 

Tiraboschi,  in  his  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  Cosmo,  as  a 
patron  of  learning,  omits  all  mention  of  an  act  of  perfidy  of  Cosmo, 
not  surpassed  by  many  acts  of  bad  faith  even  in  Italian  history. 

Cosmo  had  no  sooner  returned,  than  he  made  diligent  enquiry 
into  all  particulars  respecting  those  who  had  opposed  his  resto- 
ration. He  learned  that  several  of  the  most  eminent  citizens, 
during  his  exile,  had  used  all  the  exertions  in  their  power  to 
prevent  the  Signoria  from  allowing  him  to  return  ;  had  even 
taken  up  arms  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  the  Council,  but 
had  finally  deposed  them,  and  returned  to  pacific  measures,  by 
the  interference  of  Pope  Eugenius  the  Fourth,  who  was  then  in 
Florence,  on  being  assured  of  pardon  and  exemption  from  all 
punishment  by  the  government,  and  having  that  engagement 
guaranteed  by  the  Pontiff.  Cosmo  made  no  account  of  the  en- 
gagement whatsoever  (two  months  after  it  was  made)  ;  all  these 
citizens,  many  of  distinction,  were  banished  and  scattered  over 
Italy.f 

)^  "  In  1444,"  says  Nardi, "  Cosmo  altered  the  constitution  of  the 
republic  by  reducing  the  number  of  those  who  had  a  voice  in 
the  election  of  persons  for  the  dignity  of  the  Signoria,  and  many 
persons  were  deprived  of  their  offices,  and  imprisoned.":!:  In 
1458,  the  Medici  made  still  further  inroads  on  the  constitution. 

Biondo  Flavello,  a  cotemporary  of  Cosmo's,  in  his  "  Italia 
Illustrata,"  speaks  of  him  as  a  man  "who  surpassed  the  citizens 
of  every  part  of  Europe  in  wealth,  prudence,  humanity,  and 
liberality ;  and  whose  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  especially  with  history,  had  rendered  him  cele- 
brated and  worthy  of  all  praise. "§ 

*  Tiraboschi,  Historia  de  Letteratura  Italiana,  tomo  vi.  part  i.  p.  11. 
t  Nardi,  p.  9.  +  Idem,  p.  10. 

§  Ital.  Illustrata,  p.  53.  Ed.  Taur.  1527,  ap.  Tiraboschi. 


32 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Several  of  the  Italian  historians  make  allusion  to  a  report, 
that  Pope  John  the  Twenty-third,  after  his  deposition,  had  in- 
vested in  the  bank  of  the  Medici,  in  Florence,  the  immense 
riches  which  had  been  acquired  during  his  Pontificate,  and 
which,  remaining  there  at  the  period  of  the  death  of  the  deposed 
Pontiff  in  1419,  had  been  appropriated  by  the  Medici,  and  made 
the  nucleus  of  their  enormous  wealth. 

Roscoe  refutes  those  reports,  as  malevolent  fabrications,  and 
states  that  John,  at  his  decease,  did  not  leave  sufficient  to  pay 
his  debts.* 

Cosmo,  having  caused  a  collection  of  manuscripts  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  be  made  for  him  in  the  East,  and  of  the  most 
rare  works  that  could  be  procured  in  every  part  of  Italy,  "  had 
them  deposited  for  public  use  in  the  Dominican  convent  of  San 
Marco,  at  Florence,  which  he  had  himself  erected  at  an  enor- 
mous expense  in  1437.  This  collection  was  the  foundation  of 
another  celebrated  library  in  Florence,  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Bibliotheca  Mariana,  which  is  yet  open  to  the  inspection  of 
the  learned,  at  the  distance  of  three  centuries." 

Cosmo  committed  the  arrangement  of  the  library  of  San  Marco 
to  one  Tommaso  Calandrino,  the  son  of  a  poor  physician  of 
Lazano,  an  obscure  young  man  in  the  lower  order  of  the  clergy, 
who  had  an  excellent  taste,  however,  for  literature,  and  a  good 
knowledge  of  works  of  learning.  Tommaso  Calandrino,  in  course 
of  time  a  Pontiff  of  the  Holy  See,  Nicholas  the  Fifth,  of  glorious 
memory,  for  his  patronage  of  learning,  having  enlarged  the 
scanty  library  of  his  predecessors,  and  planned  the  establish- 
ment of  one  in  Pome,  worthy  of  the  Eternal  City,  "may  be  con- 
sidered the  founder  of  the  library  of  the  Vatican,"  we  are  told 
by  Roscoe.f 

The  library  of  S.  Marco  owed  its  chief  riches  to  the  passion 
that  began  to  prevail  all  over  Italy,  after  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  empire  in  the  East,  in  1452,  for  collecting  the  works 
of  the  ancients,  that  had  been  rescued  from  destruction  by  the 
eminent  prelates  and  scholars  of  Constantinople,  who  had  found 
*  Life  of  Lorenzo,  p.  54.  f  Idem,  p.  68. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


33 


a  refuge  in  Italy.  But  long  previously,  the  library  of  St.  Mark's 
had  the  collection  of  valuable  manuscripts,  which  had  belonged 
to  Nicolo  Xicoli,  secured  for  it  and  for  the  public  use  by  Cosmo. 
The  intercourse  which  he  maintained  with  the  East,  had  enabled 
him,  more  than  all  the  other  Italian  magnates  of  his  time,  to 
turn  the  destruction  of  Constantinople  to  the  account  of  Italian 
enlightenment  and  civilization.  Cosmo's  successor  made  im- 
portant additions  to  the  literary  treasures  of  St.  Mark's,  and 
Lorenzo  surpassed  both  his  predecessors,  in  his  munificent 
donations  to  this  collection. 

Cosmo,  the  "  Padre  delle  Patria,"  was  the  first  of  the  Medici 
to  arrogate  to  himself  the  dignity  of  the  chief  of  the  Republic — 
'^Primato  della  Republica."  Many  records  of  his  magnificence  * 
and  munificence  have  been  left  by  cotemporary  historians  and 
philosophers.  Cosmo  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  philo- 
sophy of  Plato ;  he  established  schools  for  the  study  of  it ;  he 
caused  many  eminent  scholars,  celebrated  for  their  proficiency  in 
it,  to  establish  themselves  in  Florence — Marsilius  Ficinus,  Fran- 
cesco Filelfo,  and  other  distinguished  scholars.  Cosmo  trans- 
mitted his  Platonic  tastes  to  his  son  Pietro,  the  latter  to  his  son 
Lorenzo,  and  Lorenzo  to  his  son  John,  the  juvenile  cardinal, 
who,  on  his  elevation  to  the  Papal  throne,  took  the  name  of 
Leo  the  Tenth.  Florence  had  soon  its  academy,  where  Platonic 
eloquence  flourished  under  the  protection  of  the  munificent 
Cosmo ;  and  there,  we  are  told,  "  the  sublime  mysteries  of  the 
Platonic  philosophy,"  "  sublimi  misterii  della  filosofia  Platonica," 
were  reasoned  on  by  Cosmo,  with  a  wisdom  "  perfettamente 
Platonica." 

Ficinus,  in  one  of  his  letters,  says,  "  he  owed  much  to  Plato, 
but  more  to  Cosmo,  who  represented  in  his  own  person  the 
virtues  which  the  philosopher  had  traced  the  idea  of,  in  his 
works."  And  Ficinus  adds,  ^*  he  (Cosmo)  was  as  subtle  in  dis- 
puting as  he  was  wise  in  his  governing."  In  fact,  the  Greek 
scholars,  who  had  found  a  refuge  in  Florence,  on  the  downfall 
of  the  Latin  Empire  in  the  East,  had  inspired  Cosmo  with  an 
♦  Tiraboschi,  tomo  vi.  part  i.  p.  33. 

VOL.  T.  D 


34 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


admiration  bordering  on  idolatry  for  the  philosophy  of  Plato. 
And  those  sublime  mysteries  of  the  Platonic  philosophy  in 
Florence  superseded  those  of  Christianity,  which  were  believed 
in  by  the  vulgar  and  unlettered  in  other  countries. 

Florence,  in  fact,  was  heathenised  by  the  Medici,  the  Pagan 
philosophy  was  preferred  to  that  of  the  Gospel,  and  was  made 
the  rule  of  life  for  the  scholars  and  the  sages  of  this  new  Athens 
of  intellectual  refinement. 

Cosmo  de  Medici,  the  Platonic  Philosopher,  left  ample  work 
to  be  done  by  the  Christian  Monk,  Gii'olamo  Savonarola,  in  the 
time  of  his  grandson  Lorenzo. 

Of  the  banking  operations  of  the  Medici,  we  have  an  example 
in  the  time  of  Cosmo,  of  the  extent  in  which  they  were  carried  on. 

During  the  contests  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lan- 
caster, "  Edward  the  Fourth  resorted  to  one  of  Cosmo's  agents 
in  England  for  a  loan,  to  such  an  extraordinary  amount,  that 
it  might  be  almost  considered  the  means  of  supporting  that 
monarch  on  the  throne."* 

The  Medici  were  not  only  bankers  and  merchants,  but  ex- 
tensive farmers  and  miners.  They  carried  on  an  extensive  trade 
with  Egypt,  via  Alexandria. 

Machiavelli,  in  the  eighth  book  of  his  history,  speaking  of 
Cosmo  as  one  of  the  wisest  and  gravest  men  of  Italy  of  his  time, 
observes  :  "  He  would  now  and  then  play  the  most  egregious  fool 
in  his  carriage,  and  was  so  much  given  to  jesters,  players,  and 
childish  sports,  to  make  himself  merry,  that  he  that  should  but 
consider  his  gravity  on  the  one  part,  his  folly  and  lightness  on 
the  other,  would  surely  say,  there  were  two  distinct  persons  in 
him." 

Burton,  moralising  on  this  tendency  of  great  men  to  be  gam- 
blesome,  whose  efforts  to  be  lively  somewhat  resemble  the 
exertions  of  an  ungainly  camel  to  be  frisky  of  an  evening,  when 
the  burden  which  it  bore  is  taken  off,  and  the  process  of  un- 
packing is  concluded,  says  :  "  Now  methinks,  though  Salis- 
buriensis  be  of  opinion  that  magistrates,  senatprs,  and  grave 
*  Life  of  Lorenzo,  by  Eoscoe,  p.  78. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


So 


men  should  not  descend  to  lighter  sports,  iie  respublica  ludere 
videater,  but,  as  Themistocles,  keep  a  stern  and  constant  coui-age. 

I  commend  Cosmus  de  Medicis,  and  Castrucius  Castrucanus, 
than  whom  Italy  never  knew  a  worthier  captain,  another  Alex- 
ander, if  Machiavel  do  not  deceive  us  in  his  life  ;  when  a 
friend  of  his  reprehended  him  for  dancing,  as  beside  his  dignity 
(belike  at  some  cushen  dance),  he  told  him  again,  qui  sapit 
interdiu  vix  unquam  noctu  dessipit;  he  that  is  wise  in  the  day, 
may  dote  a  little  in  the  night.  Paulus  Jovius  relates  as  much 
of  Pope  Leo  Decunus,  that  he  was  a  grave,  discreet,  stay'd 
man,  yet  sometimes  most  free,  and  too  open  in  his  sports.  And 
'tis  not  altogether  unfit  or  mis-beseeming  the  gravity  of  such  a 
man,  if  that  decorum  of  time,  place,  and  such  circumstances,  be 
observed.   Misce  stultitiam  consiliis  brevem.^^ 

Pietro,  the  son  of  Cosmo,  succeeded  to  his  father's  wealth  and 
dignities  in  1464,  with  the  additional  title  of  Gonfalionere. 
Bandini  states  that  he  delighted  much  in  the  maxims  and  mys- 
teries of  the  Platonic  philosophy,  A\Tiile  he  was  yet  a  youth, 
in  1441,  he  took  a  leading  part  in  getting  up  a  literary  toiu'na- 
ment,  combattimenti  letterario,  unique  in  its  kind,  in  wliich  the 
subject  of"  True  Friendship"  was  to  be  disputed,  in  poetry  of 
whatsoever  kind  of  verse  the  disputants  might  choose  to  adopt. 
The  mimic  war  of  wit  came  off  in  the  church  of  Santa  Maria, 
on  a  Sunday,  before  duly  appointed  judges.  A  crown  of  silver, 
in  the  fashion  of  a  laurel  garland,  was  to  be  awarded  to  the 
victorious  disputant,  but  the  judges  were  miable  to  decide  on 
the  merits  of  so  many  claims  of  equal  excellence.  Pietro's  title 
to  celebrity  is  limited  to  the  origin  of  this  combattimenti  lette- 
rarioy  and  another  origin  of  more  importance,  that  of  Lorenzo 
de  Medici. 

The  career  of  Pietro  was  short ;  he  died  in  1469,  leaving  tAvo 
sons,  Julian  and  Lorenzo,  the  latter  of  whom  elevated  himself 
to  the  highest  eminence,  political  and  social. 

Lorenzo,  on  his  accession  to  the  dignities,  wealth,  and  high 
station  enjoyed  by  his  father,  seems  to  have  set  out  from  the 
commencement  of  his  career  by  regarding  himself  as  the  state. 


36 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


His  acts  spoke  intelligibly  this  purpose  to  the  people  of  Flo- 
rence :  "  Errare  cives  si  turn,  senatum  aliquid  in  Republica  , 
posse  arbitrebantur."* 

Lorenzo  was  no  exception  to  the  general  rule  of  persons  of  in- 
tellectual powers  being  chiefly  indebted  to  their  mothers  for 
those  remarkable  qualities  which  render  men  renowned,  whether 
as  scholars,  sages,  philosophers,  artists,  or  patrons  of  learning 
and  of  arts,  or  adepts  in  those  pursuits. 

Lorenzo's  mother  "  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  women 
of  the  age,  and  distinguished  not  only  as  a  patroness  of  learning, 
but  by  her  own  writings. "f 

She  transmitted  her  accomplishments  and  tastes,  "  en  vraie 
mere,"  to  her  favourite  son  Lorenzo. 

The  Volterra  atrocities,  at  an  early  period  of  Lorenzo's 
public  career,  consequent  on  his  unjust  and  cruel  measures, 
constitute  the  great  blot  on  his  character  ;  one  which  all  the 
efforts  of  E-oscoe  to  efface,  have  not  been  successful  in  accom- 
plishing. 

In  1475,  after  the  return  of  Lorenzo  to  Florence  from  K-ome, 
where  he  had  been  on  an  embassy  to  congratulate  Sixtus  the 
Fourth  on  his  elevation,  a  dispute  arose  between  the  Florentine 
Republic  and  Yolterra,  which  city  composed  part  of  its  domi- 
nions, on  a  subject  wliich  nearly  concerned  the  commercial 
interests  of  the  house  of  Medici. 

That  house  was  largely  engaged  in  money  transactions  in 
several  parts  of  Tuscany.  They  held  mines  of  lead,  silver, 
alum,  and  nitre,  on  leases  from  the  landed  proprietors,  on  whose 
estates  those  mines  were  situated  from  the  time  of  Cosmo. 
Whenever  they  had  serious  contentions  with  such  proprietors,  or 
with  other  states  on  the  subject  of  transit  imposts  or  dues  of  entry 
or  exit,  they  used  the  powers  of  the  Republic,  which,  in  fact, 
in  their  hands  had  become  a  mere  family  apanage,  for  the 
promotion  of  their  commerce  and  interests,  and  ambitious 
objects. 

A  mine  of  alum  had  been  discovered  in  the  district  of  Yol- 
*  Cicero,  Orat.  pro  Sent.  f  Life  of  Lorenzo,  by  Roscoe,  p.  81. 


OF  SAVONAROLA.  ♦ 


37 


terra,  which  had  remained  in  the  rightful  possession  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  soil,  from  the  time  of  its  discovery  to  the 
period  of  Lorenzo's  return  from  Rome.  By  these  proprietors 
some  monies  had  been  raised  in  Florence  from  certain  mer- 
chants, and  shares  in  the  property  had  been  given  to  them. 
The  municipal  authorities  of  Volterra,  finding  the  mine  had 
become  profitable,  had  claimed  a  part  of  the  profits  for  muni- 
cipal revenue. 

This  proceeding,  however,  was  neither  in  accordance  with, 
or  by  the  express  instructions  of,  the  supreme  government  of 
the  Republic  in  Florence  ;  for  when  it  was  appealed  to  by  the 
proprietors  against  the  Volterra  municipality,  the  Republic 
decided  against  the  latter,  on  the  ground  that  the  profits  in 
question  ought  not  to  be  applied  to  local  public  purposes,  but 
should  be  devoted  to  the  general  revenue  of  the  governrrxcnt 
of  the  Republic  in  Florence. 

The  monstrous  injustice  of  the  decision  enraged  the  citizens 
of  Volterra.  Indignation,  fruitless  expostulations,  commotions 
and  tumults,  terminated  in  open  resistance  to  the  Republic,  and 
a  determination  to  separate  their  territory  from  its  tyranny.  The 
Florentine  commissary  had  to  fly  from  Volterra  to  save  his 
life.  The  people  of  Volterra  had  already  made  four  previous 
unsuccessful  attempts  at  revolution. 

The  Florentine  govermnent  was  alarmed  and  disconcerted 
by  this  event. 

Some  of  the  lords  of  the  council  and  superior  magistrates, 
and  especially  Tomaso  Soderini,  were  strongly  in  favour  of  con- 
ciliatory measures.  But  these  were  as  strongly  opposed  by 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  says  Machiavelli,  "  thinking  this  a  fair 
opportunity  to  demonstrate  his  wisdom  and  his  prudence  (by  a 
contrary  opinion)  ;  and  being  more  influenced  in  thus  advising, 
because  he  was  encouraged  by  those  who  were  inimical  to  So- 
derini, declared  in  favour  of  an  armed  expedition  to  punish  the 
arrogance  of  the  Volterani ;  and  he  affirmed,  that  if  that  city  was 
not  punished,  and  made  a  memorable  example  of, — '  en  essempio 
memorabile  coretti,'  other  people  (dependent  on  the  Republic), 


ss 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


having  no  longer  any  reverence  for  its  authority,  from  fear  of 
similar  circumstances,  would,  on  the  slightest  pretence,  do  as 
the  people  of  Volterra  had  done  in  their  territory."* 

So  by  Machiavelli's  account,  apparently  truthful,  Lorenzo, 
in  causing  war  to  be  made  on  the  people  of  Volterra,  was 
mainly  influenced  by  motives  of  paltry  jealousy  of  one  of  the 
most  illustrious,  wise,  and  virtuous  citizens  of  Florence,  and 
only  then  inferior  to  himself  in  power  and  influence  in  the 
Republic.  So  great  was  his  influence,  that  on  the  death  of  the 
father  of  Lorenzo,  many  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of 
the  Kepublic  urged  him,  though  ineffectually,  to  take  the  first 
place  in  the  Republic,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Medici. 

Lorenzo  having  succeeded  in  carrying  his  views  into  execu- 
tion, the  territory  of  the  people  of  Volterra  was  attacked  by  a 
Florentine  army  of  12,000  men,  under  the  command  of  the 
Lord  of  Urbino.  The  unfortunate  territory  was  easily  ravaged 
by  this  great  army.  The  city  surrendered  at  discretion,  after  a 
short  resistance,  and  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  inhabitants 
ensued.  Machiavelli,  with  his  usual  coolness,  relates  the  atro- 
cities of  the  Florentine  army  in  these  terms  The  city  for  a 
whole  day  was  pillaged  and  ravaged  by  the  soldiers,  neither 
women,  nor  children,  nor  churches,  nor  any  place,  being  ex- 
empt from  the  rapacity  both  of  their  enemies  and  their  merce- 
naries. The  news  of  the  victory  was  received  in  Florence  with 
extraordinary  joy,  and  being  Lorenzo's  own  enterprize,  it  turned 
highly  to  the  advantage  of  his  reputation." 

Further  we  are  told  by  Machiavelli : — "  One  of  his  own 
most  intimate  friends  upbraided  Thomas  Soderino  for  his  ad- 
vice against  the  expedition, — saying,  ^  What  think  you  now  of 
it,  that  Volterra  is  won  ? '  to  whom  Tomaso  replied—^  I  rather 
think  Volterra  is  lost,  for  had  you  entered  into  terms  with  it,  that 
city  might  have  proved  in  time  of  need  serviceable  to  the  Republic, 
and  have  contributed  towards  the  security  of  the  city;  but 
treated  as  it  has  been,  and  retained  by  force  of  arms,  it  will  be 


*  Machiavelli,  Historie  Florentine,  lib.  rii.  p.  197. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


39 


a  trouble  and  a  weakness  to  you  in  time  of  war,  and  an  expense 
to  you  in  time  of  peace.'  "* 

Roscoe  informs  us^  tlie  destruction  brought  on  Volterra  by 
this  war — Lorenzo  s  own  expedition — was  an  accident.  It  was 
not  intended,  forsooth,  the  captured  city  should  have  been 
ravaged,  the  women  defiled,  and  many  citizens  massacred  in 
cold  blood. 

And  he  states,  that  "  Lorenzo  was  no  sooner  apprised  of 
this  event,  than  he  hastened  to  Volterra,  where  he  endeavoured 
to  repair  the  injuries  done  to  the  inhabitants,  and  to  alleviate 
their  distresses  by  every  method  in  his  power. "f 

Raffaelle  da  Volterra,  a  contemporary  historian,  and  a  native 
of  the  ravaged  city  (In  Comment.  Urban  Geogr.  138),  considers 
Lorenzo  as  the  author  of  those  calamities,  and  deals  with  him 
accordingly. 

In  plain  terms,  "  Lorenzo's  own  expedition,"  against  the 
people  of  Volterra,  was  carried  on  at  the  charge,  and  with  the 
troops  of  the  Republic,  for  the  protection  of  the  monopoly  of  an 
article  of  commerce,  the  value  of  which  was  likely  to  be  depre- 
ciated by  the  discovery  of  a  mine  in  Volterra,  producing  the 
same  commodity,  which  had  begun  to  be  productive,  by  means 
of  capital  furnished  by  Florentine  merchants,  competitors  in 
trade  with  Lorenzo.  And  thus,  for  the  promotion  of  his  own 
selfish  object,  he  exposed  the  people  of  a  whole  city  to  the 
horrors  of  war,  and  the  danger  of  having  an  infuriated  soldiery 
let  loose  on  their  property,  their  wives,  children,  and  places  of 
worship. 

"  The  mines  of  alum,^'  says  Roscoe,  in  dififerent  parts  of 
Italy,  were  either  the  property  of  the  Medici  family,  or  were 
hired  by  them  from  their  respective  owners,  so  that  they  were 
enabled  almost  to  monopolize  this  article,  and  to  render  it  highly 
lucrative.  For  a  mine  in  the  Roman  territory,  it  appears  that 
they  paid  to  the  Papal  See  the  annual  rent  of  100,000  florins."J 

In  the  Pontificate  of  Sixtus  the  Fourth,  a  murderous  con- 

*  Macliiavelli,  Historie  Florentine,  lib.  xii.  p.  298. 
t  Roscoe's  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  p.  125.  %  Idem.  p.  117. 


40 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


spiracy  against  the  Medici  was  entered  into,  it  is  asserted  by 
the  organs  of  the  latter,  with  the  express  sanction  of  the  Pontiff ; 
but  with  what  truth  that  assertion  is  made,  remains  to  be  dis- 
covered. 

In  1471,  Sixtus  the  Fourth  succeeded  Paul  the  Second. 
Onofrio  Panvinio,  in  his  continuation  of  Platina's  Vite  de  Pon- 
tifici,  speaks  of  the  dissensions  between  the  Pope  and  Lorenzo 
de  Medici,  occasioned  by  the  unbounded  cupidity  of  this  Pon- 
tiff, "immensa  e  sfrenata  cupidita  del  Papa."*  But  some  other 
and  better  reasons  might  be  given  for  these  dissensions,  more 
prejudicial  to  the  character  of  the  Medici,  and  less  injurious  to 
that  of  the  Pope.  These  dissensions,  however,  in  the  opinion  of 
Panvinio,  ultimately  led  to  the  ruin  of  the  Medici.  Sixtus  the 
Fourth  died  in  1484 ;  Machiavelli  (Hist.  Flor.  lib.  viii.)  states, 
"  either  poisoned  or  of  grief,  at  the  intelligence  of  the  recently- 
proclaimed  peace,  of  which  he  was  an  enemy."t 

Roscoe,  in  his  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  speaks  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Sixtus  the  Fourth  in  strong  terms  of  reprobation. 
But  it  is  possible  we  should  have  heard  less  of  the  depravity 
imputed  to  him,  if  he  had  been  less  inimical  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici  and  his  brother.  His  vast  expenditure  for  architectural 
improvements  in  Rome,  occasioned  the  imposition  of  heavy 
taxes  on  ecclesiastics  holding  high  offices  in  the  Church  or  the 
Court,  and  led  to  embarrassments,  which  turned  away  attention 
from  many  grievous  evils  and  abuses  of  his  time,  that  greatly 
needed  to  be  reformed. 

Ranke  states,  that  Sixtus  the  Fourth  was  the  first  Pope  by 
whom  the  project  was  undertaken,  with  a  fixed  will,  and  effec- 
tual results,  to  establish  a  sovereignty  for  himself  in  those  do- 
minions which  were  regarded  as  the  patrimony  of  the  Church, 
but  which  were  now  under  the  dominion  of  various  chiefs. 
This  project,  he  adds,  was  most  strenuously  and  most  success- 
fully followed  by  Alexander  the  Sixth ;  and  from  Julius  the 

*  Platina,  in  Vit.  Paolo,  p.  448. 
t  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  p.  219. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


41 


Second  this  plan  received  a  direction  wholly  unexpected^  and 
of  which  the  effect  was  permanent. 

"Sixtus  the  Foui-th  (1471 — 1484)  conceived  the  idea  of 
founding  a  principality  for  his  nephew,  Girolamo  Riario,  in  the 
fertile  and  beautiful  plains  of  Romagna."* 

If  the  question  had  been  one  of  right,"  continues  Ranke, 

the  Pope  had  manifestly  a  better  title  than  any  one  of  those 
princes  ;  but  he  was  greatly  their  inferior  in  political  force,  and 
the  materials  of  war.  He  did  not  scruple  to  employ  his  spiritual 
influence — exalted  by  its  nature  and  its  influence  above  all 
earthly  purposes — for  the  furtherance  of  his  worldly  interests. 
Nor  did  he  shrink  from  debasing  it  by  contact  with  the  tem- 
porary intrigues  in  which  these  involved  him."t 

The  famous  conspiracy  of  Francis  Pazzi  against  the  Medici,  in 
which  Julian  lost  his  life  in  1478,  and  his  brother  Lorenzo  was 
slightly  wounded,  having  been  defeated,  Lorenzo  adroitly  turned 
the  attempt  to  his  advantage,  and  to  the  complete  ruin  of  his 
principal  competitors,  both  commercial  and  political. 

The  Pazzi  had  carried  on  a  rival  banking  establishment  in 
Rome,  where  Lorenzo  also  had  one.  They  were  considered  by 
the  people  as  firmly  attached  to  the  Republic,  and  faithful  to  its 
interests. 

They  were  popular  with  the  Democratic  party  ;  the  Medici, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  looked  upon  with  distrust  by  that  party, 
as  having  designs  to  promote  their  oAvn  interests,  rather  than 
those  of  the  Republic ;  in  fact,  to  elevate  themselves  above  it. 
They  were  merchant  princes,  in  every  sense  of  the  term — 
making  use  of  the  state  for  the  benefit  of  their  bank,  and  using 
their  bank  for  the  promotion  of  their  designs  against  the  Re- 
public. 

It  is  not  in  the  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  by  Roscoe,  however 

admirably  written,  that  we  must  look  for  proof  of  any  statements 

which  militate  against  the  character  of  Lorenzo  in  any  period 

of  his  career.    Nevertheless,  in  the  earlier  part  of  that  career, 

*  Kanke's  History  of  the  Popes,  ch.  ii.  p.  34. 
t  Idem,  pp.  33,  34. 


42 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


there  was  most  assuredly  much  to  reduce  hero-worship,  in  the 
case  of  the  homage  so  extensively  offered  to  his  wealth,  pru- 
dence, and  prosperity,  within  moderate  and  reasonable  limits. 

If  the  crime  of  the  Pazzi  was  atrocious,  the  crimes  of  the 
adherents  of  the  Medici  were  not  less  so.  No  sooner  had  the 
conspii^acy  exploded,  and  failed  in  its  main  object,  than  the 
streets  were  polluted  with  the  dead  bodies  of  their  victims,  by 
the  adherents  of  the  Medici.  "  Giacobo  Poggio  was  hanged 
from  a  window  of  the  palace.  The  followers  (of  the  Pazzi) 
were  either  slaughtered  in  the  palace,  or  thrown  half  alive 
through  the  windows."  The  young  Cardinal  Riario,  who  was 
seized  at  the  altar,  where  he  had  taken  refuge,  was  only  pre- 
served from  death  by  the  interference  of  Lorenzo,  "  who  ap- 
peared to  give  credit  to  his  asseverations,  that  he  was  ignorant 
of  the  intentions  of  the  conspirators." 

It  would  have  been  well  if  Lorenzo  had  then  said  to  his  ad- 
herents— transeat  in  exemplo."  "  Francesco  Pazzi  was 
dragged  out  of  his  uncle's  house  naked,  and  hanged  from  the 
palace  windows.  This  punishment  was  immediately  followed 
by  that  of  the  Archbishop  of  Pisa,  Salviati,  who  was  hung 
through  a  window  of  the  palace,  and  was  not  allowed  even  to 
divest  himself  of  his  prelatical  robes."* 

AVhen  Lorenzo  effectually  interfered  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
putting  to  death  of  persons  suspected  of  taking  part  in  this  con- 
spiracy, ^^upwards  of  one  hundred  persons  had  already  perished," 
says  Roscoe,  "  some  by  the  hands  of  justice,  and  others  by  the 
fury  of  the  citizens. "f 

But  throughout  the  whole  "  of  this  just  but  dreadful  retri- 
bution," we  are  told,  "  Lorenzo  had  exerted  all  his  influence  to 
restrain  the  indignation  of  the  populace  and  restrain  the  shed- 
ding of  blood." 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  his  influence  was  so  small  as 
Roscoe  represents  it. 

But  if  "  the  retribution"  on  upwards  of  one  hundred  people 

*  Roscoe's  Life  of  Lorenzo,  p,  146.  f  Ibid.  p.  154. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


43 


savagely  slaughtered  "was  just/'  his  interference  might  hardly 
be  expected. 

The  adherents  of  Lorenzo,  the  literati  of  his  time,  and  the 
latest  of  his  biographers,  implicate  a  pope,  a  cardinal,  an  arch- 
bishop, and  some  priests  in  the  attempted  crime  of  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  Medici.  They  state  that  Sixtus  the  Fourth,  then  Pon- 
tiff, having  two  nephews  (or,  as  Machiavelli  asserts,  sons),  named 
Riario,  had  provided  for  one  of  them  by  making  him  a  car- 
dinal, and  was  desirous  of  aggrandizing  the  other,  Girolamo 
E-iario,  with  the  territories  of  the  Lords  of  Imola  and  of  Forli. 

The  Medici  opposed  this  design,  and  came  to  the  aid  of  those 
Lords  of  Imola  and  of  Forli,  with  money  and  their  counsel. 
The  court  of  Kome  took  umbrage  at  those  acts  of  the  Medici, 
and  determined  on  the  extermination  of  the  family.  A  Flo- 
rentine banker  of  the  name  of  Pazzi,  an  enemy  of  the  Medici, 
proposed  their  assassination  to  the  Pope,  and  his  holiness  ap- 
proved of  the  act.  Therefore,  to  carry  it  into  execution,  the 
Cardinal  Riario  was  despatched  to  Florence  to  direct  the  con- 
spiracy, and  Salviati,  Archbishop  of  Florence,  was  charged 
with  the  arrangement  of  all  the  details  of  the  projected  mur- 
ders. Two  priests  were  specially  appointed  to  dispatch  the 
brothers,  and  a  solemn  festival  was  chosen  for  the  execution  of 
the  plans,  in  the  church  of  the  Reparata,  at  the  feast  of  Saint 
Stephen  ;  and  the  cathedral  of  Milan  had  been  chosen  not  long- 
before  for  the  assassination  of  Galeazzo,  Duke  of  Milan,  who 
fell  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  by  the  hands  of  similar  assassins. 

The  whole  of  this  statement  rests  on  mere  assertion,  with  the 
exception  of  the  facts  of  a  conspiracy  having  existed  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Medici,  and  the  murder]of  Julian  and  Lorenzo, 
the  concoctors  of  which  were  members  of  the  Pazzi  family — of 
its  having  been  attempted  to  be  executed  in  the  church  of  the 
Reparata,  on  the  occasion  of  a  festival,  and  of  a  priest  named 
Stefana  having  endeavoured  to  murder  Lorenzo  at  the  same 
time  that  his  brother  was  assassinated. 

The  idea  of  a  Pope  sending  a  Cardinal  to  the  capital  of  ano- 
ther state  to  direct  the  execution  of  a  number  of  murders,  is 


44 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


somewhat  novel.  It  was  a  hazardous  mission  for  a  Cardinal  to 
be  sent  on.  But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  care  of  the  Pope 
for  a  nephew  or  a  son,  whose  extreme  affection  for  his  relations, 
we  are  told,  had  led  him  to  contemplate  very  extraordinary 
measui'es  to  promote  their  interests  ?  Is  it  likely  that  Pon- 
tiff would  expose  one  of  those  relations  so  dear  to  him  to  the 
very  imminent  danger  of  a  discovery  or  failure  of  the  conspi- 
racy ?  Would  the  Pope  have  no  care  for  the  character  of  the 
Church,  and  make  choice  of  one  of  the  cardinals  of  his  coiu*t  to 
direct  a  mui'derous  plot,  which  any  layman  might  have  managed 
with  less  danger  of  attracting  attention  ? 

Sixtus  the  Fourth,  being  the  enemy  of  Lorenzo,  has  met 
with  very  scanty  justice  at  the  hands  of  E-oscoe.  The  conspi- 
racy to  murder  the  Medici,  on  the  26th  of  April,  1478,  in  the 
church  of  the  Keparata,  he  says,  was  conducted  by  the  Pope 
and  his  nephew,  the  young  Cardinal  Riario* — "  They  were  the 
real  instigators  of  it,"  he  asserts,  and  "  Salviati,  the  Archbishop, 
was  the  principal  agent." 

For  proof  of  these  assertions,  we  are  given  the  fact  of  a  con- 
vocation held  in  the  church  of  the  Reparata,  summoned  by 
Urbino,  bishop  of  Arrezzo,  and  a  document  the  result  of  the 
deliberations  which  took  place  there — the  professed  object  of 
wliich  was  to  criminate  the  Pope  as  being  the  chief  instigator  of 
the  murderous  conspiracy ;  but  the  extreme  ^dolence  of  the 
language  used  by  the  Synod  against  the  Pontiff,"  and  "  the 
copious  torrent  of  abuse"  poured  out  by  the  S}Tiod  on  the  head 
of  their  Church,  Roscoe  admits,  exceeded  all  limits  of  decorum. 

We  are  told  that  the  government  of  Florence  had  directed 
their  chancellor,  Bartholomew  Scala,  to  draw  up  an  historical 
memorial  of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  conspiracy ;  — "  By 
which,"  says  Roscoe,  "  it  clearly  appeared  that  throughout  the 
whole  transaction,  the  conspirators  acted  with  the  privity  and 
assent  of  the  Pope."t 

This  lengthy  memorial  is  given  in  the  Appendix  of  the  Life 
of  Lorenzo,  but  not  a  single  valid  proof  is  given  of  the  Pope^ 
*  Life  of  Lorenzo,  p.  141.  t  Ibid.  p.  157. 


1. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


45 


Cardinal,  or  Archbishop,  having  participated  in  the  crime  of 
the  projected  murders  of  Lorenzo  and  Julian  de  Medici,  and 
the  actual  assassination  of  the  latter.  The  evidence  of  tortured 
witnesses,  and  the  confessions  put  in  the  mouths  of  terrified 
wretches  condemned  to  death,  are  the  foundation  of  this  charge 
against  the  PontiiF,  the  Cardinal,  and  Archbishop*  But  Lo- 
renzo was  not  always  at  war  with  the  Holy  See. 

Machiavelli  tells  us  that  "  the  Pope  (Innocent  the  Eighth) 
had  a  son  named  Francis,  and  desiring  much  to  procure  for  him 
state  honours,  and  an  advantageous  alliance,  in  order  that  after 
his  death  he  might  be  maintained,  he  did  not  know  in  Italy  a 
more  secure  alliance  for  him  than  with  the  family  of  the  Medici, 
and  so  he  managed  with  Lorenzo,  that  the  daughter  of  the  latter 
was  given  in  marriage  to  his  son  Francis. "f 

The  alliance  of  the  Pontiff's  son  with  the  noble  house  of 
the  Medici  led  to  political  alliances,  conjoined  influences,  and 
events  of  great  importance — to  the  maintenance  and  origin  of 
wars,  suspended  during  the  latter  years  of  Lorenzo,  but  which 
terminated  ultimately  in  the  downfall  of  most  of  its  republics. 

Machiavelli,  in  his  encomiums  on  the  pattern  of  a  prudent 
and  fortunate  Prince,  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  expatiates  on  the 
successes  of  Lorenzo,  on  all  the  prosperous  undertakings  of 
his  life,  and,  amongst  the  rest,  the  elevation  of  his  second  son, 
Giovanni,  a  boy  not  yet  thirteen  years  of  age  (the  embryo 
Pontiff  Leo  the  Tenth),  to  the  dignity  of  a  Cardinal,  which  great 
honour  the  Florentine  historian  tells  us,  "  fu  tanto  piu  notabile 
quanto  fuora  d'ogni  passato  esempio  che  non  havendo  ancora 
XIII  anni,  fu  a  tanto  grado  condotto.  II  che  fu  una  scala  da 
poter  fare  salire  la  sua  casa  in  cielo  come  poi  ne  i  tempi  seguenti 
intervenne."J 

This  accomplishment  of  Lorenzo's  great  ambition  for  the 
elevation  of  a  boy  of  thirteen  years  of  age  to  the  dignity  of  a 

*  We  read  in  Roscoe's  Life  of  Lorenzo  (p.  322),  that,  *'  two  days  before 
his  death,  the  great  dome  of  the  Eeparata  was  struck  with  lightning,  and 
on  the  side  which  approaches  towards  the  chapel  of  the  Medici,  a  part 
of  the  building  fell." 

t  Hist.  Flor.  lib.  viii.  p.  345.  +  Ibid.  p.  349. 


46 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Cardinal,  was  one  of  the  happy  events,  on  account  of  which  it 
was  judged  by  Machiavelli,  that  Lorenzo  lived  in  the  greatest 
felicity,  "  in  una  felicita  grandissima,"  to  the  end  of  his  days, 
in  1492,  when  he  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-foui*  years. 

This  most  wise  and  fortunate  of  the  Medici,  Machiavelli's 
model  Prince,  Roscoe's  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,"  who  derived 
his  religion  from  Plato,  deemed  it  a  master-stroke  of  policy  to 
marry  his  daughter  to  the  son  of  a  Pontiff,  and  made  the  degra- 
dation of  one  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  Chui-ch,  the 
acquisition  of  a  Cardinal's  hat  for  a  boy  under  thirteen — "  a 
ladder  to  enable  his  house  to  mount  to  heaven,  as  it  came  to 
pass  in  after-times,"  as  we  are  told  by  Machiavelli,  with  all  the 
cool  complacency  of  his  peculiarly  complimentary  sarcasm. 

All  these  things  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who  would 
read  the  life  of  Savonarola,  and  understand  his  laboui's. 

We  learn  also  from  the  Storie  Florentino  de  Segni  (ed. 
fol.  Augusta,  1723),  that  Julian  de  Medici,  the  brother  of 
Lorenzo,  who  was  murdered  by  the  Pazzi,  in  1478,  left  a 
natural  son,  whom  the  interest  of  the  family  was  powerful 
enough  to  place  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  under  the  name  of 
Clement  the  Seventh. 

Lorenzo's  relations  with  the  Holy  See  became  so  intimate,  as 
to  privilege  him  to  advise  the  Holy  See  in  matters  of  great 
delicacy. 

Ranke  refers  to  an  attempt  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici  to  cause  a 
Pontiff  to  abuse  his  office,  and  turn  the  advantages  it  afforded 
him  to  the  account  of  his  private  interests.  He  quotes  a 
passage  from  a  letter  of  Lorenzo's,  mthout  date,  but  apparently 
of  the  year  1489,  addressed  to  Pope  Innocent  the  Eighth,  in 
the  following  terms — "  Others  have  not  so  long  postponed  theii* 
efforts  to  attain  the  Papal  chair,  and  have  concerned  themselves 
little  to  maintain  the  retiring  delicacy  so  long  evinced  by  your 
Holiness.  Now  is  your  Holiness  not  only  exonerated  before  God 
and  man,  but  this  honourable  conduct  may  cause  you  to  incur 
blame,  and  your  reserve  may  be  attributed  to  less  worthy 
motives.    Zeal  and  duty  lay  it  on  my  conscience  to  remind 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


47 


your  Holiness  that  no  man  is  immortal.  Be  the  Pontiff  as  im- 
portant as  he  may  in  his  own  person,  he  cannot  make  his 
dignity  and  that  importance  hereditary ;  he  cannot  be  said 
absolutely  to  possess  any  thing,  but  the  honours  and  emolu- 
ments he  had  secured  to  his  kindred."* 

The  facts  of  the  case  are  told  in  a  few  words  :  Lorenzo  de 
Medici  had  a  daughter  married  to  a  son  of  the  Pope ;  and  in 
his  anxiety  for  the  interest  of  his  son-in-law,  he  set  about 
removing  all  scruples  of  the  Pontiff  in  regard  to  Simoniacal 
practices,  and  delicately  points  out  the  moral  obligation,  he 
endeavours  to  persuade  his  Holiness  that  he  was  under,  to  turn 
his  sacred  office  to  the  account  of  his  private  interests. 

Lorenzo  patronized  art  and  architecture,  he  enriched  artists 
and  architects,  he  embellished  his  capital,  but  he  did  little  to 
establish  liberty,  or  to  secure  the  independence  of  the  Republic. 

His  liberality,  however,  to  artists  and  scholars,  covered  a 
multitude  of  sins  against  the  state, — as  such  liberality  always 
does.  Lorenzo  was  incensed  by  all  the  worshippers  of  wealth 
and  power  of  his  time ;  the  literati,  the  artists,  the  men  of 
science,  all  who  had  patronage  to  expect,  and  eulogy  to  give  for 
it,  swung  their  censers  in  the  air  before  the  face  of  the  mag- 
nificent Lorenzo,  the  god  of  the  idolatry  of  the  Poggios,  the 
Poliziano,  and  other  literati  of  the  time. 

There  are  no  eulogies  in  Florentine  history,  ancient  or  modern, 
on  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  as  a  patron  of  learning  and  of  art,  un- 
deserved. "  He  was  the  Augustus  of  his  city,  and  the  Maecenas 
of  its  scholars,"  in  the  words  of  Corsi.  Florence  under  his 
guidance  became  a  new  Athens.  In  the  words  of  Ermolao 
Barbaro,  "  Letters  were  much  indebted  to  the  Florentines,  and 
amongst  them,  singularly  so  to  the  Medici,  and  amongst  the 
Medici  were  particularly  obliged  to  Lorenzo. — Molto  doveano 
le  lettere  a  Florentini  ma  tra  questi  singolarmente  a  Medici,  e 
fra  i  Medici  piu  che  ad  ogni  altri  d  Lorenzo." 

Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  not  only  patronized  "  en  Prince," 
art  and  letters,  and  artists,  and  learned  men,  but  he  cultivated 

*  Fabroni,  Yita  Laurentii,  vol.  i.  p.  390.    Ap.  Eanke,  vol.  ii.  p.  33. 


48 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


literature  himself  with  great  success.  He  was  an  excellent 
poet,  well  skilled  in  music,  was  an  accomplished  scholar,  a 
writer  possessing  great  facility  in  expressing  his  thoughts  pre- 
cisely and  perspicuously,  a  philosopher  of  the  school  of  Plato, 
and  somewhat  more  of  a  Platonist  than  a  lover  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  man  of  Tarsis,  or  a  disciple  of  Him  whose  doctrines  were 
transmitted  to  the  Apostles,  and  by  them  committed  to  the  cus- 
tody of  the  Church. 

Lorenzo  looked  on  religion  as  an  adjunct  to  the  civil  power, 
to  be  maintained  in  pomp  for  political  purposes.  The  Chuixh, 
in  his  estimation,  was  deserving  of  protection,  so  long  as  its 
rulers  were  in  alKance  with  the  Medici,  and  disposed  to  pro- 
mote their  interests. 

Of  the  maxims  of  jEneas  Sylvius,  the  subsequent  Pontiff, 
Pius  the  Second,  there  are  many  which  deserve  to  be  held  in 
remembrance,  and  that  are  applicable  to  all  men,  in  all  times 
and  all  circumstances.  But  there  is  one  that  it  would  have 
been  well  for  Lorenzo  de  Medici  in  particular,  if  he  had  borne 
it  in  mind  for  his  guidance  and  government : 

"  Every  citizen  should  consider  his  house  of  less  importance 
than  the  city ;  the  city  than  the  state,  the  state  than  the  world, 
and  the  whole  world  than  the  kingdom  of  Heaven." 

There  is  another  truism  likewise  of  ^neas  Sylvius,  that 
might  have  been  remembered  with  advantage  by  Lorenzo  : 

"  Though  Chi'istianity  were  not  attested  by  miracles,  it  should 
be  believed  by  all  nations,  for  its  intrinsic  worth,  its  confirmed 
moral  excellencies." 

Lorenzo,  not  long  before  his  death,  we  are  told  by  Nardi, 
made  an  important  change  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Re- 
public, creating  a  Council  of  Seventy,  and  giving  to  it  very  full 
authority  to  transact  all  the  business  which  had  been  heretofore 
done  by  the  several  administrative,  deliberative,  and  legislative 
councils.  "  Of  the  old  councils  of  the  Pepubhc,  nothing  now 
remained  but  the  shadow  and  the  name. 

"  And  thus,"  says  Nardi,  "  by  a  successful  issue  to  all  things 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


49 


,  undertaken  by  him,  Lorenzo  attained  such  greatness,  that  he 
became  little  less  than  a  legitimate  and  absolute  sovereign.'''* 

It  matters  not  to  literature  what  solemn  engagements  entered 
into  by  a  Prince  may  be  broken ;  it  is  of  no  importance  how 
much  perfidy  has  been  practised,  to  undermine  by  stealth  a  long- 
established  form  of  government,  or  overturn  a  constitution  by 
open  violence ;  how  much  sophistry  is  employed  to  give  a  plau- 
sible appearance  of  adherence  to  principles,  while  it  passes  over 
manifest  perversions  of  them  in  practice ;  how  much  injury  is 
done  to  public  morality  by  those  highway  robberies  of  a  people's 
rights,  by  ambitious  felons  in  high  places.  All  that  literature 
feels  called  on  to  inquire  about  the  rulers  of  the  earth  is.  How 
are  they  affected  towards  learning?  Do  they  patronize  it? 
Have  they  done  so  long,  and  liberally  ? 

It  is  marvellous  to  see  Italy,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  though 
still  torn  by  domestic  factions,  and  ravaged  by  external  enemies, 
beginning  to  encourage  learning  in  its  principal  states  and  cities 
simultaneously,  each  republic  and  sovereignty  emulous  of  its 
neighbour  ;  all  apparently  moved  by  one  common  instinct,  an 
impvdsive  energy  directed  to  the  revival  of  arts  and  letters,  the 
acquisition  of  liberty,  the  removal  of  the  defences  of  feudalism 
from  various  barbarisms  in  society,  and  from  the  organized  ra- 
pacity of  despotic  governments  administered  by  military  chiefs. 

The  fifteenth  century,  for  Italy,  was  productive  of  more  im- 
portant events,  and  of  greater  men,  than  history  furnishes  an 
account  of  in  any  preceding  age,  and  perhaps  it  might  be  said 
in  any  subsequent  one.  To  their  influences  are  to  be  traced 
the  grandest  discoveries,  the  greatest  stimulants  to  mental 
energy  and  revolutions  in  opinion,  that  have  elevated  all  Euro- 
pean countries,  advanced  the  progress  of  civilization  in  them, 
and  affected  the  constitution  of  states  and  churches. 

It  -would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  re- 
sults of  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  East ;  the 
transfer  to  Italian  libraries  of  the  riches  of  ancient  learning, 
saved  from  the  wreck  of  civilization  in  that  Christian  Empire, 

*  Nardi,  p.  12. 

VOL.  I.  E 


50 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


and  the  asylum  afforded  in  the  principal  Italian  States,  and 
pre-eminently  in  Florence  by  the  Medici,  to  the  distinguished 
scholars  of  Constantinople,  who  had  fled  their  ruined  country ; 
the  invention  of  printing  ;  the  encouragement  of  arts  and  letters 
in  the  several  courts  of  Italy ;  the  concourse  of  scholars,  poets, 
philosophers,  painters,  sculptors,  and  men  of  mind,  of  all  peace- 
ful and  humanizing  pursuits,  in  the  courts  of  Rome,  Florence, 
Milan,  Pisa,  and  Ferrara. 

"\Ve  find,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  sure  signs  of  a  great 
social  and  intellectual  revolution  manifesting  themselves,  in  the 
contact  of  men  of  mind  with  the  men  of  force,  of  the  poets  and 
philosophers  ^-ith  the  feudal  lords,  the  soldier  barons  with  the 
chiefs  of  all  factions,  who  were  indebted  to  the  sword  for  their 
possessions  and  position  ;  in  the  triumph  of  civilizing  art  and 
literature,  of  religion,  in  spite  of  all  impediments  to  its  true  power, 
over  the  brutalizing  soldier-sway  of  feudal  institutions  ;  in  the 
recent  restoration  of  the  Church  to  the  old  capital  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  in  its  strength  to  cope  vrith  the  violence  and  rapacity 
of  feudal  chiefs  and  princes.  The  transition,  however,  from 
feudalism  to  civilization,  was  a  state  of  society  in  which  gross- 
ness  of  manners,  and  corruption  in  Church  and  State,  had  rather 
changed  external  appearances  than  real  character.  The  rays  of 
the  sun  of  science  and  learning,  which  shone  on  the  surface  of 
society,  had  not  reached  the  depths  of  it,  nor  penetrated  far  into 
the  interior  of  Italian  life,  or  into  court  or  castles. 

A  man  familiar  with  Italian  history  may  well  bless  his  stars 
that  his  lot  was  not  cast  in  the  fifteenth  century ;  in  that  Borgian 
Era,  when  incarnate  fiends  seemed  to  have  been  let  loose  on 
humanity,  and  on  the  Church,  for  its  sore  trial  and  retri- 
bution. 

From  that  trial,  though  the  Church  came  forth  unhurt  in 
doctrine,  not  unscathed  did  she  come  forth  in  character ;  and 
most  grievously  did  humanity  suffer  in  the  contest,  at  the  close 
of  that  century,  between  the  powers  of  light  and  darkness,  in 
which  it  pleased  God  that  some  of  the  best  men  should  be 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


51 


beaten  down,  and  the  worst  men  should  have  a  triumph,  and  a 
temporary  advantage. 

It  was  the  destiny  of  Savonarola,  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  the 
fall  vigour  of  his  noble  intellect,  to  be  thrown  into  the  arena  of 
contention  in  that  Borgian  era  of  Pagan  iniquity  arrayed  in 
Christian  vesture,  and  to  have  to  fight  the  wild'  beasts  of  Ephe- 
sian  -svdckedness  in  defence  of  truth  and  religion,  with  those 
oppressors  who  professed  to  protect  their  interests,  and  it  was 
his  fortune  to  perish  in  that  unequal  struggle. 

The  state  to  w^hich  religion  was  reduced,  and  the  uses  to 
which  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Court  of  Rome  were 
perverted  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  Roderigo 
Lenzuole  and  Borgia,  with  all  the  infamy  of  his  early  career,  a 
matter  of  public  notoriety,  found  it  possible  to  practice  simony 
and  corruption,  with  such  success  as  to  ensure  his  election  and 
elevation  to  the  thi'one  of  the  Christian  world,  in  a  conclave 
composed  of  twenty-three  cardinals,  can  only  be  ascertained  and 
comprehended  by  a  close  examination  of  the  relations  between 
Church  and  State  in  that  interval  to  which  I  have  referred. 

Platina's  continuator  of  the  "  Vite  Pontefici" — Panvinio,  in 
reference  to  the  election  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  says,  "  The 
ambition  and  avarice  of  some  Cardinals  left  them  to  be  sub- 
orned." ....  The  subornation  he  designates  "  this  infamous 
and  mercenary  work.". ..."  The  foremost  of  these  (Cardinals), 
Ascanio  Sforza,  was  suborned,"  he  says,  "  without  any  doubt  by 
means  of  a  great  reward."* 

Guicciardini,  Corio,  Denina,  Tiraboschi,  Nardi,  and  several 
others,  assert  the  fact  of  the  venality  of  the  Cardinal,  and  the 
simony  and  corruption  practised  by  the  Pope  on  this  occasion. 

The  state  of  religion  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  such  as 
the  influences  on  it  of  the  relations  between  Church  and  State, 
from  the  age  of  Constantine  to  the  pontificate  of  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  might  have  been  expected  to  produce. 

*  "  L'ambitione  e  Tayaritia  d'alcuni  Cardinali  si  lasciarono  subornare . . . 
Questo  scelerato  e  mercenaria  opera. . .  .11  primo  di  loro,fu  Ascanio  Sforza 
subomata  senza  algun  dubbio  da  un  grosso  •^remio." -^Panvinio,  in  Vite 
Alex. 

K  2 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


These  subjects  will  be  found  entered  into  at  some  length 
elsewhere.  It  is  only  essential  to  the  main  subject  of  my  work 
that  the  fact  should  be  distinctly  stated  at  the  very  threshold  of 
this  account  of  the  life  and  labours  of  one,  whose  continual  cry 
was  against  the  scandals  and  abuses  that  prevailed  in  his  time  in 
the  Court  of  Rome,  and  the  government  of  religion,  that  the 
Church  of  God  was  not  what  it  had  been  in  primitive  times  ;  that 
wealth,  and  power,  and  worldly  grandeur,  and  the  cares  of  terri- 
torial possessions  and  of  civil  government,  had  brought  great 
calamities  upon  it ;  that  luxury  and  rapacity  prevailed  at  that 
period,  and  long  anterior  to  it  had  prevailed  in  the  Court  of 
Rome  and  its  sacred  colleges,  and  that  spirituality  was  banished 
from  its  Councils  and  its  Churches.  The  dignitaries  of  the  Church 
had  long  ceased  to  live  after  the  manner  of  the  prelates  and 
pastors  of  apostolic  times.  The  negligence  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  secular  spirit  that  had  crept  into  religion,  had  made  practical 
infidels  of  professing  Christians. 

The  connexion  with  the  State  had  poisoned  the  pure  atmo- 
sphere of  truth.  Everything  in  ecclesiastical  government  was 
contaminated  by  it.  The  few  exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  I 
fear  it  must  be  admitted,  do  not  materially  affect  these  observa- 
tions. Savonarola  most  assuredly  was  not  mistaken  when  he 
affirmed  that  ecclesiastical  government  greatly  needed  a  reform, 
and  that  many  of  the  religious  orders  required  to  be  brought 
back  to  the  intentions  of  their  founders — to  a  new  sense  of  the 
piety,  self-denial,  humility,  and  poverty,  which  early  charac- 
terized them,  and  to  make  the  Church  of  God  what  it  was  in 
the  ages  of  faith,  and  freedom  from  the  cares  of  territorial 
wealth  and  government. 

"  Who  shall  grant  me,"  cried  St.  Bernard,  "  to  see  the  Church 
of  God  such  as  she  was  in  primitive  times  ?" 

Bernard  saw  not  that  glorious  restoration  of  religion,  and 
return  to  the  ancient  piety  and  poverty  of  the  faithful. 

Savonarola,  too,  pined  for  the  same  blessed  consummation, 
and  he_,  too,  died  without  beholding  it. 

But  St.  Bernard  could  address  language  of  reprehension  to 


OF   SAVONAROLA.  53 

the  supreme  heads  of  the  Church  of  his  times  with  impunity, 
which  at  a  later  period  would  have  brought  anathemas  on  the 
heads  of  those  daring  to  make  use  of  it.  After  the  council  of 
Pisa  had  put  an  end  to  the  schism  and  the  conflicting  claims  of 
the  two  candidates  for  the  Pontifical  throne,  Bernard  learned 
that  the  Pope  Innocent  the  Second  had  not  fulfilled  a  promise 
he  had  made  him,  to  restore  the  Cardinal  Pietro  of  Pisa  to  his 
former  dignities,  from  which  he  had  been  removed  on  account 
of  his  adherence  to  the  other  candidate  for  the  chair  of  Peter  ; 
he  accordingly  wrote  to  the  Pontiff,  "  Who  shall  execute  judg- 
ment on  yourself  ?  If  there  were  any  judges  before  whom  I 
could  cite  you,  I  would  not  fail  to  shew  you  what  treatment  you 
have  deserved  at  my  hands.  I  know  that  there  is  the  tribunal 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  God  forbid  that  I  should  accuse  you  before 
that  tribunal,  where,  on  the  contrary,  I  would  it  were  in  my 
power  to  defend  you.  It  is  for  this  cause  that  I  apply  to  him, 
who  has  received  commission  to  render  justice  to  all  men.  I 
appeal  from  you  to  yourself."* 

Jacopone,  a  writer  of  celebrity  of  spiritual  poetry,  and  an 
eminently  holy  man,  a  member  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  about 
12T8,  made  the  calamities  of  the  Church  the  subject  of  a  dolo- 
rous canticle,  beginning  with  the  words  : — 

"  Piange  la  chiesa  :  piange  e  dolora."t 

And  others  before  them  prayed,  and  preached,  and  laboured  to 
bring  back  ecclesiastical  affau's  to  their  old  condition.  The  char- 
ter of  King  Edgar  "  to  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Mother  of 
God,  at  Glastonbury,"  recites  :  "  Though  the  decrees  of  Pontiffs 
are  fixed  like  the  foundations  of  the  mountains,  yet,  nevertheless, 
through  the  storms  and  tempests  of  secular  affairs,  and  the  cor- 
ruption of  reprobate  men,  the  institutions  of  the  Church  of 
God  are  often  corrupted  and  broken." 

In  the  eighteenth  session  of  the  Council  of  Constance  (18th 
August,.  1415),  a  Carmelite  friar,  professor  of  theology,  in 
Montpellier,  named  Bertrand  Vacher,  pronounced  a  discourse, 

*  Neander's  Life  of  St.  Bernard,  p.  113. 
t  Tiraboschi,  torn.  v.  parte  ii.  lib.  iii, 


54 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


urging  on  the  Council  the  imperative  necessity  of  a  prompt  and 
efficacious  reform  of  abuses  in  the  Church,  and,  above  all,  "  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  insatiable  avarice,  indomitable  ambition,  gross 
ignorance,  scandalous  indolence,  and  execrable  worldliness  of 
ecclesiastics."* 

"  From  the  period  of  the  Council  of  Vienna,"  says  Bossuet, 
**  a  great  prelate  charged  by  the  Pope  with  the  preparation  of 
the  matters  which  ought  to  be  treated  of  there,  laid  it  down  as  the 
basis  of  the  work  of  that  holy  assembly,  that  it  was  essential  to 
reform  the  Church  in  its  chief  and  in  its  me7nbers.^\  . .  .At  the 
Council  of  Basle,  we  are  told,  the  Cardinal  Julien  represented  to 
Pope  Eugenius  the  Fourth  the  disorders  of  the  clergy,  espe- 
cially those  of  Germany,  as  matters  for  the  gravest  considera- 
tion. "  Those  disorders,"  gaid  he,  excite  the  hatred  of  the 
people  against  the  whole  ecclesiastical  order ;  and  if  they  are 
not  corrected,  care  is  to  be  taken  that  the  laity  do  not  fall  on  the 
clergy  in  the  manner  of  the  Hussites,  as  they  loudly  menace 
us."  He  predicted,  that  if  the  clergy  of  Germany  were  not 
promptly  reformed,  that  when  the  Bohemian  heresy  should  have 
been  smothered,  another  would  arise  still  more  dangerous  ;  for 
the  clergy,"  said  he,  "  it  will  be  affirmed,  are  incorrigible,  and 
have  no  wish  that  a  remedy  should  be  applied  to  their  disorders, 

&c  The  little  of  respect  left  for  the  sacred  office  of  the 

priesthood  will  end  in  being  lost.  The  whole  blame  of  those 
disorders  will  be  cast  on  the  Court  of  Rome,  which  will  be 
regarded  as  the  cause  of  all  existing  evils  I  see,"  con- 
tinued he,  "  that  the  axe  is  laid  to  the  root ;  the  tree  bends,  and, 
instead  of  supporting  it  whilst  it  could  be  done,  we  help  to  cast 

it  down  God  has  taken  away  the  perception  of  our 

perils,  as  He  is  accustomed  to  do  with  those  whom  He  intends 
to  punish.  The  flames  are  kindled  before  us,  and  we  run  on 
till  we  rush  into  the  midst  of  them."t 

"  It  is  thus,"  says  Bossuet,^  "  in  the  fifteenth  age,  the  greatest 
man  of  his  age  deplored  the  evils,  and  foresaw  the  sad  conse- 

*  L'Enfant,  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Const,  tome  i.  liv.  iv.  p.  452. 

t  Histoire  des  Variations,  vol.  i.  liv.  1,  p.  2.  X  Ibid.  p.  4. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


55 


quences  of  them,  and  seemed  to  predict  those  which  Luther  was 
about  to  bring  on  the  Christian  world,  commencing  with  Ger- 
many ;  and  he  was  not  deceived  when  he  imagined,  that  reform 
being  contemned,  and  the  hatred  against  the  clergy  redoubled, 
an  enemy  was  about  to  be  produced,  more  formidable  to  the 
Church  than  the  Bohemian  one." 

Savonarola  saw  with  that  quickly  penetrating  and  discerning 
power  of  vision  which  belongs  to  genius  of  the  highest  order, 
if  not  with  organs  of  intellectual  vision,  endowed  with  more 
than  natural  gifts  and  inspirations, — that  terrible  calamities  were 
impending  over  the  Church,  that  the  acquisition  of  territorial 
wealth  and  influence,  and  of  inordinate  affluence  arising  from 
the  possessions  of  the  Church,  in  real  and  personal  estate,  could 
not  fail  to  excite  cupidity  in  the  breasts  of  secular  princes. 

He  foresaw  the  result  of  this  great  crime  against  one  of  the 
first  principles  of  Christian  doctrine  :  that  attempts  would  be 
made  to  discredit  the  clergy,  to  lessen  theu'  influence,  to  hurt 
their  authority,  to  defame,  and  then  to  plunder  them ;  that  the 
clergy  in  return,  to  defeat  those  attempts  of  brutal  and  rapacious 
men,  would  fall  into  the  commission  of  acts  unworthy  of  the 
clerical  character ;  sometimes  of  violence,  other  times  of  chica- 
nery and  intrigue,  and  of  choler,  too,  going  to  the  extent  of  a 
terrible  misapplication  of  the  uses  of  spiritual  power. 

It  was  with  a  profound  conviction  of  those  evils  impending 
over  the  Church,  and  with  a  most  earnest  desire  and  heart-felt 
anxiety  to  stay  them,  and  to  ward  off",  if  it  were  possible,  the 
anger  and  retribution  of  heaven,  that  he  exclaimed,  in  the  lan- 
guage that  of  old  belonged  to  those  inspired  by  heaven  : — 

"  Pray  God  that  it  may  be  permitted  to  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  unbelievers.  But  we  commend  our  bark  to  God, 
that  he  may  come  to  its  aid  if  it  should  strike  on  rocks." — Lent 
Ser.  of  Sav.  in  Flor.  1495. 


66 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  CAREER  OF  SAVONAROLA,  FROM  HIS  CHILDHOOD  TO  HIS 
ENTRANCE  INTO  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  1475,  IN  HIS  TWENTY- 
THIRD     YEAR.  SCHOLASTIC     THEOLOGY     IN    THE     TIME  OF 

SAVONAROLA,  AND  ANTECEDENT  TO  IT. 

"  I  entered  the  cloister  to  learn  how  to  suffer ;  and  when  sufferings 
visited  me,  I  made  a  study  of  them,  and  they  taught  me  to  love  always, 
and  to  forgive  always." — Sermon  of  Savonarola. 

The  ancient  and  honourable  family  of  Girolamo  Savonarola  was 
originally  of  Padua.  The  first  of  them  who  came  to  settle  in 
Ferrara  was  Michele,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  his- 
tory, a  distinguished  professor  of  the  physical  sciences,  and  a  phy- 
sician of  great  eminence,  distinguished  for  his  medical  writings. 

He  was  invited  to  the  Court  of  Ferrara  by  Nicolo  D'Este, 
Marquis  of  that  territory,  and  accepting  the  invitation,  repaired 
to  Ferrara,  and  established  himself  there  with  his  family.  This 
must  have  been  prior  to  1440 ;  for  the  Marquis  Nicolo  ceased  to 
govern  Ferrara,  if  not  to  exist,  in  that  year.* 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  Girolamo,  Michele  Savonarola, 
who  was  born  in  1384,  had  the  distinction  conferred  on  him,  at 
an  early  period  of  his  career,  of  the  Cross  of  the  Order  of  the 
Knights  of  Rhodes.  He  wrote  several  treatises  on  medical 
subjects,  of  which  Castellan  treats  in  his  VitcB  Illustrorum  Medi- 
corum,  Vander  Linden  in  his  learned  work,  de  Scriptorihus 
AJedicis,  and  Tiraboschi  extensively  in  his  Storia  della  Letteratura 
Italia?ia.f  Nicolo  Savonarola,  the  son  of  Michele,  married 
Anna  Helena  Buonacorsi,  a  lady  of  Mantua,  of  a  noble  family, 

*  Sansovine,  Case  Illustri  D'ltalia,  p.  359. 

fThe  principal  works  of  Michele  Savonarola  are  the  following: — 1-  Com- 
pendium  Medicinae  ;   2.   Opusculum   Physionomia? ;   3.  De  Balneis  et 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


57 


of  whose  connexion  with  important  events  in  Italian  his- 
tory, we  have  many  notices  in  Guicciardini's  and  Muratori's 
works. 

Of  seven  children  by  this  marriage,  five  were  boys,  and  two 
girls.  The  eldest  son,  named  Ognibene,  served  with  some  dis- 
tinction in  the  army.  The  second  son  was  named  Bartholomeo. 
The  thii'd,  Girolamo,  the  subject  of  this  biography,  was  born  in 
Ferrara,  the  21st  of  September,  1452,  and  was  remarkable,  even 
in  his  childhood,  for  gravity,  composure,  and  devotion.  The 
fourth,  named  Marco  Aurelio,*  entered  the  chui'ch,  became  a 
secular  priest,  and,  ultimately,  a  Dominican  Friar,  having  re- 
ceived the  habit  from  his  brother  Gii'olamo.  The  fifth  son  was 
named  Alberto — he  studied  medicine,  and  became  distinguished 
for  scholarship,  benevolence,  and  amiability  of  disposition.  The 
eldest  daughter  was  named  Beatrice,  who  died  unmarried ;  the 
other,  Clara,  married,  and  on  the  death  of  her  husband,  went  to 
reside  with  her  brother  Albert.  Of  the  mother  of  these  children 
scarcely  anything  is  to  be  found  respecting  her  character,  intel- 
lectual qualities,  or  career,  recorded  in  cotemporaneous  his- 
tories. In  two  very  long  letters  addressed  to  her  by  her  son 
Girolamo,  after  he  had  entered  religious  life,  we  have  all  the 
information  relating  to  her  that  is  known  to  exist ;  and  all  that  is 
valuable  in  those  communications  which  have  been  recently 
brought  to  light  by  Padre  Marchese,  will  be  found  in  a  succeed- 
ing chapter. 

The  education  of  the  young  Girolamo  had  been  taken  charge 
of  by  his  grandfather,  Michele ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
from  the  notices  of  his  writings  that  are  to  be  found  in  Tiraboschi, 

Thermis  ;  4.  Practica  de  ^^ritudine  ;  5.  De  Arte  Conficendi  Aquae  Vitae  ; 
6.  Introductio  in  Medicinam  Practicam  ;  7.  Libra  de  Katurae  ;  8.  De  Mag- 
nificis  Ornamentis  Eegiae  Civitatis  Paduac  ;  9.  Disputatio  tra  la  Gotta  e 
Medicina  Dedicate  Alio  Illustre  Principe  Marchese  Nicolo  da  Este.  An 
edition  of  this  work,  printed  in  Pavia,  4to.,  1509,  is  in  the  author's  posses- 
sion. The  subject  of  it  is  treated  with  great  ability,  manifesting  very 
extensive  knowledge  and  experience,  and  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  wit 
and  humour. 

*  Mirandola  mentions  liim  as  Maurelio,  or  Marcus. 


58 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


and  from  a  work  of  his  particularly,  treating  of  Padua,  that  he 
was  admirably  fitted  for  the  task  he  had  undertaken.* 

Death,  however,  unfortunately  deprived  the  young  Girolamo, 
at  an  early  age,  of  his  kind  and  able  instructor,  Michele,  who  died 
about  1462,  in  his  seventy-ninth  year,  when  Girolamo  was  only  ten 
years  of  age.  The  father  of  Girolamo  soon  after  caused  him  to 
attend  the  lectures  in  the  public  schools  of  science  and  letters 
in  Ferrara,  where  the  scholastic  theology  of  that  age  was  much 
in  vogue.  In  those  vague  subtleties,  in  attempts  to  master  which 
the  mind  of  youth  was  then  frittered  away,  Savonarola's  time  and 
talents  were  likewise  employed  for  some  tune,  till  at  length,  dis- 
gusted with  the  jargon  and  dialectics  of  Aristotle,  he  discarded 
that  pagan  philosopher,  and  betook  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
works  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  on  that  foundation  and  the 
Holy  Scriptures  he  chiefly  built  the  structure  of  his  religious 
faith. 

We  are  told  by  Burlamacchi,  that  "  during  the  life  of  his 
grandfather  he  made  good  progress  in  grammar  and  Latinity. 
Afterwards,  when  his  father  made  him  apply  to  the  study  of  the 
liberal  sciences,  he  shewed  the  finest  talents  and  most  acute  in- 
tellect ;  and  to  these  studies  he  applied  himself  day  and  night, 
with  such  assiduity,  that  in  a  short  time  he  became  famous  for 
his  acquirements,  far  surpassing  all  others  of  his  fellow-students. 
Nor  did  he  profit  less  in  the  study  of  good  manners,  and  of  holy 
morals.  While  yet  in  the  tender  years  of  childhood,  it  was  his 
delight  to  be  alone,  employmg  himself  in  making  little  altars,, 
and  performing  acts  of  devotion." 

Later  he  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  the  study  of  sacred 
theology,  devoting  to  it  nearly  all  Ins  time,  except  the  leisure 
which  he  reserved  for  the  composition  of  Tuscan  verse,  to  which 
he  was  passionately  addicted.  He  followed  in  philosophy  the 
peripatetic  system  of  Aristotle,"  observes  Burlamacchi,  "  but 

*  Tiraboschi  makes  mention  of  Michele  as  the  author  of  two  works  in 
praise  of  Padua — "  Laudi  Padouse" — written  by  him  in  1443,  and  for  the 
first  time  published  by  Muratori  in  his  great  work  Scrip.  Italic,  vol.  xxiv. 
pp.  1137,  et  seq.    Stor.  della  Let.  Ital.  tom.  v.  part  i.  p.  193. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


59 


principally  of  St.  Thomas,  from  wlwse  writings  he  said  *  he  had 
learned  nearly  all  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired,  deeming  that 
saint  the  most  excellent  philosopher  who  had  ever  appeared 
among  the  Latin  sages.'  In  studying  the  sentiments  of  other 
men,  he  did  not  adopt  the  peculiar  conceits  and  notions  of  the 
authors  whom  he  read,  but  formed  his  own  opinions,  and  always 
turned  his  regard  towards  truth  and  reason.  When  he  found 
some  author  whose  writings  did  not  satisfy  him,  he  could  not 
be  induced  to  continue  its  perusal,  but  freely  told  his  preceptors 
it  did  not  please  him."* 

Of  the  pleasure  he  once  took  in  the  philosophy  of  Plato,  he 
said  at  a  later  period  of  his  career,  in  one  of  his  discourses  in 
public — "  I  was  then  in  the  error  of  the  schools,  and  I  studied 
with  great  assiduity  the  Dialogues-  of  Plato,  but  when  God 
brought  me  to  see  the  true  light,  I  destroyed  and  cast  away 
from  me  those  futilities  which  they  had  inspired  me  with  the 
idea  of  writing.  A^Tiat  does  all  this  Tvasdom  of  philosophy  serve 
for,  if  a  poor  old  woman,  established  in  the  faith,  knows  more 
of  the  true  wisdom  than  Plato  ?" 

AVTien  the  young  Girolamo  commenced  his  studies  in  the 
public  schools  of  Ferrara,  the  divina  Caligo  of  dogmatic  theology 
was  at  its  height,  all  the  false  science  of  the  scholastic  philosophy 
and  metaphysics  reigned  in  the  university. 

For  many  years  his  time  and  talents  were  given  to  these  pur- 
suits with  evident  reluctance.  But,  fortunately  for  him,  the 
high  gifts  of  genius,  and  that  most  rare  accompaniment  of  it, 
strong,  sound,  justly-discriminating  common  sense,  preserved 
his  mind  from  being  injured  or  impaired  by  this  long  devotion 
of  its  powers  to  the  mere  external  appliances  to  knowledge. 
However  wearied  his  faculties  may  have  been  in  the  course  of 
those  protracted  studies,  by  the  fratras  et  jargon  d'Aristote," 
it  is  certain  his  reasoning  powers  were  sharpened  by  the 
habits  thus  acquired,  of  close  investigation  of  all  propositions 
he  had  to  deal  with  ;  and  while  other  students  turned  this  one 
advantage  of  their  pursuit  to  the  account  of  "  their  school  phi- 
*  Bur.  Yit.  da  Say.  torn.  i.  p.  531. 


60 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


losophy"  alone,  Savonarola  made  it  subservient  to  the  purposes 
of  all  true  spiritual  knowledge,  the  aim  and  end  of  which  was 
the  attainment  of  the  science  of  the  saints — an  acquaintance 
with  the  wisdom  of  Chi-ist,  and  the  mystery  of  the  cross. 

In  the  time  of  Savonarola,  the  ecclesiastical  theology  was  in 
full  vogue  in  all  the  Italian  schools,  colleges,  and  conventual 
establishments.  It  pervaded  all  literature  dedicated  to  religion, 
and  had  taken  possession  of  all  the  chairs  of  the  universities, 
and  all  the  pulpits  of  the  Italian  churches.  This  fact  requires 
to  be  borne  in  mind,  for  it  will  be  found  that  Savonarola's  nu- 
merous treatises  and  sermons,  though  they  manifest  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  it,  and  an  extensive  use  of  its  formulas  and 
technicalities,  exhibit  also  a  settled  purpose  to  substitute  for  it 
a  scriptural  theology,  and  to  introduce  into  his  discourses  and 
exhortations  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  the  science  of  the 
Saints,  instead  of  the  subtleties  of  Aristotle,  Abelard,  Scotus, 
and  Peter  Lombard. 

This  innovation  was  looked  on  by  Savonarola's  ecclesiastical 
contemporaries,  by  the  rationalists  of  the  schools,  and  the  so- 
phists of  the  academies,  with  alarm  and  distrust.  The  interests 
of  religion  were  thought  to  be  endangered  by  it.  There  was  a 
sort  of  veneration  for  Aristotle,  a  blind  unreasoning  acquies- 
cence in  the  prevailing  opinion  that  was  entertained,  of  the 
absolute  necessity  of  his  system  of  ethics,  for  the  explanation 
and  illustration  of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity.  This  sen- 
timent of  devotion  had  a  certain  degree  of  pagan  idolatry  in  it. 

Minutius  Felix,  after  examining  the  various  systems  of  the 
pagan  philosophy,  came  to  conclusions  not  very  favourable  to 
the  wild  speculations  of  learned  men,"  the  deliramenta  doc- 
trincB  of  the  several  religions  he  inquired  into. 

Had  he  examined  the  various  systems  of  scholastic  theology 
of  a  later  period,  perhaps  he  might  have  referred  to  his  former 
judgment,  on  the  other  deliramenta  doctrince  of  the  heathen  theo- 
logians, for  his  opinion  of  their  merits. 

"  In  my  opinion,  the  whole  of  their  systems  present  to  us 
nothing  but  the  gross  darkness  of  ignorance,  and  the  blackness 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


61 


of  deceit,  with  errors  wide  and  infinite  ;  mere  fancies,  and  crude 
conceptions,  and  ignorance  which  sets  all  comprehension  at 
defiance.  I  have  therefore  submitted  to  examine  them,  from  a 
desire  to  point  out  the  contradictions  which  prevail  in  their 
writings,  and  to  show  that  they  lead  into  discussions  incapable 
either  of  limit  or  of  definition;  and  further  to  convince  you, 
that  the  end  and  result  of  them  all  is  unsatisfactory  and  pro- 
ductive of  no  advantage  whatsoever  ;  without  any  support  from 
matter  of  fact,  or  from  the  evidence  of  reason." 

The  Greeks  and  the  Romans  had  their  scholastic  theolo- 
gians," and  very  contentious  and  bewildering  elucidators  of 
sound  doctrine  were  they. 

These  descendants  of  Thales  were,  by  all  accounts,  a  set  of 
vain  and  wordy  rhetoricians,  really  very  ignorant,  while  pretend- 
ing to  know  and  explain  everything.  But  to  form  adepts  con- 
summate in  the  wiles  and  chicane  of  sophistry  was  their  chief 
ambition."* 

"  When  Abelard  commenced  his  studies,"  says  the  author  of 
Les  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'Histoire  des  Egaremens  de 
L'Esprit  Humain,  "  philosophy  was  divided  into  three  parts, 
logic,  morals,  physic.  Of  these  three  parts,  logic  was  chiefly 
cultivated,  and  it  included  metaphysics.  Logic  was  only  the 
art  of  ranging  under  certain  classes  the  difiPerent  subjects  of 
human  knowledge,  of  giving  them  names,  and  of  forming  on 
these  names  reasonings  or  syllogisms." 

Abelard  extended  the  science  to  the  explanation  of  dogmas 
of  faith,  established  by  authority,  so  as  to  render  them  by  ex- 
planation intelligible  to  reason.  "  He  undertook  to  explain 
the  mysteries  and  truths  of  religion,  and  to  render  them  cogni- 
zable to  the  senses,  by  comparisons,  and  to  combat  the  objections 
raised  by  sophists,  who  attacked  religion,  by  the  authority  of 
philosophers,  and  by  the  principles  of  (profane)  philosbphy.f 

*  Rome  as  it  was  under  Paganism,  and  as  it  is  under  the  Popes,  vol.  i. 
p.  25. 

t  Les  Memoires,  &c.  12mo.  tome  i.  p.  273.    Paris,  1762.  - 


6^ 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Abelard,  who  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  died  in  1142^  discussed  theological  questions  on  the  Aris- 
totelean  system  of  ethics,  and  was  the  first  writer  who  gave 
notoriety  to  this  mode  of  dealing  with  sacred  subjects.  His 
eflforts  at  establishing  a  scholastic  divinity  were  improved  on 
by  his  disciple  Peter  Lombard,  "  The  Master  of  the  Sentences," 
whose  celebrated  work,  "  The  Sentences,"  appeared  in  1172. 

Peter  Lombard  was  cast  into  the  shade  by  Albertus  Magnus, 
a  Dominican  monk  of  great  erudition,  who  has  left  behind  a 
vast  legacy  of  obsolete  learning  in  twenty-one  volumes ;  he 
flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thiiteenth  century,  and  died 
in  Cologne,  in  1280. 

It  has  been  said  of  him,  as  it  was  said  of  Cicero,  by  a  wTiter 
of  huge  tomes  of  his  time,  "  His  body  might  have  been  burnt 
to  ashes  with  his  books  alone." 

The  ponderous  tomes  of  Albertus  Magnus  consist  chiefly  of 
commentaries  on  Aristotle,  and  adaptations  of  his  metaphysics 
to  all  sorts  of  subjects  and  reasonings  on  their  presumed  con- 
nexion with  theology. 

Albertus  Magnus,  in  his  turn,  was  eclipsed  by  his  illustrious 
disciple  Thomas  Aquinas,  a  man  of  gigantic  intellect,  and  most 
wonderful  attainments,  a  member  of  his  order,  "  The  Angel  of 
the  Schools,"  "  The  Angelical  Doctor,"  "  The  Eagle  of  The- 
ology," who  flourished  likewise  in  the  latter  part  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  died  before  his  master  in  1274,  leaving 
seventeen  volumes  in  folio  of  scholastic  divinit}",  but  of  matter 
and  doctrine  widely  diflferent  from  the  re-produced  etliics  of 
Aristotle,  and  rhetorical  subtleties  of  that  kind,  which  had 
been  transferred  to  the  pages  of  all  his  metaphysical  prede- 
cessors "  of  the  Schools." 

Thomas  Aquinas  accomplished  works,  the  labour  of  which 
might  have  been  deemed  more  than  sufficient  for  the  occupation 
of  three  or  four  lives  of  a  long  duration.  He  died,  however,  at 
the  early  age  of  forty- eight  years. 

Above  all  the  scholastic  theologians  of  his  time,  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  for  making  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


decisions  of  the  Church  the  touchstone  of  all  doctrines,  in 
contradistinction  to  those  who  applied  the  ethics  of  metaphy- 
sicians, primarily  or  solely,  to  the  elucidation  of  mysteries  of 
faith,  or  questions  in  theology.  He  founded  a  new  school  of 
scholastic  divinity,  and  he  brought  to  his  task  a  vast  genius, 
just  in  its  conceptions,  quick  to  perceive,  and  stable  in  its  con- 
victions ;  profound  and  lucid,  marvellously  acute  and  penetra- 
ting, and  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  piety,  which  predominated  in 
all  his  undertakings,  and  shed  an  influence  over  his  writings, 
that  were  looked  upon  in  his  time  as  the  results  of  superhuman 
knowledge.  He  disembarrassed  religious  enquiries  from-^the 
trivial  subtleties  of  mere  logicians,  and  established  a  solid  critical 
science  of  inquiry  into  matters  that  are  essential  to  religion. 

To  the  genius  of  John  Duns  Scotus,  an  Irish  Franciscan,  of 
vast  intellectual  powers  and  theological  acquirements,  the  subtle 
doctor  of  the  schools,  who  was  born  about  1273,  and  died  in 
Cologne  in  1308,  is  mainly  due  the  merit  (once  above  all  praise) 
of  reducing  the  ethics  of  Aristotle  into  a  disputative  science 
adapted  to  ecclesiastical  enquiries,  a  system  of  philosophy  held 
to  be  applicable  to  the  solution  of  all  theological  speculations 
and  settlement  of  controversial  subjects,  in  an  argumentative 
manner  strictly  rational.  Many  attempts  to  do  this  had  been 
made  by  others  before  John  Scotus,  but  not  with  the  success 
that  crowned  the  labours  of  the  latter,  in  the  opinion  of  Mos^ 
heim,  and  many  of  the  most  eminent  theological  writers. 

John  Duns  Scotus  exhausted  his  vital  powers,  even  at  an 
earlier  age  than  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas  ;  he  completed  his 
twelve  folio  volumes,  and  ended  all  his  labours,  before  he  had 
attained  his  thirty-fifth  year.  Scotus,  in  all  his  latter  works, 
seemed  to  write  as  if  he  thought  a  special  mission  had  been  as- 
signed to  him  d  rehahiliter  Aristotle  in  the  schools  of  theology, 
and  to  bring  the  new  system  of  theological  criticism,  established 
by  St.  Thomas,  into  disrepute.  Hence  arose  the  wordy  war  in 
the  schools  of  the  Thomists  and  the  Scotists,  and  the  battles  be- 
tween the  partisans  of  the  universal^  a  parte  rei  doctrine  main- 
!    tained  by  Scotus,  and  the  universale  a  part^  mentis  supported 


64 


thp:  life  and  martyrdom 


by  his  opponents,  in  which  such  a  vast  deal  of  ink  was  shed  to 
little  purpose. 

Of  such  disputations,  as  of  similar  speculations  of  old,  it 
might  be  said :  "  It  is  far  easier  to  comprehend  the  doctrine  of 
the  rising  and  setting  of  the  stars,  than  to  understand  these 
strange  contortions  and  eccentricities  of  speech." 

A  new  school  divinity  champion  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
made  his  appearance  on  this  stage  of  the  controversy,  in  the 
person  of  an  eminent  Dominican,  Bishop  Durand,  or  Durandus, 
in  the  see  of  Puy,  in  1318,  and  of  Meaux  in  1326.  This  cele- 
brated prelate  wrote  commentaries  on  "  The  four  books  of  the 
Sentences."  The  art  of  subtilizing  theological  speculations, 
and  demolishing  dialectics  of  former  schoolmen,  "  d'une  maniere 
extremement  tranchante,"  acquired  for  Durandus  great  celebrity 
in  his  time,  and  obtained  for  him  the  honours  of  a  martyrdom 
of  censures  and  controversies  for  a  large  portion  of  his  life,  with 
opponents  of  his  opinions,  or  rather  misinterpreters  of  his  terms 
concerning  the  important  subject  of  the  "  Concoiirs  immediat/^ 
and  the     Creation  continueL^^ 

"  Le  Docteur  tres  Resolutif,"  though  a  man  of  great  wit  and 
genius,  who  is  said  to  have  mystified  "  The  Sum  "  of  St.  Thomas 
very  considerably,  who  combated  his  opinions,  and  involved  the 
subtleties  of  John  Duns  Scotus  in  more  inextricable  perplexities 
than  they  were  in  before,  and  who  encumbered  "  The  four  books 
of  the  Sentences  "  with  a  vast  amount  of  explanatory  matter 
and  additions,  from  other  writings  on  the  same  subject,  that 
mystified  the  old  scholastic  theology,  by  an  eclectic  admixture 
of  metaphysics,  —  left  scholastic  theologv  in  a  worse  condition 
than  he  found  it,  when  he  died,  in  1333. 

The  great  misfortune  of  the  all-absorbing  taste  for  scholastic 
theology,  w^as  the  want  of  inclination  and  of  leisure  which  it  oc- 
casioned for  the  pursuit  of  more  ennobling  as  well  as  useful 
studies.  Quibus  occupatus  et  obsessus  animus  quantulum  loci 
bonis  artibus  relinquit."    (Dial,  de  Oratoribus,  sec.  29.) 

In  the  many  wars  waged  with  an  excessive  zeal,  sometimes 
bordering  on  ferocious  ardour  and  internecine  fury,  by  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


65 


champions  of  the  several  controverted  opinions  in  scholastic 
theology,  none  were  carried  on  with  greater  bitterness,  and 
sometimes  savagery,  than  the  disputes  between  the  Nominalists 
and  the  Realists.  Their  principal  differences  seem  to  have  been 
occasioned  by  their  disagreements  respecting  the  existence  or 
non-existence  of  abstract  or  universal  ideas. 

Gerson,  in  his  day,  represented,  by  the  universal  consent  of 
Catholic  Doctors,  the  opinions  of  the  Nominalists.  Huss,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  to  contend  for  his  life  too,  with  the  odium 
that  was  cast  on  him  by  Gerson,  at  the  Council  of  Constance, 
on  account  of  the  notoriety  of  the  Realist  principles  he  advocated 
when  he  was  in  France. 

In  conclusion,  on  this  subject  of  scholastic  divinity,  it  may  be 
observed,  that  with  all  its  unprofitable  wars  of  words  and  sham 
fights  of  opinion,  rhetorical  niaseries,  formulas,  and  sophisms  in 
all  the  solemn  garbs  of  dialectics,  it  exercised  the  reasoning 
powers,  gave  acumen  and  precision  to  modes  of  thought  and 
style  of  composition.  And  thus  scholastic  divinity  eventually 
rendered  the  same  service  to  theology  that  alchemy  did  to  che- 
mistry and  metallurgy. 

In  the  condition  which  Durandus  left  scholastic  theology,  in 
1333,  Savonarola  found  it,  when  he  entered  the  Dominican 
order,  and  took  the  habit  in  the  year  1476. 

The  mind  of  the  young  friar  of  Ferrara  was  not  of  a  nature 
to  receive  such  teaching  as  was  to  be  derived  from  the  jiages  of 
these  scholastic  theologians.  The  very  names  of  Aristotle, 
Abelard,  Scotus,  and  Durandus,  eventually  became  odious  to  him. 

His  spirit  pined  after  truth,  the  truth  revealed  in  the  Holy 
Scriptui'es,  taught  by  the  Church  of  Christ,  inculcated  in  the 
.works  of  the  fathers,  discernible  in  the  simplicity  of  Christian 
life,  the  triumph  of  the  Cross,  the  mystery  of  mysteries,  the  re 
demption  of  mankind. 

His  mind  was  occupied  with  the  sacred  duty  of  preserving 
the  precious  deposit  of  the  faith,  the  spouse  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  Truth,  the  Church  of  Christ,  to  which  the  care  of  that  de- 
posit had  been  committed,  uncontaminated,  uncorrupted,  and 

VOL.  I.  F 


66 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


spotless  as  the  mother  of  his  Lord.  These  were  the  great  sub- 
jects of  meditation  on  which  all  the  faculties  of  Savonarola  were 
fixed.  He  had  no  taste  for  any  studies  or  pursuits,  save  those 
which  were  calculated  to  refine,  to  improve,  to  elevate  the  in- 
tellectual character  and  social  position  of  his  fellow-men.  He 
thought  that  the  works  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  more  than  all 
other  philosophical  productions,  were  calculated  to  produce 
such  efiects.  A  very  slight  acquaintance  with  the  works  of 
Savonarola  is  sufficient  to  shew  what  a  profound  study  he  had 
made  of  the  works,  and  especially  of  "The  Sum"  of  St.  Thomas. 
The  best  evidence  of  the  excellent  and  extensive  use  he  made 
of  those  works,  vriW  be  found  in  his  principal  treatises,  "  Tri- 
umphus  Crucis,"  and  "  De  Simplicitate  Vitae  Christians,"  and 
especially  in  his  discourse,  "  Cii'ca  il  Reggimento  e  Governo  degli 
Stati  e  Specialmente  sopra  el  governo  della  citta  di  Firenze,"  a 
production  which  embodies  the  principles  and  opinions  of  St. 
Thomas's  most  remarkable  treatise  on  government,  "De  Regimine 
Principis.''^ 

All  historians  who  treat  of  Savonarola  are  agreed  on  one 
point,  that  his  youth  was  full  of  promise,  and  of  evidence  of 
great  vii'tues,  as  well  as  extraordinary  intellectual  endowments. 
And  all  those  who  make  themselves  acquainted  Tvdth  his  history 
and  his  writings,  become  convinced  that  he  possessed  a  singular 
combination  of  qualities,  fitted  to  constitute  an  eminently  great 
and  heroic  man,  destined  to  influence  the  most  important  events 
of  his  time ;  and  as  the  master-spirit  of  his  age,  to  make  not 
only  a  powerful  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  fellow-men,  of 
his  own  age  and  country,  but  to  leave  a  lastmg  impression  on 
the  minds  of  men  of  succeeding  ages,  throughout  the  civilized 
world. 

He  possessed  all  the  qualities  which  one  might  expect  at  the 
hands  of  nature,  for  a  man  to  whbm  a  great  mission  had  been 
given  by  Divine  Pro\ddence.  His  physical  conformation  was 
adapted  to  the  office,  and  fitted  for  the  labours  of  a  Reformer. 

Though  of  a  sanguineous  temperament,  and  his  nervous  sys- 
tem most  delicately  organized,  rendering  him  remarkably  sus- 
ceptible of  external  impressions,  and  sensitive  even  to  atmo- 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


67 


spherical  influences,  he  possessed  bodily  strength  and  robustness, 
that  made  him  capable  of  enduring  great  fatigues,  of  going 
through  extraordinary  labours.  He  possessed,  moreover,  a 
penetrating  spirit,  an  ardent  love  of  truth  and  justice,  natural 
feelings  that  were  affectionate,  kind,  and  pitiful.  He  had  strong 
sympathies  with  poverty  and  suffering,  and  equally  strong  an- 
tipathies for  pride,  oppression,  and  meanness  of  every  kind. 

The  simplicity  of  his  nature  was  strongly  contrasted  with  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  zeal,  the  heroism  of  his  character,  the  vivacity 
of  his  genius,  and  the  inflexible  adherence  to  the  principles  of 
true  Christian  morality,  when  he  had  to  deal  with  sophistry, 
error,  injustice,  or  impiety. 

The  peculiar  character  of  Savonarola's  mind,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  mission,  are  very  manifest  in  two  poems  of  his  ; 
the  earliest  of  those  sacred  lyrics  of  the  young  man  of  Ferrara, 
whose  love  of  study  and  of  solitude  was  already  beginning  to 
attract  the  attention  of  his  friends,  and  of  his  instructors  and 
fellow-students. 

The  earliest  of  the  poems  of  Savonarola,  the  Canzona  "  De 
Ruina  Mundi,"  was  composed  in  14T2,  in  his  twentieth  year. 
This  piece  is  a  lamentation  for  the  calamities  of  the  times,  the 
prevalence  of  luxury,  avarice,  and  impiety,  couched  in  poetry 
more  remarkable  for  its  vigorous  expression  than  the  exquisite 
harmony  which  distinguishes  that  of  Petrarch,  but  breathing  a 
spirit  of  lofty  enthusiasm,  and  love  of  virtue  and  of  religion, 
which  Petrarch  was  a  stranger  to.  If  it  were  not  for  his  belief 
in  Providence,  the  author  of  the  "  Canzona  de  Ruina  Mundi," 
tells  his  readers  in  the  first  stanza,  he  would  have  been  utterlv 
confounded  at  the  frightful  aspect  of  the  world,  turned  from 
God,  and  devoted  to  unworthy  pursuits ;  and  at  the  continual 
encounter  of  men  forgetful  of  God,  despisers  of  his  mercy,  or 
deniers  of  his  attributes.  Sceptres,  he  tells  us,  had  passed  into 
the  hands  of  pirates  ;  Religion  had  turned  her  face  earthwards, 
and  crawled  in  the  midst  of  worldly  lures  and  grovelling  cares  : 
"  A  terra  va  San  Pietro 
Quivi  lussuria  ed  ogni  preda  abbonda 
Che  uon  so  come  '1  ciel  non  se  confonde." 

r  2 


68 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


The  earth  appears,  in  fact,  to  him  oppressed  with  every 
vice  ;  and  Rome,  the  chief  of  nations,  hangs  her  head,  as  if  she 
was  sensible  of  the  other  great  ruin  that  had  fallen  on  her. 
Every  one  around  her  seems  disposed  to  add  something  to  her 
sorrows.  It  seems  to  him  the  time  was  past  of  piety,  the 
time  was  past  of  purity  : 

"  Passata  e  il  tempo  pio  e  il  tempo  Casta." 

The  canzona  ends  with  some  very  remarkable  words,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Spirit  of  his  song. 

Audin  de  E-ians,  the  collector  and  publisher  of  the  Poems  of 
Savonarola,*  states  this  canzona  was  composed  by  Savonarola 
prior  to  his  entering  the  Dominican  order.  It  has  some  internal 
evidence  in  it  of  the  fervour  of  youth  and  classical  lore  of  a 
poetical  imagination,  influenced  by  the  prevailing  taste  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  for  allusions  in  the  same  poetical  pieces  to 
sacred  and  profane  personages.  But  de  Rians,  nevertheless, 
observes  of  this  poem:  "In  this  canzona,  as  in  the  other" — 
De  Ruina  Ecclesise — "  we  find  not  the  divine  refinement  of  some 
other  Italian  poets  ;  but,  reading  it,  one  feels  all  the  pure  love, 
full  of  energy  and  zeal  for  what  was  just  and  good,  that  burned 
in  the  soul  of  the  young  man  of  Ferrara." 

I  have  endeavoured  to  render  this  poem  into  English  verse  as 
faithfully  to  the  thoughts  of  its  author  as  it  was  in  my  power  to 
do,  and  so  far,  I  hope,  I  have  been  successful. 

Surely,  the  mind  of  the  young  man  of  twenty,  from  which 
proceeded  the  deep  thoughts  we  find  given  expression  to  in  this 
canzona,  was  of  no  common  order. 

He  by  whom  it  was  composed,  it  is  said,  at  that  period  of  his 
career,  was  more  familiar  with  the  philosophy  of  Plato  than  with 
any  other  ethics.  But  there  are  evidences  in  it,  as  de  Rians  has 
truly  observed,  of  a  spirit  of  pure  love,  and  a  great  zeal  for 
justice  and  goodness. 

*  Poesie  de  Jeronimo  Savonarola,  8vo.  Firenza,  1847. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


THE  CANZONA  "  DE  EUINA  MUJSTDI," 

COMPOSED  BY  SAVONABOLA  IJJ  1472,  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TWENTY. 

I. 

Hiiler  of  earth,  thy  Providence  I  know 

Is  infinite,  else  were  this  world  of  ours 
A  dreary  Chaos,  finding  as  we  do 

Disorder  all  around,  and  all  the  powers 
Of  virtue  and  of  morals  in  men's  cores 

Spent  and  exliausted,  and  no  shiniug  light 
Of  faith,  no  shame  of  vice,  but  folly  that  ignores 

Thy  law,  or  deems  thy  justice  sleeps — Thy  might 

Has  failed,  and  scoffs  at  all  that's  sacred  in  thy  sight. 

II. 

Wisdom  divine  perhaps  retards  the  doom 

Of  man  for  his  defection  ;  it  may  be 
That  retribution's  near — its  sword  will  come 

With  direst  terrors  soon  and  suddenly. 
Virtue  at  last  this  world  of  ours  will  flee — 

Here  home,  or  shrine,  or  altar  she  has  none ; 
The  sceptre's  swaj^ed  by  men  who  wait  for  prey  ; 

Justice,  religion,  goodness  are  unknown, 

One  only  wonders  how  mankind  are  not  undone. 

III. 

See  how  the  satyr  revels  in  delights, 
How  proud,  licentious,  vicious  in  the  extreme  : 

The  spirit  sickens  at  those  carnal  sights — 
Here  men  in  purple,  there  in  motley  seem, 

Blind  admiration's  idols,  and  its  theme. 

How  long,  O  Lord,  those  scenes  wilt  thou  endure 

Of  riot  on  the  part  of  those  who  deem 
Their  usurpation  sanctioned  and  secure, 
While  thy  true  servants  suffer  daily  more  and  more  P 

IV. 

Happy  he's  deemed  who  now  by  rapine  thrives, 

By  bloodshed  even  prospers  all  the  more  ; 
By  spoil  of  widows  and  of  orphans'  lives, 

And  by  the  ruin  of  the  helpless  poor. 


70 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


The  man  is  held  to  have  the  noblest  core 
By  force  or  fraud  most  booty  who  obtains, 

Contemns  the  gospel,  and  by  ev'ry  lure 

Seeks  from  a  world  that  smiles  on  Godless  gains, 
Its  worthless  honoui's,  and  that  aim  of  his  attains. 

v. 

The  earth  with  every  vice  is  so  oppressed, 

The  sum  cannot  be  told ;  Home  even  now, 
With  downward  look  and  anguish  in  her  breast, 

Sees  her  great  office  marred  by  friend  and  foe. 
How  this  new  ruin  fills  her  heart  with  woe. 

To  see  what  Marius,  Sylla,  left  undone, 
Accomplished  by  her  sons  and  daughters  too, 

Each  warring  with  her  peace  and  her  renown  : 

The  times  of  faith  indeed  and  chastity  are  gone  I 

VI. 

Now  downcast  worth  and  goodness  fold  their  wings. 
The  rabble  shout,  the  thoughtless  jest  and  smile  ; 

And  luxury  in  syren  accents  sings, 

And  grave  philosophy  doth  e'en  beguUe 

The  few  who  keep  in  the  right  road ;  meanwhile 
All  hope  would  sink  within  me  at  this  doom. 

To  see  the  triumphs  of  the  false  and  vde  : 

But  that  I  know  the  reign  of  Christ  will  come, 

With  joy  for  justice,  for  all  oppressions  grief  and  gloom. 

FINALE. 

Oh,  muse  of  mine  !  be  it  thy  destiny 

To  leave  the  purple  vesture  still  unsought, 
To  fly  the  palace  and  the  court,  and  be 

A  chary  keeper  of  thy  heart's  deep  thought  ; 
A  stranger  to  the  wisdom  that  is  fraught 

With  worldly  instincts  and  a  foe  to  men 
Of  worldly  minds,  of  sordid  views  :  let  nought. 

Oh  muse  of  mine,  thy  spotless  plumage  stain, 

Or  the  swift  pinion,  as  it  soars  on  high  restrain. 

The  most  poetical  composition  of  Savonarola  is  of  a  date 
three  years  later  than  the  preceding ;  and  the  evils  that  had 
fallen  on  the  Church,  are  the  subject  of  it.*    The  first  intimation 
*  This  piere  was  written  t'.venty  years  before  the  time  of  Alexander. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


71 


of  the  mission  on  which  the  young  man  of  Ferrara  was  about  to 
enter,  and  which,  with  all  its  perils  and  responsibilities,  seems 
to  be  clearly  and  distinctly  before  his  eyes,  is  given  in  this 
poem.  But  that  intimation  is  clothed  in  such  allegorical  lan- 
guage, and  with  such  apparently  purposed  obscurity  and  mys- 
ticism, for  motives  of  prudence  no  doubt  necessary  for  safety  in 
those  evil  times,  that  the  difficulty  of  translating  this  poem  so 
as  to  make  the  true  meaning  of  every  passage  intelligible  to  the 
English  reader,  is  far  greater  than  that  of  translating  the  other 
piece. 

If  critics  may  find  some  evidence  of  a  close  acquaintance 
wdth  the  works  of  Plato  in  the  canzona  "  De  Ruina  Mundi," 
they  will  certainly  find  much  more  e^ddence  of  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  a  predilection  in 
particular  for  the  Apocalj-pse  of  St.  Jolin,  in  the  next  poem 
of  his  in  the  order  of  time  and  of  composition,  "  De  Ruina 
Ecclesiae." 

This  piece  was  written  the  same  year  he  entered  into  reli- 
gious life ;  but  whether  immediately  before  or  after  that  date,  is 
unknown. 

THE  CA2sZ0:S'A  "DE  EUEN'A  ECCLESLE." 
COMPOSED  ABOUT  1475,  (.etate  auctoeis,  23.) 

Oh  thou  chaste  Virgin  !  thy  unworthy  son 

(Since  thy  eternal  spouse  approves  that  claim) 
In  sadness  oft  recalls  those  times  bj'e-gone, 

Of  glorious  perUs,  martyrdoms,  of  fame 
For  ignominious  death,  of  the  bright  flame 

Of  faith,    Alas  !  those  times  exist  no  more, 
Zeal  there  is  none  :  the  men  are  not  the  same  ; 

Heroic  Christian  men  they  were  of  yore. 
The  pristine  love  must  now  he  sought  in  Mary's  core. 

II. 

Alas  !  where  must  we  seek  the  precious  stones  P 

The  burning  lamps  of  faith,  the  sparkling  gems  ? 
The  tenderness  of  heart,  the  tears  and  groans  ? 

AVhere  the  white  stoles  and  the  sweet  hymns  ? 


THE  IJFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


The  zone  of  chastity,  the  evangelic  themes  ? 

The  Apostolic  twelve,  the  great  wings,  where 
The  eagle  and  the  Hon  ?  no  brightness  beams 

In  those  dark  symbols  are  around  thee  here. 

Thou  chaste  one,  tell  me  why  thy  griefs  are  so  severe  P 

III. 

The  ancient  holy  mother  I  addressed. 

Made  with  accustomed  sadness  my  demand, 

And  she  likewise  with  sorrows  long  oppressed, 
Tho'  poor,  most  pitiful,  now  pressed  my  hand, 

And  deigned  e'en  while  she  wept  thus  to  respond  : 
*'  When  I  see  Pride  on  holy  ground  intrude. 

And  worldly  schemes  by  sacred  persons  planned, 
My  wearied  spirit  sinks,  its  strength's  subdued. 
But  theirs  with  greater  courage  seems  to  be  imbued. 

IV. 

'*  Oh,  son  !  "  she  cried,  "  those  ruthless  deeds  behold, 

Things  are  revealed,  from  stones  might  call  forth  tears. 
No  plants  of  living  faith  or  truth  unfold 

Their  leaves  :  no  ancient  purity  appears. 
Oh,  piteous  sight !  enough  to  cause  the  spears 

And  swords  of  Pagan  Home  itself  to  rise 
And  make  the  work  of  retribution  theirs  ! 

The  milk  that  nourished  souls,  our  sons  despise  ; 

The  breast  that  teemed  with  love  now  bleeds  before  their 

V. 

'  Virtue  still  goes  in  rags,  with  pallid  cheeks. 

With  hair  dishevelled  and  with  garland  torn, 
The  virgin  honey  of  sweet  doctrine  seeks, 

But  for  all  food  to  heathen  lore  must  turn. 
The  scorpion's  sting  by  her  must  still  be  borne, 

The  serpent's  wile,  the  locust's  mischief  hence, 
Her  sacred  cause  and  mine  have  I  to  mourn  ; 

Her  solemn  feasts  and  shrines  made  a  pretence 
For  acts  that  only  giv^e  the  saints  of  God  offence  ! 

VI. 

'  Weep  for  the  wrongs  religion  has  endured, 
Ye  aged  men,  who  stand  around  the  throne, 
Apostles,  Saints,  Disciples  of  the  Lord, 
Angels  of  heaven,  Evangelists,  look  down, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


73 


Martyrs  weep  tear8  of  blood,  tkere  is  not  one 
Of  all  tlie  stars  and  planets  unrestrained 

In  their  swift  course,  exulting  in  each  zone, 
To  speak  as  mortals  feel — that  is  not  pained 
To  see  the  Temple  spoiled  and  the  white  marble  stained. 

VIII. 

"  Oh  say,  chaste  mother  !  "  I  exclaimed  once  more, 

"  Whose  soul  contents  itself  with  plaints  of  woe, 
What  strength  remains  of  all  thy  wasted  power  ? 

What  pride  is  this  that  dares  to  war  with  you  ? 
She  speaks  of  foul  corruption,  as  her  foe  ; 

And  I  of  force  and  ardour  to  restrain 
The  mighty  wings  of  pride  and  lay  them  low. 

But  words  like  these  with  her  are  worse  than  vain, 

For  she  needs  only  tears  and  prayers  from  mortal  men." 

FINALE. 

Spirit  of  song,  I  know  those  strains  of  mine. 

The  scorpion  sting  of  slander  must  endure  ; 
Or  it  may  be,  that  men  will  not  divine 

Their  meaning,  and  perhaps  'tis  even  more 
To  be  desired,  they  should  my  thoughts  ignore — 

For  my  own  peace  of  mind — nay,  better  too, 
Leave  the  dread  struggle  with  abuse  and  power. 

And  thus  for  quiet  sake  the  task  forego, 

That  seems  to  be  imposed  on  me,  for  weal  and  woe. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  give  the  true  sense,  but  have  no 
idea  of  having  done  justice  to  the  poetry  of  the  original. 

We  are  told  that  Girolamo  Savonarola  was  a  silent,  joyless 
child,  given  to  seclusion — that  he  shared  neither  in  the  amuse- 
ments nor  occupations  of  young  people  of  his  age  ;  that  he 
arrived  to  the  age  of  twenty,  without  ever  having  been  seen  in 
the  fashionable  resort  for  the  citizens  of  Ferrara,  the  public 
promenade. 

One  of  his  biographers,  however,  says  that  he  had  been 
strongly  attached  to  a  young  lady  of  Ferrara ;  but  how  or  when 
that  attachment  ceased,  no  information  is  given.* 

*  In  Fontanini's  Bibliotheca  dell  Eloquenza  Italiani  con  le  ^nnotazioni 
del  Sigaore  Apostolo  Zeno,  Ven.  4to.  1753,  reference  is  made  to  a  poem  of 


74 


thp:  life  and  martyrdom 


The  latest  of  his  biographers.  Monsieur  Carle,  j  ustly  observes, 
that  the  peculiar  qualities  of  the  young  Savonarola,  however 
calculated  they  were  to  fit  the  future  man  for  enterprizes  of  great 
pith  and  moment,  are  still  indicative  of  a  destiny  that  may  well 
make  the  parents  of  such  children  thoughtful  if  not  apprehensive 
in  regard  to  their  future  career. 

The  young  Girolamo  grew  up  to  manhood  in  a  world  of  his 
own  creation,  of  deep  thoughts  and  solemn  meditation  on  sub- 
jects of  grave  importance  to  the  eternal  interest  of  humanity. 
One  opinion  of  his  mind,  from  a  very  early  period  of  his  career,, 
from  his  first  entrance  into  college  life,  was  a  profound  con- 
viction of  the  vanity  of  all  earthly  honours  and  enjoyments. 

This  peculiar  turn  of  his  mind  was  noticed  but  mistaken  by 
some  of  those  around  him,  as  similar  peculiarities  in  young 
people  are  too  frequently  noticed  and  mistaken.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  be  melancholy,  misanthropical,  over  -  studious,  toa 
much  reserved,  too  little  disposed  to  demonstrate  his  feelings 
and  inward  emotions.  And  those  who  thought  thus  were  little 
able  to  appreciate  his  mental  qualities,  or  to  form  a  just  opinion 
of  the  height  and  depths  of  his  great  intellect. 

"  Woe  ! "  says  Carle,  "  in  all  its  accumulated  wretchedness, 
woe  to  those  in  the  constitution  of  whose  intellectual  qualities 
nature  seems  to  make  a  sport  of  her  ordinary  rules  !  Woe  1 
especially  to  those  Avho  have  never  knoAvn  the  joys  of  childhood,, 
and  in  coming  into  life  who  seem  to  bring  with  them  the  tem- 
perament of  matured  man  and  the  mind  of  advanced  age,  when 
the  energy  of  ripened  intellect,  and  the  seriousness  that  usually 
comes  with  the  cares  and  weight  of  years,  establish  their  seat  in 
the  breast  of  youth  !  Of  such  persons  we  may  prognosticate 
that  their  lives  will  pass  in  agitation,  fluctuations  (of  fortune)  of 
thought,  in  flights  of  ambition,  regrets,  passionate  desires,,  and 
the  isolation  of  mind  which  is  caused  by  sadness.  Christianity 

Savonarola  entitled  the  "  Cameo,"  of  a  lighter  strain  tlian  any  of  his  other 
pieces,  and  even  of  undue  levity  ;  but  there  is  no  notice  of  any  such  poem 
in  any  of  the  biographers  I  have  seen  of  Fra  Girolamo,  nor  in  any  of  the 
rest  of  his  writings  given  elsewhere. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


75 


alone  can  turn  away  the  miseries  of  such  a  wretched  state  of 
existence,  and  render  all  those  dispositions  useful  and  holy,  and 
beneficial  to  themselves  and  others."* 

For  the  same  reasons,  then,  for  which  Socrates  abstained  from 
frequenting  public  assemblies,  courts,  and  senates,  and  from 
motives  also  of  a  far  more  exalted  character,  Savonarola  deter- 
mined on  seeking  an  asylum  from  the  perils  by  which  he  felt 
that  not  only  his  oAvn  soul,  but  the  w^hole  social  fabric  was 
beset,  and  even  religion  itself  was  menaced,  in  those  disastrous 
times  in  which  his  youth  was  cast,  with  all  its  enthusiasm  and 
exaltation,  its  longing  aspirations  after  good,  and  abhorrence 
for  everything  sordid,  selfish,  and  profane. 

A  monastic  community  appeared  to  him  alone  to  afford  such 
an  asylum. 

He  earnestly  desired  to  be  permitted  to  spend  his  days  in  a 
convent ;  but  so  great  was  his  humility,  and  so  exalted  his  ideas 
of  the  perfection  which  was  required  for  the  priestly  character, 
that  he  deemed  himself  unworthy  of  sacred  orders,  and  enter- 
tained no  intention  of  taking  them,  w^hen  he  resolved  on  retiring 
from  the  world. 

The  choice  of  a  religious  order  was  determined  by  his  admi- 
miration  for  his  favourite  author,  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas.  Of 
his  early  feelings  of  reverence  for  "  The  Angel  of  the  Schools," 
we  may  form  some  idea  from  a  passage  in  one  of  his  sermons 
long  after  he  had  joined  his  order,  wherein  he  proclaimed  his 
obligation  to  St.  Thomas,  for  w^hatever  knowledge  or  science  he 
possessed,  in  those  terms  : — 

I  am  almost  nothing,  and  even  that  little  which  I  am,  I 
possess  because  I  have  kept  within  the  influence  of  his  doc- 
trine. He  was  truly  profound,  and  when  I  w^ant  to  become 
small  in  my  own  eyes,  I  read  his  works,  and  then  it  appears  to 
me  that  he  is  a  giant,  and  I  nothing." 

The  idea  which  had  be^  long  floating  in  his  mind,  of  relin- 
quishing the  world,  and  dedicating  himself  wholly  to  the  service 

*  Histoire  de  Hieroaymo  Savonarola,  par  Piget  Carle,  page  59,  8vo. 
Paris. 


76 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOxM 


of  religion,  was  at  length  confirmed,  and  converted  into  a  settled 
purpose,  by  a  sermon  of  a  monk  of  the  Augustinian  Ermitano 
order,  an  ascetic  of  some  celebrity  in  the  pulpit,  and  also  by  a 
sudden  impulse  which  had  been  communicated  to  his  mind  in  a 
dream,  which  some  of  his  biographers  speak  of  as  a  supernatural 
intimation  of  his  vocation  for  a  monastic  life. 

So  Savonarola  understood  it,  and,  like  Abraham,  he  imagined 
a  command  was  given  to  him — egredere  de  terra  tua  et  de 
Cognatione  tua  et  de  patris  tui  et  veni  in  terram  quam  mons- 
tr  aver  is  tibi."  * 

And  after  a  little,  like  Abraham,  "  profectus  inde  in  terram 
Australem  et  habitavit  inter  Cades  et  Assur and  if  we  adopt 
the  interpretation  of  this  passage  by  John  Scotus  Erigena,  hoc 
est  inter  sanctificationem  et  sequanimitatem ;  inter  quas  in  aeterna 
requie  omnis  sanctorum  felicitas  constituta  est."t 

On  the  23rd  of  April,  1475,  Savonarola,  then  in  his  twenty- 
third  year,  a  young  man  of  fair  prospects,  of  fine  talents,  and 
more  than  ordinary  proficiency  in  science  and  learning,  aban- 
doning the  world,  home,  parents,  friends,  and  all  eartlily  goods, 
quitted  his  father's  house  for  the  asylum  of  a  cell  in  a  convent  of 
Dominicans. 

He  was  accompanied  by  a  young  man,  a  native  of  Bologna, 
named  Ludovico,  a  member  of  the  Dominican  order,  the  only 
person  to  whom  the  secret  of  his  flight  had  been  communicated. 
His  intention  at  departure  was  to  enter  into  the  Dominican  con- 
vent at  Bologna  as  a  lay-brother,  and  as  such  to  take  up  his 
permanent  abode  there. 

He  told  John  Francis  Pico  de  Mirandola,  in  after-years,  that 
it  was  his  firm  intention  not  to  assume  the  clerical  habit  when 
he  entered  the  convent,  so  repugnant  to  him  was  the  prevailing 
taste  among  ecclesiastics  for  mere  human  knowledge,  and  the 
occupation  of  their  time  in  futile  disputations  and  distinctions  in 

*  Sav.  Sermon  xi.  Feria  4  dopo  Imo.  domenica  de  quaresima  Anno 
1497. 

t  De  Divisione  Natura,  p.  222.  4to.  Oxon.  1681. 


OF  SAVONA.ROLA. 


77 


terms,  definitions  of  attributes,  and  the  strife  of  contested 
opinions. 

The  Dominicans  gladly  received  the  young  Girolamo  as  a 
lay-brother  ;  but  the  qualities  of  his  mind,  and  the  spiritual  gifts 
of  the  young  man,  were  no  sooner  known  to  his  superiors,  than 
their  pleasure  was  intimated  that  he  should  receive  the  clerical 
habit,  and  the  duty  of  obedience  made  it  incumbent  on  him  to 
adopt  it. 

He  addressed  a  letter  of  consolation  to  his  father,  written  the 
25th  of  April,  14T5 — written  two  days  after  his  flight  from  Ferrara. 
Burlamacchi  states,  "  that  having  received  the  clerical  habit,  he 
wrote  immediately  to  his  parents,  much  afflicted  and  grieving 
for  his  departure,  a  consolatory  letter."  But  he  must  mean  that 
it  was  immediately  after  his  being  admitted  into  the  convent 
that  he  wrote.  Rians,  in  his  Sommario  della  Tita  di  Savonarola, 
in  his  records  of  the  year  1475,  says  :  "  After  a  year  of  noviciate 
Fra  Girolamo  received  the  Dominican  habit,  and  ajiplied  himself 
assiduously  to  the  study  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  and  especially  of 
the  sacred  Scripture,  which  he  learned  as  it  were  by  heart.'* 
The  letter  to  his  father  was  in  the  following  terms  : — 
"  I  doubt  not  but  that  you  are  greatly  grieved  at  my  departure, 
and  the  more  so  on  account  of  that  departure  being  kept  a  secret 
from  you  ;  but  I  wish  you  to  learn  my  mind  and  intention  from 
this  letter,  that  you  may  be  comforted,  and  understand  that  I 
have  not  acted  so  childishly  as  some  think.  And,  first,  I  beg  of 
you  as  of  one  who  justly  estimates  temporal  things,  that  you  will 
be  guided  by  truth,  rather  than  by  passion,  as  women  are,  and 
that  you  will  judge  according  to  the  dictates  of  reason  whether 
I  ought  to  fly  from  the  world,  and  execute  this  my  thought  and 
purpose.  The  reason  which  induces  me  to  dedicate  myself  to 
religion  is  this ;  in  the  flrst  place,  the  great  wretchedness  of  the 
world,  the  iniquity  of  men,  the  debauchery,  the  adultery,  the 
theft,  the  pride,  the  idolatry,  the  dreadful  profaneness  into  which 
this  age  has  fallen,  so  that  one  can  no  longer  find  a  righteous 
man.  For  this,  many  times  a-day  with  tears  I  have  recited  this 
verse : — '  Ah,  fly  those  cruel  regions — fly  those  shores  of  co- 


78 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


vetousness  ! '  And  this  because  I  could  not  endure  tlie  great 
wickedness  of  certain  parts  of  Italy ;  the  more  also,  seeing 
virtue  exhausted,  trodden  down,  and  vice  triumphant.  This 
was  the  greatest  suffering  I  could  have  in  this  world :  therefore, 
daily  I  entreated  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  would  raise 
me  from  the  mire.  Continually  I  made  my  prayer,  with  the 
greatest  devotion,  to  God,  saying,  '  Show  me  the  path  in  which 
I  should  walk,  for  to  Thee  do  I  lift  up  my  soul.' 

"  Now  God  has  been  pleased  in  his  infinite  mercy  to  show  it 
me,  and  I  have  received  it,  though  unworthy  of  such  grace. 
Answer  me  then,  is  it  not  a  great  good  for  a  man  to  fly  from  the 
iniquity  and  filth  of  this  wretched  world,  and  to  live  like  a 
rational  being,  and  not  like  a  mere  animal  among  swine  ?  In- 
deed, it  would  have  been  in  me  most  ungrateful,  if  having  asked 
God  to  show  me  the  straight  path  in  which  I  should  walk,  when 
He  deigned  to  shew  it  to  me,  I  had  not  taken  it  ?  Oh  !  J esus, 
rather  let  me  die  a  thousand  deaths,  than  that  I  should  be  so 
ungrateful  as  to  oppose  thy  will. 

"  Then,  my  dearest  Father,  you  have  rather  to  thank  our 
Jesus  than  to  weep ;  he  gave  you  a  son,  and  has  not  only  pre- 
served him  to  some  extent  from  evil  to  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years,  but  has  vouchsafed  to  choose  him  for  his  soldier.  And 
do  you  not  consider  it  a  great  mercy  to  have  a  son  made  so 
easily  a  soldier  of  Christ  ?  Either  you  love  me  or  you  do  not ; 
well,  I  know  you  will  not  say  you  do  not  love  me ;  if  then  you 
love  me,  as  I  have  two  parts,  my  soul  and  my  body,  do  you 
most  love  my  soul  or  my  body  ?  You  cannot  answer,  my  body, 
for  then  your  afiection  Avould  not  be  for  me,  but  for  the  vilest 
part  of  me ;  if  then  you  love  my  soul  best,  why  not  seek  the 
welfare  of  the  soul?  Thus,  you  should  rather  rejoice  and  exult 
in  this  triumph.  Nevertheless,  I  know  it  cannot  be,  but  that 
the  flesh  must  grieve,  still  it  should  be  restrained  by  reason, 
especially  by  wise  and  magnanimous  men  like  you.  Do  you 
not  think  it  is  a  great  aflliction  to  me  to  be  separated  from  you  ? 
Yes,  indeed,  believe  me,  never  since  I  was  born  had  I  greater 
sorrow  and  anguish  of  mind  than  in  abandoning  my  otvti  father, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


79 


and  going  among  strangers  to  sacrifice  my  body  to  J esus  Christ, 
and  to  give  up  my  own  will  into  the  hands  of  those  I  never 
knew.  But  afterwards  reflecting  on  what  God  is,  and  that  He 
does  not  disdain  to  make  of  us  poor  worms,  his  servants,  I  could 
not  have  been  so  daring,  as  not  to  yield  to  that  kind  voice, 
especially  to  my  Lord  Jesus,  who  says,  ^  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye 
that  are  Aveary  and  hea^y  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest ;  take 
my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  for  my  yoke  is  easy  and 
my  burden  is  light.'  Because  I  know  you  lament  that  I  left 
you  secretly  almost  as  a  fugitive,  let  me  tell  you  that  such  was 
my  distress  and  the  suffering  of  my  inmost  soul  at  havmg  to 
leave  you,  that  if  I  had  expressed  it,  I  verily  believe  before  I 
could  have  departed  from  you  my  heart  would  have  broken,  and 
I  should  have  changed  my  purpose  and  resolution  ;  therefore  do 
not  wonder  that  I  did  not  tell  you.  It  is  true,  I  left,  behind  the 
books  which  are  placed  against  the  window,  certain  writings 
which  give  you  an  account  of  my  proceedings — I  beg  you  then, 
my  dearest  father,  to  cease  to  weep,  give  me  not  more  sadness 
and  grief  than  I  have :  not  of  regret  for  what  I  have  done,  for 
indeed  I  would  not  revoke  that,  though  I  expected  to  become 
greater  than  Caesar  Augustus  ;  but  because  I  am  of  flesh,  as  you 
are,  and  sense  is  repugnant  to  reason,  and  I  must  maintain  a  cruel 
warfare,  that  the  devil  may  not  seize  hold  of  me,  particularly 
when  I  think  of  you.  Soon  will  these  days  pass,  in  which  the 
recent  calamity  will  appear  (as  it  now  does),  and  afterwards  I 
trust  both  you  and  I  shall  beconsoled  in  this  world  by  grace,  and 
in  the  next  by  glory.  Nothing  remains,  but  that  I  beseech  you 
that  as  a  man  of  a  strong  mind,  you  would  comfort  my  mother, 
whom  I  beg,  together  with  you,  that  you  will  bestow  your 
blessing  on  me,  and  I  will  ever  pray  fervently  for  your  souls. 

"  GiROLAMO  Savonarola, 
"  Your  Son."* 

Bologna,  April  25M,  1476. 

*  Burlamacclii,  in  Vit.  Sav,  ap.  Miscellanea  Baluzii,  torn.  i.  p.  532.— It 
will  be  observed  the  date  of  this  letter  is  1476,  but  Burlamacchi  followed 
the  old  style  of  computation,  and  not  observing  this,  several  writers  have 
fallen  into  chronological  errors. 


80 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  11. 

MONKS  AND  MONASTERIES. 

"  We  in  the  world's  wide  mouth 
Live  scandalized  and  foully  spoken  of." 

Shak.  Samlet. 

"  To  vouch  this  is  no  proof 
Without  more  certain  and  more  overt  test, 
Than  these  thin  habits  and  poor  likelihoods 
Of  modern  seeming  do  prefer  against  him." 

Othello. 

"  Saltem  daretur  in  sacris  Uteris  tranquille  consenescere." 

Eeasmi,  Epist. 

What  influence  is  it  that  invests  monastic  institutions  with  a 
sort  of  spirit-soothing  character  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
suffered  afflictions,  or  seem  to  have  anticipated  them ;  young 
people,  for  example,  in  the  prime  of  life,  prematurely  weaned 
fi'om  worldly  enjo5mients,  interests,  and  ambitions,  who  have 
pined  after  the  peaceful,  »calm,  and  spirit-subduing  silence  of 
conventual  seclusion. 

It  was  no  passing  caprice,  or  ill-considered  reason,  or  fanciful 
impulsive  mode  of  thinking,  of  acting  on  sudden  resolutions, 
adopted  in  times  of  trial  or  adversity,  that  led  the  young 
Girolamo  secretly,  and  with  privity,  from  his  father's  house  to 
the  Dominican  Convent  of  Bologna,  in  his  twenty-third  year.  It 
was  no  such  light  and  foolish  motive  that  actuated  the  mind,  and 
worked  upon  the  feelings  of  the  young  Luther,  when,  his  com- 
panion Alexis,  lying  dead  at  his  feet,  killed  by  lightning, 
he  hearkened,  in  the  midst  of  his  terrors  and  his  sorrows,  to  the 
interior  voice  which  appeared  to  him  to  be  speaking  to  his  soul, 
saying,  "  To  the  Convent — to  the  Convent!" 

*  Histoire  de  la  Vie  des  ecrits  et  des  Doctrines  de  M.  Luther,  par 
Mon.  Audin,  5  tome.  Par.  1845. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


81 


There  must  have  been  some  peculiar  attraction  in  that  in- 
stitute for  the  stricken  spirit,  when  the  young  man  Luther,  in 
his  twenty-second  year,  nearly  the  same  age  at  which  Savonarola 
abandoned  the  world,  at  the  moment  his  young  companion 
was  struck  dead  by  liis  side,  determined  to  embrace  a  monastic 
life ;  and,  like  Savonarola,  too,  without  -a  word  of  intimation 
to  any  of  his  friends  or  fellow-students,  on  the  following  day, 
with  his  little  package  of  clothes,  and  his  Plautus  and  his  Virgil 
under  his  arm,  entered  the  Convent  of  Augustinian  Friars,  at 
Erfurt. 

Luther  entered  the  Convent  of  the  Augustinians  with  his 
Plautus  and  his  Virgil.  Savonarola  entered  the  Dominican  Con- 
vent with  his  Prayer-book  and  his  Bible. 

Those  convents  and  their  cloisters  were  the  same  institutions 
which  the  -wise  and  wealthy  of  highly  civilized  and  enlightened 
nations,  of  the  nineteenth  century,  hold  in  such  contempt  and 
abhorrence,  —  let  us  bear  in  mind  how  the  master-spirits  of 
their  times,  Jerome  and  Augustine,  Benedict  and  Bernard, 
Dominic  and  Francis,  thought  of  them, — how  they  fled  from  the 
storms  and  tempests  of  the  world  to  the  cloisters  for  repose — 
who,  in  flying  to  them  for  an  asylum,  they  seemed  to  consider 
that  humanity  was  deejDly  indebted  to  them. 

But  let  us  briefly  inquire  into  the  origin  and  nature  of  those 
first  asylums  and  places  of  refuge  of  men  fearing  God,  trem- 
bling for  their  salvation,  touched  by  the  hand  of  sorrow  and  of 
suffering,  or  sick  of  the  vanities  and  miseries  of  a  wretched 
world. 

The  anchorets  from  the  beginning  regarded  the  retreat  of  our 
Lord  in  the  desert,  the  solitary  life  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and 
the  retirement  of  Elias,  as  examples  which  authorized  their 
solitude  and  austerities,  as  we  learn  from  St.  Basil,  St.  Jerome, 
Cassian,  and  others. 

Paul,  the  first  hermit,  one  of  the  shining  lights  of  that  mona- 
chism,  which  commenced  in  the  ruins  and  sepulchres  of  the 
Thebaid  of  Egypt,  and  the  caverns  and  mountain-caves  of  the 

VOL.  1.  G 


82 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


desert  peaces  of  Palestine,  with  the  early  persecutions  of  the 
Church,  found  a  biographer  worthy  of  his  sanctity,  austerity,  in- 
tensity of  love  for  Christ,  and  contempt  for  this  world,  in  a  man 
of  a  congenial  spirit,  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  desert  and  of 
the  Church,  the  great  St.  Jerome. 

The  narrative  of  the  hermit's  life  is  certainly  devoid  of  any 
of  that  kind  of  interest  which  is  inspired  by  accounts  of  im- 
provements in  machinery,  the  construction  of  railways,  or  the 
fluctuations  in  the  price  of  the  raw  material  of  woollen  or  silken 
textures. 

But  there  is  a  kind  of  interest,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  the  closing 
passage  of  that  biography,  of  an  anchoret  of  the  wilderness, 
which  will  find  some  response  in  the  hearts  even  of  worldly- 
minded  men,  who  are  wont  to  hear  monks  and  monachism 
treated  with  the  most  profound  contempt. 

"  Perhaps,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "  at  the  close  of  this  little  book, 
some  who  are  ignorant  of  his  inheritance — who  adorn  their 
houses  with  marble,  and  cover  their  estates  with  elegant  villas — 
may  ask,  '  Why  were  all  these  wanting  to  this  poor  aged  man  ?' 
You  drink  out  of  a  cup  of  gems ;  he  was  content  with  one 
which  nature  supplied,  the  hollow  of  his  own  hands.  You 
clothe  yourself  in  embroidered  tunics  ;  he  was  clothed  in  a  garb 
such  as  your  slaves  would  not  wear.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  this  poor  man  paradise  was  opened ;  for  you,  rich  men,  per- 
dition is  prepared.  He,  though  naked,  was  clothed  in  the  robe 
of  Christ ;  you,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  lack  that  better  raiment. 
Paul,  covered  with  a  little  dust,  is  about  to  rise  to  glory ;  you, 
slumbering  under  marble  sepulchres,  shall  be  consumed  with 
all  your  possessions.  Spare  yourselves,  I  beseech  you,  spare 
the  wealth  you  love.  Why  should  you  wrap  your  dead  in 
gilded  robes  ?  Why  should  your  vain  pride  linger  among  your 
mourning  and  your  tears?  Will  not  the  bodies  of  the  rich 
decay  unless  they  be  folded  in  silk  ?  I  intreat  you  who  read 
these  things,  that  you  would  be  mindful  of  Jerome  a  sinner, 
who,  if  the  Lord  would  give  him  the  choice,  would  much  rather 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


83 


have  Paul's  humble  clothing  with  his  merits,  than  the  purple 
robe  of  kings  with  their  punishment."* 

Cenobites,  living  in  "  Laura/'  differed  from  the  anchorets  in 
many  particulars ;  they  did  not  abide  altogether  in  solitude,  but 
partly  lived  in  community,  so  far  as  assembling  for  spiritual 
exercises  and  religious  duties  in  one  place  of  worship ;  though 
their  cells  were  generally  detached,  they  were  associated  under 
fixed  rules,  and  the  government  of  a  superior. 

In  the  East,  we  first  hear  of  them,  chiefly  in  conjunction  with 
the  name  of  St.  Antony,  towards  the  year  305 ;  but  previous  to 
the  fourth  century,  there  were  Cenobitcs  living  in  Laura,  called 

Therapeutes."t 

They  were  the  first  who  called  theu'  small  cells  or  lodges 
"  Monasteries."  They  combined  community  of  life  with  soli- 
tude, and  practised  great  austerities  ;  but  from  the  mention  made 
of  them  by  some  early  w^riters,  it  seems  more  than  doubtful 
whether  they  were  not  rather  an  off-shoot  of  Judaism,  by  whose 
members  the  Jewish  ritual  observances  and  traditions  had  been 
discarded,  and  had  oidy  adapted  to  their  notions  of  a  religious 
reform  some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Eusebius, 
however,  considers  them  as  Christian  Csenobites. 

It  is  certain  there  were  communities  of  virgins  who  had 
taken  the  vow^  of  chastity  prior  to  270.  J 

Origen  speaks,  in  his  letter  to  Celsus,  of  the  Ascetes  of  his 
time,  renowned  for  the  austerity  of  their  lives.  The  Acts  of 
Saint  Inda  and  Saint  Domna  speak  of  religious  communities  in 
Nicomedia,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Maximian.  Saint  Cyril, 
who  was  Bishop  of  that  See,  was  a  protector  of  those  ancient 
monasteries,  and  a  founder  of  new  ones. 

The  origin  of  the  monastic  institutions,  regulated  by  some 
prescribed  rules  extensively  recognized,  is  almost  universally 
attributed  to  St.  Antony.    He  was  born  in  Egypt,  about  the 

*  Vita  Pauli. 

t  Histoire  Monastique  d'Orient  par  une  membre  de  la  Congregation  de 
S.  Maur,  p.  9.  870.  Par.  1680. 
X  Histoire  Monastique,  p.  19. 


84 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


year  250.  He  abandoned  the  world  in  the  year  270,  and  died 
in  356. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  the  earliest  regularly 
constituted  monasteries  of  Csenobites  were  -  established  by  St. 
Benedict. 

The  Laura  were  to  be  substituted  by  monastic  houses.  The 
Institute  varying  with  the  locality,  and  the  peculiarities  of  the 
holy  person  who  was  at  the  head  of  it,  was  to  become  a  regular 
system  for  the  government  of  men  dwelling  in  one  place  de- 
voted to  religion. 

In  Benedict's  account  of  this  great  reform,  and  the  rules  of 
an  institute  which  became  the  basis  of  all  the  monastic  institu- 
tions of  the  middle  ages,  he  describes  four  classes  of  monks 
existing  in  his  time ;  Csenobites,  Anchorets^  Saraibites,  and 
Gyro  vagi. 

The  two  last  orders  were  held  then  in  little  repute. 

The  "  Tractatus,"  which  is  the  prologue  to  the  Benedictine 
Rule,  begins  with  the  word  "  Resurgamus."  The  text  of  the 
discourse,  ]3i'efi_xed  to  the  proposed  reform,  is  the  verse  of  the 
94th  Psalm — To-day,  if  you  will  hear  my  voice,  harden  not 
your  hearts." 

The  way  to  mollify  and  bend  them  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
bring  them  to  a  due  understanding  of  the  words  of  Sacred 
Scripture,  Benedict  tells  his  brethren,  is  to  be  filled  with  the 
fear  and  the  love  of  God. 

The  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  was  specially  intended  for  the  Caeno- 
bites.  Each  community  was  to  be  under  the  government  of  one 
abbot  duly  selected  for  his  office,  on  account  of  peculiar  quali- 
fications for  it,  and  fitness  to  instruct  and  to  direct  the  brethren, 
to  treat  them  as  a  father,  and  rule  them  in  a  patriarchal  and 
paternal  spirit. 

The  abbot  had  power  to  reprove  and  expel,  to  separate  from 
communion,  and  even  to  punish  with  stripes,  oficnders  against 
the  rules.  But  on  all  grave  matters  he  was  to  consult  the  fra- 
ternity in  chapter  or  council.  Having  heard  the  opinions  of 
the  brethren,  he  was  left  to  act  on  his  own  judgment. 


OF  SAVONAKOLA. 


85 


Obedience  to  authority  stands  first  in  the  order  of  impor- 
tance, in  the  list  of  virtues  required  of  "  the  true  monk." 

Silence  and  recollection,  self-sacrifice  and  humility,  are  en- 
joined him  in  connection  with  it. 

The  order  of  the  Church  service,  or  canonical  hours  of  pre- 
scribed devotion,  is  duly  set  forth  and  appointed  : — ^lauds,  prime, 
tierce,  sexts,  nones,  vespers,  and  complines.  Each  community 
was  divided  into  decades,  and  a  dean  had  the  special  charge  of 
the  ten  members  of  each  decade. 

All  property  was  to  be  in  common,  and  from  the  time  of 
entrance,  no  member  was  to  possess  aught  that  he  could  call  his 
own. 

Precedence  was  to  be  taken  according  to  priority  of  date  of 
admission  into  the  convent. 

There  were  to  be  no  distinctions  on  account  of  former  rank  or 
station,  and  no  exemptions  on  such  accounts  from  any  of  the 
duties  of  the  house,  whether  of  the  kitchen  or  the  refectory. 

Slight  additions  of  bread  or  wine  to  the  ordinary  allowances 
were  permitted  for  persons  who  performed  those  services.  The 
ordinary  food  was  to  be  bread,  vegetables,  and  fruits. 

Dinner-hour  in  general  was  at  noon,  and  on  fast  days  at  thi*ee 
o'clock,  when  it  was  the  only  meal. 

The  sick  were  to  be  treated  with  especial  care  and  kindness,  and 
allowed  animal  food  and  wine.  But  in  all  matters  of  diet,  large 
discretionary  powers  were  left  with  the  abbot.  Edifying  books 
were  to  be  read  in  the  refectory,  especially  after  supper  and 
vespers  on  fast  days.  Idleness  being  injurious  to  the  mind,  in 
the  opinion  of  St.  Benedict,  labour  was  directed,  manual  and 
mental. 

Hospitality  was  strenuously  enjoined  on  the  abbot.  Guests 
were  to  be  received  by  him  with  holy  greeting  and  kindly  Avel- 
come. 

The  abbot  was  to  direct  the  attire  of  the  community,  to  see 
that  each  monk  had  two  tunics,  cowls,  and  scapularies,  duly 
kept  and  worn,  and  that  neither  raiment,  food  or  luxuries  of  any 


86 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


kiiidj  save  such  as  were  allowed  by  the  convent,  were  admitted 
or  privily  kept  in  the  cells  by  any  of  the  brethi-en. 

Admission  into  the  order  was  not  to  be  lightly  granted,  but 
after  several  days'  continuous  application  at  the  convent  gate, 
bearing  with  patience  the  rigour  that  was  exhibited  towards  the 
applicant,  and  hearing  with  attention  and  respect  the  explana- 
tions given  to  him  of  the  austerities  of  monastic  discipline,  by 
the  aged  brother  a2)pointed  to  communicate  with  him.  A  year's 
no^dciate  was  required  previous  to  investiture  with  the  habit, 
when  the  admitted  brother  irrevocably  abandoned  the  world, 
took  the  sacred  vows,  signed  the  solemn  obligation  under  his 
hand,  or  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  record  of  that  obli- 
gation.* 

Many  regulations  of  minor  importance  are  laid  doAvn,  and 
connected  with  all  are  brief  observations,  councils,  and  memo- 
rable sayings  of  the  samts,  and  maxims  of  St.  Benedict  himself, 
wherein  that  ^visdom  abounds  that  comes  fi'om  God — a  spirit- 
uahzed  sagacity,  blended  with  all  that  is  sweet  and  consolatory 
in  devotion,  and  tender  and  compassionate  in  human  feeling. 

^"  The  convents,"  says  Monsieur  Audin,  in  his  History  of 
Luther,  "  in  the  middle  ages,  were  the  asylums  of  arts  and 
letters.  The  monks  were  then  the  only  representatives  of 
intelligence  :  it  is  in  the  cloisters  we  must  look  for  paint- 
ings, sculptures,  poetry,  and  archaeology.  Behold  all  the  vast 
edifices,  the  temples,  chapels,  houses  of  prayer,  they  have 
raised !  the  monasteries,  abbeys,  priories,  which  they  have 
founded  and  endowed !  the  bridges  they  have  cast  over  rivers  ! 
the  hospitals  and  infirmaries  they  have  opened  to  the  sick  and 
the  infirm  !  the  schools  and  academies  they  have  instituted !  It 
is  there  that  civilization  took  refuge.  AVithout  the  cloisters, 
Europe  would  have  groAvn  old,  and  died  perhaps  in  barbarism. 
Every  Caenobite  order  has  its  determined  labour ;  some,  like 
the  Chartreux,  sow  the  ground,  cut  down  the  forests,  reclaim 

*  Quatuor  prunum  approbates  religiosis  quibusque  vievendi  regiilas. 
Sec.    In  Eeg.  S.  Benedicti,  p.  xvii.    4to.  Argent,  1514. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


87 


waste  lands,  set  bounds  to  torrents,  teach  and  transmit  the 
principles  of  irrigation  and  agricultural  science. 

"  Others,  like^  the  Benedictines,  occupy  themselves  in  trans- 
cribing and  deciphering  old  documents,  and  thus  preserving 
the  titles  even  of  our  municipal  liberties,  or  in  commenting  or 
translating  the  Greek  and  Latin  texts,  while  simple  scribes, 
labouring  with  angelic  patience,  were  occupied  in  illuminating 
our  missals  and  the  Psalmody  of  the  Church. 

"  The  cloisters  in  Italy,  for  example,  in  the  middle  ages,  were 
transformed  into  studios  of  painting,  of  architecture,  and  of 
sculpture.  When  prayers  were  finished,  the  monks  ran  to 
their  work,  some  to  one  description  of  employment,  some  to 
another. 

"  Italy  is  full  of  the  glory  of  the  monks.  At  Florence,  the 
greatest  wonder  of  art  in  the  Pitti  gallery  is  the  Saint  Marc  of 
Fra  Bartolomeo.  The  French  had  to  call  the  Friar  Giocondo 
from  Italy,  to  construct  one  of  the  finest  bridges  of  the  capital. 

"  One  would  say,  at  the  sight  of  a  convent  in  the  Middle  Age, 
it  was  a  hive  of  industry.  Some  laboured  in  carving  wood,  which 
in  their  hands  assumed  all  forms,  and  frequently  imitated  life,  as 
well  as  marble  did ;  others  were  occupied  with  explorations  and 
paleography.  Others,  again,  had  committed  to  them  a  world 
of  greater  wonder  than  this  world  of  ours — the  heart  of  man. 
Asia  Minor  was  filled  with  cloisters,  where  the  poor  friars  were 
occupied  night  and  day  in  transcribing  the  works  of  the  poets 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of  their  asylums 
existed  in  Calabria,  and  in  the  precincts  of  Naples.  Behold 
this  monastery,  which  projects  from  Macedonia  on  the  shore  of 
the  Egcan.  It  is  the  monastery  of  Mount  Athos.  Never  did 
human  institution  render  to  civilization  such  services  as  did  this 
house  of  prayer. 

"  Mention  is  made  of  sixty-three  palaces  of  the  Frank  sove- 
reigns, wherein  the  monks  were  employed  in  copying  the  royal 
charters.  The  Church  maintained  a  numerous  tribe^of  scribes, 
all  devoted  to  religion,  and  consuming  their  intellectual  poAvers 
in  copying,  in  the  halls  of  the  ^  Scriptoria,'  manuscripts,  profane 
or  sacred. 


88 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTVRUOM 


"  The  cloisters  have  other  titles  to  consideration.  It  was  in  the 
seclusion  of  the  cloisters  that  the  quarrels  between  feudal  lords 
and  vassals,  in  Germany  especially,  were  frequently  composed. 
Let  us  do  justice  to  the  monks.  The  oppressed  found  in  them 
zealous  defenders.  If,  unfortunately,  their  voice  was  not  heard, 
and  if  the  feudal  chief  appealed  from  them  to  the  sword,  then 
was  there  a  call  for  an  asylum  in  the  convent,  where  the  weak 
vassal  Avas  secure  against  the  strong  master,  and  there  was  con- 
solation, a  shelter,  and  support  for  him,  till  he  was  reconciled 
with  liis  proud  lord. 

"  The  victor  was  no  unfrequent  visitor  at  the  convent.  He 
came  there  to  expiate  his  sins  and  his  successes  in  tears,  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  convent  was  the 
sacred  ark  which,  in  the  great  deluge  of  barbarism  and  ship- 
wreck of  learning,  saved  the  Sacred  Scrij^tures  from  destruction : 
that  the  first  versions  of  them,  in  Germany,  are  due  to  the 
monks,"  &c.* 

The  Dominican  order  had  more  attractions  for  Gii-olamo  than 
any  other  religious  institute.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  with 
one  of  Savonarola's  capacity  and  endowments  —  his  exalted 
genius,  his  vast  intellectual  powers  and  imaginative  tastes  and 
faculties — his  love  of  the  fine  arts,  of  books  and  bookish  people, 
his  oratorical  talents,  his  veneration  for  heroic  Christian  men, 
his  profound  respect  for  the  virtues — rare  as  they  were  exalted 
— of  St.  Dominick,  the  founder  of  this  order;  of  St.  Peter 
Martyr,  his  holy  self-renouncing  follower  ;  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Aquinas,  the  angelic  doctor,  the  great  glory  of  the  Dominican 
order ;  of  Alberto  Magno,  the  master  of  the  angelic  doctor  ;  of 
St.  Catherina  of  Sienna,  with  aU  the  renown  of  her  great  sanc- 
tity, of  her  raptures  and  ecstatic  visions,  and  marvellous  com- 
munications with  the  spiritual  world,  and  her  terrestrial  ones 
no  less  marvellous,  in  her  strange  ofiice  of  ambassadress,  when 
appointed  by  the  Pope  to  treat  of  peace  between  the  Court  of 
Rome  and  the  Republic  of  Florence. 

Dominick  was  nearly  thirty  years  of  age,  when,  happening 
*  Hist,  de  M.  Luther,  par  Audin,  tome  i.  p.  18. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


89 


to  pass  through  Languedoc,  about  a.d.  1190,  "  the  reveries  "  of 
the  Albigenses  became  known  to  him.  At  Toulouse,  he  found 
his  host  and  his  family  infected  with  the  errors  of  the  new  sect. 
He  spent  an  entire  night,  we  are  told,  in  endeavouring  to  con- 
vince these  people  of  their  dangerous  errors,  and  was  gratified 
to  find,  the  following  day,  his  labours  had  not  been  in  vain. 

The  utility  of  preaching  was  now  forcibly  impressed  on  his 
mind  ;  and  this  occurrence  gave  rise,  eventually,  to  the  insti- 
tution of  an  order,  to  be  specially  devoted  to  the  duty  of 
preaching  for  the  conversion  of  those  who  lapsed  into  error. 

The  Rule  of  the  new  order  was  not  confirmed  by  the  Pope 
till  the  year  1216. 

Dominick,  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Guzman,  was  not  only 
of  a  noble  but  of  a  kingly  race,  and  if  a  man  of  genius  need  to 
be  beholden  to  genealogy,  it  would  appear  there  was  no  dearth 
of  ancient  blood — the  "  Sangre  azul  "  of  Castilian  royalty — in 
the  veins  of  this  poor  mendicant  monk  of  the  order  of  St.  Domi- 
nick.* ]\Iany  a  time,  no  doubt,  the  eyes  of  Savonarola  have 
been  fixed  on  the  statue  of  the  Saint,  with  his  inseparable  com- 
panion, the  faithful  dog  with  the  torch  in  his  mouth,  that  is 
placed  over  the  portal  of  San  Marco,  at  Florence. 

*  St.  Dominick  was  grand  nephew  of  the  Emperor,  Frederic  the  First, 
cousin  of  the  Emperor,  Henry  the  Sixth,  cousin  german  of  the  Emperor, 
-  Frederic  the  Second,  on  his  father's  side ;  while  on  his  mother's,  he  was 
descended  from  the  Norman  Princes,  who  had  conquered  and  colonized 
the  Two  Sicilies. — Lacordaires  Mem.  des  Freres  Freeh. 


90 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CONVENTUAL  CAREER  OF  SAVONAROLA. 
 LETTERS  OF  SAVONAROLA  TO  HIS  MOTHER  AND  BROTHER. 

—1476  TO  1490. 

lo  fui  degli  agni  della  Santa  gregia, 

Che  Domenico  mena  per  cammino. 

DA^'TE,  Paradiso,  Cant.  x. 
Tu  ne  cede  malis  ;  sed  contra  andentior  ito, 
Qiiam  tua  te  Fortuna  finet.  Virgil,  .Mn.  6. 

"  Suffer  not  your  spirit  to  be  subdued  by  misfortunes  ;  but,  on  tbe  con- 
trary, steer  riglit  onward,  witb  a  courage  greater  tlian  your  fate  seems  to 
allow." 

From  the  time  that  Girolamo  made  his  profession  of  the  three 
vows  of  chastity,  obedience,  and  poverty,  his  conduct  was  that  of 
a  "  true  monk."  He  was  faithful  to  his  vows,  to  his  God,  and 
to  himself.  Of  his  purity  there  never  was  a  question  ;  slander, 
that  dared  much  against  him,  ventured  not  to  impugn  his 
chastity ;  it  was  not  only  unsuspected  from  the  beginning  of  his 
career  to  its  close,  but  above  suspicion. 

Fra  Sebastiano  da  Brescia,  a  most  devout  member  of  his 
order,  and  vicar  of  the  congregation  of  Lombardy,  his  confes- 
sor for  a  long  time,  "  che  pui  de  cento  volte  lo  avevo  confessato 
declared  his  belief  that  Fra  Gii-olamo  had  never  committed  a 
mortal  sin,  and  extolled  in  the  highest  terms  of  praise  the  purity 
of  his  life. 

"  Of  this  signal  purity,"  adds  Burlamacchi,  there  were  good 
evidences  given  in  his  admirable  commentaries  on  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  in  the  angelic  visions  and  apparitions  of  saints,  and 
chiefly  that  of  the  glorious  virgin,  of  which  we  will  speak  in 
its  proper  place."*    But  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  ^^411 

*  Burlamaccbi,  Tita  de  Sav.  ap  Miscell.  Baluzzi.  tome  i.  p.  532. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


91 


carry  more  conviction  with  it  than  any  accounts  of  visions  and 
apparitions  ;  to  shew  the  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  this 
virtue,  in  the  many  references  to  it  in  his  sermons  and  in  his 
lamentations,  for  the  little  estmiation  in  which  it  seemed  held 
even  by  persons  exercising  spiritual  authority. 

We  hear  of  exclamations  frequently  breaking  forth  in  the 
midst  of  his  most  solemn  discourses  in  the  pulpit,  which  elec- 
trified Ills  audiences  : — 

"  The  chastity  of  the  cloister  is  slain."  "  The  purity  of  the 
spouse  of  Christ  is  sullied  !" 

Cries  of  the  heart  of  outraged  religion  like  these  come  ever 
and  anon  in  wailing  accents  from  the  lips  of  Savonarola. 

There  was  no  hypocrisy  in  the  breast  from  which  these  cries 
proceeded. 

True  obedience,  in  Savonarola's  estimation,  was  one  of  the 
strongest  proofs  of  progress  in  spirituality,  and  of  advancement 
in  perfection.  In  one  of  his  treatises  he  says  :  "  True  glory 
is  to  do  that  which  thou  art  not  obliged  by  any  natural  or  divine 
law  to  do.  Doubtless,  it  is  more  meritorious  to  observe  the 
commandments  and  the  councils  than  the  commandments  only." 

The  heads  of  the  congregation  considered  his  unfeigned 
humility,  and  promptness  to  obey  all  his  brethren,  whether  high 
or  low,  were  never  surpassed — nay,  unparalleled  in  the  order  ; 
and  though  he  entered  little  into  conversation,  his  affability  and 
sw^eetness  of  disposition  endeared  him  to  the  whole  community. 

Considering,  moreover,"  says  Burlamacchi,  "  the  mode  of 
living,  and  the  manners  of  the  monks  of  his  age,  and  comparing 
them  with  those  of  great  numbers  of  the  early  Cliristians,  and 
of  the  monks  of  Egj-pt,  there  appeared  to  him  to  be  a  wide 
difference  between  them, — seeing  so  many  of  his  cotemporaries 
intent  on  enriching  churches,  and  constructing  magnificent 
convents  ;  and  a  vast  number  of  others  occupying  themselves 
in  vanities  of  various  kinds,  and  especially  in  applying  them- 
selves more  to  the  study  of  Aristotle's  philosophy  than  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

"  On  account  of  those  things,"  says  Burlamacchi,  "  he  was 


92 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


grievously  afflicted,  he  having  still  to  perform  the  duties  of 
reader  and  teacher  of  philosophy,  and  other  profane  sciences. 
Those  duties  he  performed  from  obedience  most  promptly,  and 
with  great  satisfaction,  endeavouring,  however,  always  to  avoid 
reviving  vain  and  useless  questions,  and  reducing  his  instruction, 
as  much  as  lay  in  his  power,  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian 
faith.  But  at  the  end  of  every  labour  he  turned  to  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  Avith  such  assiduity ,that  all  the  canonical  books  became 
perfectly  familiar  to  him.  Evidence  was  given  of  the  fact  of 
that  familiar  knowledge  with  them,  subsequently  in  his  preach- 
ing, and  in  his  admirable  manner  of  expounding  those  sacred 
writino-s. 

o 

"  I  have  to  observe,"  continues  Burlamacchi,  "  in  this  place, 
that  at  the  commencement  of  his  career  in  the  pulpit,  he  had 
neither  voice,  gesture,  nor  any  manner  (or  style)  that  was  suit- 
able and  fit  for  such  an  exercise  of  his  functions.  So  that  there 
was  nothing  whatever  agreeable  in  his  delivery,  nor  was  any 
person  pleased  with  it. 

"  But  by  a  special  gift  of  God,  subsequently  he  became  a  won- 
derful and  admirable  preacher,  being  endowed  with  an  extra- 
ordinary power  of  attracting  attention,  and  also  of  exciting  in- 
terest, in  any  matter  that  was  the  subject  of  his  discoui'se. 

"  On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  going  by  water  from  Ferrara 
to  Mantua,  he  found  himself  in  a  boat  with  eighteen  soldiers, 
who  Avere  indulging  in  ribaldry  and  filthy  conversation.  He 
begged  to  be  allow^ed  to  say  a  few  words  to  them,  and  having 
obtained  their  permission,  he  addressed  some  observations  to 
them,  exhorting  them  to  change  their  mode  of  life  and  habits  ; 
but  he  had  not  spoken  long,  when  they  gathered  round  him, 
threw  themselves  at  his  feet,  and  confessed  to  him  their  sins, 
accusing  themselves  of  many  grievous  crimes,  having  been  many 
years  without  frequenting  the  sacraments,  and  with  many  sup- 
plications and  tears  they  humbly  asked  his  pardon."* 

The  vow  of  poverty  Avas  never  more  strictly  observed  by 
monk  of  any  order  than  by  Fra  Girolamo.  When  he  entered 
*  Burlamacchi,  Yita  de  Say,  in  Mes.  Bal.  tome  v.  p.  433. 


OP  SAVONAROT.A. 


93 


the  convent,  he  abandoned  all  worldly  goods,  with  the  exception 
of  some  clothing  and  a  few  religious  books.  He  took  a  pleasure 
in  using  the  very  coarsest  materials  in  his  clothing,  the  simplest 
quality  and  most  sparing  quantity  of  food  for  his  nourishment. 
No  delicacy  or  luxury  of  any  kind  did  he  ever  suffer  to  come 
near  him.  His  bed  consisted  of  a  few  planks  supported  on 
stillions,  with  a  little  straw  in  a  sack  laid  on  the  boards  for  a 
mattress.  He  had  a  natural  love  for  the  poor,  and  a  respect 
for  "  the  rights  of  poverty."  The  poor,  he  thought,  were  pe- 
culiarly loved  by  God,  and  their  spiritual  condition,  he  con- 
sidered, was  bettered  by  poverty.  He  spoke  of  the  poor  as  his 
children,  and  of  poverty  as  his  beloved  spouse.  He  felt  for  the 
poor  as  the  suffering  members  of  Jesus  Christ,  whom  it  was  the 
main  object  of  his  mission  to  protect,  to  comfort,  and  to  assist. 
He  feared  nothing  in  this  world  so  much  for  the  Church  and 
its  ministers  as  wealth.  He  desired  nothing  in  life  so  much  for 
religion  as  true  hearts,  and  pure  hands,  and  holy  eyes,  lifted  up 
to  heaven  before  its  altar,  in  its  name,  and  for  its  honour. 

That  spouse  of  poverty  which  he  had  taken  to  his  bosom  he 
remained  unalterably  attached  to.  His  books  were  reduced  to 
his  breviary  and  his  Bible.  The  public  libraries  of  his  ordei*, 
and  other  collections  of  religious  houses,  in  after-life  served  for 
his  studies,  when  he  had  a  necessity  to  refer  to  books  in  the 
composition  of  his  numerous  treatises  and  sermons. 

John  Francis  Pico  de  Mirandola,  in  his  Life  of  Savonarola, 
relates  that  the  celebrated  scholar,  his  namesake,  John  Pico,  on 
one  occasion  pressed  on  Fra  Girolamo,  his  most  dear  friend,  a 
sum  of  money  amounting  to  four  hundred  ducats,  for  the  use  of 
his  sister,  at  a  time  when  her  position  needed  some  assistance  of 
a  pecuniary  kind ;  but  he  declined  the  generous  offer,  and  he 
would  neither  accept  it  as  a  present  for  his  sister,  nor  as  an 
offering  for  his  convent. 

He  reproved  good-humourcdly  the  little  tendencies  to  vanity 
which  he  observed  in  his  brethren.  On  one  occasion,  two 
Abbes  of  the  order  of  St.  Benedict  visited  him,  attired  in  habits 
unusually  ample,  and  of  finer  materials  than  were  customarily 


94 


THE  LTFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


used  by  their  order.  Savonarola,  after  glancing  at  the  flowing 
garments,  spoke  of  the  spirit  of  poverty  which  belonged  to  the 
religious  orders.  The  Benedictines  hoped  there  was  nothing 
contrary  to  it  in  theii*  habits,  inasmuch  as  it  was  found  that  the 
finer  was  the  cloth,  and  the  larger  was  the  dress,  the  longer  did 
it  last. 

Fra  Girolamo,  smiling,  said  it  was  a  pity  St.  Benedict  and 
St.  Bernard  had  not  been  acquainted  with  that  fact,  and  had 
not  founded  on  it  a  new  rule  of  economy. 

Either  immediately  prcs-ious  to,  or  during  his  noviciate,  he 
composed  a  treatise  on  "Contem]3t  of  Earthly  Things,"  De  Con- 
tem]3tu  ]Mundi,  which  he  communicated  to  his  mother  ;  but  this 
piece  has  been  lost. 

In  all  positions  in  his  order,  in  his  early  career,  as  an  in- 
structor of  no\'ices,  as  in  his  latter  course  as  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  a  spiritual  director,  or  a  writer  on  religious  subjects,  it 
seemed  to  be  one  of  his  strongest  desires  to  inculcate  a  contempt 
for  riches  and  worldly  honours,  and  to  make  all  true  heroism 
appear  to  consist  in  conquering  selfishness,  and  banishing  cu- 
pidity from  the  heart. 

Savonarola's  religious  sentunents  were  of  a  nature  which  con- 
nect the  interests  of  humanity  with  the  highest  honoui's  we  are 
called  on  to  pay  God.  On  this  principle  his  piety  was  based, 
and  all  his  spiritual  compositions  were  in  accordance  with  it. 

Religion  chiefly  consists  in  dealing  with  mankind  as  we  would 
have  God  to  deal  with  us,  and  not  primarily  for  their  sake,  nor 
for  our  own,  but  with  the  -view  of  paying  homage  to  the  God  of 
mercy  by  acts  of  mercy,  which  are  pleasing  to  Him,  and  of  ser- 
vice to  oui*  fellow-creatures.  Savonarola's  whole  career  was  an 
exemplification  of  the  soundness  of  this  opinion. 

For  the  peculiar  mission  of  [the  Dominican  order — to  preach 
the  word  of  God — which  obtained  for  then*  institute  the  title  of 

Order  of  Friar  Preacher,"  the  superiors  of  Fra  Girolamo 
somewhat  tardily  discovered  that  the  master  of  the  novices  pos- 
sessed some  peculiar  fitness  in  respect  to  spirituality,  piety,  and 
zeal  for  religion,  and  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  Sacred 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


95 


Scriptoes  and  the  Fathers.  Hitherto  they  had  devoted  his 
great  talents  to  the  duties  of  his  humble  office,  as  an  instructor 
of  the  young  aspirants  to  the  habit  of  St.  Dominic. 

In  1478,  after  having  visited  some  of  the  convents  of  his 
order  throughout  Lombardy,  by  the  directions  of  his  superiors, 
he  was  located  in  the  convent  of  S.  Maria  d'egli  Angeli,  at  Fer- 
rara.*  There,  in  his  native  city,  he  appears  to  have  been  en- 
gaged in  giving  lessons  in  sacred  theology  for  some  time.  He 
was  still  there,  when  that  city,  being  under  the  protection  of 
the  Florentine  republic,  was  menaced  by  the  Venetians  with  in- 
vasion. The  superiors  of  the  convent  deemed  it  prudent  to 
disperse  theu'  members  throughout  the  different  convents  of 
the  province.  Providence  may  have  had  more  to  do  with  their 
determinations,  perhaps,  than  they  imagined,  when  the  convent 
of  San  ^larco,  in  Florence,  was  made  the  destination  of  Savon- 
arola. 

In  1482,  then,  we  find  him  established  in  San  Marco,  and  con- 
stituted professor  of  Divinity — Maestro  de  Divinita — in  that 
convent. t  Fra  Girolamo  was  then  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he 
received  orders  to  preach  during  the  Lent  in  the  church  of  San 
Lorenzo,  in  Florence. 

The  young  Dominican  accordingly  made  his  first  appearance 
in  Florence  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  same  year  the  celebrated 
historian,  Guiccianus,  who  was  destined  to  throw  so  much  light 
on  his  career,  and  the  events  of  his  own  tunes,  made  his  first 
appearance  in  the  world  in  the  same  city. 

Burlamacchi  says  that  the  first  attempt  of  Fra  Girolamo  in  San 
Lorenzo  was  an  utter  failure,  his  manner,  style,  action,  gesture, 
voice — all,  in  fact,  were  against  him.  But  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  matter  of  his  discourse  was  not  of  a  kind  to  strike  some 
portion  of  his  audience,  of  intelligence  and  discernment,  as  in- 
dicative of  intellectual  power  and  spirituality  more  than  common, 
however  ungraceful  might  be  his  action,  gesture,  and  deport- 
ment, precipitate  his  mode  of  giving  expression  to  particular 

*  Sommario  della  Vita,  par  Audin  de  Eians,  p.  18. 
•  t  Ibid.  p.  18. 


9G 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYRDOM 


passages  in  his  discourse,  and  however  harsh  his  A  oice  appeared 
to  be. 

AMio  ever  listened  to  the  gifted  Chahners,  even  in  the  best 
days  of  his  career,  in  the  oratory  of  the  pulpit,  and  might  not 
well  imagine  how  the  same  observations  wliich  were  made  with 
respect  to  Savonarola's  first  efibrts  in  j^reaching,  might  not  have 
been  applied  to  the  earliest  attempts  of  that  greatest  master  of 
pulpit  eloquence,  with  one  exception,  perhaps,  of  our  times  ? 

AMio  ever  listened  to  the  first  performance  of  an  023era,  or  for 
the  fii'st  time  to  the  performance  of  one,  and  realised  all  or  even 
any  of  the  merits  of  it  on  that  first  occasion  of  listening  to  it  ? 

It  is  not  till  after  repeated  performances  have  been  listened 
to,  that  the  ear  begins  to  be  accustomed  to  the  peculiarities  of 
the  composer's  style ;  and  it  is  only  when  the  ear  is  so  educated 
by  the  repeated  lessons  of  the  same  sounds,  and  so  accustomed 
to  them,  that  it  is  capable  of  discerning  all  the  excellence  of  the 
harmony  that  may  be  in  them,  or  prepared  for  theii'  coming 
tones. 

It  is  with  eloquence  as  with  music — we  requii-e  to  be  fami- 
liarized T\'ith  the  voice,  gesture,  and  action  of  the  orator,  before 
we  can  form  a  just  opinion  of  the  merits  or  the  matter  of  his 
discourse. 

In  a  short  time,  we  are  told,  the  sermons  of  Savonarola  were 
onlv  attended  by  "  the  low,  conmion  people,"  not  even  by  very 
large  numbers  of  them,  and  eventually  by  an  audience  not 
exceeding  seventy-five  persons.  The  yoimg  preacher  was  dis 
coui-aged  by  his  failure  and  its  efifects.  He  determined  to  quit 
Florence,  to  appear  no  more  in  the  pulpit,  and  to  devote  his 
time  to  the  instruction  of  the  novices,  as  before,  in  the  various 
convents  of  the  province  of  Lombardy,  v»'ith  the  sanction  of  his 
superiors.  The  ensuing  three  years  and  a  half  he  passed  in  the 
convents  of  Tuscany  and  Lombardy  ;  and  the  ensuing  four  years 
in  the  convent  at  Brescia. 

In  the  year  148^^,  having  returned  from  Florence  into  Lom- 
bardy, we  are  told  by  Burlamacchi,  "  that  in  the  following  year 
that  servant  of  God  began  to  be  made  a  partaker  of  the  •  di^-ine 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


97 


illumination,  as  wc  read  in  one  of  his  sermons  preached  in  the 
year  1494,  wherein  he  speaks  of  the  renovation  of  the  church, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  it  of  a  special  revelation  as  to  its  renewal, 
which  he  believed  not  only  on  account  of  the  divine  light,  but 
for  many  reasons  in  confirmation  of  it,  and  especially  on  account 
of  the  enormity  and  infinite  number  of  sins  arising  from  the 
scandalous  lives  of  Prelates  of  every  grade — on  account  of  the 
great  tepidity  and  relaxed  discipline  of  those  in  rcKgious  orders, 
and  other  things  of  a  similar  kind,  which  every  day  more  and 
more  confirmed  him  in  the  truth  which  had  been  revealed  to 
him.  Moreover,  saying,  that  the  fathers  should  kill  their  own 
children,  and  with  great  ignominy  they  would  be  dragged 
thi'ough  the  streets  of  Brescia,  and  that  all  this  woidd  come  to 
pass  in  the  times  of  those  who  were  then  alive  and  present : 
which  event  came  to  pass  (accordingly)  in  the  year  1500,  when 
the  people  of  Brescia  were  so  cruelly  spoiled  by  the  French, 
against  whom  they  had  risen  in  revolt. 

In  the  same  convent  of  Brescia,  on  Chiistmas  night,  as  Fra 
Angelo  de  Brescia  relates,  he,  Fra  Girolamo,  remained  in  an 
ecstasy  for  the  space  of  five  hours,  motionless,  with  his  counte- 
nance resplendent,  the  brightness  of  which  dluminated  the 
whole  church,  as  by  others  of  the  friars  it  was  seen. 

The  same  year  we  are  told  (1483)  in  Brescia  he  spoke  to  some 
persons  in  private  of  impending  judgments.  In  public,  how- 
ever, any  intimations  he  gave  of  them  were  mingled  with  passages 
from  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  shrouded  in  some  mystery,  in 
order  that  holy  things  might  not  be  subjected  to  contempt 
on  the  part  of  thoughtless  people.  He  practised  great  mor- 
tification, rigid  fasting,  and  severe  discipline  at  this  time, 
and  devoted  himself  much  to  prayer.  On  one  occasion,  in 
the  choir,  at  an  early  hour,  while  singing  that  verse  of  the 
psalm — "  Thou  art  good,  and  in  thy  goodness  shew  me  thy 
justifications" — he  suddenly  felt  his  mind  illuminated  with  more 
brightness  than  ever,  and  speedily  all  doubts  were  dissipated 
respecting  the  events  foreseen — cose  jjreviste,  as  he  afterwards 
related  to  the  Count  of  Mirandola,  and  oftentimes  declared  in 


VOL.  I. 


H 


98 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


public,  that  of  the  things  revealed  to  him,  he  had  more  certainty 
than  philosophers  had  of  the  first  principles  they  so  much 
depend  on.     It  was  related  in  1520  to  the  friars  of  San  Marco, 

by  the  venerable  father  Bartholomeo  R  ,  then  prior  of  the 

convent  of  that  city,  that  Fra  Girolamo,  being  his  disciple,  in 
Brescia,  on  the  day  of  St.  Andrew,  after  dinner,  he  heard  him 
preach  on  that  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  which  speaks  of  the 
twenty-three  old  men,  and  expound  the  same,  saying,  that  God 
had  sent  through  the  world  these  twenty-three  old  men,  and 
one  of  them  had  come  to  him,  saying,  that  he  (Fra  Girolamo) 
had  to  announce  a  great  judgment,  which  should  fall  on  Italy, 
and  chiefly  on  Brescia ;  and,  therefore,  that  he  should  call  that 
city  to  repentance.  And  the  same  FraAngelo,  who  preached  at 
Mirandola,  declared  having  seen  with  his  own  eyes  several  times, 
while  he  (Fra  Girolamo)  was  celebrating  mass,  his  face  beaming 
with  light,  and  his  senses  apparently  entranced  in  a  wonderful 
manner  in  a  rapture. 

On  which  account,  it  was  his  custom  to  celebrate  the  mass  in 
a  place  in  the  church  not  exposed  to  observation,  solely  in  the 
presence  of  the  person  who  served.* 

On  this  subject  there  are  some  points  to  be  considered  : — 

In  the  first  place,  I  must  observe  that  Burlamacchi  refers  to 
a  sermon  preached  by  Fra  Girolamo  in  Brescia,  on  a  certain 
festival,  that  of  St.  Andrew,  in  which  discourse  he  announced 
a  revelation  that  had  been  made  to  him  of  a  signal  judgment  of 
God,  that  would  fall  on  the  people  of  Brescia. 

But  the  year  is  not  stated  when  that  sermon  was  preached. 
And  the  date  of  it  is  most  important,  because  the  account  of 
this  remarkable  prediction  was  not  given  to  the  monks  of  San 
Marco  till  upwards  of  twenty  years  after  Savonarola's  death. 
And  the  terrible  judgment  that  visited  Brescia  at  the  hands  of 
the  French,  and  in  the  sight  of  Caesar  Borgia,  took  place  in  the 
year  1500.    I  have  elsewhere  given  some  account  of  its  horrors. 

The  date,  however,  is  fortunately  to  be  found  in  De  Bian's 
*^  Sommario."     In  the  year  1484,  Savonarola,  he  tells  us, 

*  Burlamacchi,  Vita  de  Sav.  in  Bal.  Mis.  torn.  i.  p.  533. 


UF  SAVONAROLA. 


99 


*•  preached  in  Brescia  on  the  subject  of  the  fourth  chapter  of 
the  Apocalypse,  announcing  the  scourges  which  menaced  Italy." 

And  this  particular  sermon  moreover  will  be  found  referred 
to  by  Savonarola  himself,  in  sermons  of  a  subsequent  date, 
which  exist  in  print — nay,  some  of  which  Avere  printed  during 
Savonarola's  life-time,  and  from  those  sermons  some  extracts 
will  be  given  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

There  is  much  matter  for  deep  thought  in  the  preceding  ac- 
count of  the  origin  and  progress  of  those  effects  of  mental 
prayer,  which  in  its  highest  degree  of  intensity  of  devotion,  and 
concentration  of  all  the  intellectual  faculties  and  powers  of  the 
soul,  on  one  heavenly  object,  in  the  language  of  mystic  theology, 
is  denominated  ^'  The  supernatural  prayer  of  union." 

It  will  not  do  to  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  difficulties  of  this 
subject,  by  treating  the  whole  account  as  deserving  of  ridicule  ; 
and  the  person  to  whom  it  relates,  as  an  impostor ;  and  those  by 
whom  the  account  is  given,  as  fabricators,  forgers  of  lies,  and 
deceivers  :  and  to  dispense  Avith  all  enquiry  into  the  nature  of 
other  similar  phenomena,  and  the  evidence  on  which  the  truth 
of  their  existence  rests. 

The  sermon  predicting  calamities,  so  unexpected  and  of  such 
unexampled  horror,  was  preached  in  Brescia  in  1484.  In  1498, 
the  preacher  who  announced  those  calamities  was  put  to  death. 
And  in  two  years  after  his  death,  in  1500,  the  terrible  predic- 
tion was  accomplished. 

Up  to  that  period  of  1484,  there  is  not  a  single  passage  in 
the  life  of  Savonarola,  wherein  it  would  be  possible  to  found  a 
suspicion  of  his  piety,  of  his  truth,  of  his  simplicity  and  sin- 
gleness of  mind.  All  the  occurrences  connected  with  alleged 
interference  in  political  affairs,  and  the  conduct  of  Savonarola 
in  respect  to  the  excommunications,  which  are  made  subject  of 
complaint  against  him  by  Bayle  and  others,  were  of  a  date 
nearly  ten  years  later  than  this  of  the  remarkable  sermon 
preached  in  Brescia  in  1484. 

On  this  important  question  of  Savonarola's  guilt  or  innocence 
of  the  charge  of  impos  ure  in  respect  to  the  revelation  he  de- 

II  2 


100 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


clared  in  his  sermon  in  Brescia  to  have  been  made  to  him,  must 
depend  the  issue  of  the  reader's  judgment  on  the  character  and 
fame  of  the  subject  of  this  work. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  to  know  what  those  effects  are  of 
mental  prayer  to  which  Burlamacchi  makes  reference ;  what  is 
the  nature  of  those  supernatural  influences  to  which  other  per- 
sonSj  eminent  for  sanctity,  have  laid  claims,  and  how  are  they 
to  be  distinguished  from  simulated  communion  with  the  spi- 
ritual world  ?  and  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  on  the  Discernment 
of  Spirits,  those  enquiries  wiU  be  considered. 

In  the  beginning  of  1490,  Fra  Girolamo  was  sent  by  his 
superiors  to  Genoa,  to  preach  the  Lent  there,  and  after  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty,  his  return  to  Florence  was  decided  on. 

He  was  now  about  to  enter  on  the  most  important  labours  of 
his  mission  in  that  place,  which  was  henceforth  to  be  the  scene 
of  them. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


101 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  MISSION  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

There  is  no  discipline,  no  fear  of  G-od  in  tliem  (who  should  maintain  it). 
Many  believe  in  no  God.  The  chastity  of  the  cloister  is  slain,  and  they 
who  should  serve  God  with  holy  zeal,  have  become  cold  or  lukewarm. 
The  princes  openly  exercise  tyranny.  Their  subjects  encourage  them  in 
their  cruel  propensities,  their  rapine,  their  adulteries,  their  sacrileges. 

"  But  after  the  corrupted  human  race  has  abused  for  so  many  ages  the 
patience  of  God,  then,  at  last,  the  divine  justice  appears,  demanding  that 
the  rulers  of  the  people,  who  with  base  examples  corrupt  all  others,  should 
be  brought  to  a  severe  account,  and  that  the  people  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
now  dwelling  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  should  be  made  partakers  of 
the  light."  Ser.  of  Savon,  at  Brescia,  hi  1485. 

Socrates,  before  his  judges,  mainly  rested  his  defence  on  the 
general  character  of  his  conduct  in  private  life.  He  was  known, 
he  said,  to  love  justice,  and  to  reverence  the  God  from  whom 
all  truth  and  justice  emanated. 

Hating  injustice  as  he  did,  and  holding  falsehood  as  he  had 
done  in  great  abhorrence,  he  had  avoided  the  contentions  of 
public  life,  but  never  shirked  an  opportunity  of  contending 
for  the  truth,  and  for  justice,  that  presented  itself  in  his  own 
j  immediate  sphere  of  action.  Though  his  judges  were  to  free 
him  on  condition  of  his  abandoning  that  course  of  life,  he  would 
say  to  them — "  O,  Athenians,  I  honour  and  love  you,  but  I  shall 
obey  God  rather  than  you  ;  and  as  long  as  I  breathe  and  am 
able,  I  shall  not  cease  studying  philosophy,  and  exhorting  you, 
and  warning  any  of  you  I  may  happen  to  meet,  saying  as  I 
have  been  accustomed  to  do, — O  best  of  men  (seeing  you  are 
Athenians),  of  a  city  the  most  powerful  and  renowned  for  wis- 
dom and  strength,  are  you  not  ashamed  of  being  careful  for 
riches  ?  how  you  may  acquire  them  in  greatest  abundance  ?  and 


102 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


also  for  glory  and  honour,  and  care  not,  and  take  not  any  thought 
for  wisdom  and  truth,  and  for  your  soul,  how  it  may  be  made 
most  perfect.*  .  .  . 

"  Perhaps,  however,  it  may  appear  absurd,  that  I,  going  about 
thus,  advise  you  in  private,  and  make  myself  busy,  but  never 
venture  to  present  myself  in  public  before  your  assemblies,  and 
give  advice  to  the  city.  The  cause  is  this,  which  you  have 
often,  and  in  many  places,  heard  me  mention,  because  /  am 
moved  hy  a  certain  divine  and  spiritual  influence,  which  also 
Mellitus,  through  mockery,  has  set  out  in  this  indictment.  This 
began  with  me  from  childhood,  being  a  kind  of  voice,  which, 
when  present,  always  diverts  me  from  what  I  am  about  to  do, 
but  never  urges  me  on.  This  it  is  which  opposed  my  meddling 
in  public  politics,  and  it  appears  tiO  me  to  have  opposed  me 
very  properly.  For  be  well  assured,  O  Athenians,  if  I  had 
long  since  intermeddled  with  politics,  I  should  have  perished 
long  ago,  and  should  not  at  all  have  benefitted  you  or  myself. 
And  be  not  angry  with  me  for  speaking  the  truth.  For  it  is 
not  possible  that  any  man  should  be  safe  who  sincerely  opposes 
either  you  or  any  other  multitude,  and  who  prevents  many  un- 
just and  illegal  actions  from  being  committed  in  a  city ;  but  it 
is  necessary  that  he  who  in  earnest  contends  for  justice,  if  he 
Avill  be  safe  but  for  a  short  time,  should  live  privately,  and 
take  no  part  in  public  affairs."! 

Socrates  was  assuredly  in  some  degree  under  the  dominion 
of  "  that  certain  divine  and  spiritual  influence"  of  which  he 
speaks,  when  "  the  kind  of  voice,"  which  began  to  be  heard  by 
him  from  childhood,  breathed  those  thoughts  into  his  soul. 
■  His  mission  was  to  proclaim  great  truths,  to  inculcate  phi- 
losophy, to  elevate  and  purify  men's  thoughts,  and  his  proper 
sphere  was  the  school  and  the  academic  grove.  He  thought, 
while  his  labours  for  humanity  were  performed  within  those 
limits,  his  life  and  liberty  were  safe. 

An^  in  that  opinion  he  was  mistaken.    Savonarola's  mission 

*  Plato's  Works,  Trans,  by  Carj.  Apol  of  Socrat.  Bo/m'x  ed.  vol.  i. 
p.  17.  ^  t  Ibid.  p.  19. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


103 


was  to  proclaim  the  highest  of  all  truths,  to  inculcate  the  most 
divine  of  all  philosophy — but  it  extended  farther — it  imposed 
the  necessity  of  declaring  open  war  with  those  who  had  brought 
scandals  on  that  divine  philosophy,  and  had  become  false  to  its 
interests,  and  were  at  open  enmity  with  the  author  of  it.  His 
teaching  was  not  to  be  clothed  in  mystic  language,  comprehen- 
sible only  to  the  higher  order  of  intelligence.  The  sphere  of 
his  mission  was  not  in  private  places,  surrounded  by  ingenuous 
youths  and  literary  sages,  the  elite  of  the  society  of  a  great  city. 

His  mission  had  to  be  preached  in  the  pulpit,  publicly  and 
plainly  ;  his  exhortations  had  to  be  articulately  spoken  to  the 
multitude,  to  the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  to  young  and  old,  the 
learned  and  the  illiterate,  to  politicians  who  perverted  religion 
for  purposes  of  state,  and  to  spiritual  chiefs  who  converted 
sacred  things  and  offices  to  purposes  of  gain. 

There  is  a  great  moral  in  the  lesson  of  the  life  and  death  of 
Girolamo  Savonarola,  which  deeply  concerns  the  interests  of 
Christianity,  the  interests  of  the  members  of  all  churches,  the 
interests  temporal  and  eternal  of  all  men  who  believe  in  the 
Gospel,  and  think  that  divine  revelation  was  intended  to  pro- 
mote the  good  of  all  grades  of  society,  to  advance  the  glory  of 
God,  to  separate  His  Church  from  the  worship  of  mammon,  and 
to  preserve  religion  from  all  corrupting  influences  and  connexions 
inimical  to  its  purity,  simplicity,  and  independence. 

There  perhaps  never  was  a  period  in  the  history  of  man,  when 
a  more  general  feeling  prevailed  throughout  Christendom  than 
at  the  present  time,  that  the  purity  of  religion,  and  the  preser- 
vation of  it  from  degrading  influences,  are  matters  of  the 
highest  importance  to  mankind. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  felt  by  the  Christian  world,  that 
religion  has  been  too  long  and  too  closely  connected  with  the 
state  ;  that  it  has  been  protected  by  it  principally  and  primarily 
for  political  purposes,  and  that  the  protection  it  has  afforded 
has  not  been  beneflcial  to  religion,  to  morality,  or  even  to  the 
civil  rights  of  the  people  of  any  country  wher(>  the  Church  has 
been  thus  connected  and  enslaved. 


104 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


There  is  evidence,  in  fact,  forced  on  us  in  every  direction,  that 
Christianity  revolts  at  the  results  of  that  connexion,  and  will  not 
endure  a  continuation  of  the  evil. 

Nothing  is  found  to  have  accrued  from  it  calculated  to  ad- 
vance the  interests  of  humanity,  to  spiritualize  and  to  elevate 
men  in  the  scale  of  beings  destined  for  immortality,  and  in- 
tended here  for  progressive  amelioration  in  their  condition, 
moral  and  intellectual. 

The  old  idea  of  regenerating  nations  by  abolishing  or  discre- 
diting religion,  has  been  acted  on  by  nearly  all  the  continental 
revolutionists ;  and  their  efforts  have  failed  of  success,  and  the 
latest  failures  have  been  m.ore  signally  unsuccessful  than  their 
earliest  attempts. 

A  feeling  generally  prevails  in  the  minds  of  all  thinking  per- 
sons, though  it  does  not  frequently  find  expression  in  our  poli- 
tical or  polemical  literature,  that  the  influences  of  mammon  over 
mind  and  spirit,  in  these  latter  times,  are  becoming  too  potent 
for  mere  secular  education  to  counteract :  that  the  idolatry  of 
wealth  is  producing  a  demoralizing  influence  on  society,  shut- 
ting out  all  that  is  ennobling  in  religion  from  man's  \iew,  chain- 
ing down  all  energies  of  the  mind  and  body  to  the  promotion 
of  mere  material  interests,  introducing  a  black  heathenism  into 
the  heart  of  civilization,  associating  all  forces  for  the  concen- 
tration of  capital  in  the  hands  of  a  monied  aristocracy,  and  for 
repressing  all  liberties  that  are  not  favourable  to  the  interests 
and  the  objects  of  the  worshippers  of  mammon. 

A  strong  conviction  has  come  on  the  minds  of  vast  numbers 
of  reflecting  people,  that  no  other  antagonist  can  be  brought 
against  this  enormous  power  than  that  of  religion,  unconnected 
with  the  state  and  uncontaminated  by  it. 

It  will  not  do  for  the  members  of  one  church  to  proclaim  this 
doctrine  for  the  repression  of  the  injustice  of  another,  which  is 
exercised  at  their  expense,  while  they  are  content  themselves  to 
have  their  own  ecclesiastical  system  peculiarly  favoui'ed,  pro- 
tected, and  exclusively  endowed,  by  a  civil  government. 

If  the  doctrine  be  good  in  the  case  of  any  one  particular 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


105 


church,  of  the  necessity  for  the  independence  of  rehgion,  tlie 
separation  of  the  clergy  from  political  cares,  from  state  influences, 
and  pecuniary  obligations  to  governments,  the  support  -of  all 
churches  to  the  voluntary  contributions  of  those  who  belong  to 
them,  and  the  full  and  unfettered  right  of  every  church  to  carry 
out  its  own  ecclesiastical  government  without  any  interference 
of  the  civil  power, — then  it  is  desirable  that  the  doctrine  should 
be  adopted  by  all  churches. 

The  interests  of  religion,  rightly  understood,  and  those  of 
liberty  and  of  civilization,  are  identical. 

The  government  of  the  Church,  and  the  administration  of 
the  ci\il  power,  are  separate  concerns,  with  separate  duties  and 
responsibilities. 

The  highest  crime  against  God,  wc  are  told  by  theologians, 
is  that  of  simony.  The  greatest  punishment  of  that  sin,  it 
would  appear  from  the  history  of  the  times  of  which  this  work 
treats,  is  the  corruption  of  the  ministers  of  religion.  And  the 
greatest  evils  that  can  arise  from  tyrannical  government,  is  the 
aid  which  abused  temporal  power  derives  from  corrupted  spi- 
ritual authority,  in  alliance  with  the  state. 

Of  all  men  of  singular  mark  and  exalted  merit,  eminently 
great  and  good,  master-spirits  of  their  age  and  country,  who 
have  left  the  stamp  of  their  genius  and  originality  on  the  time 
and  clime  in  which  they  flourished — none  have  suffered  so 
much  injustice  from  their  cotemporaries,  or  have  had  so  much 
wrong  done  to  their  memories  in  after-ages,  as  the  eloquent, 
bold,  uncompromising  preacher  of  Gospel  truth,  the  undaunted 
denouncer  of  all  unchristian  courses  in  high  places,  of  all  abuses 
in  his  Church,  in  its  court,  and  in  religious  orders — the  Domi- 
nican friar  of  Ferrara,  Girolamo  Savonarola,  who  suffered  death 
in  Florence,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1498. 

A.  large  portion  of  the  learned,  and,  alas  !  the  religious  world, 
with  few  exceptions,  either  are  unacquainted  with  his  works, 
or  knowing  them  at  the  hands  of  compilers  or  critics  having 
no  sympathies  with  his  opinions,  hold  the  author  cither  in  sus- 
picion or  contempt,  or  abhorrence. 


106 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Fra  Girolamo  figures  in  a  variety  of  categories.  He  is  a 
heretic  with  some,  a  fanatic  with  others,  a  sacerdotal  demagogue 
^vith.  many,  a  reformer  of  a  suspicious  character  with  several. 

He  appears  to  have  been  considered  an  amiable  and  pious 
enthusiast  by  a  great  many,  alas  !  by  great  numbers  of  our 
literary  people  of  note,  as  one  verging  on  insanity,  whom  it 
might  have  been  better  to  have  shut  up  in  an  asylum  for  the 
insane,  than  to  have  strangled  and  then  burnt  at  a  stake,  on 
account  of  his  alleged  extravagances. 

With  a  few,  however,  who  have  read  some  of  his  works,  and 
not  read  of  them  only,  but  v/ho  have  tracked  out  in  the  mine 
of  history  the  small  vein  of  truth  regarding  this  man,  that  runs 
through  the  notices  of  his  cotemporaries,  of  his  career  and  its 
termination — who  have  no  purpose  to  serve  but  to  find  out  the 
truth,  and  to  tell  it,  utterly  irrespective  of  its  bearings  on  the 
unhappy  polemics  of  our  times — Savonarola  holds  the  character 
of  a  great  Christian  hero. 

He  appears  to  have  been  raised  up  by  Providence  at  a  crisis 
more  terrible  and  perilous,  perhaps,  than  any  that  has  preceded 
or  has  followed  it,  to  cry  out  against  the  iniquities  that  damaged 
and  endangered  his  Church,  and  to  combat  with  the  enemies 
within  its  gates,  and  those  that  beset  its  altars  and  its  throne. 

The  intrepid  Dominican  preached  incessantly  on  the  calamities 
of  the  Church,  against  the  chief  and  heads  of  the  clergy,  to 
whom  he  ascribed  them  ;  predicted  that  religion  would  be  re- 
newed, and  prayed  for  that  renewal  with  all  the  fervour  of  a 
man  whose  soul  was  absorbed  in  that  one  object. 

The  Medici,  in  their  turn,  and  their  adherents,  denounced 
what  they  deemed  fanaticism,  licentiousness,  and  democratic 
doctrines  in  the  pulpit :  they  made  war  on  Savonarola.  They 
first  egged  on  the  money  traffickers  of  Florence,  the  Lombards 
having  banking  interests  to  protect,  against  the  divine  who  de- 
nounced their  usurious  practices.  They  then  set  the  Franciscan 
monks  of  Florence  against  the  Dominican — pulpit  was  pitted 
against  pulpit,  preacher  was  excited  against  preacher.  Religion 
was  dragged  into  the  service  of  politics,  and  the  ministers  of 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


lOT 


peace  were  engaged  in  mortal  conflict  with  the  characters  and 
the  orthodoxy  of  the  faith  of  one  another. 

Savonarola's  denunciations  against  the  abuses  in  the  Church, 
and  the  scandal  of  the  life  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  were  answered 
with  imputations  on  his  own  faith,  and  accusations  of  all  kinds 
against  him,  in  all  his  relations,  both  public  and  private. 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  Savonarola's  vehement 
predication  of  the  necessity  for  the  renovation  of  the  Church, 
this  continuous  cry  de  Planctu  Ecclesiae,  was  from  the  time  of 
the  elevation  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  to  the  Pontifical  throne,  to 
the  latter  part  of  1498. 

When  Savonarola  began  to  call  for  a  remedy  for  the  calamities 
of  the  Church,  he,  a  young  Dominican  Friar,  then  about  thirty- 
eight  years  of  age,  there  was  a  German  boy,  in  a  small  town  of 
Saxony,  who  was  destined  one  day  to  become  an  Augustinian 
Friar,  and  in  the  course  of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  to 
make,  not  a  reform  of  the  Church,  but  a  revolution.  If  Savon- 
arola's cry  for  a  salutary  reform  of  abuses  had  not  been  silenced, 
by  a  great  crime  against  justice,  against  Heaven  and  humanity, 
perhaps  that  revolution  might  not  have  taken  place. 

The  labours  of  Savonarola  were  not  limited  to  the  spiritual 
interests  of  the  people ;  the  material  interests  of  the  poor,  and 
the  civil  rights  of  his  fellow-citizens,  were  the  frequent  objects 
of  his  solicitude.  His  successes  were  not  confined  to  hie  triumphs 
as  a  preacher,  a  director  of  studies,  a  theologian,  an  exponent  of 
mysteries,  an  interpreter  of  Scripture,  a  denouncer  of  the  abuses  in 
the  court  of  Rome,  a  rebuker  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  of  unhappy 
memory,  and  the  Cardinal  Princes  of  his  court,  a  bewailer  of 
the  calamities  of  the  Church,  eventually  a  prophet  of  evil  to 
Italy,  of  good  success  to  the  French  sovereign,  of  discomfiture 
to  the  family  of  the  Medici,  and  their  ally,  the  Roman  Pontiff. 

He  took  a  part  in  favour  of  the  Florentine  people,  and  of 
their  republic,  against  the  aristocracy  and  the  merchants  who 
were  princes  there  ;  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  world  since 
Apostolic  days,  at  least,  he  preached  up,  and  successfully  for  a 
long  time,  a  solemn  league  and  covenant  between  the  rights  of 


108 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  people  and  the  interests  of  religion ;  between  civil  liberty 
and  Church  government ;  between  the  people  and  the  priest- 
hood ;  between  civilization  and  Christianity. 

This  grand  idea  to  have  alone  conceived  was  a  merit  which 
should  entitle  the  memory  of  Savonarola  to  eternal  honour  ;  to 
the  gratitude,  even,  of  Mazzini  and  his  associates,  if  peradven- 
ture  they  loved  the  liberty  of  Italy  more  than  they  hated  the 
name  of  Priests  and  of  Religion. 

A  man  has  to  expect  not  much  quiet  in  this  world,  who  has 
fixed  principles  of  truth,  integrity,  and  justice,  which  he  wiU 
not  swerve  from,  in  any  trial  of  his  virtue  ;  who  is  ready  at  all 
times,  and  at  all  hazards,  to  uphold  these  principles ;  who  is 
firm  in  his  belief  in  the  goodness  and  justice  of  God ;  w^ho  is 
faithful  to  the  interests  of  humanity,  free  from  all  selfishness 
and  fear,  and  reliant  on  the  Divine  protection. 

Men  of  exalted  religious  sentiments,  of  heroic  purposes,  of  a 
nature  that  revolts  at  hypocrisy,  and  at  meanness  and  worldli- 
ness,  as  well  as  impiety ;  men  so  constituted,  thrown  on  bad 
tunes,  and  amongst  peoj)le  divested  of  all  spiritual  influences, 
have  great  wars  to  wage,  many  mighty  difficulties  to  contend 
with,  unscrupulous  enemies  to  provoke,  powerful  interests  to 
offend,  and  unceasing  efforts  to  depreciate,  discredit,  and  defame 
them,  to  encounter. 

A  reformer,  destined  and  qualified  to  attempt  and  to  achieve 
great  things,  to  leave  the  impress  of  his  opinions  on  the  minds 
of  his  countrymen,  and  on  those  of  people  in  other  lands,  hun- 
dreds of  years  after  his  death,  is  to  be  known  not  by  the  reports 
alone  of  his  cotemporaries,  or  the  results  even  of  the  mission 
that  had  been  apparently  assigned  to  him,  apart  from  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  times  in  which  his  lot  had  been  cast,  and  his 
fortunes  had  been  thrown  for  good  or  evil,  and  those  preceding 
times  also,  in  wliich  the  relations  of  Church  and  State  under- 
went vicissitudes  that  influenced  succeeding  ages. 


OF  SAVONAROLA.  109 


CHAPTER  V. 

SAVONAEOLA's    return    to    FLORENCE.  THE    SCENE    OF  HIS 

FUTURE  LABOURS  AT  THE  INSTANCE  OF  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI. 

 RE-APPEARANCE  IN  THE  PULPIT  ;  SIGNAL  SUCCESS  THERE. 

 PREDICTED    CALAMITIES    OF     ITALY. — BEGINNING    OF  THE 

STRUGGLE  WITH  PAGANISM,  IN  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  RE- 
LIGION. 1490. 

"  In  qua  Ego  nactus,  ut  mihi  videbar,  locum  resecandse  libidinis  et  coer- 
cendae  Juventutis,  vehemens  fui,  atque  omnes  profudi  vires  animi  atque 
ingenii  mei,  non  odio  adductus  alicujus,  sed  spe  reipublicae  corrigendae  et 
sanandse  civitatis.    Afflicta  est  Respublica  ! 

Cic.  Epist.  ad  Attic.  1.  i.  Ep.  18. 

A  LARGE  field  was  required  for  the  mission  of  Savonarola. 
The  unimportant  towns  and  small  cities  in  which  the  commu- 
nities of  his  order  were  located  throughout  Lombardy  and 
Tuscany,  which  had  been  the  theatres  of  his  recent  missionary 
labours,  afforded  not  a  sufficient  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his 
extraordinary  gifts,  and  great  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
Accident  seemed  to  have  led  to  his  being  sent  in  the  year  1485, 
by  his  superiors,  to  assist  at  a  chapter-general  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  Lombardy,  in  Reggio,  for  the  discussion  and  regulation 
of  various  matters  of  discipline  of  the  Dominican  order. 

Many  learned  laymen  and  theologians  of  various  orders 
assisted  at  that  chapter.  The  acts  of  this  assembly  make  special 
mention  of  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola.  Among  the  learned  lay- 
men who  came  there  to  hear  the  discussions,  was  the  celebrated 
John  Pico,  Count  of  Mirandola — one  of  the  most  learned  men 
of  his  age — uncle  of  John  Francis  Pico,  of  Mirandola,  the 
biographer  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

The  Count,  who  happened  to  be  at  Reggio  on  some  business 
at  the  time  of  the  chapter,  had  probably  heard  of  the  signal 


110 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYRDOM 


gifts  and  graces  which  rumour  had  already  begun  to  ascribe  to 
Savonarola. 

All  that  is  known  with  certainty  of  his  attendance  at  the 
chapter-general  of  Reggio  is^  that  it  procured  for  Savonarola 
the  friendship  of  that  prodigy  of  learning,  and  eminently  pious 
person ;  and  on  the  return  of  the  Count  to  the  court  of  Florence, 
ultimately  caused  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  the  Magnificent,  to  signify 
to  the  prior  of  San  Marco  his  wish  to  have  Savonarola'  called 
to  Florence,  and  permanently  established  there. 

It  was  not,  however,  till  the  "year  1490,  at  the  repeated  soli- 
citations of  the  Count,  that  Savonarola  was  at  length  sent  to 
Florence,  and  established  in  the  convent  of  San  Marco,  in  the 
office  of  "  Master  of  sciences,  and  instructor  of  the  community 
in  the  ways  of  the  Lord."* 

Let  the  reader  picture  to  himself  the  monk  who  had  withdrawn 
from  Florence  upwards  of  seven  years  previously,  so  discouraged 
by  his  failure  in  the  pulpit  as  to  be  hopeless  of  ever  appearing 
again  there  as  a  preacher,  now,  in  his  thirty-eighth  year,  turning 
his  steps  to  the  same  city  in  obedience  to  his  superiors,  fully 
conscious  that  mighty  labours  were  before  him,  that  he  was 
charged  with  a  great  mission  and  must  perform  the  duties  of  it, 
and  with  a  presentiment  in  his  mind  that  nothing  could  remove, 
that  he  must  die  in  the  discharge  of  them  in  that  very  city  to 
which  he  was  now  wending  his  way  on  foot,  after  recent  illness 
and  in  a  debilitated  state,  in  the  fierce  heats  of  summer. 

Let  the  reader  follow  the  poor  Dominican  on  his  weary  route 
to  the  village  of  Pianora,  near  Bologna,  and  mark  his  worn  look, 
how  he  yields  to  the  fatigue,  exhaustion,  and  indisposition  with 
which  he  is  overpowered  ;  and  finding  that  he  is  wholly  unable  to 
proceed  on  his  journey,  lays  himself  down  on  the  road  side  ;  how 
it  seems  as  if  the  hand  of  God  was  bringing  his  career  to  a  sudden 
close.  And  then  let  the  reader  be  reminded  that  Providence 
had  other  designs  in  regard  to  that  weary  man  lying  before  him 
in  apparent  extremity,  by  the  appearance  of  a  stranger,  unex- 

*  Sommario  della  Vita,  par  Eians,  p.  19. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


Ill 


pectedly  approaching,  bending  over  the  exhausted  traveller,  and, 
like  the  good  Samaritan,  performing  for  him  acts  of  mercy  and 
much-needed  kindness  —  raising  him  from  the  ground — aiding 
him  to  walk  to  an  adjacent  place  of  entertainment — there  help- 
ing him  with  his  own  hand  with  such  restoratives  as  he  required — 
then  setting  out  with  him  when  he  finds  himself  sufficiently 
refreshed  and  strengthened — and  accompanying  him  even  to  the 
gates  of  Florence,  and  there  parting  with  him,  recommending 
him  to  accomplish  the  mission  which  was  given  him  by  God. 

Burlamacchi  says,  the  words  addressed  to  Fra  Girolamo — 
"  Fa  che  tu  facci  quello,  perche  sei  mandato  da  Dio  " — were  no 
sooner  spoken  than  the  stranger  disappeared,  and  was  seen  no 
more  by  Savonarola.  This  account,  says  Burlamacchi,  was  given 
by  Fra  Bartholomeo  de  Faenza,  a  man  of  great  sanctity,  and 
who  twice  was  Vicar-general  of  the  congregation  of  Tuscany, 
which  account  he  said  was  given  to  him  by  Fra  Girolamo  him- 
self. This  Fra  Bartholomeo  was  of  such  a  reputation  in  his 
time,  that  Pietro  Sodereni,  Gonfalionieri  Perpetual  of  Florence, 
proposed  him  to  Julius  the  Second  for  the  archbishopric  of  the 
city.  * 

The  monk  who  left  Florence,  in  poor  estimation  with  his 
brethren  of  San  Marco  in  1482,  came  back  in  1490,  with  a  great 
prestige  for  sanctity  and  proficiency  in  the  sacred  sciences. 

The  Florentines  received  him  with  manifestations  of  joy  and 
satisfaction.  And  we  are  told  their  surprise  was  wonderful,  at 
observing  how  great  a  change  had  taken  place  in  his  deportment, 
demeanour,  voice,  and  gesture.  A  gracious  sweetness,  that 
seemed  to  them  ineffable,  had  spread  over  his  features,  and  ex- 
tended to  his  mode  of  speaking,  and  to  his  mien  and  manners. 

His  instructions  to  the  community  in  the  sacred  sciences  and 
the  Scriptures,  were  usually  given  in  the  garden  of  the  convent, 
from  a  small  chapel  in  the  centre,  and  were  attended  by  a  vast 
concourse  of  people  of  distinction  in  the  city,  of  the  court,  and 
of  the  schools  of  learning  and  of  art. 

The  intellect  and  piety  of  Florence  were  taken  as  if  by  storm 

*  Bur.  Vita,  de  Sav.  Mis.  Bahizii,  torn.  i.  p.  5:35. 


112 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


by  the  irresistible  eloquence  of  Fra  Girolamo.  His  renommee 
extended  not  only  over  Florence,  but  reached  even  to  Rome 
itself. 

At  length  he  was  prevailed  on  by  the  prior  of  San  Marco, 
Fra  Domingo  de  Ferrara,  to  deliver  his  lectures  in  the  church. 

This  was  in  the  middle  of  the  year  1490.  Not  without  agi- 
tation and  manifest  trouble  of  mind  did  he  ascend  the  pulpit 
once  more  in  Florence,  and  addi'ess  the  largest  audience  he  had 
ever  seen  congregated  in  a  church  up  to  that  period.  He  seemed 
for  some  minutes  to  be  absorbed  in  deep  and  solemn  thought — he 
then  proceeded  with  his  discourse^  and  after  another  solemn 
pause,  and  apparent  meditation  on  things  of  high  importance, 
he  said,  calmly  and  distinctly,  "  I  w^ill  preach  in  the  church  to- 
morrow, and  I  will  continue  thus  to  do  for  the  space  of  eight 
years." 

This  was  in  the  middle  of  1490 ;  in  the  spring  of  1498  he 
was  to  put  to  death.* 

About  this  period,  the  biographers  of  Savonarola  make  men- 
tion of  various  supernatural  intimations  made  to  devout  people, 
confirmatory  of  the  opinion  that  began  to  prevail  at  this  time, 
that  Fra  Girolamo  was  eminently  favoured  by  God,  and  en- 
dowed with  great  spiritual  gifts. 

With  these  accounts  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  trouble  the 
readers  of  the  Life  of  Savonarola,  though  neither  discrediting 
them  wholly,  nor  doubting  the  trustworthmess  of  Burlamacchi, 
or  of  Mirandola,  when  they  speak  of  their  own  knowledge  of  mat- 
ters they  narrate,  or  that  had  been  related  to  them  by  Savonarola. 

Omitting,  then,  such  relations,  except  in  a  single  instance, 
which  seems  to  me  connected  in  an  important  way  with  the  his- 
tory of  Savonarola's  revelation,  I  will  merely  observe,  that  in 
all  ages,  when  the  pre-eminent  sanctity  of  any  person  has  been 
accompanied  by  generally  accredited  illumination  of  the  spirit, 
exliibited  in  visions  or  revelations,  or  when  such  sanctity  has 
been  supposed  by  others  to  be  so  accompanied,  there  is  always  a 
great  tendency  in  the  public  mind  to  dispose  the  mental  fa- 
*  Hist,  de  Sav.  par  M.  Piget  Carle,  p.  106. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


113 


culties  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  may  be  prepared  to  give 
every  admission  to  evidence  that  passing  events  at  all  out  of 
the  common  course  of  things  may  seem  to  confirm,  and  thus  cor- 
roborate the  prevailing  opinion  of  the  existence  of  those  special 
manifestations  of  spiritual  illumination  to  which  I  have  referred. 
There  is,  in  short,  a  disj^osition  to  confirm  accounts  of  this  sort 
by  all  kinds  of  testimony,  and  it  requires  much  discrimination 
and  judgment  to  examine  the  evidence,  and  sift  the  statements  of 
attesting  persons,  and  to  separate'  facts  from  impressions  of  them. 

Burlamacchi  says,  "  There  was  a  priest  of  Florence,  of  noble 
family,  named  Prospero  Pitti,  a  canon  of  the  cathedral  church? 
a  doctor  of  the  civil  and  canon  law,  a  man  of  a  most  holy  life, 
and  accounted  highly  favoured  by  God,  and  in  the  possession 
even  of  the  gift  of  prophecy.  He  was  especially  given  to  the 
study  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  in  such  veneration  did  he 
hold  them,  that  when  he  studied  them  he  always  knelt  down, 
and  remained  kneeling  before  the  crucifix,  praying  and  medi- 
tating. He  gave  to  the  poor  all  his  revenue  over  and  above  the 
bare  amount  that  served  to  provide  the  necessaries  of  life  for 
him,  and  with  charity  he  administered  the  word  of  God  and 
the  Holy  Sacraments  to  his  flock.  Long  before  Savonarola's 
time,  in  Florence,  he  predicted  the  downfall  of  the  Medici,  the 
judgments  on  Italy,  and  the  renovation  of  the  Church. 

"  And  he  predicted  also  to  Zanobi  Acciajoli,  sixteen  years  be- 
fore his  arrival  in  Italy,  that  he  would  not  continue  to  wear  the 
secular  habit  of  a  secular  priest,  but  would  be  received  into  the 
Dominican  order  ;  as  in  effect  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  was  in- 
vested with  the  habit  in  the  convent  of  San  Marco,  at  the  hands 
of  Fra  Girolamo.  He  states,  that  before  the  renovation  of  the 
Church,  there  would  be  seen  a  large  crucifix  of  a  red  colour  in 
the  air,  and  many  other  miraculous  signs ;  after  which,  the 
Turks  would  be  converted,  which  things  would  happen  after 
those  signs  had  been  seen  from  the  mountains  of  Apulia,  and  then 
the  church  would  be  renewed,  and  all  Italy  would  b(^  destroyed 
•  disbrutta  ;  '  foretelling  also,  the  advent  of  a  pontifif  of  an  an* 
gelic  character. 

VOL.  I.  I 


114 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


"  He  said  also,  that  he  had  prayed  God  to  send  many  preachers 
to  prepare  people  for  the  judgments  to  come,  and,  in  particular, 
he  foretold  that  one  should  come, — a  prophet  of  the  order  of 
preachers, — who  should  accomplish  great  things  in  Florence,  and 
after  much  fruit  would  be  obtained  by  his  labours,  that  his 
death  would  happen.  On  one  occasion,  the  morning  of  Holy 
Saturday,  this  excellent  ecclesiastic,  Messer  Prospero  Pitti, 
coming  to  the  church  to  hear  a  sermon,  no  sooner  caught  the 
sound  of  the  voice  of  the  preacher,  who  happened  to  be  Savo- 
narola, as  he  was  repeating  those  words  — '  gladius  domini 
super  terram  cito  et  velociter,'  than  he  drooped  his  head,  and  with 
his  face  covered  with  his  two  hands,  he  remained  in  profound 
meditation  for  some  minutes,  and  then  said  to  his  nephew.  Carlo 
Pitti,  who  was  sitting  beside  him,  '  That  preacher  is  the  holy 
•prophet  of  whom  I  spahe  to  you  ten  years  ago.''  "* 

Here  we  have  a  prior  claim  to  Savonarola's,  by  a  term  of  ten 
years,  to  the  gift  of  prophecy,  in  relation  to  the  calamities  that 
were  about  to  fall  on  Italy,  and  likewise  the  renovation  of  the 
Church. 

If  to  the  calamities  occasioned  by  the  invasion  of  Italy  by 
Charles  the  Eighth  of  France,  be  added  the  misfortunes  occa- 
sioned by  the  ravages  of  Caesar  Borgia,  the  language  ascribed 
to  the  canon  Prospero  Pitti,  in  speaking  of  the  miserable  con- 
dition to  which  Italy  was  to  be  reduced,  would  not  be  too  strong. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  whole  history  of  the  times,  their 
terrible  evils,  and  the  outrages  against  humanity  and  religion 
that  were  then  perpetrated  habitually  and  with  impunity,  the 
judgments  of  heaven  might  have  been  anticipated  by  men  ex- 
ercising their  reason  only  in  relation  to  those  times  ;  and  by  men 
eminently  spiritual  and  sanctified,  those  judgments  may  have  been 
made  obvious  to  the  inward  sense  of  consciousness,  that,  when 
illuminated  by  God,  is  endowed  with  powers  of  sight  that  are 
capable  of  penetrating  into  futurity,  far  beyond  the  range  of 
outward  vision. 

But  though  there  is  nothing  in  the  account  given  by  Burla- 
*  Burlamacchi,  Yita  Savon,  p.  534. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


115 


macchi,  of  the  supernatural  gifts  of  the  canon  Pitti,  that  may 
not  be  possibly  authentic,  and  probably  founded  on  some  actual 
truths ;  we  cannot  admit  the  evidence  which  Burlamacchi  has 
adduced  in  support  of  the  truth  of  the  canon's  relation,  re- 
specting his  previous  knowledge  of  Savonarola's  prophetic  cha- 
racter. Burlamacchi  rests  satisfied  with  establishing  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  canon  by  whom  the  'revelations  were  made. 
But  he  forgets  that  the  testimony  of  the  nephew  of  Pitti  is  of  no 
less  importance  than  the  uncle's.  For  it  is  evidently  from  the 
nephew's  report  that  the  uncle's  statement  is  derived  by  Burla- 
macchi, and  yet  he  gives  no  account  whatever  of  the  character 
of  the  latter,  and  never  takes  into  consideration  the  question  of 
his  credibility,  so  entirely  pre-occupied  he  appears  to  have  been 
with  the  idea  of  the  uncle's  sanctity  and  great  fame  for  piety. 

The  calamities  connected  with  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  Charles 
the  Eighth  of  France,  are  alleged  to  have  been  predicted,  not 
only  in  Florence  by  Pitti  and  Savonarola,  but  in  Naples  also  by 
different  persons. 

St.  Vincent  of  Aquila,  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  who  died 
in  1504,  an  ascetic  of  singular  piety  and  zeal  for  God's  honour, 
who  lived  in  the  practice  of  astonishing  austerities,  is  said  by 
Rohi'bacher  to  have  "  possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  to 
have  foretold  to  Ferdinand  of  Arragon,  king  of  Naples,  the 
ravages  which  Charles  the  Eighth  of  France  would  make  in 
his  kingdom ;  and  had  predicted,  also,  the  loss  of  a  battle,  which, 
against  his  advice,  Ferdinand  had  fought  with  the  army  of  the 
Pope,  Innocent  the  Eighth."* 

Another  prediction  of  the  same  calamities  of  Italy,  which 
Savonarola  proclaimed,  connected  with  the  invasion  of  Italy  by 
Charles  the  Eighth,  the  defeat  of  King  Ferdinand  of  Ar- 
ragon, the  sovereign  of  Naples,  and  his  expulsion  from  his  king- 
dom by  the  French,  was  made  public  about  1494  in  Naples, 
and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  most  learned  men  of  Naples, 
and  especially  of  Alexander  ab  Alexandro,  and  also  of  Jovianus 
i^ontanus. 

*  Kohrbacker,  tome  xxii.  p.  278. 

I  2 


116 


TTTE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


The  prediction  I  refer  to,  was  ascribed  to  St.  Cathaldus,  a 
native  of  Ireland,  who  flourished  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh 
century.*  He  was  born  in  Munster,  and  had  been  Bishop  of 
Ratheny,  or  Rashchait,  near  Lismore.  Like  other  Irish  eccle- 
siastics of  his  age,  eminent  for  learning  and  piety,  he  visited 
Rome,  eventually  settled  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  became 
Bishop  of  Tarrento,  in  which  see  he  died,  leaving  a  holy  name 
and  a  great  memory  behind  him.  Dempster,  the  unscrupulous 
claimant  of  the  renown  of  all  itinerant  Irish  saints,  on  behalf  of 
Scotland,  made  a  booty  of  this  celebrated  Irish  prelate,  and  gave 
Archbishop  Usher  the  trouble  of  rescuing  the  stolen  episcopal 
property  of  Ireland,  in  the  birth-place,  sanctity,  and  scholarship 
of  St.  Cathaldus,  from  the  martyrology  of  Dempster's  beatified 
Scotchmen. 

Alexander  ab  Alexandro,  a  celebrated  Neapolitan  and  jurist, 
a  cotemporary  of  Savonarola,  born  in  1461,  and  deceased  in 
Rome  in  1523,  in  his  Geniales  Dies,  lib.  iii.,  gives  a  singular 
account  of  the  prediction  above  referred  to,  in  the  following 
words  : 

"  While  Ferdinand  the  First,  of  Arragon,  was  yet  flourishing 
in  prosperity,  and  the  city  and  kingdom  of  Naples  were  free 
from  the  calamities  of  war,  it  is  well  known  that  the  holy  man, 
St.  Cathaldus,  who  was  Bishop  of  Tarrento  a  thousand  years 
before  that  time,  and  whose  memory  the  people  of  Tarrento  still 
honour  and  reverence,  on  a  tempestuous  night  appeared  in  his 
sleep  to  a  priest,  exercising  the  sacred  functions  and  brought 
up  in  holiness  of  life,  on  two  occasions,  and  admonished  him 
there  was  a  book  written  by  him,  which,  while  living,  he  had 
secreted  in  a  hidden  place,  and  in  which  book  some  secrets  of  a 
divine  nature  were  written,  which  was  to  be  dug  up  by  him, 
and  when  found,  was  to  be  immediately  carried  by  him  to  the 
king. 

^^He,  thinking  it  was  only  a  dream,  and  having  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  it,  one  morning  early,  after  rising,  going  into  the  church, 
Cathaldus  himself  appeared  to  him,  as  he  had  been  in  this  life, 
*  Lannigan's  Ec.  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  121. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


117 


in  his  episcopal  robes ;  and  declared  to  him^  that  if  another  day 
should  pass  over  his  head  without  his  making  the  necessary  ex- 
cavation in  the  secret  place  pointed  out,  in  search  of  the  book 
written  by  him,  and  bringing  the  same  to  the  King,  he  should 
suffer  a  grievous  punishment. 

"  The  next  morning,  with  solemn  pomp,  the  priest,  accom- 
panied by  a  number  of  people,  proceeded  to  the  indicated  place 
of  concealment,  where  for  so  many  ages  the  book  had  been  de- 
posited. And  there,  inscribed  on  leaden  tables,  it  was  found ^ 
as  it  is  well  known,  in  a  coffer  fastened  with  nails. 

"  In  this  writing,  it  is  certain,  the  future  destruction  of  the 
kingdom,  the  miseries,  calamities,  and  lamentable  times,  and  the 
impending  evils  which  afterwards  followed,  were  foretold  to  the 
king  ;  and  which  were  seen  by  us,  and  of  which  we  had  expe- 
rience dearly  purchased. 

"  And  such  divine  virtue  was  there  in  that  prediction,  that 
not  long  after,  Ferdinand,  either  by  the  wrath  of  heaven,  or  the 
uncontrollable  decrees  of  destiny,  at  the  very  commencement  of 
the  war  died,  and  Charles,  King  of  the  French,  invaded  the 
kingdom  with  a  large  army ;  and  Alphonzo,  the  eldest  son  of 
Ferdinand,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  tlu'one  after  his  father's 
death,  having  basely  fled  his  kingdom,  died  in  exile.  And  pre- 
sently, a  young  son  of  Ferdinand,  a  youth  of  great  promise  in 
all  studies,  of  wonderful  proficiency,  the  next  heir  to  the  kiug- 
dom,  involved  in  a  calamitous  and  fatal  war,  in  the  flower  of 
his  age,  was  cut  off  by  a  premature  death.  Afterwards,  the 
French  and  the  Spaniards,  uniting  in  a  joint  claim  to  the  pos- 
session of  the  kingdom,  on  the  flight  of  Frederic,  another  son  of 
Ferdinand  (by  a  prior  marriage),  who  had  succeeded  to  the 
kingdom,  they  invaded  Naples  with  a  numerous  army,  and  took 
possession  of  all  things,  sacred  and  profane.  They  made  a 
division  of  all  property  between  them.  Towns,  villas,  streets, 
were  filled  wdth  slaughter,  and  many  of  those  slain  had  suffered 
the  most  revolting  indignities. 

"  The  villages  and  hamlets  were  made  scenes  of  carnage  and 
rapine,  and  the  provinces  that  had  been  at  all  hostile  were 


118 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


devastated  and  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  by  fire,  and  sword, 
and  lust.  And  if  any  thing  could  have  exceeded  such  calami- 
ties, it  was  the  wretched  fate  of  the  king,  not  yet  deprived  of 
life  by  so  many  misfortunes,  after  his  house  had  been  over- 
turned, such  carnage  had  taken  place  in  the  towns  of  his  king- 
dom, he  himself  cast  forth  from  it,  with  his  wife  and  children, 
leaving  their  homes  and  fortunes  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies  : 
their  country  finally  exhausted  with  disease  and  pestilence,  and 
its  strength  so  wasted  that  to  the  present  time,  in  which  we 
live,  we  have  hardly  yet  ceased  to  tremble,  or  have  arrived  at 
the  knowledge  whether  or  not  we  have  yet  endured  sufficient 
sufferings  and  punishments."* 

The  preceding  account  is  given  by  Alexander,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  shewing  that  "  the  Almighty  is  accustomed,  when  any 
divine  judgment  is  impending  over  kingdoms,  fraught  with 
evils,  dire  or  adverse  to  mankind,  to  make  the  future  manifest 
by  portents  and  prodigies,  and  to  foreshow  the  coming  calamities 
by  other  signs  less  obvious  in  the  heavens ;  and  these  have  been 
made  knoAm  to  us,  and  the  relation  of  them  has  been  given  to 
us  by  credible  authors." 

There  is  a  species  of  literary  imposture,  that  opens  up  a  very  ^ 
curious  subject  of  inquiry  and  of  study  in  the  history,  "  Des 
egarements  de  Tesprit  humain,"  namely,  the  fabrication  of  in- 
scribed metallic  plates,  and  slabs  of  stone,  and  tablets  of  wood 
or  ivory,  purporting  to  be  ancient  documents,  either  historical, 
or  sepulchral,  or  religious  ;  the  depositing  of  the  same  in  ancient 
ruins,  in  tombs,  or  churches,  and  the  pretended  discovery  of 
them  in  times  of  panic  in  the  public  mind,  or  on  emergencies 
of  a  private  nature  affected  by  passing  events,  for  purposes  of 
gain  or  for  the  sake  of  notoriety,  or  from  motives  which  are  in- 
fluenced by  some  peculiar  tendencies  in  the  minds  of  such  im- 
postors, bordering  on  insanity. 

I  am  afraid  the  alleged  discovery  of  the  inscribed  metalhc 
plates,  purporting  to  record  a  prediction  of  St.  Cathaldus,  which 

*  Alexander  Ab  Alexandro,  Geniales  Dies,  torn.  2.  lib.  iii.  p.  734.  12ino. 
Bat.  1673. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


119 


was  made  by  the  saint,  of  events  that  occurred,  not  1,000  years, 
as  Alexander,  the  jurist,  states,  but  eight  centuries  and  a  half 
after  his  death,  must  pass  into  the  category  of  "  Pious  Frauds,"* 
and  that  the  author  of  it  must  be  content  with  the  unenviable 
notoriety  for  his  name,  of  a  place  in  the  same  page  of  history 
with  that  which  records  the  name  of  the  inscriber  of  the  stone 
discovered  at  Murviedo,  in  Spain,  about  1630,  by  certain  persons 
searching  for  an  ancient  tomb,  of  which  there  was  some  tradition, 
with  an  inscription  in  these  words  : 

"  This  is  the  tomb  of  Adoniram,  the  servant  of  King  Solomon, 
who  came  to  collect  the  tribute,  and  who  died  the  day  .  . 
or  that  of  the  fabricator  of  the  plates  of  gold,  found  in  a  tomb  in 
the  church  of  Saint  Sophia,  in  Constantinople,  written,  as  we 
are  assured  by  that  grave  narrator  of  strange  things.  Sir  John 
Mandeville,  "  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  letters,"  predicting 
the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  and  which  "  lay  in  the  earth  two 
thousand  years  before  our  Lord  was  born,"  and,  as  they  say," 
so  inscribed  "  by  Hermogenes,  the  wise  man :"  and  with  those 
other  names  of  modern  contrivers  of  "  ingenious  devices  " — 
Annius  of  Viterbo,  McPherson,  Roger  O'Connor,  and  Joseph 
Smith,  the  apostle  of  the  Mormons. 

In  this  instance,  Bayle  might  have  afforded  to  have  been  per- 
fectly fair,  without  disadvantage  to  his  peculiar  opinions.  But, 
with  his  accustomed  bad  faith  whenever  a  question  was  at  issue 
which  at  all  affected  the  interests  of  religion  or  its  ministers,  he 
threw  in  all  the  weight  of  his  criticism  against  the  authenticity 
of  the  account  given  by  Alexander,  but  he  did  not  quote  the 
brief  but  most  important  relation  given  by  that  author,  while  he 
quoted  the  passages  at  full  length  of  those  who  took  opposite 
views  of  this  affair.  He  has  not  put  the  subject  fairly  before 
his  readers. 

The  main  question  for  them  is,  the  authority  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal cotemporary  narrators  of  this  matter,  and  the  greater  degree 
of  credit  that  is  due  to  one  of  them. 

*  "The  prophecy  (says  Lannigan)  attributed  to  St.  Cat'.aldus,  is  evi- 
dently a  forgery  made  up  on  the  occasion  of  those  troubles." — Ecclcs.  Hist, 
of  Ireland,  vol.  iii.  p.  123.  8to.  Bub.  1822. 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Pontanus,  a  celebrated  scholar,  an  astrologer,^  poet,  and  his- 
torian—  a  cotemporary  and  a  countryman  of  Alexander  Ab 
Alexandro,  who  died  in  1503,  and  of  whom  Erasmus  speaks  as 
being  equal  to  Cicero  in  the  elegance  and  dignity  of  his  style — 
treats  at  some  length  of  this  alleged  prediction  of  St.  Cathaldus. 

He  states  that  the  priest  w^ho  figured  in  this  business  was  a 
Spanish  friar,  ill  instructed,  but  bold  in  the  pulpit,  and  a  pre- 
tender to  celestial  communications.  He  had  endeavoured 
ineffectually  to  induce  Ferdinand  to  banish  the  Jews  out  &f 
Naples,  and  then  adopted  the  plan  in  question  to  work  on  his 
fears.  He  engraved  some  words  on  a  leaden  plate,  which  he 
made  St.  Cathaldus  author  of,  and  buried  it,  and  after  three 
years,  having  suborned  a  priest  to  pretend  to  a  coramunication 
with  the  Saint,  caused  it  to  be  dug  up.  The  words  were  enig- 
matical, and  pointed  to  the  extii-pation  of  Judaism;  but  the 
king  was  enjoined  not  to  read  the  printing,  except  with  the 
assistance  of  a  very  virtuous  servant.  The  king,  suspecting  the 
cheat,  did  not  employ  the  monk  to  decipher  it.  The  latter  was 
incensed,  and  raised  a  clamour  which  spread  over  all  the  states 
of  Italy. 

Goulart,  in  his  edition  of  the  works  of  Camerarius,*  gives 
forty-two  French  verses,  jDiurportiiig  to  be  a  translation  of  the 
prophecy  of  Cathaldus,  wherein  the  French  poet  makes  the 
Saint  who  menaced  Ferdinand  with  such  awful  evils,  promise 
some  future  king  of  France  all  kmds  of  blessings. 

Anthony  Caraccioli  published  a  Chronology,  in  which  he  says, 
the  plates  were  dug  out  of  the  ground  in  1494,  in  wliich  the 
sudden  death  of  the  king  was  spoken  of,  and  that  the  king  soon 
after  died. 

Ferdinand  certainly  died  that  year,  but  other  writers  state  the 
digging  up  of  the  leaden  box  took  place  in  1492 ;  at  all  events, 
the  evils  foretold  in  the  writings  did  occur,  and  the  death  also 
within  a  period  of  two  years. 

Savonarola  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  pulpit  of  San 
Marco,  after  his  return  to  Florence  as  a  preacher,  on  Sunday, 
*  Hist.  Camerarii,  p.  48,  Ap.  Bayle,  art.  Catil. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


121 


the  1st  of  August,  1490.  His  previous  appearance  there  was 
as  a  lecturer,  rather  than  a  pulpit  orator.  On  the  occasion  above 
referred  to,  he  commenced  a  course  of  expositions  of  the  Apo- 
calypse, and  the  numbers  of  people  who  flocked  to  the  church 
were  quite  unprecedented.  There  must  have  been  something 
in  the  manner,  style,  and  matter  of  his  sermons  of  no  ordinary 
description,  for  the  city  became  agitated  by  the  earnest  discus- 
sions that  were  entered  into  in  all  directions  concerning  the  new 
preacher  and  his  doctrine. 

"At  this  time,"  says  Burlamacchi,  "there  arose  great  diversity 
of  opinions  and  contradictions  in  the  city  (on  the  subject  of  Fra 
Girolamo's  preaching),  some  saying  that  he  was  simple  and  well- 
intentioned — some  that  he  was  learned,  but  very  designing — 
many  that  he  gave  credence  to  false  and  absurd  visions,  as  even 
it  had  been  said  of  Christ :  '  Quia  bonus  est,  alii  autem  non, 
sed  seducit  turbas.'  There  were  three  propositions  that  he 
especially  enforced  and  endeavoured  to  impress  on  the  minds  of 
the  people: — 

"  The  first  was,  that  the  Church  of  God  had  to  be  renewed — 
'  renovato/  and  that  in  our  times. 

"  The  second  was,  that  all  Italy  would  be  visited  by  God's 
wrath — '  jiagellato.'' 

"  The  third  was,  that  all  the  things  predicted  would  speedily 
come  to  pass — '  Sarehbono  presto.* 

"  Which  things  he  satisfactorily  shewed  were  to  be  expected, 
by  argument  and  resting  on  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
abstaining  then  from  further  reference  to  visions,  the  people  not 
appearing  much  disposed  to  give  credence  to  them.  But,  in 
course  of  time,  observing  better  disposition  in  his  audience,  he 
began  to  disclose  some  revelations,  but  in  the  form  of  parables 
and  metaphors.  Then  the  exceedingly  disturbed  and  divided 
state  of  public  opinion  becoming  daily  more  manifest,  reflection 
made  him  apprehensive  and  timid,  and  he  resolved  to  preach  no 
more  in  the  same  style.  But,  nevertheless,  every  other  subject 
that  he  studied  or  read  dissatisfied  him,  and  when  he  preached 
on  other  matters,  he  became  still  more  discontented  with  his 


122 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


labours,  and  finally  lie  felt  his  being,  as  it  were,  a  burden  to 
himself.  AVherefore,  commencing  a  series  of  sermons  the  first 
day  of  the  Septuagint,  1490,  in  the  church  of  the  D'Uomo,  in 
the  first  week  having  preached  sufficiently  on  future  events,  he 
purposed  on  the  following  week  to  abandon  that  subject,  and  to 
preach  on  it  no  more.  But,  throughout  the  succeeding  Saturday 
and  the  night  of  that  day,  he  could  not  by  any  possible  efforts 
apply  his  mind  to  other  subjects,  finding  the  way  to  every  other 
consideration  closed,  and  this  one  alone  (of  the  revelations)  open 
to  him. 

"  The  morning  came,  and  found  him,  after  the  long  mental 
conflict  during  a  sleepless  night,  wearied  in  mind  and  body ; 
and  in  this  state  he  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him, — '  Foolish 
man  that  thou  art !  Dost  thou  not  see  that  it  is  the  Avill  of  God 
that  thou  shouldst  preach  in  the  appointed  manner?'  And 
thus  aroused,  he  immediately  felt  restored  to  himself ;  and 
shortly  after  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  preached  a  most  admirable 
and  wonderfully  effective  sermon."* 

In  the  same  year,  1490,  Fra  Girolamo  was  appointed  Prior 
of  the  convent  of  San  Marco.  It  was  now  that  his  mission 
might  be  said  in  reality  to  commence.  The  pulpit  was  now  at 
his  command,  the  mode  and  matter  of  his  sermons  he  could  de- 
termine on  for  himself;  he  had  no  intimation  to  apprehend  that 
offence  had  been  taken  at  his  reprobation  of  vice,  or  impiety, 
by  important  persons  in  the  state  or  the  Church,  or  by  opu- 
lent citizens,  by  some  friend  of  the  convent,  or  some  other  in- 
fluential party  having  relations  with  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent, 
or  the  nuncio,  perhaps,  at  his  court  from  the  Eternal  city,  from 
the  supreme  Pontiff',  Alexander  the  Sixth. 

Our  sympathies  are  enlisted  on  the  side  of  youth  and  bravery, 
when  exposed  to  peril ;  they  are  with  the  soldier,  when  he  goes 
into  battle ;  with  the  poor  man,  when  he  is  engaged  in  unequal 
strife  with  the  oppressor  ;  with  struggling  virtue,  striving  to 
maintain  its  ground  against  villany,  strong  in  the  sense  of  its 


*  Burlamacchi,  Vit.  de  Sav.  p.  535. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


own  security^  and  the  public  favour  that  its  former  successes 
may  have  obtained  for  it. 

Is  there  no  sympathy  for  the  mortal  struggle  of  sanctity  and 
spirituality  with  simony  and  sensuality,  that  is  about  to  com- 
mence in  Florence  ? 

Is  there  no  sympathy  for  the  cause  of  Christian  truth  and  purity, 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  of  the  poor,  of  the  oppressed 
of  the  fold  of  Christ,  that  is  at  stake,  while  "  the  True  Monk," 
who  is  now  the  Prior  of  San  Marco,  is  in  the  breach,  assailing 
the  citadel  of  corruption,  battling  with  abuses,  breaking  down 
the  defences  of  the  enemy,  driving  back  the  forces  of  feudalism 
from  their  entrenchments,  and  confronting  the  proud  merchants 
who  are  princes  at  their  palace  gates,  and  there  risking  every 
thing  in  this  world,  on  the  issue  of  a  contest  with  Paganism  in 
almost  every  Christian  garb,  and  the  philosophy  of  Plato  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  Christ,  in  learning,  art,  education,  morals, 
and  religion  ? 

Is  there  no  sympathy  in  this  world  of  ours  for  the  single- 
minded  champion  of  religion,  this  man  of  heroic  vrrtue,  in  his 
dread  contest  with  power  and  authority,  wealth,  sophistry,  im- 
piety, and  wickedness  ? 

It  cannot  be  in  respect  to  such  a  struggle,  that  the  hearts  of 
civilized  people,  of  any  Christian  creed,  can  partake  of  the  cold, 
ungenial  feelings,  or  the  ungenerous  sentiments  of  animosity 
towards  Savonarola  which  animated  the  breast  of  Bayle,  the 
sneering  enemy  of  the  Christian  faith,  the  unscrupulous  oppo- 
nent of  every  man  who  is  found  to  be  steadfast  in  it.  We 
may  confidently  hope  that  the  malignant  critic,  the  creedless 
Bayle,  who  made  this  struggle  and  its  victim  subjects  of  the 
foulest  slander,  will  cease  to  pass  for  an  authority  in  the  case  of 
the  life  of  Savonarola,  or  indeed  of  any  man  known  to  have 
been  a  firm  believer  in  the  Gospel.  • 


124 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  CONVENT  OF  SAN  MARCO,  IN    FLORENCE.  FRA 

GIROLAMO  APPOINTED  PRIOR.  BEGINNING  OF  THE  MISUN- 
DERSTANDING   BETWEEN  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI  AND    PRA  GI- 

ROKiMO.  SCENES  IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  SAN  MARCO.  EFFORTS 

OF  LORENZO  TO  GAIN  OVER  FRA  GIROLAMO  TO  HIS  INTE- 
RESTS. PULPIT  SET  AGAINST  PULPIT  BY  LORENZO.  DISSEN- 
SIONS OCCASIONED  BY  THE  PREACHING  OF  RIVAL  DOCTRINES. 
—1490  TO  1491. 

"  Beatus  Joannis  pictor  moribus  et  pencillo 
Angelici  cognomen  jure  merito." 

Inscription  u/ider  Fra  Angelica's  Portrait. 

"  Would'st  thou  behold  his  monument  ?    Look  round, 
And  know  that  where  we  stand,  stood  oft  and  long, 

Oft  till  the  day  was  gone,  Eaphael  himself  " 

EoGEEs's  Italy. 

Florence  owes  its  interest  chiefly  to  the  reminiscences  of  its 
great  men,  the  recollections  of  the  stirring  events  of  its  romantic 
history,  the  association  of  ideas  with,  every  phase  of  its  civiliza- 
tion, the  recalled  dramas  of  its  public  and  its  private  life,  so- 
lemn ceremonies  and^  spirit-moving  scenes,  in  its  renowned 
churches,  its  Santo  Croce,  the  time-honoured,  venerable  Duomo, 
the  sacred  edifice  of  San  Marco,  Santa  Maria  Novella,  the  scene 
of  so  many  glorious  efforts  in  the  pulpit  for  the  salvation  of  souls, 
on  the  part  of  Savonarola. 

These  reminiscences  rather,  than  the  grandeur  of  its  public 
buildings,  than  any  beauty  or  uniformity,  spaciousness  or  com- 
modity of  its  public  streets,  give  to  Florence  that  peculiar 
character  of  endearment  with  which  it  is  regarded  by  strangers, 
and  which  seems  to  have  something  to  do  with  veneration  for  the 
memories  of  her  illustrious  citizens. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


125 


The  traveller  who  takes  his  stand  in  the  public  square  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Palazzo  di  Signori,  and  gazes  around  him  at  the 
different  monuments  connected  with  strange  events  and  frightful 
catastrophes,  which  have  occiuTed  in  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  that  place,  the  scene  of  so  many  stirring  events  in  his- 
tory, of  a  mingled  yam  of  horrors  and  of  heroism,  will  have  his 
notice  directed  to  a  structure  more  remarkable  for  the  renown 
and  fate  of  one  who  dwelt  within  its  walls  several  centuries  ago, 
than  for  any  architectural  advantages  or  external  adornment. 
The  Dominican  Convent  and  Church  of  San  Marco  are  before 
him.  He  may  fix  his  eyes,  perhaps,  on  those  dark  walls  of  the 
church,  and  sombre  aspect  of  the  convent,  when  the  bright  moon 
is  shining  on  those  ancient  structures,  making  its  dingy  aspect 
almost  beautiful.  Fancy  may  then  well  exercise  its  powers  in 
such  a  spot,  clothe  the  shadows  on  those  walls  with  flesh  and 
blood,  recall  the  storming  of  that  convent,  in  1498,  with  all 
its  tumult,  its  clamour,  its  torch-lights  flickering  in  the  breeze, 
and  the  glare  of  their  fierce  blaze  thrown  ever  and  anon 
on  the  horrid  faces  of  a  brutal  rabble,  maddened  into  frenzy 
by  the  desperate  resistance  of  the  inmates  of  that  house,  main- 
tained during  so  many  hours  of  the  memorable  night  of  the  as- 
sault. And  from  this  scene  of  external  tumult,  the  mind  may 
sufiTer  itself  to  be  transported  to  the  now  peaceful  seclusion  of 
the  cloisters  and  the  garden,  and  imagine  he  communes  with 
that  mysterious  monk,  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola ;  vnth.  the 
beatified  artist,  Fra  Angelico,  of  Fiesole  ;  while  the  persons  of 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  of  Pico  Mirandola,  and  of  the  obsequious 
Politian,  may  rise  up  in  his  memory,  as  if  they  had  been  given 
for  a  moment  a  sort  of  galvanic  life  and  motion. 

The  convent  of  San  Marco,  in  Florence,  dates  from  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  first  stone  was  laid  in  1299,  in  the 
pontificate  of  Boniface  the  Eighth.  The  house  was  destined 
for  an  order  of  ascetics  of  Yallombrosa,  named  Sylvestri.  The 
relaxed  discipline  of  this  order  in  course  of  time  was  productive 
of  so  much  scandal  in  Florence,  that  the  Pope,  Eugenius  the 
Fourth,  in  1436,  deprived  them  of  their  convent,  and  appro- 


126 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


priated  San  Marco  to  the  uses  of  the  Dominican  congregation 
of  Fiesole.  The  Medici  from  the  earliest  period  of  its  existence 
had  largely  contributed  to  its  embellishment  and  endowment, 
and  very  extensively,  at  different  periods,  to  its  enlargement  and 
repairs. 

The  Medici,  in  fact,  were  the  principal  benefactors  in  Florence 
to  the  convent,  church,  and  library  of  San  Marco. 

Cosmo  de  Medici,  at  his  expense,  built  or  restored  the  exist- 
ing convent  and  library  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  establishment. 

Vincent  del  Migliore,  a  writer  very  eulogistic  of  the  Medici, 
says,  that  the  enormous  sum  of  10,000  florins  of  gold  were 
spent  by  them  on  the  reconstruction  and  adornment  of  San 
Marco. 

But  Padre  Marchese  says  Cosmo  expended  36,000  gold  ducats 
on  the  building  and  repairs  alone,  in  1437  and  the  two  following 
years.  The  church  was  magnificently  painted  in  fresco — one  of 
these,  the  Annunciation,  by  Cavallino,  has  escaped  the  ravages 
of  time  and  war. 

It  was  not  till  after  1451  that  the  convent  and  cloisters  were 
finished,  according  to  Marchese.  The  first  cloisters  and  dormi- 
tories were  painted  by  the  famous  Fra  Angelico,  about  1445. 

The  magnificent  library  was  finished  about  the  same  time. 
The  extreme  length  was  eighty  brachia  long  by  eighteen  wide. 
The  ceiling  was  supported  by  a  double  row  of  pillars. 

The  convent  and  church  of  San  Marco,  adorned  with  the 
beautiful  frescos  of  the  blessed  Angelico,  the  divinest  painter 
of  sacred  subjects  perhaps  this  world  ever  saw,  a  man  whose 
seraphic  spirit  seemed  to  have  communicated  something  of  a 
celestial  character  to  his  spiritual  compositions,  constitute  a  gal- 
lery of  sacred  painting,  and  of  monuments  of  Italian  art,  than 
which  nothing  more  glorious  exists  elsewhere. 

For  a  detailed  account  of  those  wonderful  productions  of  Fra 
Angelico  and  his  brother  artists,  I  must  refer  my  readers  to  the 
admirable  work  of  Padre  Marchese.  I  will  only  make  a  single 
extract  on  the  subject  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  pictures  of 
this  great  artist  and  most  holy  person — the  Annunciation  of  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


127 


blessed  Virgin,  in  the  upper  dormitory,  a  sketch  of  which 
dormitory,  with  the  outlines  of  this  painting,  will  be  found  in 
Marchese's  great  work  of  San  Marco.  The  figures  in  this  fresco 
are  represented  somewhat  less  than  life. 

"  On  a  superficies  ten  palms  in  length,  he  painted  the  habitation 
of  our  Lady,  surrounded  by  a  vestibule,  which  rests  on  Corin- 
thian columns,  much  in  the  style  of  that  which  he  executed  at 
Cortona  ;  and,  though  the  perspective  is  not  perfect,  it  is  better 
than  that  of  the  former.  On  the  outside  is  the  little  garden  of 
Mary,  enclosed  by  a  thick  hedge  and  railing  ;  a  figure  employed 
by  the  Church  to  denote  her  unblemished  virginity.  The  Holy 
Maiden  of  Nazareth  is  seated  on  an  unadorned  chair  :  the  colour 
of  her  tunic  is  a  pale  red,  her  azure  mantle  in  folds  over  her 
knees,  her  arms  are  crossed  on  her  bosom,  and  her  countenance, 
if  not  remarkable  for  great  beauty,  is  resplendent  with  the  calm 
serenity  of  Paradise.  Her  fair  hair  falls  gracefully  on  her 
shoulders,  and  so  humble  and  devotional  is  her  whole  attitude, 
that  in  the  presence  of  this  dear  image,  we  almost  feel  the 
angelical  salutation :  ^  Hail !  full  of  grace,'  trembling  on  our 
lips."* 

Savonarola  was  no  sooner  made  prior  of  San  Marco,  than  he 
was  informed  it  was  a  customary  thing  with  the  superiors  of  all 
convents  in  Florence,  on  their  appointment  to  the  ofiice  of  prior, 
or  head  of  theii'  respective  orders,  to  make  a  formal  visit  to 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  as  a  recognition  of  his  legitimate  authority 
in  his  capacity  of  the  head  of  the  Republic,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  recommending  to  his  protection  their  several  convents. 

The  monk  of  Ferrara,  who  began,  we  are  told,  at  this  time  to 
shew  that  he  was  ambitious,  a  self-seeker,  looking  after  his  own 
interests  more  than  those  of  religion,  if  his  character  and  con- 
duct were  rightly  understood,  ought  to  have  been  eager  to  make 
his  court  with  the  chief  of  the  state,  with  him  from  whom  all 
honour,  wealth,  and  dignities  in  the  republic  were  to  be  derived. 

But  we  learn  from  Burlamacchi,  "  That  Fra  Girolamo  would 

*  Marchese's  Lives  of  Dominican  Artists,  translated  by  Kev.  C.  P.  Meehan, 
vol.  i.  chap.  vi.  p.  218. 


128 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYRDO>[ 


do  none  of  those  things  (that  he  was  informed  were  customary), 
but  retiring  as  it  were  within  himself,  he  rendered  thanks  to  God 
for  that  which  had  come  to  pass,  and  recommended  to  divine  Pro- 
vidence the  convent  and  himself ;  of  which  purpose  of  his,  ha\dng 
informed  the  brethren,  they  were  very  much  surprised. 

"Hence,  the  brethren  of  longest  standing  in  the  convent  waited 
on  him,  saying :  '  Father  Prior,  such  being  the  custom  in  Florence, 
in  accordance  with  it  your  reverence  ought  to  make  this  cus- 
tomary visit  of  ceremony,  otherwise  a  grave  scandal  will  arise 
to  which  observations  he  answered,  '  Who  has  elected  me  Prior  ? 
God,  or  Lorenzo  ? 

^'To  which  question  they  replied,  ^  It  was  done  by  God.''  Then 
he  rejoined,  *  It  is  my  Lord,  my  God,  whom  I  wish  to  thank,  not 
mortal  men.''  And,  having  thus  spoken,  he  immediately  arose. 
Lorenzo,  on  being  apprised  of  what  had  taken  place,  felt  much 
hurt  at  it,  and  complained  of  it  to  some  of  his  friends,  saying, 
'  A  foreign  friar  is  come  to  take  up  his  abode  in  my  house,  and 
he  will  not  even  deign  to  make  a  visit  to  me.'  Nevertheless, 
he  did  not  refrain  from  trying  various  means  to  gain  him  over, 
and  to  have  a  good  understanding  with  him — and  sometimes 
feigning  to  come  from  motives  of  devotion  to  hear  mass  in  the 
church  of  San  Marco,  he  afterwards  walked  into  the  garden  of 
the  convent;  and  on  such  occasions,  when  the  monks  saw  him, 
they  used  to  run  to  the  cell  of  the  prior,  and  say  to  him,  ^  Fa- 
ther Prior,  Lorenzo  is  in  the  garden,'  and  the  usual  answer 
was — ^  Has  he  asked  for  me  ? '  Then  being  answered  in  the 
negative,  he  would  rejoin — ^  Leave  him  then  to  walk  about  at 
his  devotions  ;'  and,  thus  answering,  he  would  remain  in  his  cell. 

"  It  was  the  custom  in  the  convent,  when  Lorenzo  came  there, 
for  the  principal  brethren  and  the  oldest  of  them  to  receive  him 
as  he  entered  the  church  and  the  convent,  and,  as  he  proceeded 
through  them,  to  converse  with  him  on  such  topics  as  were 
agreeable  to  him.  But  such  things  the  good  servant  of  God 
never  would  consent  to  do.  But,  on  the  contrary,  he  always 
fled,  and  avoided,  as  he  would  the  plague,  the  familiar  acquaint- 
ance and  conversation  with  the  great  of  this  world — gli  gran 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


129 


maestri — so  that  Lorenzo,  who  most  acutely  observed  all  things, 
remained  very  much  perplexed  about  these  matters.  He  thought, 
however,  of  another  way  of  influencing  him,  namely,  by  corrupt- 
ing him  with  presents.  But,  even  by  these  means,  he  could  not 
effect  his  purpose,  though  he  had  sent  several  times  to  make 
the  oflfers  of  them  to  him. 

The  good  father,  notwithstanding  all  these  efforts  to  conciliate 
him,  did  not  refrain  from  preaching  and  reprehending  impiety 
with  all  fi'eedom,  standing  firmly  by  his  own  rights  of  gospel 
liberty. 

Hence,  in  the  pulpit,  he  was  wont  to  say — "  As  a  faithful  dog- 
always  barked  to  defend  his  master's  house,  but,  nevertheless,  if 
robbers  came,  and,  to  stop  the  barking,  threw  a  bone  or  some 
kind  of  food  to  the  animal,  the  faithful  dog  took  what  was  thrown 
and  left  it  aside,  but  never  ceased  to  bark  and  to  attack  the 
robber." 

Lorenzo,  seeing  how  matters  went  on,  perceived  that  "  this 
was  not  the  soil  in  which  to  plant  the  vine  of  worldliness." 

Still,  he  had  recourse  to  another  plan  to  eflfect  a  reconciliation  ; 
he  caused  several  persons,  of  much  importance  and  influence, 
secular  and  in  religion,  cautiously,  and  with  tact,  to  persuade 
the  prior  of  his  friendship  for  him ;  but  all  these  efforts  were  in 
vain — he  withstood  these  attempts  as  a  strong  tower  would  resist 
all  assaults  upon  it.  Lorenzo,  a  man  of  great  policy  and  judg- 
ment, seeing  how  the  prior's  reputation  and  influence  augmented 
every  day,  felt  very  uneasy  at  this  state  of  things.  Finally, 
to  leave  no  effort  untried  to  tempt  him  (into  terms),  he  wished 
to  ascertain  if  the  prior  was  covetous  and  greedy  of  money,  and 
therefore  placed  a  large  simi  of  money,  in  crowns  of  gold,  at 
the  disposition  of  Pietro  de  Bibiena,  his  chancellor,  to  put  in 
the  alms  box  in  the  church  of  San  Marco.  When  the  time 
came  to  open  the  box,  which  was  well  known  to  Lorenzo,  who 
stood  a  little  way  oflf  in  concealment,  the  prior  and  the  brethren, 
according  to  custom,  went  to  take  out  the  alms,  and  finding  there 
such  a  large  number  of  crowns  of  gold,  the  prior  made  a  par- 
tition, and,  having  separated  the  silver  from  the  gold,  he  put 

VOL.   I.  K 


1.30 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  latter  in  a  purse,  and  said,  this  will  serve  for  the  wants  and 
charities  of  the  convent ;  but  the  crowns  of  gold,  let  them  be 
taken  to  the  good  people  of  Saint  Martin's  institution,  for  appro- 
priation among  the  poor,  we  having  no  need  of  so  much  money.* 

The  brethren  wondered  much  at  this,  having  already  thought 
on  different  modes  of  expending  the  money  usefully  for  the 
convent.  But  they  raised  no  objection  to  his  decision,  on  account 
of  the  great  reverence  they  had  for  him.  Lorenzo,  at  this  pro- 
ceeding, felt  more  surprised  than  ever  at  the  singleness  of 
purpose  and  simplicity  of  this  friar. 

Fra  Girolamo  continued  preaching  and  reprehending  vice  in 
severe  terms,  and  menacing  Italy  with  tribulations,  and  declaring 
there  would  be  shortly  seen  a  tempest  which  would  shake  all 
things,  and  put  an  end  to  the  sunshine  and  fine  weather  which 
were  now  enjoyed. 

In  times  when  great  wickedness  prevails,  and  virtue  cannot 
move  in  defence  of  truth  or  justice  without  danger  of  persecu- 
tion, we  are  told  by  pagan  philosophy  it  is  the  part  of  a  wise 
man  to  mind  himself,  and  to  leave  truth  and  justice  to  take  care 
of  their  own  interests.  Plato  reasons  thus,  but  not  well,  as  Sa- 
voranola  seemed  to  think  : — 

"  Such  a  man,  taking  all  these  things  into  his  consideration, 
living  in  quietness  and  tranquillity  (like  one  who  takes  shelter 
when  the  storm  is  raging),  occupied  wholly  in  his  own  concerns, 
and  seeing  the  world  around  him  filled  with  all  manner  of 
iniquity,  is  contented  to  pass  the  time  of  his  sojourning  here  in 
peace. t" 

Many  citizens  were  incensed  at  Savonarola's  persistence  in 
preaching  as  he  did,  and  were  excited  to  anger  chiefly  by  the 
friars  and  their  adherents,  who  were  called  Tepidi,  who  deeming 
that  those  things  would  displease  Lorenzo,  went  to  Fra  Giro- 
lamo, and  exhorted  him  to  abandon  this  new  style  of  preaching 
and  return  to  the  old. 

*  The  charitable  institution  of  the  Buonomini  di  San  Martino,  the 
procurators  of  the  poor  who  are  ashamed  to  beg — poveri  vergognosi — vras 
instituted  by  Saiut  Autonino  of  Florence,  in  1441. 

t  Plato,  de  E-epublica,  vol.  ii.  1.  6.  p.  496.  Ed.  Serranti. 


OF  SAV()NAROI,A. 


131 


He  replied,  that  the  former  manner  of  preaching  ought  to 
produce  great  effects,  since  so  many  worldly  people  were  op- 
posed to  it : '  and  he  added,  that  some  preachers  of  great  repute 
would  lose  their  credit,  and  his  doctrine  would  maintain  its 
ground  in  spite  of  all  contradiction. 

Lorenzo,  in  the  meantime,  considering  that  this  flame  every  day 
extended  farther,  once  more  renewed  his  efforts  to  extinguish  it, 
or,  at  least,  to  keep  it  at  a  distance  from  him.  He  sent  five  of  the 
principal  citizens  to  Fra  Girolamo,  noble,  influential,  and  discreet 
persons — Domenico  Bonsi,  Guido  Antonio  Vespucci,  Paoli  An- 
tonio Soderini,  a  man  of  great  intelligence,  Francesco  Valari,  a 
citizen  of  the  highest  reputation,  and  Bernardo  Rucellai,  a  cou- 
sin of  Lorenzo,  who  afterwards,  by  King  Charles  of  France, 
was  looked  on  as  lord  of  Florence.  These  persons  were  dis- 
patched to  the  prior,  with  directions  to  conceal  the  fact  of  their 
being  sent  to  him,  but  to  appear  as  visiting  him  spontaneously 
for  the  sake  of  the  common  good  and  peace  of  the  city,  and  for 
the  advantage  of  the  convent,  of  which  they  had  always  been 
benefactors. 

Arrived  at  the  convent,  and  finding  themselves  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  prior,  for  the  purpose  of  exhorting  him  to  change 
the  manner  of  his  preaching,  and  the  matter  of  his  discourses, 
they  appeared  all  on  a  sudden  as  if  they  had  been  struck  dumb 
and  spirit  stricken,  and  at  length,  as  well  as  they  could,  made 
the  proposal  known  to  the  Father,  and  expressed  their  opinions 
to  him. 

The  prior,  without  any  apparent  disturbance,  but  with  much 
prudence,  addressed  briefly  these  words  to  them  : — "  You  say 
that  you  are  come  to  me  of  your  own  accord  for  the  good  of  your 
city,  and  for  the  love  that  you  bear  to  our  convent ;  and  I  tell 
you  that  it  is  not  so.  But  Lorenzo  of  Medici  has  sent  you,  to 
whom  in  reply,  on  my  part  say ; — that  he  is  a  Florentine  and 
the  first  man  in  the  city,  and  I  am  a  stranger  and  a  poor  friar. 
Nevertheless,  tell  him  that  it  is  he  who  has  to  go  from  hence, 
and  that  it  is  I  who  have  to  stay.     He  must  go,  and  I  shall  re- 

K  2 


1S2 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


main.  At  which  words,  the  good  gentlemen,  not  knowing  what 
to  say,  hegged  leave  to  take  their  departure."* 

In  a  sermon  preached  in  1497,  Savonarola  narrated  this  inci- 
dent, and  appealed  for  the  truth  of  it  to  four  of  the  persons  who 
were  sent  to  him,  who  were  still  living,  and  some  of  them  present 
at  this  sermon.  But,  in  addition  to  Burlamacchi's  report,  Fra 
Girolamo  states,  that  he  bade  the  messengers  of  Lorenzo  tell 
him,  "  He  should  repent  of  his  sins,  for  God  had  ordained  the 
punishment  of  him  and  his."  Moreover,  he  adds,  "  Many  at 
this  time  told  me,  I  would  be  exiled  if  I  continued  preaching  in 
this  manner and  I  replied  to  all,  "  Do  you  who  have  wives 
and  children  fear  exile.  Your  city  is  to  me  only  as  a  grain  of 
sand  in  comparison  with  the  earth."! 

There  was  at  that  time  a  famous  preacher  in  Florence,  more 
endowed  with  eloquence  than  with  holy  doctrine,  named  Ma- 
riano Genezanno,  a  friar  of  the  order  JErmitano,  for  whom  Lo- 
renzo of  Medici  had  built  a  most  beautiful  convent  outside  of  the 
city,  near  the  gate  of  San  Gallo,  in  the  church  of  which  convent 
he  then  preached  on  festival  days  with  great  effect  and  applause. 
Great  numbers  of  people  were  attracted  by  his  eloquence,  and 
the  sensibility  displayed  by  him,  for  he  had  tears  at  will ;  we 
are  told  by  Burlamacchi  he  allowed  them  to  trickle  down  his 
face  on  those  beneath  the  pulpit,  while  he  preached.  Lorenzo 
was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  his  sermons,  being  a  great  friend  of 
his,  and  many  also  of  the  nobles  of  Florence  came  to  hear  him. 
By  these  he  was  solicited  on  one  occasion  to  preach  a  sermon  in 
which  he  should  show  how  the  mode  of  predicting  future  events 
in  sermons  was  presumptuous,  and  without  fruit,  and  excited  the 
people  to  divisions  and  discords  ;  and  the  consent  of  this  friar 
to  preach  thus,  was  easily  obtained  by  Lorenzo. 

On  the  day  of  the  Ascension,  then,  in  the  year  1491,  after  ^ 
vespers  in  the  Church  of  San  Gallo,  he  preached  a  sermon,  pro- 
posing for  his  text  the  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles, — "  Non  est  vestrum  nosce  tempera  vel  momenta," 
aiul  in  this  sermon  the  preacher  spoke  with  so  much  passion,  and 

*  Burlrvinacclii.  f  Carle,  Hist,  de  Sav.  p.  116. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


m 


so  much  did  he  excite  himself^  that  many  of  his  admirers  foi  aook 
him,  and  declined  going  any  more  to  hear  him  preach. 

Amongst  other  notable  persons  present  on  this  occasion,  was 
the  famous  John  Pico  Mirandola,  who  ordinarily  was  in  the 
habit  of  attending  the  sermons  of  Fra  Girolamo,  as  well  as  his 
intimate  friend  Politian,  and  all  the  other  eminent  men  of  intellect 
who  were  then  in  Florence.  But  amongst  them,  after  this  sermon, 
there  arose  great  dissension :  many  of  them  losing  confidence  in 
Father  Mariano,  and  attaching  themselves  to  the  doctrines  of 
Fra  Girolamo.  Hence  the  words  of  prophecy  were  applied  by 
the  latter  to  this  adhesion  to  his  pulpit, — Me  opportet  crescere 
ilium  autem  minui ;"  which  words  he  spoke  in  the  presence  of 
Girolamo  Benevieni,  a  noble  citizen  of  Florence,  renowned  for 
his  doctrine,  who  said  to  him,  "  If  your  reverence  had  the  elo- 
quence of  Father  Mariano,  no  greater  powers  of  speech  could 
be  found."  And  all  the  sermon  of  the  latter,  word  for  word,  was 
reported  to  Fra  Girolamo. 

The  following  Sunday  he  preached  on  the  same  text  as 
Father  Mariano  had  done,  which  he  elucidated  in  the  most 
felicitous  manner,  according  to  its  true  signification,  confuting 
efficaciously  the  arguments  that  had  been  brought  forward  of  an 
opposite  kind ;  speaking  these  words  at  the  end  of  his  dis- 
course, as  if  he  was  addressing  Padre  Mariano — "  My  brother, 
pleasing  would  it  be  to  me,  had  you  been  present  at  my  dis- 
course, notwithstanding  I  am  well  aware  it  will  be  reported  to 
you.  Do  you  not  remember  that  many  days  have  not  elapsed 
since  you  did  come  to  me  with  all  mildness  and  humility, 
saying,  that  our  manner  of  preaching  appeared  to  you  so  good  and 
efficacious,  that  you  were  ready  to  aid  me  and  do  whatsoever 
might  be  agreeable  to  me,  and  repeating  several  other  things  of 
this  sort  ?  What  has  changed  your  heart  towards  me  in  so  short 
a  time,  and  caused  such  an  alteration  in  your  sentiments  ?" 

All  the  particulars  of  this  sermon  were  duly  related  to  Father 
Mariano,  who,  in  order  to  avoid  losing  all  credit  with  the  pub- 
lic, simulated,  "  de  novo,"  a  great  afifection  for  Fra  Girolamo, 
and  invited  him  soon  afterwards  to  assist  in  the  celebration  of  a 


134 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


great  festival  in  the  Cliurcli  of  San  Gallo,  and  even  to  sing  the 
solemn  high  mass,  in  order  to  make  it  appear  to  the  people  that 
he  was  on  good  terms  with  Fra  Girolamo. 

But  shortly  afterwards  he  went  to  B-ome,  and  left  no  means 
untried  to  ruin  the  reputation  of  Fra  Girolamo ;  and  on  a  par- 
ticular occasion,  preaching  in  the  College  of  Cardinals  before 
Alexander  the  Sixth,  he  was  bold  enough  to  denounce  Fra  Gi- 
rolamo, using  these  words — "  Oh,  holy  Father,  burn  this  agent 
of  Satan — burn  him,  burn,  I  say,  this  scandal  of  the  whole 
church," — openly  making  mention  of  the  name  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

These  things  being  related  to  the  latter  in  Florence,  he  made 
a  public  reference  to  them  when  preaching  in  the  Duomo,  say- 
ing,— "  May  God  pardon  thee  !  But  he  will  punish  thee  !  and 
before  long,  so  it  will  be  manifested  to  those  who  attend  to  the 
state  and  the  temporal  government."  And  so  it  came  to  pass ; 
for  not  long  afterwards  (namely,  after  the  downfall  of  the  Me- 
dici), a  conspiracy  of  certain  citizens  of  Florence  was  disco- 
vered, the  object  of  which  was  to  restore  the  Medici ;  on  which 
account,  five  of  the  conspirators  were  beheaded,  and  Father 
Mariano,  and  Tira  Basilio,  of  the  same  order,  a  tutor  of  Lorenzo 
in  early  life,  were  publicly  expelled  from  Florence,  for  being 
disaffected  to  the  state ;  and  eventually  Father  Mariano  fell 
into  sickness,  in  which  he  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs,  but  still  re- 
taining the  use  of  his  tongue,  though  it  then  was  of  small  ser- 
vice to  him,  the  Cardinal  Santa  Croce  jestingly  said  to  him, 
"  Thou  art  become  paralytic  except  in  the  organ  of  s]3eech,  which 
you  made  an  ill  use  of  enough,"  as  indeed  he  had  always  done. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1491,  Fra  Girolamo  began  to 
expound  the  book  of  Genesis,  preaching  on  that  subject  con- 
tinuously to  the  year  1494,  except  during  one  Lent,  when  he 
preached  in  Bologna,  as  we  shall  mention  in  another  place.* 

*  Burlamacclii,  Vita  de  Savon,  ap  Baluzii  Miscel.  tome  i.  pp.  535,  536. 


OF  SAVONAROI,A. 


135' 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SAVONAROLA  IN  THE    OFFICE  OF    PRIOR    OF    SAN    MARCO.— HIS 
CONDUCT  IN  THE  CONVENT. 

Transeat  in  exemplum  !" 

"  My  brethren,  as  in  natural  things,  whatever  moves,  sets  out  from  that 
which  is  fixed,  and  all  animals  who  would  go  forward,  at  every  step  plant 
the  foot  firmly  on  the  soil ;  so  in  spiritual  life  we  must  fix  our  hearts  on  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ  before  everything,  if  we  would  proceed  regularly  in 
good  works.  We  must  believe  that  the  source  of  a  good  life  is  the  love  of 
God  and  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  and  believing  this,  seek  to  obtain  and 
exercise  it." 

jE/>.  of  Siiv.  to  his  Brethren. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  turmoil  of  the  life  and  labours  of  Savo- 
narola, and  his  struggles  with  the  adversaries  of  truth  and  piety, 
it  is  gratify* ing  to  follow  him  into  the  interior  of  the  convent,  and 
to  observe  him  in  the  paternal  relations  of  his  ofl&ce  with  the 
young  and  the  aged,  the  learned  and  the  illiterate,  the  froward 
and  the  meek  and  humble,  those  in  whom  the  frailties  of  na- 
ture, and  the  infirmities  of  an  irritable  mind,  or  a  passionate 
temperament,  might  not  have  been  overcome  by  the  austerities 
of  monastic  life,  and  those  also  who  had  arrived  at  the  sub- 
limest  heights  of  spirituality. 

Among  the  reforms  carried  into  effect  by  Savoranola,  the  one 
to  which  he  seemed  to  attach  the  most  importance,  was  the 
restoration  of  that  old  spirit  of  poverty,  and  simplicity  of  life, 
that  had  been  the  early  characteristics  of  his  order.  With  this 
view,  he  caused  all  the  possessions  of  the  cloisters  to  be  dis- 
posed of,  in  order  that  the  monks  might  be  delivered  at  once  from 
the  cares  of  property,  and  the  tendencies  to  cupidity  connected 
Avith  it.    He  introduced  moreover  into  the  convents  regular 


136 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


habits  of  industry  and  study.  The  lay  brethren  were  obliged 
to  select  whatever  profitable  occupation  seemed  to  be  most  suit- 
able to  them,  while  on  the  professed  brethren  and  novices  it 
was  incumbent  to  devote  allotted  periods  of  their  time,  according 
to  their  several  capacities  and  tastes,  to  the  study  of  theology, 
and  philosophy,  and  ancient  languages,  and  in  an  especial  man- 
ner, to  the  proper  qualifications  for  preaching,  that  paramount 
object  of  the  Dominican  order. 

Selfishness  and  vain-glory  were  two  evil  tendencies  which  the 
prior  fled  from  all  approach  to,  or  contact  with,  as  he  would 
have  fled  from  a  pestilence. 

He  was  in  the  habit  often,  as  he  walked  about  his  cell  or  the 
cloisters,  to  carry  in  his  hand  a  small  ivory  figure  of  a  death's 
head,  on  which  he  used  to  meditate. 

There  was  always  in  his  manner  and  in  his  looks  a  remark- 
able suavity  and  sweetness,  which  gave  a  peculiar  but  inde- 
scribable feeling  of  satisfaction  and  interior  comfort  to  every  one 
who  approached  him. 

Those  who  have  conversed  much  with  persons  eminently 
holy,  or  read  much  of  sanctified,  spiritualised  people,  will  under- 
stand what  is  meant  even  by  this  unsuccessful  eflbrt  to  explain 
the  ineflable  sweetness,  peace,  and  puiity  of  the  unworldly, 
utterly  passionless,  yet  love-beaming  look  of  exalted  piety  and 
intense  love  of  the  Redeemer. 

Of  his  habits  and  modes  of  life,  the  account  of  Burlamacchi 
agrees  with  all  that  we  find  in  other  biographers  on  these  points. 
He  regularly  attended  the  divine  offices  in  the  choir,  in  the 
day  and  the  night  also,  notwithstanding  his  long  and  arduous 
studies  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  performance  of  all  cle- 
rical duties. 

He  had  stated  periods  for  seeing  people,  and  for  resolving 
doubts  and  difficulties  of  conscience,  on  which  he  was  consulted 
by  j^ersons  from  all  parts,  far  and  near. 

He  slept  only  five  hours  during  the  night,  and  used  a  very 
small  quantity  of  food.  His  great  recreation  was  to  converse 
familiarly,  though  on  subjects  of  solemn  interest,  with  the  no- 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


137 


vices.  He  used  to  say  to  the  old  monks,  when  they  talked  to 
hini  about  his  sermons  and  his  preparations  for  them, — Let 
me  have  some  time,  if  you  want  me  to  preach  well,  to  talk  with 
my  little  childi'en"  (the  novices).  And  when  he  was  with  them, 
he  always  spoke  to  them  of  divine  things,  and  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures.  In  which  way  of  discoursing  with  the  young  reli- 
gious, he  declared  he  had  learned  many  things ;  and  he  used  to 
say,  that  through  the  organs  of  these  simple  youths,  as  vasi  mondi, 
pure  and  uncontaminated  vessels  filled  with  the  holy  spirit,  God 
often  spoke,  and  expounded  the  Holy  Scriptures.* 

Fra  Girolamo  was  wont  occasionally  to  give  his  brethren  and 
himself  a  day's  recreation  in  the  country,  in  some  secluded 
place,  where  they  could  enjoy  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  the 
pleasures  not  only  of  familiar  discourse  of  God  and  of  his  good- 
ness without  interruption,  but  also  the  amusement  of  spiritual 
songs,  of  a  lively,  spirit-stirring,  exhilarating  kind,  and  of  gym- 
nastic exercises  for  the  young,  and  little  pious  representations 
like  the  mysteries  of  old  on  a  small  scale,  in  which  the  novices 
took  part. 

If  we  enter  into  those  scenes  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
form  an  opinion  of  them  and  the  single-minded,  humbly  pious, 
firmly-believing  religious  actors  in  them,  by  the  standard  of  the 
habits  and  customs  of  our  age,  and  our  nation,  of  the  pastimes 
and  recreations  that  are  befitting  for  people  of  refinement  and 
civilization,  and  especially  of  a  class  in  whose  members  sanc- 
timony must  be  seen  externally,  to  give  any  idea  of  interior 
sanctity,  we  are  not  likely  to  form  a  very  just  opinion  of  those 
pic-nics  of  the  prior  of  San  Marco  and  his  brothers,  and  the  re- 
laxations of  the  young  people  of  the  order. 

"AVlien  they  walked  into  the  country,"  says  Burlamacchi, 
*'and  had  sufiicient  exercise  on  those  agreeable  occasions,  they 
reposed  in  some  shady  place,  in  the  strong  heat  of  the  day,  and 
after  a  slight  repast,  the  father  prior  usually  read  a  little  to 
them  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  then  they  would  all 
gather  round  him,  and  beg  of  him  to  give  them  an  exposition 

*  Burlamacchi. 


138 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  what  had  been  read,  or  on  some  particular  chapter  bearing 
on  any  passing  subject  of  interest.  Sometimes  he  made  the 
young  novices  sing  spiritual  canticles  in  praise  of  our  Lord, 
'  laude  devota^  and  on  other  rarer  occasions,  mingle  seemly 
dances  in  a  circle  with  the  laude.  Then,  after  another  walk, 
he  called  good-naturedly  on  some  of  the  brethren  to  recite 
some  passage  of  lively  interest  in  the  life  of  a  saint,  or  he  gave 
out  a  verse  of  a  psalm,  and  required  a  brief  exposition  of  it 
from  the  youthful  members  of  the  order." 

On  one  occasion,  under  the  shadow  of  a  fig  tree,  he  amused 
them  by  cutting  out  of  the  pith  of  trees  of  some  peculiar  kind 
little  images  of  doves,  which  he  fashioned  with  remarkable  skill 
and  artistic  taste,  and  distributed  them  to  all  around  him  one 
by  one. 

Often  in  the  evenings,  in  the  convent,  he  made  them  sing 
hymns  and  psalms  with  great  sweetness  and  fervour  of  de- 
votion. 

At  other  times,  when  the  novices  were  grouping  round  him, 
a  circle  would  be  formed  by  liis  directions,  and  one  of  them 
would  be  placed  in  the  midst,  and  made  to  represent  some  saint 
of  pure  and  holy  life,  and  laude  were  sung  in  honour  of  the 
child  Jesus,  or  the  blessed  Virgin ;  and  ^  the  mystery'  closed 
sometimes  with  the  imaginations  of  the  juvenile  actors  and 
audience  strongly  excited,  and  the  exaltation  of  ideas  mani- 
fested in  rapturous  looks,  and  in  reiterated  exclamations,  full  of 
passionate  devotion  and  tender  piety,  such  as  these: — Giesu 
dolce !  Giesu  Signor  di  Signori !  Virgine  hella  !  Casta  2)ia ! 
Madre  de  Dio  .'  Virgine  pieno  de  misericordia  ! 

"  Vicinas  alii,  ckaritum  que  cKoreas 
Carmine  concelebrent :  nos  veri  dogma  severum 
Triste  sonant  pulsae  nostra  testudini  chordae." 

"  Let  others  celebrate  in  song  the  charms  of  all  the  neighbouring 
Venuses,  and  the  dances  in  which  the  graces  mingle.  For  us 
the  task  is  to  devote  the  solemn  strains  of  psalmody  to  the  se- 
vere doctrines  of  truth." 

On  one  occasion,  when  at  Fiesole  with  many  of  the  brethren. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


139 


about  two  hundred  in  number,  in  an  excursion  for  recreation, 
he  provided  for  their  instruction  and  amusement,  by  allowing 
each  in  turn  to  propose  some  doubt,  which  he  undertook  to  re- 
solve ;  and  in  this  way,  pouring  out  the  rich  treasures  of  his 
doctrine  and  erudition,  he  delighted  and  instructed  his  spiritual 
children. 

But  in  all  these  exercises  of  the  intellectual  powers  and  sub- 
jects of  conversation  for  recreation  and  amusement,  as  well  as 
for  higher  purposes,  it  was  observed  by  Fra  Jacopo  de  Sicilia? 
that  he  never  spoke  an  idle  word. 

AVhen  any  inconvenience  was  felt  by  a  member  of  the  com- 
munity, he  had  recourse  at  once  to  the  father  prior.  AMien 
any  fault  was  committed,  the  first  intimation  of  it  to  the  prior 
was  always  from  the  offender  himself.  He  had  the  gift  of  in- 
spiring confidence  in  all  around  him,  in  old  and  young. 

When  his  brethren  complained  to  him  of  undergoing  temp- 
tations, he  always  bade  them  repeat  the  words  —  Jesus  and 
Maria — for  their  safeguard  and  sure  protection. 

When  the  old  friars  complained  of  the  young,  he  would  turn 
away  anger  Vith  a  good-natured  smile,  and  say — "  they  would 
be  more  grave  and  well-behaved  when  they  were  old." 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  his  beloved  young  disciples,  he  whites 
to  them  thus  : — 

"  Above  all  things,  love  God  with  all  your  heart ;  seek  his 
honour  more  than  the  salvation  of  your  own  souls ;  strive  dili- 
gently to  purify  your  mind  by  frequent  confession ;  raise  your 
affections  above  earthly  things  ;  communicate  frequently  and 
devoutly ;  never  consider  yourself  better  than  any  one,  however 
sinful,  but  rather  worse  ;  do  not  think  ill  of  any  one,  but  always 
well ;  be  often  silent ;  do  not  delight  in  comj^any  or  feasts,  be 
as  much  alone  as  your  station  will  permit.  Let  murmuring, 
detracting,  slanderous,  deceitful,  idle  words  be  far  from  your 
ears,  and  still  further  from  your  tongue ;  pray  often,  meditate 
every  hour,  endeavour  to  unite  the  whole  family  in  true  peace, 
show  no  haughtiness  in  word  or  action.  You  must  not  be  too 
familiar  with  those  beneath  you,  but  rather  adopt  a  courteous 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


gravity  with  them  ;  ever  pray  for  perseverance,  being  always 
fearful,  and  having  God  always  before  your  eyes ;  renew  your 
good  resolutions  every  day,  and  confirm  yourself  in  well-doing ; 
despair  not  for  any  sin.  Pray  to  God  for  me  constantly,  that 
He  may  make  me  do  what  I  teach." 

He  writes  to  his  "  brethren  beloved  in  Christ : " — 

*^  Since  the  life  of  man  is  a  warfare  upon  earth,  we  must  think 
Christ  is  like  a  captain,  who  orders  his  soldiers  to  different  posts. 
To  be  good  soldiers,  and  do  what  belongs  to  oui'  part,  so  that 
the  conflict  may  be  carried  on  in  an  orderly  manner,  we  must  be 
obedient  to  the  caj)tain,  and  fight  Avherever  he  places  us,  especi- 
ally when  our  chief  is  one  who  cannot  err.  If  the  soldiers  do 
not  comply  with  the  regulations  of  their  leader,  choosing  to  do 
everything  after  their  own  fashion,  they  endanger  their  own 
persons  as  well  as  the  whole  army.  We  ought  then  always  in 
the  spiritual  life  to  think  of  exercising  charity  in  such  manner, 
and  in  such  place  as  God  wills,  Avho  orders  everything  well,  and 
has  made  various  conditions  among  men,  ordained  different 
merits  and  different  croAvns.  Yet  many  deceive  themselves  in 
this  conflict,  who  fancy  that  a  good  life  consists  in  perpetual 
prayer,  or  abstinence,  or  study  of  the  Scriptures,  or  other  similar 
good  works,  and  being  intent  upon  one  of  these  only,  not  ex- 
erting themselves  in  every  place  and  every  time,  such  persons 
must  have  particular  respect  to  certain  tmies  and  places,  so  when 
they  are  hindered  in  these  exercises  they  fall  into  imj)atience 
and  vexation  of  mind."* 

When  the  plague  was  committing  great  ravages  in  Florence, 
and  had  even  taken  off  some  of  the  community  of  San  Marco, 
Fra  Girolamo  kept  his  ground,  undaunted  by  the  closest  contact 
with  the  sick — nearly  all  the  other  members  of  the  community 
had  fled  the  convent ;  but  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  brethren, 
Bechuto,  he  censures  religious  people  who  abandon  their  flocks 
in  times  like  these,  and  who  are  not  disposed  to  encounter  any 
amount  of  danger,  or  even  death  itself,  in  the  jDcrformance  of 
their  duties  to  the  sick  and  the  dying. 

Savonarola  not  only  effected  the  reform  of  the  convents  of 
*  ^Tig.  Biogr. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


141 


monks  of  his  order  in  Florence,  but  also  all  the  monasteries  of 
nuns  of  the  third  Dominican  order  and  in  his  jurisdiction.  We 
are  told  in  this  part  of  his  labours,  he  encountered  extraordi- 
nary difficulties,  not  only  outside,  but  within  (the  monasteries  of 
the  nuns),  on  account  of  the  opposition  of  the  tepid  members  of 
religious  orders,  who  endeavoured,  with  their  futile  arguments, 
to  confound  and  embarrass  the  consciences  of  others."* 

In  one  of  his  tracts,  "  Del  Reggimento  di  Firenze,"  he  thus 
refers  to  those  difficulties  :  "  Be  it  observed,  all  the  city  of 
Florence  would  have  been  as  our  most  holy  religious  order,  were 
it  not  for  unworthy  ecclesiastics  and  friars  without  zeal" — causa, 
i  cattivi  sacerdoti  e  tepidi  religiosi. 

The  difficulties  that  Savonarola  had  to  encounter  in  his  attempts 
to  reform  the  monasteries  of  the  nuns  of  his  own  order,  and  the 
nature  of  his  views  of  the  mode  of  life  it  was  incumbent  on  the 
members  of  those  monasteries  to  lead,  are  to  be  learned  in  a 
letter  which  he  addressed  to  the  prioress  of  the  Dominican  order 
in  Pisa,  dated  the  10th  December,  1493.t 

After  telling  "the  honoured  mother"  that  interior  things  are 
judged  by  men  by  exterior  appearances,  but  it  was  God  only — 
"  qui  scrutatur  Corda  et  Renes" — and  by  him  the  tree  was  known 
by  its  fruits  ;  he  goes  on  to  vindicate  his  reforming  effi3rts  : — 

I  wish,  then,  that  of  your  charity  you  should  believe  that  it 
is  false  that  we  have  instituted  a  new  mode  of  living,  for  I  fear 
that  you  have  been  led  to  give  credit  to  many  false  things.  We 
have  not  adopted  any  other  mode  of  living,  neither  in  diet,  nor 
in  ceremonies,  nor  customs  of  any  kind,  except  that  which  our 
rule  and  constitutions  prescribe.  It  is  quite  true  we  have  re- 
trenched some  superfluities  contrary  to  the  regulations  of  our 
fathers,  which,  in  these  times,  are  lost  sight  of  by  members  of 
religious  orders ;  but  the  retrenchment  does  not  constitute  any 
novelty.  Its  object  is  to  preserve  the  constitutions  of  our  ancient 
fathers,  to  whom  the  new  fathers  of  our  time  cannot  be  com- 
pared, either  in  wisdom  or  in  holiness.  We  desire  to  construct 
*  Burlamacchi,  p.  551. 

t  Lettere  do  Savonarola,  in  Vit.  Sav.  Burlamacchi,  Appendix,  p.  586. 


THE   T,IFE   AND  MARTYRDOM 


convents  fit  for  persons  who  have  vowed  to  love  poverty,  to  use 
clothing  of  coarse  materials,  no  matter  how  old  and  much  worn, 
to  eat  and  drink  as  we  ought,  to  learn  from  the  saints,  to  do 
with  all  sobriety,  to  have  cells  poorly  furnished  without  any  su- 
perfluity, to  preserve  silence,  and  give  up  the  mind  to  meditation 
and  solitude,  abandoning  familiar  intercourse  with  the  world.  I 
do  not  agree  that  this  is  a  new  mode  of  conventual  life,  but  I 
grant  it  is  new  for  the  institution  of  the  Mendicant  orders,  that 
convents  should  be  built  like  palaces,  with  marble  columns  and 
spacious  apartments,  which  would  suffice  for  lords ;  to  have 
worldly  possessions  against  the  professed  vow^s  of  each  order, 
and  not  having  faith  in  J esus  Christ,  who  said,  *  Fii'st  seek  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  all  things  will  be  given  to  you.'  It  is  a 
novelty  for  that  institute  to  use  habits  that  are  not  of  common 
cloth,  but  of  fine  and  delicate  textures ;  to  pray  little,  and  to 
gad  much  about — orare  poco  e  in  ogni  luogo  vagare  e  discorrere. 
It  is  a  novelty  for  the  monastic  institutions  to  vow  to  be  poor, 
and  yet  to  want  for  nothing  ;  and  to  practise  other  similar  novel- 
ties, w^hich  are  a  scandal  to  souls.  Our  way  of  living  does  not 
give  scandal,  but  excites  admiration  in  the  city  of  Florence,  and 
even  great  edification  to  those  who  witness  it.  And,  notwith- 
standing, I  ivish  you  to  understand  that  we  have  not  yet  commenced 
to  do  what  we  desire.  For  as  yet,  little  or  nothing  have  we 
changed  of  the  whole  course  of  things  w^hich  is  common  to  all. 
And  when  it  appears  good  to  us,  we  will,  by  little  and  little, 
with  the  help  of  prayer  and  well-matured  counsel,  restrain  the 
evils  of  it.  Consider  attentively,  most  beloved  mother  in  Christ, 
that  which  I  have  written,  leaving  on  one  side  all  worldly  wis- 
dom, and,  above  all  things,  applying  yourself  to  prayer,  by 
which  means,  I  trust  in  God  that  you  may  be  enlightened  re- 
specting those  afi^airs  of  ours  above  mentioned."* 

From  the  same  letter  from  which  the  above  extract  is  taken, 
I  transcribe  a  few  detached  sentences  faithfully  rendered,  which 
will  give  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  thoughts  which  filled  the 
mind  of  the  man  who  passes  with  a  large  portion  of  the  Christian 
world  for  a  heretic,  or  a  fanatic,  or  an  impostor  : — 

*  Mansi,  In.  Monum.  Hist,  ap  Mia.  Baluzii,  torn.  i.  p.  587. 


OF  SAVONAROI.A. 


143 


'  Now  is  the  time  to  renovate  ourselves,  and  despise  the  opi- 
nions of  the  world." 

"  This  is  the  time  to  combat  against  the  tepid  and  the  false 
brethren." 

"  The  lukewarm  Christians  have  not  many  tribulations  in  this 
life,  because  Satan  does  not  persecute  his  own." 

"  But  the  fervent  followers  of  Christ  have  to  encounter  gi*eat 
opposition,  because  they  are  the  adversaries  of  the  Devil." 

Do  what  is  right,  and  faithfully  enter  on  the  good  work, 
however  arduous  it  may  be,  for  the  love  of  God,  and  do  not 
think  of  yourself,  but  of  God." 

"  The  goodness  of  God  is  so  great,  that  we  ought  to  make 
sure  of  obtaining  from  Him  everything  that  is  desii'ed  by  us, 
for  his  honour,  and  for  the  salvation  of  souls." 

"  All  the  pusillanimity  of  spirit  that  we  meet  with,  comes 
from  the  want  of  faith,  and  not  haWng  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  goodness  of  God." 

"  Everything  succeeds  with  him  who  has  a  lively  faith." 

"  There  are  tlii'ee  arms,  against  which  all  the  powers  of  Hell 
cannot  avail,  nor  all  the  world  succeed  in  overcoming,  and  which 
secure  the  success  of  every  great  good  work, — strong  faith,  con- 
tinuous prayer,  and  humble  patience." 


144 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEATH  OF  LORENZO  DE  MEDICI.  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  LAST  MO- 
MENTS, AND  INTERVIEW  WITH  SAVONAROLA,  149^.  SUC- 
CESSION,  REGIME,  AND    FLIGHT    OF    PIERO.  DOWNFALL  OF 

THE  MEDICI. 

"  Who  will  give  us  to  hear  Cicero's  eloquence,  and  tlie  sounding  words 
of  the  poets,  the  soft  diction  of  Plato,  and  the  acuteness  of  Aristotle  ?  For 
the  Scriptures  are  far  too'  simple,  and  contain  food  only  fit  for  women. 
Preach  to  us  the  refined  and  sublime  !  And  thus  the  preachers  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  people.  Since  they  could  no  more  endure  sound  doctrine, 
the  people  have  given  themselves  to  lies,  they  invite  such  teachers  as  suit 
their  itching  ears,  they  turn  themselves  away  from  the  truth,  and  follow 
cunningly  devised  fables.  Also  the  princes  and  heads  of  the  people  will 
not  hear  the  truth,  but  say,  '  Preach  to  us  what  pleases  us,  preach  to  us 
flatteries,  and  tell  us  something  good.'  And  hence,  Christian  people  now 
wander  in  great  darkness." — Serm.  of  Sav. 

The  year  1492  was  fruitful  of  events  of  importance,  not  only 
to  the  continent,  but  to  the  civilised  world.  The  power  of  the 
Moors  in  Spain  terminated  with  the  conquest  of  Grenada.  The 
new  world  was  discovered  by  Columbus ;  Alexander  the  Sixth 
commenced  his  Pontificate ;  and  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  the  Mag- 
nificent, terminated  his  career  the  8th  of  April,  1492. 

Angelo  Politian  has  left  an  interesting  account  of  the  closing 
scene  of  the  career  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  he  being  an  eye-witness 
of  it ;  and  his  narrative  is  no  less  honourable  to  the  feelings  of 
the  writer  than  to  the  character  of  the  Prince,  of  whose  dying 
moments  and  death  he  so  beautifully  treats.  In  that  account, 
the  monk,  Girolamo  Savonarola,  makes  his  first  appearance  on 
the  stage  of  Italian  history,  in  a  character  worthy  of  him  : 

"  Cum  de  Illo  loquor,  faciam  ut  attente  audiatis." 

Cicero,  PJiillipp.  2. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


145 


But  before  we  turn  to  Politian's  account,  to  see  how  the 
Dominican  is  presented  to  us  there,  let  us  endeavour  to  realize 
the  ideas  we  may  have  formed,  even  imperfectly,  from  other 
sources  of  information  respecting  this  scene,  and  one  of  the 
chief  actors  in  it. 

We  must  enter  the  upper  chamber  of  a  suburban  villa  of  the 
Medici,  with  a  full  recollection  of  the  great  space  the  man  who 
is  dying  there,  had  occupied  in  the  history  of  his  times,  and  in 
the  eyes  of  all  his  cotcmporaries  throughout  Europe. 

We  must  picture  to  ourselves  the  gorgeous  chamber,  with  its 
costly  furniture  and  elegant  adornments,  its  works  pf  art  and 
objects  of  antiquity  of  exceeding  rarity.  The  men  of  great 
eminence  in  literature,  who  are  standing  by  the  bed-side  of  their 
benefactor ;  the  accomplished  scholar,  Politian ;  the  man  who 
was  the  marvel  of  his  age,  John  Pico  Mirandola ;  the  celebrated 
physician  from  Pavia,  with  his  "  costly  gems  "  duly  triturated 
for  administration  to  the  patient. 

Let  us  fancy  we  have  before  our  eyes  the  sick  chamber  of  a 
palace,  a  dying  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  of  commanding  aspect, 
with  a  lofty  brow,  an  expanded  forehead,  features  of  a  classic 
mould,  traits  of  elegance,  of  taste,  and  refinement  of  mind  m.ani- 
fest  in  that  face  of  marble,  which  the  dews  of  death  are  now  fast 
spreading  over.  Let  us  notice  the  emanations  of  a  noble  intel- 
lect, still  faintly  gleaming  in  those  languid  eyes,  which  are 
growing  dim  and  dimmer  every  moment. 

Let  us  turn  from  the  renowned  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  in  his 
extremity,  to  the  humble  friar  of  San  Marco,  who  has  been  sum- 
moned to  attend  him.  Let  us  observe  how  unconscious  this  friar 
seems  of  the  presence  of  the  great  men  who  are  in  that  chamber. 
How  he  keeps  aloof  from  the  circle  of  courtiers  and  scholars. 
How  little  account  he  seems  to  take  of  the  philosophers,  who 
were  such  eminent  Platonists.  How  undisturbed  he  is,  in  the 
midst  of  so  much  solicitude  for  the  life  of  a  man  of  enormous 
wealth,  and  extensive  patronage. 

Let  us  observe  how  the  poor  friar  conducts  himself  at  the 
death-bed  of  a  prince  and  a  philosopher,  renowned  for  worldly 

VOL.  I.  L 


THE  LIFE  AND  MAKTYKDOM 


wisdom,  a  founder  of  a  new  Platonic  school,  a  favourite  of  for- 
tune, always  prosperous,  celebrated  for  his  wealth,  and  flattered 
for  it,  a  ruler  always  jealous  of  ecclesiastical  power,  seldom  in 
amity  with  the  court,  or  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Let  us  imagine  we  are  gazing  intently  in  the  face  of  that  sin- 
gular-looking monk,  with  the  small  bronze  crucifix  in  his  long, 
thin  hands,  as  he  stands  before  the  dying  Lorenzo  de  Medici. 
We  behold  a  man  in  his  fortieth  year,  of  middle  size,  erect  and 
easy  in  his  carriage,  and  unembarrassed  in  his  deportment — his 
spare  form  well  proportioned  and  firmly  knit,  attired  in  the  habit 
of  his  order  ;  his  air,  gait,  gesture,  and  all  his  movements  are 
graceful,  and  give  assurance  of  gentle  blood  and  of  generous 
impulses  in  the  heart  of  that  Dominican.  Yet  the  tonsure  and 
the  cowl,  peradventure,  in  the  sick  chamber  of  "  the  Magnifi- 
cent "  de  Medici,  the  munificent  patron  of  Platonic  philosophy, 
bring  a  curl  on  the  lip  of  some  of  the  spectators.  That  simple- 
minded  minister  of  Christ,  lowly  as  he  is,  makes  his  presence 
felt,  however,  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  heart  of  Lorenzo, 
and  not  by  words  or  looks  of  harshness  or  severity,  for  however 
grave  his  manner,  the  predominant  expression  of  his  remarkable 
countenance  is  amiability  and  exalted  benevolence.  Still  in  the 
vigour  of  life,  there  is  evidence  in  his  anxious  look  and  wrin- 
kled brow,  of  a  close  acquaintance  with  the  ills  of  life,  and  a 
large  experience  of  the  evils  and  abuses  that  prevailed  in  civil 
and  religious  affairs,  in  social  and  in  public  life,  and  predomi- 
nated, too,  in  the  scene  of  his  missionary  labours.  He  looks 
like  a  man  whose  hopes  are  placed  in  heaven,  whose  thoughts 
were  often  in  communion  with  the  spiritual  world,  and  whose 
trust  in  God  was  so  firm,  that  no  storms  of  adversity,  no  billows 
of  despair  or  doubt,  could  shake  his  confidence  in  the  divine 
protection.  His  aspect  is  that  of  a  man  of  an  ardent  disposition, 
subdued  in  some  degree  by  austerities  and  mortification.  There 
is  a  resolute  character  in  his  regard,  but  there  is  an  indication 
in  it,  also,  of  feelings  of  kindliness  and  affection ;  and  about  the 
mouth,  with  the  fullness  of  the  lips  somewhat  prononcte,  and 
their  well-marked  outlines  finely  curved,  there  is  an  expression 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


147 


of  that  benevolence  widely  diffused,  that  has  strong  sympathies 
with  every  thing  beautiful  in  nature,  with  the  young,  and  inno- 
cent, and  good,  as  well  as  with  the  poor,  the  oppressed,  and  the 
afflicted. 

The  lids  of  the  downcast  eyes  are  slow  to  move ;  but  when 
uplifted,  organs  of  vision  are  unveiled  of  no  ordinary  brilliancy, 
clear  and  beautiful,  but  so  serene  and  calm  withal,  that  those 
who  meet  their  glances,  can  hardly  imagine  what  latent  power 
over  the.  spirit  of  other  men  is  there,  till  those  light  blue  eyes, 
of  the  exquisitely  clear  and  soft  azul  which  belongs  to  the 
Italian  skies,  are  lighted  up  in  their  large  orbits,  by  emotions 
excited  at  the  first  glimpse  of  falsehood,  impiety,  or  oppression, 
or  aught  that  outrages  the  interests  of  truth,  humanity,  or 
religion. 

Let  us  call  to  mind,  in  fine,  a  cast  of  countenance  that  speaks 
of  heroic  purposes,  and  of  sweetness  of  disposition,  guileless  and 
gentle  as  the  nature  of  a  child  :  Savonarola  is  then  before  us. 
AVe  may  now  fancy  we  behold  him,  with  becoming  dignity  and 
holiness,  performing  his  sacred  functions  ;  leaving  nothing  un- 
done to  act  on  a  conscience,  too  long,  perhaps,  unused  to  the 
accents  of  Christian  admonition.  We  may  picture  to  ourselves 
that  Dominican  preacher,  of  an  austere  life,  whose  doctrines 
have  some  vital  influence,  whose  power  in  the  pulpit  is  begin- 
ning to  be  talked  of  in  Florence,  in  his  missionary  character,  on 
this  occasion  performing  his  duties  as  if  with  a  sense  of  oppres- 
sion on  his  spirit,  assuming  an  aspect  of  reserve  and  gravity,  in 
the  midst  of  expressions  of  sympathy  and  concern,  on  the  part 
of  obsequious  courtiers,  and  literary  protegees,  better  versed  in 
the  philosophy  of  Plato  than  that  of  Christ ;  and  in  the  midst, 
also,  of  the  lamentations  of  surrounding  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. 

And  now  that  we  have  some  faint  idea  of  the  exterior  of  the 
man  who  attended  Lorenzo  de  Medici  in  his  dying  moments, 
let  us  turn  to  the  courtly  scholar,  Politian,  the  friend  and  pro- 
tegee of  Lorenzo,  for  the  full  details  of  the  manner  Lorenzo  de 

L  2 


148 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRD01\[ 


Medici  "  entertained  his  fate,"  in  the  presence  of  his  friends 
and  followers,  in  his  last  moments. 

Politian/  writing  to  his  friend,  Jacopo  Antiquario,  of  the  last 
moments  and  death  of  Lorenzo,  says  : — "  The  day  before  his 
death,  being  in  severe  illness  at  his  villa  of  Caregi,  he  became 
so  debilitated,  that  there  no  longer  remained  any  hope  of  pre- 
serving him ;  of  which  change,  with  the  wisdom  that  character- 
ized him,  becoming  well  aware,  first  of  all  things  he  called  for 
a  confessor,  to  whom  he  unburthened  his  conscience.  And 
this,  I  was  afterwards  told,  it  was  truly  marvellous  to  see,  with 
what  courage  and  equanimity  of  mind  he  made  his  dispositions 
for  another  world ;  how  he  recalled  every  thing  that  remained 
to  be  done,  how  well  he  ordered  all  things  relating  to  this  life, 
and  with  what  prudence  and  religion  he  turned  his  thoughts  to 
the  concerns  of  a  future  world.  About  midnight,  while  tran- 
quilly engaged  in  meditation,  he  was  told  the  priest  had  arrived 
with  the  blessed  eucharist.  He  raised  himself  up,  and  ex- 
claimed— ^  Can  it  be  true  indeed  that  my  Jesus,  who  has  created 
and  redeemed  me,  has  come  even  to  my  dwelling  ?  Raise  me 
from  this  bed,  I  beseech  you ;  raise  me  speedily,  that  I  may  go 
to  meet  Him.'  And  speaking  thus,  and  rising  up  as  he  best 
could,  supported  by  his  servants,  he  went  forth  to  meet  the 
priest,  as  far  as  the  principal  saloon,  and  there,  weeping  from 
emotion,  he  fell  on  his  knees." 

[He  then  repeated  a  long  and  fervent  prayer,  shedding  tears 
abundantly,  and  all  around  him  weeping  likewise ;  and  Politian 
thus  continues  his  account  of  the  sad  scene  : — ] 

"  The  priest  finally  gave  directions  that  he  should  be  raised 
from  the  ground,  and  brought  back  to  his  bed,  in  order  that  he 
might  receive  the  viaticum  more  conveniently.  Lorenzo  op- 
posed this  for  some  time,  but  after  a  little,  through  respect 
towards  the  priest,  he  submitted  to  his  wishes.  Being  placed 
in  his  bed,  and  having  repeated  a  prayer  nearly  the  same  as  the 
former,  and  being  apparently  so  composed  that  everything  about 
him  breathed  a  spirit  of  gravity  and  devotion,  he  received  the 
sacrament  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


U9 


"  Then  he  turned  to  his  son  Pietro,  to  console  him,  while  the 
others  present  were  assenting  to  his  efforts  ;  and  he  exhorted 
the  young  man  to  submit  with  patience  to  the  law  of  necessity , 
that  he  might  not  fail  to  have  the  aid  of  heaven,  whose  decrees, 
however  diverse  and  inexplicable,  are  constantly  seen  to  operate 
for  wise  purposes." 

[Then  Politian  refers  to  several  wise  counsels  given  to  Pietro 
by  his  dying  father,  and  proceeds  with  his  narrative.] 

"  Lazzaro,  the  physician,  had  just  arrived  from  Pavia,  in  my 
opinion  a  most  learned  man,  but  who,  having  been  called  in  too 
late  to  be  of  any  avail,  ordered  the  trituration  of  various  gems, 
for  some  medicinal  purpose  which  I  did  not  understand.  Lo- 
renzo then  called  his  servants,  to  know  what  the  physician  was 
doing ;  and  I  answering  that  he  was  preparing  a  remedy  to 
soothe  the  viscera,  he  recognized  my  voice,  and  regarding  me 
with  tenderness  in  his  looks,  as  he  was  ever  wont  to  do,  he  said 
to  me,  ^  Oh,  Angelo,  are  you  here  V  and  then  lifting  up  the  lan- 
guid arms,  he  pressed  both  my  hands  in  his.  I  could  not  re 
strain  my  sighs  and  tears,  notwithstanding  all  my  efforts  to  con- 
ceal my  emotions  from  him,  turning  away  my  face  from  him. 
But  he,  without  any  apparent  disturbance,  continued  pressing 
my  hands  in  his.  IVlien  he  perceived  that  grief  prevented  me 
from  speaking,  little  by  little  he  relaxed  his  hold  of  my  hands, 
as  if  the  pressure  had  ceased  naturally.  I  went  away  quickly 
into  an  adjoining  closet,  and  there  I  gave  free  vent  to  my  sorrow 
and  my  tears.  Afterwards,  having  dried  my  eyes  and  returned 
to  the  chamber,  scarcely  had  he  seen  me,  and  looked  into  my 
face,  than  he  called  me  to  him,  and  asked  me  about  Pico  de 
Mirandola.  I  told  him  that  Pico  had  remained  in  the  city, 
fearing  to  disturb  him  with  his  presence.  Then  Lorenzo  said ; 
^  And  I,  if  I  did  not  fear  that  coming  here  would  be  troublesome 
to  him,  would  be  glad  to  see  him,  and  to  speak  with  him  for 
the  last  time  before  I  leave  you  all.' 

"  I  asked  Lorenzo  if  I  should  summon  him.  *  Yes,  certainly,' 
was  the  reply,  *  and  the  sooner  the  better.'  His  wishes  were 
carried  into  effect ;  Pico  arrived,  and  seated  himself  at  the  bed- 


150 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


side,  and  I  also  was  leaning  on  the  bed,  bending  forward  close 
to  his  kneeSj  in  order  that  I  might  better  hear  for  the  last  time 
the  voice,  now  weak  and  languid,  of  my  dear  master. 

"  With  what  kindness,  my  good  God  !  with  what  affability,  I 
will  even  say,  with  what  endearing  fondness,  Lorenzo  accosted 
his  friend,  Pico.  First,  he  prayed  him  to  pardon  the  trouble 
he  had  given  him ;  he  begged  him  to  receive  this  summons  as 
a  token  of  his  friendship,  and  the  love  he  had  for  him ;  and  he 
said  to  him,  that  he  would  die  more  willingly  after  having  seen 
so  dear  a  friend. 

"  Then  he  turned  the  discourse,  as  he  was  wont  to  do,  to 
agreeable  and  familiar  topics,  and  even  joking  with  us,  he  said, 
he  wished  that  death  had  spared  him  a  little  longer,  in  order 
that  he  might  have  completed  the  library  he  was  engaged  in 
making.  Pico  was  scarcely  gone,  when  there  entered  into  the 
room  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola,  a  man  celebrated  for  doctrine 
and  for  sanctity,  and  an  admirable  preacher — uomo  celehre  per 
dottrina  e  per  santita  e  valorosa  Predicatore.  Fra  Girolamo 
exhorting  Lorenzo  to  remain  firai  in  his  faith ;  to  propose,  if 
God  should  grant  him  a  prolongation  of  his  days,  to  live  in 
future  far  from  all  sin,  and  to  receive  with  resignation  the  stroke 
of  death,  if  God  was  ^pleased  that  he  should  die ; — Lorenzo  re- 
plied to  him,  ^  that  he  was  most  firm  in  his  religion,  that  his  life 
had  always  hem  conformable  to  it,  and  that  nothing  was  more 
desirable  to  him  than  death,  if  it  was  the  Divine  will  that  he 
should  cease  to  live.' 

"  Then  Fra  Girolamo  was  about  to  leave  the  chamber,  when 
Lorenzo  said  to  him,  ^  Oh,  Padre,  before  you  leave  me,  deign  to 
give  me  your  benediction.'  Then,  lowering  his  head  and  compos- 
ing himself,  as  if  yielding  up  entirely  every  thought  to  piety  and 
religion,  he  went  on  responding  to  the  words  and  to  the  prayers 
of  the  friar,  without  being  in  the  least  moved  by  the  lamentations 
of  all  the  familiar  friends  around  him,  whose  grief  was  loud 
and  universal. 

"It  seemed  as  if  all  were  about  to  die,  with  the  exception  of 
Lorenzo ;  so  tranquil  was  he  alone  in  the  common  affliction. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


151 


And  thus,  without  giving  any  signs  of  disquiet  or  sadness,  he 
preserved  his  accustomed  firmness  and  constancy  of  mind.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  physicians  were  standing  round  the  bed,  and 
not  to  appear  idle,  they  tormented  him  with  their  assistance. 
B  Lit  he  suffered  this,  and  took  everything  that  was  offered  to  him, 
not  with  the  expectation  of  advantage,  but  in  order  not  to  give 
in  his  dying  moments  the  least  displeasure  to  any  one.  And, 
even  to  the  end,  he  bore  up  so  courageously,  that  he  joked 
sometimes  even  about  his  own  death  ;  as,  on  one  occasion,  when 
having  offered  him  some  nourishment,  and  asked  him  if  it  was 
pleasing  to  him,  he  said,  ^  As  much  as  anything  can  please  a  dying 
man.'  Finally,  tenderly  embracing  all  around  him,  and  humbly 
asking  pardon  if  he  had  given  trouble  or  inconvenience  to  any 
one  in  his  illness,  he  disposed  himself  to  receive  extreme  unc- 
tion ;  and  at  the  usual  recommendation  of  the  departing  soul  to 
God,  and  the  recital  from  the  Gospel  of  the  passion  of  Christ, 
he  appeared  to  understand  everything  that  was  said,  silently 
moving  his  lips  in  prayer,  now  raising  his  heavy  eyelids,  and 
sometimes  even  moving  his  fingers,  as  if  accompanying  his 
thoughts. 

"At  the  end,  fixing  his  eyes  on  a  crucifix:  of  silver  ornamented 
with  gems,  and  pressing  his  lips  to  it,  from  time  to  time,  he  ex- 
pired."* 

Politian  proceeds  to  eulogize  the  virtues  of  this  generous 
master  with  great  zeal  and  eloquence.  With  these  eulogies  we 
may  dispense,  for  this  account  of  his  death  renders  all  laudations 
of  his  amiability,  affability,  and  equanimity  unnecessary. 

Plato  had  few  worthier  or  more  illustrious  disciples,  most 
assuredly  in  modern  times,  than  Lorenzo  de  Medici.  Of  him 
in  his  later  years,  as  of  a  heathen  of  great  virtue  in  days  of  yore, 
it  might  be  said  with  some  truth — "  He  maintained  a  conversa- 
tion and  behaviour,  honest  before  men,  manifested  in  both  the 
meekness  and  mildness  of  wisdom." 

Who  might  not  say  of  Politian,  the  biographer  of  Lorenzo  de 

*,Ep.  Pol.  1.  iv.  Ep.  ii.  Apud  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italia;ia  del  Cav. 
Ab.  Gir.  Tiraboschi,  torn.  iv.  par.  i.  p.  39,  et  scq. 


152 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Medici,  if  he  "svrote  his  record  true,  as  of  such  a  Chronicler  as 
Griffith : 

After  my  death,  I  wish  no  other  herald  ; 
No  other  speaker  of  my  hving  actions, 
To  keep  my  honour  from  corruption."* 

But  truth,  not  flattery,  it  is,  that  Christian  men  must  look  for 
to  keep  their  honour  from  corruption. 

Tiraboschi  says — "  Politian's  account  of  Lorenzo's  death,  ac- 
companied by  the  most  sincere  sentiments  of  Christian  piety, 
appears  to  him  a  great  deal  more  worthy  of  credit  than  that  of 
the  author  of  Savonarola's  Life^  published  by  Monsignor  Mansi, 
in  the  first  volume  of  Miscellanea  Baluzii,  wherein  it  is  stated 
that  Savonarola,  being  sent  for  to  confess  Lorenzo,  having  inti- 
mated to  him  that  it  was  absolutely  essential  that  he  should 
restore  to  the  republic  of  Florence  its  ancient  liberty,  and  Lo- 
renzo, at  hearing  such  words  as  these,  turned  his  shoulder  to 
Savonarola,  who  went  away  without  absolving  Lorenzo,  so  that 
he  died  deprived  of  the  sacrament.  An  account,"  continues 
Tiraboschi,  "  she^vn  to  be  false  by  Politian's  letter,  which  states 
that  Lorenzo  had  already  received  the  viaticum  before  Savona- 
rola's arrival,  and  which  is  at  variance  with  itself,  as  every  one 
who  carefully  examines  it  may  perceive,  without  my  imdertaking 
to  dispute  a  point  which  does  not  belong  to  this  work."t 

Tiraboschi  adopted  PoKtian's  statement  without  hesitation^ 
because  a  great  patron  of  literature  was  glorified  in  it.  But  he 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  examine  statements  of  an  opposite 
kind,  and  to  cite  them  in  extenso. 

As  Burlamacchi's  account  of  the  death-bed  of  Lorenzo  differs 
in  several  material  points  from  that  of  Politian,  and  on  the 
face  of  it  bears  the  stamp  of  authenticity,  I  insert  it  here  : 

"  Lorenzo  finding  himself  labouring  under  a  mortal  illness, 

asked  for  a  confessor  ;  and  having  sent  for  Don  Guido  degli 

Angioli,  and  Father  Mariano  della  Barba,  his  intimate  friend, 

he  said — ^  I  do  not  wish  for  either  of  them ;  send  for  the  prior 

of  San  Marco,  for  I  have  found  no  true  monk  but  him.'  A 

*  King  Henry  VIII.  act  iv.  sc.  2 
t  Storia  deUa  Letteratura  d'ltalia,  tom.  vi.  part  i.  p.  43. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


153 


messenger  was  then  despatched  for  him,  m  the  name  of  Lorenzo, 
to  whom  he  said,  '  Tell  Lorenzo  it  is  not  I  of  whom  he  stands  in 
need,  for  we  are  not  of  accord,  and  therefore  it  is  not  expedient 
that  I  should  go.'  The  servant  having  returned  with  this  an- 
swer, liorenzo  again  said  to  him,  '  Go  back  to  the  prior  and  tell 
him  to  come  by  all  means,  for  I  wish  to  be  in  accord  with  him, 
and  to  do  all  that  he  will  tell  me  to  do.'  The  servant  returned 
to  San  Marco,  and  having  delivered  his  message,  the  prior  im- 
mediately set  out  for  Careggio,  the  villa  of  Lorenzo,  distant  two 
miles  from  the  city,  where  he  lay  sick,  and  took  for  his  com- 
panion an  old  man,  Fra  Gregorio,  of  the  Infirmary,  to  whom,  on 
the  road,  he  revealed  that  Lorenzo  would  die  of  the  present 
illness,  and  could  not  escape  it.  Having  arrived  at  the  villa, 
and  entered  the  apartment  of  Lorenzo,  he  saluted  him  with  all 
due  'courtesy  ;  and  after  exchanging  a  few  words,  Lorenzo  said 
to  him — ^  My  father,  I  wish  to  make  my  confession,  but  three 
grave  offences  hold  me  back,  and  also  cause  me  to  despaii'.' 
Fra  Girolamo  replied — '  And  what  are  those  oifences  ?'  Then 
Lorenzo  answ^ered — *  The  three  offences  are  these,  which  I  know 
not  if  God  will  pardon  me.  The  first  is  the  sacking  of  the  city 
of  Volterra,  which  it  suffered  on  account  of  the  promises  which 
I  made,  and  the  shocking  abuses  which  many  young  creatures 
suffered  on  that  occasion.  The  second  ofience  is  the  injustice 
done  to  the  charitable  Monte  delle  Fanciulle,  on  account  of 
which  many  of  its  inmates  have  suffered  wrong,  being  obliged 
to  remain  there  on  account  of  not  ha\dng  received  theii*  marriage 
portions.  The  third  offence  is,  that  committed  in  the  case  of 
the  Pazzi,  when  many  innocent  persons  were  put  to  death.'  To 
which  Fra  Girolamo  replied  :  ^  Lorenzo,  despair  not  thus,  be- 
cause God  is  mercifid,  and  he  will  even  shew  mercy  to  you,  if 
you  are  willing  to  do  thi-ee  things,  which  I  shall  point  out  to 
you.'  '  Tell  me  then,'  said  Lorenzo,  'what  are  those  three 
things  ? '  The  father  replied :  '  The  first  thing  is,  that  you 
should  strive  to  have  a  great  and  lively  faith  and  belief  that  God 
can  and  wishes  to  pardon  you.'  To  which,  Lorenzo  answered, 
*  This  great  faith  I  have,  and  thus  do  I  believe.'  '  Then,'  added 


154 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  father,  '  it  is  necessary  that  everything  wrongfully  acquired 
should  be  restored  by  you  as  far  as  it  is  possible,  lea\dng  to  your 
children  such  substance  as  may  be  fitting  for  the  decent  main- 
tenance of  private  citizens.'  At  these  words  Lorenzo  was  roused 
a  little,  but  after  a  short  while  he  said — ^  And  even  this  will  I 
do.'  The  father  then  proceeded  to  repeat  the  third  thing  he 
had  spoken  of.  *  Lastly,  it  is  necessary  that  you  make  restitution 
to  Florence  of  her  liberty,  and  to  the  state  of  the  popular  rule  that 
belongs  to  a  republic.''  At  these  words  Lorenzo  turned  his  back 
to  the  speaker,  and  never  made  other  answer  to  him.  There- 
fore, the  father  Avent  away,  and  left  him  without  making  any 
other  confession  ;  and  after  some  time,  Lorenzo  departed  this 
life,  and  passed  to  another. 

All  this  (adds  Burlamacchi)  is  reported  by  Fra  Silvestro 
Maruffi,  the  intimate  companion  of  Fra  Girolamo,  even  to  the 
end  of  his  life. 

"  Thus  also  reports  Messer  Domenico  Benivieni,  called  the 
Scotino,  a  man  of  great  doctrine  and  holy  life,  a  canon  of  San 
Lorenzo,  who  states  that  he  had  this  account  from  some  familiar 
friends  of  Lorenzo,  to  whom  he  had  recounted  the  particulars 
before  he  died.  Of  this  visit  also,  Politian  speaks  in  his  Latin 
epistle,  printed  along  with  his  other  letters. 

"  Fra  Girolamo  was  wont  to  say,  when  discoursing  about 
Lorenzo,  that  he  never  found  a  man  so  well  endowed  by  God 
with  natural  advantages,  and  that  it  grieved  him  greatly  he  had 
not  sent  for  him  at  the  beginning,  for  if  he  had  confided  in  the 
grace  and  goodness  of  God,  Lorenzo's  salvation  w^oidd  have 
been  efi'ected."    He  died  on  the  11th  of  April,  1492.* 

It  will  be  observed  that  Politian's  Platonist  ideas  of  Christian 
heroism,  and  Tii'aboschi's  plilosophical  opinions  of  those  reli- 
gious principles  which  constitute  "  the  most  sincere  Christian 
piety,"  are  identical. 

Nevertheless,  Politian's  description  of  the  death-bed  of  Lo- 
renzo de  Medici,  in  some  particulars,  is  one,  which  would  be 
better  adapted  for  the  closing  scene  of  an  amiable  pagan  philo- 
*  Burlamacchi,  ^'ita  de  Sar.  p.  537. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


155 


sopher,  than  that  of  a  dying  Christian,  humble,  penitent,  and 
solemnly  disposed  to  prepare  for  eternity. 

There  are  parts  of  Politian's  description  quite  contradictory. 
It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  how  the  same  man  could  manifest 
the  fervid  piety  ascribed  to  Lorenzo,  when  he  rose  from  his  bed 
to  receive  the  sacrament,  and  have  the  boldness  to  assure  the 
minister  of  religion  who  stood  before  him,  when  he  was  about 
to  face  his  Eternal  Judge,  that  his  life  had  always  been  in  con- 
formity with  the  principles  of  religion  ! 

To  form  a  judgment  of  the  value  of  Politian's  testimony  in 
favour  of  Lorenzo,  it  is  necessary  to  know  something  of  his 
position  and  character.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  Matthew  Cor- 
veno.  King  of  Hungary,  he  says,  "  I  have  been  raised  by  the 
favour  and  friendship  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  to  some  degree  of 
rank  and  celebrity,  without  any  other  recommendation  than  my 
proficiency  in  literature." 

Roscoe  says,  "  The  friendship  of  Lorenzo  provided  for  all 
his  wants,  and  enabled  him  to  prosecute  his  studies  free  from 
the  embarrassments  and  interruptions  of  pecuniary  affairs."* 

"  He  owed  likewise  to  Lorenzo's  favour  several  honours  and 
offices.  He  was  enrolled  among  the  citizens  of  Florence.  He 
was  appointed  secular  prior  of  the  College  of  St.  Giovanni.  He 
was  enabled  to  enter  into  clerical  orders,  and  subsequently  to 
obtain  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law.  He  was  made  a 
canon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Florence.  He  was  entrusted  with 
the  education  of  Lorenzo's  children.  He  was  the  care-taker  of 
the  valuable  collection  of  his  manuscripts  and  objects  of  an- 
tiquity. He  constantly  resided  under  his  roof,  and  was  his 
inseparable  companion  at  those  hours  which  were  not  devoted  to 
the  more  important  concerns  of  the  state. "f 

In  short,  he  was  the  protegee,  the  favourite,  and  the  factotum 
of  Lorenzo  de  Medici ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  there  was  a 
full  sense  of  all  the  obligations  he  was  under  to  Lorenzo  in 
these  capacities. 

He  has  omitted  several  things  in  his  account  of  the  interview 
*  Life  of  Lor.  de  Med.  p.  119.  t  Ibid.  p.  120. 


156 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


between  Lorenzo  and  Savonarola,  which  he  deemed  unfavourable 
to  those  impressions  which  he  wished  to  leave  on  the  minds  of 
his  readers,  with  respect  to  Lorenzo's  conduct  on  many  occa- 
sions. 

There  is  in  all  probability  no  deliberate  falsification  in  that 
account,  but  there  are  several  suppressions  of  truth,  which  he, 
however,  has  not  turned  to  the  disadvantage  of  Savonarola,  but 
which  Roscoe,  in  his  excessive  zeal  for  Lorenzo's  fame,  has  cer- 
tainly very  unjustly  made  subservient  to  his  unfavourable  views 
of  Savonarola's  character.  The  fact  is,  Roscoe's  opinions  of  Sa- 
vonarola are  not  the  result  of  any  deep  research  or  careful 
inquii-y  into  his  character,  acts,  or  writings,  in  the  original  ac- 
counts of  cotemporaries  of  the  Dominican,  or  in  Savonarola's 
own  works ;  liis  opinions  are  wholly  founded  on  the  \'iews  that 
were  taken  of  Savonarola  by  his  great  opponents,  the  Medici 
and  their  adherents. 

^Vhen  Savonarola  bid  Lorenzo  "  continue  firm  in  the  faith," 
that  "  state  super  vias  antiquas"  was  certainly  not  addressed  to 
him  without  good  cause.  ^\Tien  he  exhorted  the  sick  man  to 
propose  amendment  of  life — to  put  all  sin  far  from  him — that 
spiritual  man  had  surely  good  reasons  for  his  exhortation,  and 
for  some  other  councils  which  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  addi'ess  to 
him,  with  which  Politian  has  not  favoured  his  readers. 

Many  acts  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici  were  not  in  conformity  ^dth 
the  principles  of  religion,  of  justice,  or  humanity,  both  in  his 
public  and  in  his  private  life.  Could  he  possibly  have  forgotten 
the  conduct  he  pursued  towards  the  people  of  Yolterra,  by 
whose  councils  that  expedition  was  sent  against  them,  which 
terminated  in  the  carnage  and  spoliation  of  the  people  of  the 
captured  city  ?  Could  he  have  been  forgetful  of  the  butcheries 
of  upwards  of  one  hundred  of  his  fellow-citizens,  many  of  them 
done  under  the  windows  of  his  palace,  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Pazzi  conspiracy  ?  And  with  respect  to  spiritual  things,  could 
he  have  been  then  unmindful  of  the  means  he  had  recourse  to 
to  pro^dde  for  the  elevation  of  liis  son  to  ecclesiastical  dignities, 
and  also  for  that  of  the  illegitimate  son  of  his  brother  Julian  ? 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


157 


The  counsel  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici  to  the  supreme  head  of 
the  Church,  Pope  Innocent  the  Eighth,  does  not  accord  with 
the  declaration  of  the  dying  man  to  Savonarola,  namely,  that  his 
life  was  conformable  to  religion.  Was  it  in  conformity  with 
religion,  or  with  his  own  sordid  interests,  that  he  pressed  the 
Pope  to  secure  honours  and  emoluments  to  his  kindred?  he, 
Lorenzo,  having  married  his  daughter  to  the  illegitimate  son  of 
that  Pontiff.  Savonarola  knew  well  Lorenzo's  notions  of  zeal  for 
religion  and  morality,  and  their  obligations  on  his  conscience, 
when  he  exhorted  him  to  repent,  and  to  put  all  sin  far  from  him 

Politian  did  not  deem  it  consistent  with  his  sense  of  duty  to 
the  memory  of  his  benefactor  to  leave  the  fact  on  record — that 
when  Savonarola,  in  the  few  solemn  words  he  addressed  to  the 
dying  man,  reminded  him  of  the  indispensable  necessity  of  res- 
titution in  all  cases  of  wrong  and  injustice  done  to  our  fellow- 
man,  to  give  validity  to  the  sacrament  of  penance,  he  specially 
pointed  out  to  Lorenzo  one  act  of  restitution,  still  incumbent  on 
him  to  perform,  namely,  to  restore  to  Florence  her  liberty,  and  to 
the  people  their  former  state  of  a  Republic. 

Lorenzo,  who  had  assented  to  all  other  obKgations  imposed  on 
him  by  his  spiritual  ad\dser,  turned  in  his  bed,  and  made  no 
reply  to  that  intimation.  Then  it  was  that  Savonarola  was 
about  to  leave  the  room,  when  Lorenzo  entreated  him  to  return, 
and  not  to  depart  without  giving  his  blessing,  and  with  that 
request  the  man  of  God,  as  it  became  his  ministry,  complied. 

But  no  formal  words  of  absolution  were  pronounced  by  him, 
and  no  confession  was  made  to  him,  and,  it  may  be  added, 
no  seal  of  secresy  was  violated  by  him,  as  some  writers  of  emi- 
nence, who  ought  to  have  known  better,  have  asserted. 

Fra  Guglio  Bartoli,  of  the  Dominican  order,  in  his  biography 
and  defence  of  Savonarola,  the  most  authentic  record  of  his  life, 
from  original  documents  and  cotemporary  accounts  of  his  career, 
states,  "  that  at  this  inter\dew  of  Fra  Girolamo  with  Lorenzo — 
which  had  been  twice  solicited  before  it  had  taken  place — Lo- 
renzo was  much  moved  when  Savonarola  made  his  appearance, 
and  expressed  his  anxiety  and  apprehensions  for  his  salvation. 


158 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYRDOM 


He  spoke  of  matters  which  weighed  upon  his  conscience,  and 
especially  of  the  crime  committed  at  Volterra,  of  certain  endow- 
ments taken  from  a  charitable  institution — the  Monte  delle  Fan- 
ciulli — and  not  restored  to  it,  and  lastly  of  the  carnage  committed 
in  the  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi,  when  many  persons  who  were 
innocent  suffered  with  the  guilty.  The  sacred  minister  of  reli- 
gion then  compassionately  encouraging  him  (Lorenzo),  bade 
him  hope  for  pardon  .  .  .  but  told  him  three  things  were  requi- 
site to  obtain  the  divine  mercy,  which  conditions  the  penitent 
having  promised  to  fulfil,  Savonarola  rejoined;  ^  1st.  It  is  ne- 
cessary that  you  have  a  great  and  lively  faith  that  God  will 
pardon  you  ;  Conviene  che  abbiate  una  grande  e  viva  fede  eke 
Dio  voglia  perdonarvi.  2nd.  You  ought,  as  much  as  lies  in 
your  power,  make  restitution  of  all  ill-acquii'ed  gains,  and  leave 
to  your  childi'en  such  substance  as  is  suitable  for  persons  in  the 
rank  of  private  citizens  :  Dovete  per  quanta  ve  sia  possibile  res- 
tituire  tutto  il  mal  tolto  e  lasciare  a  jigli  tante  sostanze  che  con- 
vengano  a  privati  cittadini.  3rd.  It  is  essential  that  you  should 
restore  to  Florence  its  liberty,  and  leave  its  government  in  its 
former  popular  state  of  a  Republic,  E  necessario  restituire  a 
Firenza  la  sua  liberta  e  lasciarla  nel  suo  stati  populare  de  Re- 
publica.'  "* 

But  Avhatever  were  the  faidts  and  defects  in  the  character  of 
Lorenzo,  he  had  one  great  quality,  which  better  entitled  him 
to  the  appellation  of  "  Magnificent "  than  his  munificence  to 
artists  and  scholars ;  he  was  of  a  placable,  generous,  forgiving 
nature,  easily  turned  to  merciful  courses,  on  reflection,  and  when 
the  first  headlong  impulses  of  r,xnbition,  or  instigations  of  a  spirit 
of  intrigue  had  been  hearkened  to  by  him,  and  were  followed 
by  calm  philosophical  consideration  of  the  consequences  of  his 
action  on  them. 

Had  Roscoe  made  his  beau-ideal  of  a  "merchant  prince"  less 
perfect  and  heroic,  and  though  much  disposed  to  good,  often 
drawn  to  e\dl, — more  human  in  efiect,  and  amiable  in  the  midst 

*  Fra  G.  Bartoli,  O-  S.  D.  Apologia  de  Savonarola,  p.  32.  4to.  Fe7\ 
1782, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


159 


of  the  weaknesses  of  humanity, — he  would  have  made  the  subject 
of  his  biography  a  man  with  stronger  claims  to  human  sympa- 
thies, after  all. 

"  Lorenzo  de  Medici,"  says  Tiraboschi,  "  maintained  the  ho- 
nom'able  position  which  he  enjoyed  in  the  republic  to  the  period 
of  his  death,  although  a  private  individual ;  by  his  talent  regu- 
lating all  public  affairs  in  such  a  manner  that,  loved  by  his  o^^ti 
people  and  respected  by  strangers,  he  has  gained  with  posterity 
an  eternal  and  glorious  memory, — ^  un  eterna  e  glorioa  me- 
moria.'*  He  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four  years,  in  1492, 
and  left  three  sons :  Pietro,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  honours 
of  the  republic ;  J ohn,  who  became  Pope  Leo  the  Tenth ;  and 
Jidian,  who  died  at  an  early  age." 

Guicciardini  says :  "  Neither  the  age  nor  understanding  of 
Pietro  anj-^ise  qualified  him  for  the  important  charge  of  his 
father's  greatness.  Nor  was  he  capable  of  proceeding  with,  that 
moderation  in  his  domestic  and  foreign  concerns  ;  nor  had  he 
that  prudence  to  practise  what  was  expedient  with  his  allies,  for 
which  his  father  was  so  remarkable."! 

Lorenzo  being  gone,  who  had  introduced  into  Italian  policv 
the  new  art  of  maintaining  the  balance  of  power,  by  keeping 
the  rival  sovereignties  by  various  influences  in  a  state  of  mutual 
control,  and  restricting  the  encroaching  tendencies  of  the  strong 
by  the  subtle  arts  of  intrigue,  and  the  diplomatic  astuteness  of 
the  smaller  states ; — Pietro  left  the  great  powers  of  Italy  in  full 
possession  of  all  the  influence  arising  from  their  military  strength, 
while  he  provoked  jealousies  and  animosities,  without  any  profit 
to  his  o^vn  country,  by  seeking  to  promote  mere  family  interests, 
and  the  advantages  of  those  connected  with  him. 

"  He  swerved,"  says  Guicciardini,  "  wholly  from  his  father's 
councils,  ceasing  to  consult  the  principal  citizens,  without  whose 
concurrence  resolutions  were  seldom  taken  by  his  father  in  mat- 
ters of  importance.    He  suffered  himself  to  be  entirely  directed 

*  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  tome  vi.  part  i,  p.  12. 
t  Historia  d'Ttalia,  lib.  i. 


160 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


by  Virginius  Orsini^  his  relative,  his  wife  and  mother  being  both 
of  the  Orsini  family."* 

The  mischievous  results,  in  the  time  of  Pietro,  of  the  previous 
marriage  of  the  son  of  Innocent  -svith  the  daughter  of  Lorenzo, 
for  the  peace  of  Italy,  are  more  clearly  sho^vn  by  Guicciardini, 
than  by  any  other  Italian  historian. 

The  old  fatal  question  of  territorial  interests  became  the  sub- 
ject of  contention  between  the  see  of  Rome  and  the  temporal 
princes  and  lords  of  the  soil,  whose  possessions  bordered  on  the 
patrimony  of  the  Church. 

Lorenzo's  death,  in  1492,  being  followed  in  a  few  months  by 
that  of  Pope  Innocent  the  Eighth,  and  Alexander  the  Sixth 
being  seated  on  the  pontifical  throne,  Italy  became  a  prey  to 
the  jealousies  and  dissensions  of  two  princes  of  equal  ambition 
and  power  :  Ferdinand  of  Naples,  and  Louis  Sforza,  of  Milan.  . 

"  Francesco  Cibo,  of  Genoa,"  says  Guicciardini,  "  a  natural 
son  of  Innocent  the  Eighth,  was  in  possession  (at  the  time  of 
the  death  of  Lorenzo)  of  Anguillari,  Cervetri,  and  some  other 
small  castles  in  the  neighbourhood  of  E-ome.  Cibo,  after  his 
father's  death,  went  to  live  in  Florence,  under  the  protection  of 
Pietro  de  Medici,  whose  sister,  Maddalena,  he  had  married. 
He  had  no  sooner  settled  in  Florence,  than  Pietro  persuaded 
him  to  sell  those  castles  to  Yirginius  Orsini  for  40,000  ducats. 
Ferdinand  of  Naples  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  affair,  and  secretly 
advanced  the  greater  part  of  the  purchase-money,  considering 
it  w^ould  be  advantageous  to  him  to  have  Orsini,  who  was  a 
military  man,  and  also  a  relative  of  his,  in  possession  of  such 
strongholds  near  Rome.  For  he  always  looked  on  the  power 
of  the  Popes  as  capable  of  being  made  instruments  of  mischief 
to  the  peace  of  his  kingdom,  w^hich  was  an  ancient  fief  of  the 
holy  see,  and  which  extended  for  a  great  many  miles  along  the 
borders  of  the  ecclesiastical  states. 

"  Ferdinand  remembered  the  trouble  those  strong  places  had 
occasioned,  both  to  his  father  and  himself ;  and  being  sensible 
of  the  quarrels  likely  to  arise  on  account  of  limits,  tribute,  col- 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  i. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


lei 


lection  of  benefices,  appeals  of  barons,  and  other  subjects  of 
cavil,  common  to  all  neighbouring  princes,  especially  between 
vassals  and  a  lord  of  a  fief,  he  always  made  it  a  principal  point 
in  his  policy,  to  keep  all,  or  at  least  the  chief,  of  the  Roman 
barons  under  his  control ;  and  the  more  so  now,  as  he  considered 
Louis  Sforza  had  too  great  an  ascendant  over  the  Pope's  coun^ 
cils,  by  means  of  his  brother.  Cardinal  Ascanio."*  "  Fer- 
dinand, though  a  prince  of  great  prudence,  did  not  sufficiently 
consider  the  consequences  of  this  purchase,  which  could  be  to 
him  of  small  service,  in  com^^arison  to  the  great  evil  it  might 
produce  to  Italy,  by  provoking  those  persons  to  adopt  measures 
(leading  to  strife),  whose  chief  aim  ought  to  be  to  preserve  peace 
and  quiet." 

The  Pope  (Alexander  the  Sixth),  enraged  at  this  encroach- 
ment on  the  pontifical  authority,  asserted  his  right  to  those 
castles,  on  account  of  their  alienation  without  his  knowledge, 
which,  according  to  the  ecclesiastical  law,  devolved  on  the 
apostolic  see.  Then  publishing  to  the  world  the  purposes  for 
which  they  were  bought,  he  filled  all  Italy  with  his  complaints 
against  Ferdinand,  Pietro,  and  Orsini ;  protesting  at  the  same 
time,  that  to  the  utmost  of  his  power  he  would  preserve  the  dig- 
nity and  rights  of  the  holy  see."t 

Alexander's  notions  of  the  dignity  and  rights  of  the  holy  see 
were  of  a  nature  that  may  be  defined — ideas  of  property  and 
possessions  belonging  to  the  Church,  or  seizable  in  its  name, 
that  might  be  made  appHcable  to  the  uses  of  his  son,  Caesar 
Borgia. 

The  contentions  arising  from  the  temporal  possessions  obtained 
or  coveted  by  the  pontiff  for  his  son,  and  caused  by  intrigues 
connected  with  territorial  interests,  involved  Italy  in  all  the  hor- 
rors of  civil  war,  embroiled  the  courts  of  Rome  and  Naples,  led 
to  intrigues  with  foreign  powers,  to  the  invasion  of  Italy  by 
Charles  the  Eighth  of  France,  the  abdication  and  downfall  of 
Ferdinand,  and  ultimately  to  the  expulsion  of  the  last  of  the 
Medici  from  Florence. 

*  Guicciardini,  lib.  i.  p.  4.       '  t  Ibid.  p.  5. 

VOL.  I.  M 


16^ 


THE  LIFE  A^Ti  MARTYRDOM 


Pietro^s  ambition  far  exceeding  his  discretion,  lie  incurred - 
the  jealousy  of  the  people  of  Florence,  by  acts  which  plainly 
indicated  that  he  meditated  the  overthrow  of  the  republic,  the 
establishment  of  a  sovereignty  and  of  his  own  supreme  power  ; 
and  he  fiu'ther  incurred  their  hatred  by  his  imprudent  conduct, 
in  treating,  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  republic, 
with  Charles  the  Eighth,  King  of  France,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
invasion  of  Italy  in  1494.  Chiefly,  or  at  least  nominally,  on 
account  of  his  conduct  on  that  occasion,  Pietro  and  his  family 
were  declared  traitors  to  the  republic,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
same  year,  1494,  and  proscribed. 

They  and  their  principal  adherents  .were  compelled  to  fly. 
The  palaces  of  the  Medici,  with  all  their  treasures  of  art, 
ancient  and  modem,  their  magnificent  furniture,  their  gorgeous 
apparel,  their  vast  mercantile  stores,  their  bank,  with  all  its 
riches,  were  sacked  by  the  people  of  Florence.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  hours,  the  house  of  Medici,  that  was  built  up  with  such 
consummate  pmdence  and  worldly  wisdom,  was  reduced  from 
the  highest  state  of  splendour  to  utter  ruin.  Of  its  sudden 
elevation,  and  most  precipitate  downfall,  it  might  be  said  "with 
truth,  "  Ex  alto  ruina  venit." 

Koscoe  sees  nothing  in  the  catastrophe,  but  an  e^ddence  of 
popular  ingratitude.  But  thei*e  are  other  manifestations  in  it, 
namely,  of  the  divine  retribution  falling  on  the  posterity  of 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  for  the  barbarous  proceedings  at  Yolterra, 
and  the  murder,  which  he  might  have  prevented,  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Florence,  and  the  massacre  of  upwards  of  one  hundred 
persons,  on  the  occasion  of  the  conspirac}^  of  the  Pazzi ;  against 
the  great  majority  of  whom  the  only  proof  of  guilt  was,  the 
proof  of  parentage,  amity,  or  intimate  relations,  commercial  or 
social,  with  the  family  of  the  conspirators. 

Pietro  de  Medici,  after  his  flight,  made  unavailing  efibrts  to 
regain  his  lost  position  in  Florence.  He  entered  into  communi- 
cation with  some  of  the  aristocratic  party  in  the  city.  A  con- 
spiracy was  formed  against  the  republic,  for  the  restoration  of 
his  family ;  it  failed,  and  four  of  its  agents  in  Florence  were 


OF  SAVONAROLA.  163 

consigned  to  the  scaffold,  it  is  stated,  with  the  consent  of  the 
person  then  of  most  influence  in  Florence,  with  the  people  and 
even  the  government  of  the  republic — Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola. 
But  the  truth  of  that  assertion  remains  to  be  enquired  into 
in  another  place. 

Pietro  de  Medici,  the  proscribed,  unhappy  exile, — destined 
never  more  to  see  his  native  city,  or  to  set  his  foot  in  Tuscany, 
serving  in  the  ranks  of  a  foreign  prince,  the  invader  of  his 
country, — was  drowned  in  the  Garigliano,  and  thus  miserably 
perished  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  in  the  year  1503.* 

*  Tiraboschi,  tomo  vi.  part  i.  p.  12. 


U  2 


164 


THE  LTFB  AND  MARTYRIX)M 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  ^OXTIFICATE  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  SIXTH.  ^HIS  ELECTION.— 

MODE  OF  SECURING  IT.  HIS  CORONATION.  EARLY  CAREER.  

HIS  CHILDREN  ^DEA;rH   OF   HIS  ELDEST    SON,    THE    DUKE  DF 

GANDIA.  ABANDONMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH  BY  HIS  SECOND  SON, 

C^SAR     BORGIA,     CARDINAL    VALENTINO.          THE  CARDINAL 

EXCHANGES  THE  RED  HAT  FOR  A  DUCAL  CORONET. 

"  Afficta  est  Respublica." 

Cic.  Ep.  ad  Attic. 

"  Excidatilla,  dies  fBVo,  ne  postera  credant 
Ssecula." 

"  Lascio  la  briglia  ad  ogni  sprenati  licenza." 

MuRATOBi,  Ann.  l.d.  1501. 

In  the  niglit  of  the  last  Advent  Sunday  of  the  year  1492,  Sa- 
vonarola relates  that  he  had  a  vision,  and  in  that  vision  he 
thought  he  saw  a  hand  projecting  from  the  heavens  holding  a 
sword,  with  this  inscription, — "  The  sword  of  the  Lord  upon  the 
earth  soon  and  sudden.^^ 

A  few  months  later,  in  August,  1492,  Rodi'igo  Lenzuoli  and 
Borgia,  taking  the  name  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  was  seated  in 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 

The  sword  of  the  Lord  had  come  upon  the  earth  soon  and  sud- 
den, as  it  had  been  seen  in  the  shadows  of  the  night,  "  when 
deep  sleep  is  wont  to  hold  men and  in  fear  and  trembling,  we 
are  told,  the  vision  of  God's  judgment  had  passed  like  a  spirit 
before  the  inner  sense  of  consciousness  of  that  mysterious  monk 
of  Ferrara,  when  the  outward  organs  of  sight  were  sealed,  and 
there  was  no  speculation  in  them. 

The  sword  of  the  Lord  had  come  indeed  upon  the  earth,  and 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


165 


with  it  came  upon  the  Church — the  scourge  of  scandal.  Ter- 
rible was  the  retribution  which  visited  the  sanctuary,  and  soon 
and  sudden"  was  the  visitation. 

That  scourge  of  scandal  passed  over  the  Church  like  a  swift 
simoom,  and  everything  was  swept  away  that  was  destructible  in 
its  materials ;  but  the  edifice  resisted  even  the  crimes  of  Pope 
Alexander  the  Sixth. 

The  Chui'ch,  if  it  resembled  any  human  institution,  ought  to 
have  perished  in  the  catacombs,  it  ought  to  hav^  been  torn  to 
pieces  by  wild  beasts  at  Ephesus ;  and  in  the  arena  of  the  Roman 
amphitheatres,  it  ought  to  have  been  strangled  in  the  cradle  by 
Nero,  and  Domitian,  and  Trajan,  and  Marc  Aurelius,  and  Se- 
verus,  and  Maximus,  and  Decius,  and  Valerian,  and  Aurelian, 
and  Diocletian.  But  ten  persecutions  were  not  able  to  crush 
the  young  life  of  Chi'ist's  truth  out  of  it. 

If  it  were  of  human  origin,  it  ought  to  have  been  torn  to 
pieces  by  worse  assailants  even  than  the  wild  beasts  of  the  cir- 
cus ;  by  the  fierce  heresies  and  insidious  schisms  which  sprang 
up  on  all  sides  of  that  Church,  and  assailed  every  doctrine  of  it 
in  succession. 

It  ought  to  have  died  at  the  hands  of  false  monks,  of  faithless 
ministers,  of  unworthy  prelates,  of  wicked  Pontifis,  had  it  been 
a  mere  establisliment  made  by  man  and  upheld  by  human  power. 

Simony,  luxury,  avarice,  the  shedding  of  blood,  the  perpe- 
tration of  great  crimes  against  humanity  and  justice,  these 
ought  to  have  slain  the  Church,  if  it  did  not  bear  a  charmed 
life,  that  we  look  for  in  vain  in  the  history  of  all  the  empires  of 
the  earth. 

The  enormities  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  ought  to  have  borne 
down  the  Church,  and  buried  its  doctrines  in  the  ruins  of  the 
desecrated  sanctuary,  if  that  Church  had  been  an  institution  set 
up  by  man,  so  contaminated,  discredited,  and  disgraced  had 
been  the  sacred  office  of  the  sovereign  ruler  of  it,  by  Alexander 
the  Sixth. 

It  ought  to  have  perished  in  later  times,  though  it  "  had  ten 
thousand  lives/'  in  the  claws  of  penal  law  barbarity,  on  the  gib> 


166 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


bet,  on  the  rack,  in  the  dungeon,  in  the  field,  and  in  the  flight, 
on  the  mountain  side,  in  the  caves  and  chasms  of  the  rocks,  in 
fens  and  marshes,  with  the  cry  of  "  havoc  wringing  in  its  ears 
in  the  chase  with  the  blood-hounds  of  the  law  yelping  at  its 
heels,  if  that  persecuted  Church  were  made  of  "  penetrable 
stuff,"  that  could  have  been  pierced,  or  mangled  by  those  "  dogs 
of  war,"  that  had  been  let  loose  on  it,  for  a  period  equal  in  du- 
ration to  the  first  cycle  of  persecution  throughout  the  Roman 
empire,  namely,  of  three  hundred  years. 

It  is  now  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-nine  years  since  the 
first  persecution  of  the  Christian  Church  commenced  under 
Nero. 

Since  that  first  persecution  in  the  year  64,  to  the  present 
time,  with  brief  intervals  of  repose,  the  whole  life  of  that  Church 
has  been  a  warfare  with  impious  princes  or  hostile  powers, 
with  corrupting  influences  or  selfish  interests,  a  continuous 
struggle  that  had  been  predicted  by  our  Saviour.  Yet  it  has 
endured  marvellously  after  so  many  battles  and  deadly  in- 
juries inflicted  on  it — miraculously  endured,  it  might  be  said,  if 
we  looked  alone  at  the  fall  of  empires  and  secular  governments 
all  around  it.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say,  that  its  existence  to 
the  present  day,  is  one  continuous  miracle. 

"  The  history  of  Catholicism,"  says  Macaulay,  "  strikingly 
illustrates  these  observations.  During  the  last  seven  centuries 
the  public  mind  of  Europe  has  made  constant  progress  in  every 
department  of  secular  knowledge.  But  in  religion  we  can  trace 
no  constant  progress.  The  ecclesiastical  history  of  that  long 
period  is  a  history  of  movement  to  and  fro.  Four  times,  since 
the  authority  of  the  Church  of  Rome  was  established  in  West- 
ern Christendom,  has  the  human  intellect  risen  up  against  her 
yoke.  Twice  that  Church  remained  completely  victorious. 
Twice  she  came  forth  from  the  conflict  bearing  the  marks  of 
cruel  wounds,  but  with  the  principle  of  life  still  strong" within 
her.  When  we  reflect  on  the  tremendous  assaults  which  sh^ 
has  survived,  we  find  it  diflicult  to  conceive  in  what  Avay  she  is 
to  perish." 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


167 


If  the  fate  of  constitutional  governments  depended  on  the 
virtues  of  the  sovereigns  who  were  the  chief  magistrates  of 
them,  England's  constitution  could  hardly  have  survived  her 
Second  Charles,  or  if  it  tided  over  his  debaucheries,  and  hap- 
pily escaped  being  stranded  in  the  reigns  of  the  First  and  Se- 
cond George,  it  must  have  suffered  the  most  serious  damage,  or 
have  been  utterly  destroyed,  by  the  vices  of  the  fourth  monarch 
©f  that  name. 

The  Christian  republic  and  the  preservation  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  depend  still  less  than  any  other  state  on  the 
character  of  the  chiefs  of  religion,  or  of  its  ministers,  for  the 
promise  of  Christ  to  sustain  it  to  the  end  of  time,  is  held  by 
Catholics  to  be  a  sure  guarantee  for  its  preservation. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  with  all  the  evil  dispositions  of 
Alexander  the  Sixth,  all  the  crimes  committed  by  him  against 
morality,  and  justice,  and  humanity,  no  doctrine  was  ever  pro- 
pounded by  him,  or  article  of  faith  put  forth,  that  was  contrary 
to  the  established  tenets  of  his  Church. 

"  The  alleged  or  real  abuses  of  papal  power,"  says  Bishop 
Kenrick,  "  form  no  just  ground  of  objection  to  this  admission, 
since  every  divine  institution  is  liable  to  be  abused  by  human 
fi-ailty."* 

Up  to  the  present  time  there  have  been  two  hundred  and 
fifty-eight  Pontiffs ;  of  this  number  some  have  been  bad  men, 
one  of  them  peculiarly  depraved  and  scandalously  profligate  ; 
but  for  one  bad  man  who  has  sat  on  the  papal  throne,  who  has 
been  unfaithful  to  his  vows,  and  unworthy  of  his  office,  more 
than  ten  good  men  will  be  found  to  have  filled  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter,  true  and  faithful  pastors  ; — men  eminent  for  holiness  of 
life,  and  distinguished  either  for  learning,  great  intellectual 
power,  or  ability  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  high 
office. 

The  thrones  of  other  princes  can  furnish  no  dynasties  com- 

*  The  Primacy  of  the  Apostolic  See  Vindicated,  p.  22.  8vo,  New  York, 
1848. 


168 


THE   LIFK  AND  MARTYRDOM 


parable  to  the  line  of  Pontiffs,  in  piety,  virtue,  ability,  or  good- 
ness. 

But  the  vices  of  an  Alexander  the '  Sixth  are  considered  by 
many  as  so  many  arguments  against  the  clauns  of  the  Roman 
Church  to  the  promise  of  the  divine  protection,  against  all  the 
powers  of  darkness ;  as  if  Catholics  claimed  for  the  rulers  of 
their  Church,  and  ministers  of  their  religion,  exemption  from  the 
failings  of  humanity. 

Christ  promised  to  the  Apostles,  that  His  Spirit  would  be 
always  with  them,  and  the  Gospel  they  preached  has  never 
wanted  that  holy  influence.  But  these  Apostles  claimed  not  to 
be  exempted  from  the  frailties  of  their  fellow-men  :  one  out  of 
the  twelve  betrayed  his  Lord  and  Master,  and  another  of  them 
has  left  proofs  of  having  fallen  into  error,  or  being  surprized 
into  the  commission  of  rash  and  hasty  acts,  though  happily  he 
speedily  again  rose  and  returned  to  his  old  Apostolic  course. 

In  considering  the  character  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  I  do 
not  think  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  require 
that  his  vices  should  be  palliated,  cloaked,  shut  out  of  history, 
denied,  or  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  be  an  argument 
against  Catholicity. 

Those  who  think  other Avise,  in  my  humble  judgment,  take 
too  limited  a  view  of  the  power  of  their  Church,  and  an  erro- 
neous one  of  the  obligations  of  truth,  when  they  entertain  any 
apprehension  for  their  faith,  from  the  fullest  recognition  of  these 
obligations,  no  matter  what  prestige  of  men  in  the  highest  spi- 
ritual places  may  suffer,  from  collision  with  truth  carefully 
sought  after,  clearly  established  and  j)i*omulgated  for  good 
objects. 

Christ  never  promised  to  give  pastors  to  His  Church,  freed 
from  the  infirmities  of  human  nature,  impeccable,  passionless, 
and  perfect.  Roman  Catholics,  in  a  word,  are  required  to  be- 
lieve in  the  infallibility  of  their  Church,  but  not  in  the  impec- 
cability of  its  Popes  and  pastors. 

Among  the  few  Popes  who  have  exhibited  qualities  of  an  evil 
nature,  which  stand  out  in  equal  prominence  with  those  of  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


169 


temporal  sovereigns  and  magnates  of  the  times  in  which  they 
lived,  Alexander  the  Sixth  claims  an  unenviable  notoriety. 

"  The  most  merciful  God,"  says  Muratori,  "  has  preserved, 
and  will  always  preserve,  according  to  His  divine  promises.  His 
holy  Church  safe  from  errors.  But  on  this  account,  there  will 
not  cease  to  spring  up  scandals  in  it  from  time  to  time ;  but  woe 
to  the  criminal  by  whom  these  scandals  have  come,  or  will  come 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

These  are  the  last  words  of  Muratori,  in  reference  to  the  pon- 
tificate of  Alexander  the  Sixth  : — 

"  II  benignissimo  Iddio  ha  conservato,  e  conservera  sempre, 
secondo  le  divine  sue  promesse,  illibara  dagli  errori  la  chiesa 
sua  santa,  ne  lasceran  per  questo  di  nascere  in  essa  di  tanto  in 
tanto  degli  scandali  ;  ma  guai  a  chi  reo  fu,  o  fara  di  questi  scon- 
certi,  nesta  casa  del  Signore."* 

If  the  disorders  of  Kodrigo  Lenzuoli,  the  Spanish  officer,  and 
the  intimacy  with  the  Roman  lady,  or  in  Muratori's  words,  the 
"  Cortigiana  famosa — Vannozia,"  (who  had  sojourned  in  Barce- 
lona too  long  for  her  honour  and  happiness,  and  the  peace  of 
the  young  cavalier  of  the  house  of  Lenzuoli,)  had  ceased  when 
the  Pontiff  was  seated  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  they  might  have 
been  left  unrecalled  in  later  ages. 

If  the  unhappy  results  of  that  connexion,  the  claims  of  five 
illegitimate  children  on  that  young  cavalier — the  cares  for  their 
worldly  advancement  in  life  in  later  years,  the  crimes  for  that 
object  to  which  they  led — the  fatal  indulgence  of  that  unhappy 
father,  his  ill-regulated,  passionate  fondness  for  them — if  these 
disorders  had  ceased  to  be  obtruded  on  the  world,  when  the 
functions  of  his  sacred  office  were  assumed,  the  pontificate  of 
Alexander  the  Sixth  (however  evil  all  his  antecedents  had  been) 
might  not  have  proved  the  terrible  calamity  that  it  has  done  to 
religion.  When  Alexander  commenced  his  pontificate,  he  was 
an  aged  man,  then  in  his  sixty-second  year,  a  period  of  life 
when  the  passions  are  usually  subdued,  if  not  entirely  sup- 

*  Muratori,  Annali  dTtalia,  vol.  xir.  p.  6.  8vo.  Nap.  1786. 


170 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYHDOM 


pressed.  Had  his  conduct  then  manifested  such  a  change,  he 
might  have  retrieved  a  great  deal  of  the  obloquy  that  had  been 
incurred  by  his  career  in  early  life. 

But  though  we  may  rid  our  minds  without  difficulty,  or  much 
danger  of  being  misled,  by  those  reports  of  scandalous  immo- 
rality, of  horrid  imputations  of  incest,  which  we  meet  with  in 
so  many  accounts  of  those  times,  too  much  infamy  still  remains 
to  be  encountered  in  his  history,  to  admit  of  the  palliations  of 
his  conduct,  which  are  attempted  in  many  recent  notices  of  his 
career. 

In  1492,  Alexander  the  Sixth,  of  the  noble  house  of  Lenzuoli 
and  Borgia,  in  Spain,  succeeded  Innocent  the  Eighth  in  the 
chair  of  St.  Peter.  Twenty-two  cardinals  went  into  conclave 
to  choose  a  successor  to  Innocent  the  Eighth,  and  concurred  in 
the  election  of  Borgia. 

Alexander  is  generally  set  down,  in  the  histories  of  his  times, 
as  a  native  of  Valentia  :  and  it  is  commonly  imagined  that  he 
was  born  in  the  city  of  that  name.  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
case ;  he  was  born  in  the  town  of  Zativa,  at  present  called  San 
Felipe,  in  the  province  of  Valentia,  as  we  learn  from  the  "Viage 
de  Espana  de  Don  Antonio  Ponz."* 

The  mother  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  was  the  sister  of  Calixtus 
the  Third,  whose  family  name  of  Borgia  yas  adopted  by  Alex- 
ander. Onofrio  Panvinio,  in  his  life  of  this  pontiff,  states : — 
"  The  ambition  and  avarice  of  some  cardinals  allowed  them  to 
be  corrupted,  and  to  give  their  votes  for  the  election  of  Alex- 
ander, who  subsequently  shewed  his  ingratitude  to  them  for 

*  St.  Felipe  in  ancient  times  was  called  Setabis.  The  Moors  chanj^ed 
the  name  to  Zativa,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was 
christened  De  Novo,  and  christianized  into  San  Felipe. — See  Viage  de 
Espana,  par  D.  A.  Ponz,  torn.  iv.  p.  270.  r2mo.  Madrid,  1774. 

In  a  small  chapel  near  the  high  altar,  in  the  cathedral  of  Valencia,  are 
sculptured  the  arms  of  the  house  of  Borgia,  dating,  according  to  Ponz, 
from  the  times  of  Calixtus  the  Third,  a  member  of  that  family.  In  this 
cathedral  also  is  the  Camilla  of  another  member  of  the  family,  of  more 
enviable  celebrity  than  most  other  members  of  it,  Saint  Francis  Borgia. — 
Vide  Viage  de  E.^pana,  torn.  iv.  p.  36. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


171 


this  infamous  and  mercenary  act,  of  giving  him  the  tiara  in  this 
manner,  and  foremost  amongst  them  was  Ascanius  Sforza,  sub- 
orned without  any  doubt,  and  gained  over  by  a  large  sum  of 
money."* 

Most  of  the  suborned  cardinals  and  agents  of  Alexander,  who 
contributed  to  his  elevation,  we  are  told  by  Panvinio,  met  with 
ruin  from  the  hands  of  this  pontiff.  Some  were  exiled,  many 
incarcerated,  and  others  condemned  to  violent  deaths. 

Alexander,  in  his  youth,  had  applied  himself  with  great  suc- 
cess to  learning  and  science,  and  especially  to  the  study  of  juris- 
prudence. He  is  said  to  have  been  very  skilful  in  disentangling 
legal  difhculties  and  technical  subtleties,  in  judicial  proceedings. 
But  all  of  a  sudden  he  abandoned  the  law  for  the  profession  of 
his  father,  that  of  arms.  "  Soon  after  he  entered  the  army,  he 
fell  in  love  with  a  Roman  widow,"  (we  are  told  by  the  Abbe 
Rohrbacher,)  "  who  had  come  into  Spain  with  her  two  daugh- 
ters ;  at  the  death  of  the  mother,  he  became  enamoured  of  one 
of  the  daughters  named  Vannozie,  married  either  then  or  after- 
wards to  Domingo  D'Arignan.  He  had  five  children  by  this 
union,  but  he  kept  this  criminal  connexion  so  secret^  that  it  was 
not  discovered  for  many  years. "f 

The  same  author  goes  on  to  inform  us  that  Alexander's  uncle, 
Calixtus  the  Third,  becoming  Pope  in  1455,  invited  him  to 
Rome,  and  shewing  reluctance  to  accept  the  invitation,  that  his 
uncle  sent  a  prelate  into  Spain,  to  conduct  him  to  his  court. 
The  offer  of  considerable  benefices  in  the  course  of  less  than  a 
year,  had  transformed  the  young  Spanish  soldier  into  an  arch- 
bishop of  Valentia,  and  soon  after  vice-chancellor  of  the  Roman 
Church,  while  in  secret  he  continued  his  relations  with  Vannozie, 
and  publicly  appeared  to  be  a  pious  prelate,  frequenting 
churches  and  hospitals,  shewing  much  liberality  toAvards  the 
poor,  and  acquiring  a  very  excellent  reputation.  The  Pope, 
Calixtus,  being  dead,  he  was  succeeded  by  Cardinal  Picolimini 
(Eneas  Silvius),  who  took  the  title  of  Pius  the  Second ;  and  in 

*  Panvinio,  in  Vita  AUess.  iv.  p.  472. 

t  Histoire  UniA^erselle  de  I'Eglise  Catholique,  tome  xxii.  p.  257. 


172 


THE  Llt-E  AND  MARTYRDOM 


that  pontificate,  and  the  following  one  of  Paul  the  Second,  the 
fortunes  of  Cardinal  Borgia  went  on  augmenting.  Paul's  suc- 
cessor, Sixtus  the  Foui'th,  appointed  various  legates,  to  form  a 
league  amongst  the  Christian  princes  agamst  the  Turks.  Car- 
dinal Borgia  was  sent  into  Spain,  and  at  the  same  time  Cardinal 
CarrafFa  was  given  the  command  of  the  pontifical  fleet,  imited 
with  that  of  Venice  and  the  king  of  Naples.  But  for  this 
spiritual  commander  some  military  glory  was  reserved,  though 
his  various  legations  had  proved  unsuccessful.  The  only  other 
success  of  the  legates,  on  the  occasion  above  referred  to,  was  that 
of  Cardinal  Borgia,  who  looked  after  his  own  interests  at  the  court 
of  Spain.  He  had  shone  in  the  courts  of  Ferdinand,  king  of 
Sicily  ;  of  Ferdinand,  king  of  Arragon ;  of  Henry,  king  of  Cas- 
tillo ;  and  of  Alphonzo,^  king  of  Portugal ;  and  wherever  he  had 
been,  he  turned  his  spiritual  authority  to  his  personal  advan- 
tage ;  but  all  the  wages  of  iniquity  were  lost  in  a  shipwreck,  on 
his  return  to  Bome,  by  which  he  also  had  nearly  perished. 
"  Tout  le  succes  de  ses  negociations,  suivant  un  de  ses  confreres, 
le  Cardinal  de  Pavie,  fut  d'amasser  pour  son  compte,  de  grandes 
sommes  d'argent  dans  ces  divers  royaumes,  lesquelles  toutefois, 
en  retournant  a  Pome,  il  perdit  dans  un  naufrage,  ou  il  manqua 
lui-meme  de  peril'."* 

Besides  the  bad  success  of  the  legation  with  respect  to  the 
league,  the  failure  was  equally  general  with  regard  to  the  levy 
of  tithes,  which  Sixtus  the  Fourth  had  ordered,,  to  furnish  means 
for  the  holy  war.  They  were  refused  in  Germany,  in  France, 
in  England ;  and  they  were  refused  nearly  throughout  all 
Spain,"  we  are  told,  "on  account  of  the  bad  conduct  of  Cardinal 
Borgia,  who,  more  eager  to  satisfy  his  vanity^  than  to  fulfil  the 
duties  of  his  legation,  left  wherever  he  went  proofs  only  of  his 
ambition,  luxury,  and  avarice  ;  and  departed  from  these  coun- 
tries, according  to  Cardinal  Pavia,  as  much  hated  by  great  and 
small,  as  he  had  been  shewn  esteem  and  friendship,  on  his  ar- 
rival." 

Rohrbacher,  speaking  of  Alexander's  culpability,  in  taking 
*  Eohrhachcr.  p.  20 L 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


173 


on  him  sacred  functions,  says : — -"II  est  coupable  mais  beaucoup 
moins  que  nous  ne  pensons.  II  est  coupable  ne  fut-ce  pas 
d'avoir  une  se  mauvaise  renomm^e.  II  est  surtout  coupable 
apres  une  pareille  jeunesse,  avec  de  pareils,  antecedents  d'etre 
entre  dans  le  sanctuaire.  Son  oncle  Calixte  III.  est  coupable  de 
I'y  avoir  appelle.  Les  cardinaux  sont  coupable  de  I'avoir  place 
a  la  tete  de  I'eglise.  Ou  excuse  le  jeune  homme,  ou  excuse  le 
militaire,  ou  excuse  I'officier  Espagnol,  mais  il  n'y  a  point  d'ex- 
cuse  pour  le  pretre,  point  d'excuse  pour  le  cardinal,  point  d'ex- 
cuse  pour  le  Pape.  Et  Papes,  et  cardinaux,  ont  pu  s'en  con- 
vaincre  depuis  trois  siecles."  * 

We  shall  see  how  far  cotemporary  history,  speaking  as  if  with 
one  voice  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  and  his  career  m  the  pon- 
tificate, will  bear  out  the  assertion, — "  II  est  coupable  mais 
beaucoup  moins  que  nous  le  pensions." 

In  Corio's  admirable  work,  "L'Historia  di  Milano,"t  the  elec- 
tion of  Alexander  the  Sixth  is  more  largely  treated  of  than  in 
any  other  history  of  those  times. 

Notwithstanding  his  strong  attachment  to  the  interests  of  his 
own  country,  and  his  own  sovereign,  Corio's  work  is  peculiarly 
valuable,  as  being  the  production  of  a  cotemporary  of 
Alexander  the  Sixth,  and  also  of  Savonarola,  of  whom  an 
excellent  notice  is  given  in  his  History.  Corio  was  born 
in  1439,  of  a  noble  Milanese  family ;  he  was  selected  by  Louis 
Sforza  to  write  the  history  of  Milan.  The  active  part  that  the 
Sforzas  played  in  the  affairs  of  Italy,  in  those  of  Florence  and 
Rome,  particularly  in  the  fifteenth  century,  enabled  the  dukes 
of  Milan  to  collect  abundant  authentic  materials  for  a  history  of 
those  times,  and  with  such  materials  the  great  work  of  Corio 
was  composed.  He  died  in  1500,  and  the  first  edition  of  his 
work  appeared  in  folio  in  1503. 

Corio  says,  that  Alexander  had  gained  the  Pontificate  by  buying 

*  Hist.  Univ.  de  I'Eglise  Cath.  par  L'Abbe  Rohrbacher,  tome  xxii. 
p.  322.  8vo.  Paris. 

t  Historia  de  Milano,  Scritta  del  Excel!.  ©ratoreM.  Bernardino  Corio, 
parte  7ma.  p.  451.  4to.  Ven.  1554. 


174 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


over  to  his  interest  the  Cardinal  Ascanio  Sforza  and  others,  at 
a  most  enormous  cost  of  treasures  and  promises. 

"  At  his  coronation/'  observes  Corio,  "  a  still  more  lavish  ex- 
penditure was  incurred,  and  the  magnificence  of  the  ceremonial 
was  unparalleled.  But  that  magnificence  was  over-clouded  by  the 
very  efforts  of  the  obsequious  dignitaries  of  the  Church,  and 
magnates  of  the  court,  to  give  greater  efiect  than  usual  to  the 
exuberant  manifestations  of  joy,  on  an  occasion  that  was  deemed 
by  them  so  auspicious.  The  explosions  of  fireworks,  and  dis- 
charges of  firearms,  in  the  procession  from  St.  Peter's  to  the 
Lateran,  were  so  incessant,  that  in  the  midst  of  the  pomp  of  the 
ceremonial,  and  the  accompanying  recitations  of  prayers,  that 
were  almost  drowned  by  the  overwhelming  sounds  of  trumpets, 
and  numerous  other  instruments  employed  on  this  portentous 
occasion,  the  very  atmosphere  was  dimmed  and  obscured  by 
the  thick  smoke  that  was  emitted  from  combustibles  exploded 
in  the  Piazza  of  St.  Peter's,  where  twenty  squadrons  of  armed 
men,  with  their  lances  poised,  under  the  command  of  a  chief  of 
the  Orsino  family,  were  posted,  to  accompany  the  Pontifif  and 
his  cortege  to  the  church  of  St.  John  of  Lateran." 

In  the  lugubriously  solemn  procession  to  the  Lateran,  the 
Pontifical  cortege  was  involved  in  such  darkness  from  the  fumes 
of  gunpowder,  and  other  combustible  materials,  that  the  per- 
formers in  gorgeous  vestments  and  apparel — "  i  cardinali  et 
baroni  magnificamente  ornati" — were  scarcely  discernible  to  one 
another.  There  was  something  to  astound  in  this  obscurity,  and 
more  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  a  certain  gallery,  that  was 
constructed  close  to  the  statue  of  the  Saint,  where  "  tanta  ca- 
ligine  era  che  quasi  non  se  vedeva  I'aere ;  in  forma  che  tutti  pa- 
reano  esser  divenuti  ciechi  et  storni.  Et  cosi  ciecamente  fecero 
la  santissimo  coronatione."* 

Corio  details  at  great  length  the  magnificence  of  the  suites  of 
the  several  cardinals  and  barons  on  this  occasion,  all  of  which 
may  be  compendiously  resumed  into  a  single  observation — that 
the  magnificence  of  a  coroi^ation  ceremonial  in  Rome,  was  never 
*  Hist.  deMilano,  7ma.  p.  451,  Par. 


OF  SAVON  A  HOT  A. 


175 


surpassed  by  that  which  took  place  at  the  solemn  consecration 
of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  whose  pontificate  was  the  greatest  cala- 
mity that  was  ever  inflicted  on  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

In  the  course  of  the  procession,  the  Jews  presented  themselves 
near  the  bridge  of  San  Angelo,  bearing  their  laws,  surrounded 
with  a  great  number  of  lighted  tapers,  and  praying  his  holiness 
to  confirm  these  privileges. 

They  being  asked  what  use  they  made  of  those  Jewish  laws, 
and  having  replied  to  that  question,  the  Pope  in  reprehension 
said  to  them,  "  they  did  not  understand  those  laws.  Never- 
theless, he  gave  them  license  that  they  might  live  according  to 
those  laws,  and  in  conformity  with  the  privileges  accorded  to 
them  to  live  in  the  midst  of  Christians."* 

As  the  cortege  entered  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  the  walls 
were  lined  with  soldiers,  banners  were  flying,  salutes  were 
fired,  and  one  great  standard  was  displayed  with  a  motto  on 
one  side  in  golden  letters  : — 

"  Divi  Alexandri  Magni  Coronatio  ;  " 

and  on  the  other  side  : — 

"  Qui  se  suis  Actionibus  Moderator  Facile,  Ac  Parvo  cum  Labore, 
ad  Omnia  Pervenit."t 

Poor  Humanity  !  in  all  times,  in  all  climes,  in  all  garbs,  the 
same  tendencies  to  servility  and  adidation,  the  same  weaknesses, 
the  same  meannesses  are  to  be  encountered. 

The  possession  of  power  and  patronage,  the  great  fact  of 
success,  and  ability  to  satisfy  the  great  cravings  of  cupidity — 
the  acquisition  of  gain  or  glory,  in  the  service  of  a  new  prince — 
these  are  the  considerations  on  which  estimates  are  formed,  and 
the  reasons  on  account  of  which  large  expectations  are  formed, 
of  the  characters  of  the    Divi  Alexandri  Magni"  of  this  world. 

Alexander  the  Sixth  passed  into  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo 
under  a  triumphal  arch,  adorned  with  emblems  of  all  the  virtues 
in  gold  and  silver,  with  embroidered  figures  of  great  beauty, 
with  children  like  angels  mounted  on  the  cornice  of  the  arch, 

*  Hist  de  Milano,  Par.  7.  p.  451.        f  lb. 


176 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTITRBOM 


reciting  Latin  verses  in  honour  of  the  Pontiff  as  he  passed  on, 
with  streamers  on  his  right  hand  inscribed  with  the  word  oriens, 
others  on  his  left  with  the  word  occidens,  and  near  the  former  a 
Moorish  child  dressed  in  his  oriental  costume,  and  by  the  latter 
another  child  attired  after  the  manner  of  the  western  nations. 

And  under  the  arch,  the  eyes  of  Alexander  had  to  en- 
counter a  banner  with  the  words  — "  Liheralitas.  Roma. 
Justitia :"  while  in  several  niches  on  either  side  of  the  pas- 
sage, nymphs  appropriately  apparelled  —  and  it  might  be 
added,  appropriately  placed — were  to  be  seen.  There  was  a 
representation  in  this  passage  of  Rome  triumphant  over  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  Papal  crown  in  the  hand  of  the  statue  Roma, 
with  an  ox  in  the  act  of  pasturing,  and  on  the  other  side,  an 
allegorical  painting,  with  the  motto — "  Pudicitia,  Florentia, 
Charitas  et  Florentia ! " 

There  was  no  "  mischief  mallikin"  in  this  motto,  with  the  word 
"  Pudicitia''^  in  large  letters  of  gold  staring  Alexander  the  Sixth 
in  the  face  ;  it  was  a  simple  servile  act  of  sycophancy  and  idola- 
try of  power,  confounding  all  sentiments  that  discriminate  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  vice  and  virtue,  purity  and  sensuality. 

There  was  a  second  triumphal  arch  under  which  the  new 
Pontiff  had  to  pass,  and  beneath  the  arch,  on  a  beautiful  blue 
ground,  there  was  an  inscription  in  golden  letters,  a  verse  in 
two  lines  of  hyperbolical  commendation,  transcending  in  super- 
lative eulogy,  not  only  the  bounds  of  propriety,  but  of  piety 
itself : 

*'  Caesare  magna  fuit  nunc  Roma  est  Maxima  Sextus,  ^ 
Eegnat  Alexander,  ille  vir,  iste  Deus." 

Six  other  mottos  were  conspicuously  flaunted,  "  in  questo 
pallagio  omato  con  feste  tondo  et  in  campo  azzurro  littere  d'oro." 
Some  of  these  inscriptions  were  of  a  very  heathenish  character, 
with  several  references  to  Jupiter,  but  none  to  Jesus  in  them. 

One  of  these  inscriptions  was  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  Alexandro  invictissimo,  Alexandre  pientissimo,  Alexandre  magnificien- 
tissimo,  Alexandro  in  omnibus  maximo  honor  et  gloria." 


5F  SAVONAROLA. 


177 


The  third  was  in  these  words  : 

"  Sancta  fuit  nullo  major  pax  tempore,  tuta  omnia  sunt,  an;nus  sub  bove 
et  angue  jacet."* 

There  was  a  third  triumphal  arch  in  this  locahty,  "  adorned 
with  military  weapons,  festoons  of  laurel,  marine  monsters,  and 
other  magnificent  things."  In  other  parts  of  the  city  there  were 
several  similar  arches. 

There  was  a  fountain,  of  marvellous  construction,  near  one  of 
the  triumphal  arches,  with  an  ox,  having  jets  of  water  from  the 
horns,  mouth,  eyes,  nostrils,  and  ears.  Finally,  Alexander  the 
Sixth  returned  to  the  palace  of  the  Pontiffs — entered  on  the 
duties  of  the  Pontificate  with  all  imaginable  mildness,  and  ad- 
ministered his  ofi^ce  -svith  all  possible  brutality :  "  Entro  nel 
Ponteficato  Alessandi'o  VI.,  mansueto  come  bove  et  I'ha  am- 
ministrato  come  Leone.*' f 

Guicciardini's  account  of  the  career  of  Alexander  the  Sixth 
should  be  read  in  his  own  words,  to  form  any  just  opinion  of 
the  exception  taken  to  it  by  two  writers  of  very  opposite  senti- 
ments in  religious  matters — Voltaire,  the  infidel,  and  Rohrbacher, 
the  strenuous  advocate  of  Catholicity.  "  Alexander  the  Sixth,'* 
says  Guicciardini,  "  was  an  ancient  cardinal,  and  one  of  the 
most  considerable  prelates  in  the  court  of  Rome.  His  election 
was  owing  in  some  measure  to  the  disputes  which  arose  between 
the  two  cardinals,  heads  of  factions,  Ascanio  Sforza  and  Giuliano, 
of  San  Pietro  in  Vincolo,  but  was  chiefly  due  to  simony,  un- 
paralleled in  that  age,  for  he  bought  scandalously — partly  with 
money,  partly  with  promises  of  offices  and  benefices  of  his  o^vn, 
which  were  most  amply  endowed — many  votes  of  the  cardinals, 
who,  regardless  of  Gospel  precepts,  were  not  ashamed  to  sell 
the  privilege  of  trafficking,  in  the  name  of  a  Divine  authority, 
in  the  sacred  treasures  intrusted  to  them,  and  that  in  the  most 
exalted  seat  of  the  Chiistian  religion.  The  Cardinal  Ascanio, 
in  this  abominable  traffic,  took  a  leading  part  in  gaining  over 
many  of  the  cardinals,  but  not  more  by  persuasion  and  intreatiea 


*  Hist,  di  Milano,  parle  7ma.  p.  452, 


t  IbiJ.  p.  450, 
N 


178 


THE  IIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


than  by  his  own  example ;  for  he,  being  corrupted  by  an  insa- 
tiable appetite  for  riches,  bargained,  for  the  price  of  so  much 
wickedness,  for  the  office  of  vice-chancellor,  one  of  the  most 
important  of  the  Court  of  Rome,  for  churches  also,  castles,  and 
even  the  Pope's  own  palace  in  E-ome,  filled  with  most  costly 
furniture.  But  he  could  not  escape  the  Divine  retribution,  nor 
the  infamy  and  detestation  in  which  acts  like  his  are  justly  held 
by  their  fellow-men ;  for  people  were  filled  with  fear  and  horror 
at  an  election  achieved  by  such  foul  means,  and  the  more  so,  on 
account  of  the  nature  and  qualities  of  the  person  elected,  which 
were  known  to  many  ;  and  to  one  in  particular,  among  others, 
were  these  things  so  well  known,  that  the  King  of  Naples, 
although  in  public  he  concealed  his  sentiments  in  regard  to 
Alexander,  he  expressed  his  sorrow  with  tears,  (which  he  was  not 
wont  to  shed,  even  at  the  death  of  his  children,)  at  the  election 
of  a  Pontiff  whose  creation  would  prove  most  calamitous  to 
Italy  and  the  entire  Christian  republic :  a  prognostic  truly  worthy 
of  the  discrimination  of  Ferdinand ;  for  in  Alexander  the  Sixth 
(as  he  would  be  called)  there  was  singular  acuteness  and  saga- 
city, excellence  in  council,  marvellous  powers  of  persuasion, 
and,  in  all  weighty  matters,  incredible  concentration  of  ideas 
and  astuteness.  But  these  great  qualities  were  far  surpassed  by 
his  vices,  depraved  morals,  insincerity,  shamelessness,  truthless- 
ness,  faithlessness,  impiety,  insatiable  avarice,  immoderate 
ambition,  cruelty  most  barbarous,  and  excessive  solicitude,  by 
whatsoever  means  were  available,  to  exalt  his  children,  who 
were  numerous;  and,  amongst  them,  one,  as  if  fitting  instru- 
ments for  bad  counsels  might  not  be  wanting  to  him,  in  some 
respects  as  detestable  as  himself."* 

The  one  referred  to  of  the  unhappy  offspring  of  Alexander,  we 
are  informed  in  a  note,  was  Caesar  Borgia.  Guiccardini  men- 
tions only  four  children :  Francisco,  Duke  of  Gandia,  Csesar, 
duke  of  Valentino,  Guiffre,  Prince  of  Squillace,  and  Lucretia, 
who,  after  several  marriages,  died  Duchess  of  Ferrara. 

*  La  Historia  d'ltalia,  Di.  M.  Francesco  Guicciardini,  lib.  i.  p.  2.  Ed. 
4to.  Ven.  1599. — See  Appendix,  for  original  passage. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


1T9 


But  Rohrbaclicr  says  there  was  a  fifth  child  of  Alexander, 
whose  name  remains  unknown. 

Alexander  the  Sixth  had  done  by  his  son,  Ceesar  Borgia,  as 
his  uncle,  Calixtus  the  Third,  had  done  by  him^determined  to 
turn  the  spiritual  advantages  of  his  position  to  a  good  account 
for  his  family.  Caesar  was  given  to  the  Church,  and  two  of  its 
highest  dignities,  episcopal  and  cardinal,  were  bestowed  on  him 
by  his  father  ;  whilst  the  eldest  son,  the  Duke  of  Gandia,  was 
destined  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  temporal  honours, 
titles,  and  territorial  advantages. 

The  Pope  proposed  great  plans  for  the  aggrandizement  of  this 
son ;  but  God  disposed  of  events,  which  speedily  and  suddenly 
brought  all  those  projects  to  an  end. 

The  young  nobleman  was  murdered,  and  his  o^vn  brother, 
the  cardinal,  was  strongly  suspected  of  the  assassination.  Indeed, 
nearly  all  cotemporary  history  seems  to  entertain  hardly  any 
doubt  on  the  subject. 

Guicciardini  gives  the  following  graphic  account  of  the  eifects 
of  the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gandia  on  the  mind  of  his  father, 
Alexander  the  Sixth,  in  the  midst  of  many  disorders  in  the 
ecclesiastical  states,  and  public  calamities  that  then,  for  the  first 
time,  fell  upon  him,  and  which  he  endeavoured  to  banish  from  his 
thoughts  :  "  But  he  could  not  fly  the  domestic  calamities  which 
then  afllicted  his  house,  with  examples  so  tragical  of  the  effects 
of  lust  and  horrible  cruelty,  in  every  barbarous  form.  From 
the  beginning  of  his  Pontificate,  he  had  designed  to  bestow  all 
the  temporal  advantages  in  his  power  on  the  Duke  of  Gandia, 
his  eldest  son.  The  Cardinal  of  Valencia  (Caesar  Borgia),  who,  with 
I  a  mind  totally  alienated  from  the  sacerdotal  profession,  aspired  to 
:  the  command  of  the  army,  could  not  bear  that  this  place  should 
be  occupied  by  his  brother ;  and  impatient  moreover  at  that 
brother  having  a  greater  share  than  he  had  in  the  affections  of  a 
lady  loved  by  both,  excited  by  lust  and  ambition  (prime  motives 
in  all  great  villanies),  caused  him  to  be  put  to  death  one  night 
that  he  walked  alone  in  the  streets  of  Rome,  and  had  his  body 
cast  into  the  Tiber. 

N  2 


180 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


"  The  Pope  was  afflicted  beyond  measure  at  the  death  of  his 
son,  the  Duke  of  Gandia,  feeling  it  the  more,  that  no  father  ever 
la^dshed  so  much  love  on  his  sons  ;  and  he  felt  this  cruel  blow  of 
fortune  the  more,  became  from  his  youth  upwards  to  that  time,  he 
had  been  uniformly  prosperous.  And  so  affected  was  he  by  this 
catastrophe,  that  in  the  consistory  he  exhibited  the  greatest 
distress,  and  mth  tears  deplored  bitterly  his  misfortunes,  and 
accused  himself  many  times  of  his  own  acts  and  mode  of  life, 
that  he  had  hitherto  maintained.  He  protested  with  much 
earnestness  that  he  T\dshed  to  govern  his  future  life  by  another 
rule,  and  with  other  morals,  calling  on  some  of  the  cardinals  to 
reform  their  habits  likewise,  and  the  conduct  of  the  court.  He 
persisted  in  this  course  some  days,  till  the  real  facts  as  to  the 
author  of  the  murder  beginning  to  be  revealed,  which  up  to 
that  time  were  doubtful,  for  the  deed  had  been  ascribed  to  the 
Cardinal  Ascanio  and  to  the  Orsini,— his  good  intentions  and 
his  tears  were  abandoned.  He  returned  ^4th  more  frenzy 
than  ever  to  his  old  modes  of  thinking  and  acting,  which  had 
been  the  habits  of  his  life  up  to  that  time."* 

There  are  few  passages  in  Italian  history  of  mor«  terrible 
interest  than  the  preceding,  or  more  calculated  to  excite  grave 
considerations,  and  humble  A'iews  of  the  worldly  felicity  which 
long-continued  prosperity  is  supposed  to  lead  to. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Gandia,  Ray- 
naldus  informs  us  that  Alexander's  purposed  change  went  much 
further  than  a  reformation  of  his  manners,  or  of  those  of  his 
court.  We  are  told  by  this  author  : — "He  conceived  the  design 
of  abdicating  the  papacy,  and  intimated  liis  project  to  King 
Ferdinand,  of  Naples,  who  replied  to  him  that  this  matter  de- 
served grave  consideration,  and  that  he  should  defer  taking  any 
step,  at  least,  till  his  affliction  had  abated.  Moreover,  he  named 
a  commission  of  six  cardinals,  to  labour  at  the  re-establishment 
of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  If  no  result  came  of  this,  it  is  at 
least  manifest  that  this  man,  so  decried,  was  not  insensible. "f 

*  Guicciardini,  Hist,  d'ltalia,  lib.  iii.  p.  96. 

t  Epynald.  1197,      4-8,  ap.  Eolirbacher,  torn.  xxii.  p.  331. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


181 


This  is,  unquestionably,  the  most  redeeming  trait  in  the  whole 
career  of  Alexander.  There  was  one  corner  in  his  heart  not 
yet  wholly  petrified  and  insensible  to  every  emotion  of  natural 
feeling,  nor  inaccessible  to  the  voice  of  conscience  in  the  hour 
of  affliction. 

God  only  knows  what  this  man  might  have  proved,  had  his 
career  not  been,  from  his  earliest  years  to  the  period  of  that 
catastrophe,  one  continued  course  of  prosperity. 

He  had  had  no  crosses  in  life,  no  sickness,  no-  sorrows,  no 
misfortunes,  in  the  worldly  sense  of  that  word,  to  subdue  and 
to  soften  his  dispositions — to  remind  him  of  eternity,  and  to 
wean  him  from  the  world. 

The  crimes  to  which  Alexander  was  driven  by  his  immoderate 
and  ill-regulated  affection  for  his  children  were  continuous,  and 
seemed  linked  together  in  one  long  chain  of  enormities,  to  the 
perpetration  of  which  he  was  impelled,  as  if  destiny  had  or- 
dained them  for  the  punishment  of  the  transgressions  which  had 
given  those  children  to  him ;  or  rather,  for  the  punishment 
of  the  impiety  that  led  him  to  seek  the  place  he  profaned  so 
scandalously  in  the  Church. 

In  1492,  Alexander  had  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Al- 
phonzo.  King  of  Naples,  in  vii'tue  of  which  the  latter  was  bound 
to  bestow  several  valuable  benefices  on  Caesar  Borgia,  whom 
the  Pope  had  lately  created  cardinal. 

Alexander,"  says  Guicciardini,  "  in  order  to  qualify  Caesar 
for  the  purple,  had,  by  false  witnesses,  to  prove  him  to  be  a 
legitimate  child  of  another  gentleman,  it  not  being  customary 
to  promote  bastards  to  that  dignity."  This  act  led  to  enormities 
still  greater. 

The  Abbe  Rohrbacher,  with  all  his  anxiety  to  rescue  the  cha- 
racter of  Alexander  the  Sixth  from  all  the  obloquy  attaching  to 
it  that  could  possibly  be  removed,  and  to  bear  out  the  unfounded 
assertion  that  it  was  the  treachery  of  the  noble  families  of  Rome 
who  were  feudatories  of  the  Holy  See,  which  had  encouraged 
Charles  the  Eighth  in  1494  to  invade  Italy,  is  obliged  to  acknow- 
ledge that  when  Charles  entered  Rome,  and  Alexander  shut  him- 
self up  in  the  castle  of  San  Angelo,  "  two  cardinals  only  followed 


IS2 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


liim  into  the  castle,  while  eighteen  others,  having  gone  over  to 
the  King  Charles,  wished  to  bring  that  prince  to  seize  the  Pope, 
and  to  cause  proceedings  to  be  instituted  against  him,  in  order 
to  effect  his  deposition  from  the  pontificate,  on  the  ground  of  a 
pretended  intrusion  and  his  scandalous  life.  But  the  king,  more 
wise  than  those  prelates,  contented  himself  with  entering  into 
arrangements  with  the  pontiff."* 

The  nobles,  in  the  opinion  of  Rohrbacher,  who  went  over  to 
the  king  were  traitors,  but  the  cardinals  were  only — "  prelates 
not  so  wise  as  the  king,"— w^ho  had  not  only  gone  over  to  the 
French,  but  had  advised  the  deposition  of  the  Pontiff.  But 
why  was  the  king  more  ^vise  than  those  prelates  ?  One  of  the 
principal  grounds  on  which  John  the  TAventy-third  was  deposed 
by  the  Council  of  Constance,  was,  that  he  had  bought  the  pon- 
tificate. Alexander  the  Sixth  had  done  the  same,  and  his  life 
was  infinitely  more  scandalous  than  that  of  John  the  Twenty- 
third. 

The  Abbe  Rohrbacher  has  very  gentle  words  for  infamy  in 
high  places,  and  very  galling  ones  for  all  opposition  to  it.  But 
what  can  be  expected  from  a  writer  who  thus  treats  of  the 
atrocities  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  and  the  denunciation  of  the 
scandals  he  had  brought  on  religion  Za  conduite  Alex- 
andre VI.  n'etait  pas  bien  edifiante  :  Savonarola  comme  un  autre 
Cham  revelait  publiquement  rignominie  de  son  pere."t 

In  the  abbe's  judgment,  it  would  seem  the  grievous  sin  in 
this  case  was  not  in  the  ignominy  of  Alexander,  but  in  Savona- 
rola's revelation  of  it. 

Were  the  cardinals  (one  of  them  subsequently  a  pontiff)  who 
denounced  the  wickedness  of  Alexander  to  the  French  king,  so 
many  other  Chams  likewise,  for  thus  revealing  the  ignominy  of 
their  father  ? 

The  simple  answer  to  this  defence  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  is, 
that  the  researches  of  the  Italian  historians,  Guicciardini,  De- 
nina,  and  Nardi,  and  the  later  researches  of  Roscoe,  have  plainly 
shewn  that  Charles  the  Eighth  never  would  have  pushed  his 
*  iRohrbacher,  tome  xxii.  p.  351.  t  H^id.  p.  332. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


183 


claim  on  Naples  to  the  extremity  of  an  invasion,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  strenuous  efforts  made  by  a  large  number  of  the 
principal  cardinals  to  induce  him  to  remove  the  unworthy  pon- 
tiff, Alexander  the  Sixth,  fi-om  the  papal  throne. 

On  this  point,  Guicciardini's  statement  can  leave  no  doubt. 
It  is  to  the  following  effect : — "  The  Pope,  full  of  anxiety  and 
fear — ^pieno  d'incredibile  timor  e  anxieta,' — had  retii'ed  into 
the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  accompanied  by  two  of  the  cardinals, 
Battista  Orsini,  and  Ulivieri  Caraffa,  a  Neapolitan.  But  the 
Cardinals  del  Yincola,  Ascanio,  those  of  the  Colonna  family,  and 
Savello,  with  many  others,  resorted  to  the  French  king,  and 
prayed  him  to  remove  from  the  pontifical  see  a  Pope  loaded 
with  such  vices  as  rendered  him  odious  and  detestable  to  the 
whole  world,  and  to  procure  another  election.  They  represented 
that  it  would  not  be  less  glorious  for  him  to  free  the  Church  of 
God  from  the  tyranny  of  a  wicked  Pope,  than  it  was  for  Pepin 
and  Charlemagne,  his  ancestors,  to  free  the  Popes  of  a  holy  life 
from  the  persecutions  of  their  unjust  oppressors.  They  laboured 
to  convince  him  that  this  was  not  less  necessary  for  his  OA\'n 
safety  than  desirable  for  his  glory.'** 

Elsewhere,  the  same  author  states  that  the  chief  cause  of 
Alexander's  consternation  at  the  approach  of  the  French  was, 
that  Charles  would  be  prevailed  on  to  caU  a  council,  and  to 
proceed  to  his  degradation  and  expulsion  from  the  pontificate, 
at  the  instance  of  Cardinal  Rovera,  San  Pietro  in  Vincola,  and 
many  other  cardinals,  his  enemies — "  Accresceva  il  terrore  de 
vedergli  (II  Re)  appresso  con  autorita  non  piccola  il  Cardinale 
de  San  Pietro  in  Vincola  e  molti  altre  Cardinale  nimici  suoi .... 
temeva  che  il  re  non  voltasse  I'animo  a  reformare  come  gia 
comminciava  a  divulgarsi,  le  cose  della  chiesa."t 

We  find  in  the  works  of  several  of  the  Italian  historians,  who 
treat  of  the  affairs  of  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century,  many  re- 
ferences to  those  efforts  that  were  made  by  princes  and  by  pre- 
lates, conjointly  by  some  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the 


Gjiicciardini,  La  Hisloria  d'ltalia,  liv.  i.  p.  35.       f  Ibid.  p.  34. 


184 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


church,  and  by  one  of  them,  then  a  cardinal,  who  succeeded 
Alexander  in  the  pontificate,  to  depose  that  Pontiff,  and  to  rid 
the  church  of  the  scandal  of  his  conduct,  and  the  calamity  of 
his  government. 

Corio  says,  that  "  Charles,  the  most  Christian  king,  had  con- 
certed with  some  other  powers,  and  T\dth  several  of  the  most 
eminent  ecclesiastics,  to  deprive  Alexander  the  Sixth  of  the  pon- 
tilical  dignity — not  only  by  the  employment  of  force,  but  of 
moral  means — inasmuch  as  it  was  intended  to  convoke  a  council, 
Avhich  might  for  just  reasons  pronounce  his  deposition,  on  the 
ground  alone  of  his  ha\dng  bought  the  pontifical  dignity,  so 
that  he  could  not  be  considered  a  true  pastor  of  the  Holy 
Chiu'ch.  And  if  needs  were,  it  was  resolved  to  proceed  on  other 
grounds,  on  the  fact  of  his  notorious  libertinism,  of  the  crime 
ascribed  to  him  of  being  a  party  to  the  deaths  of  some 
persons,  and  of  disbelieving  in  the  divine  origin  of  the  Apos- 
tolic See  ;  and  further,  he  was  accused  by  the  King  Charles  of 
heresy,  of  conforming  to  the  faith  of  the  sect  of  the  Marrana 

The  qualifications  of  the  King  of  France  ("most  Christian," 
by  the  courtesy  of  Rome)  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the  faith  or 
morals  of  a  pontiff,  were  more  than  doubtful.  But  that  eminent 
prelates  and  dignitaries  sought  his  aid  and  co-operation  for  the 
execution  of  their  project  to  depose  Alexander  the  Sixth,  seems 
to  admit  of  no  doubt. 

Carlo  Denina,  in  his  Italian  History,!  speaks  in  the  following 
terms  of  the  intention  of  some  of  the  leading  prelates  and  car- 
dinals to  depose  Alexander  the  Sixth. 

"  The  Pope  (at  the  approach  of  King  Charles  and  the  French 
army)  fied  to  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  troubled  in  mind  and 
agitated,  especially  at  hearing  that  in  the  suite  of  the  King  was 
Julian  di  Rovero,  Cardinal  of  San  Pietro  in  Yincolo  (subse- 
quently Pope  Julius  the  Third),  his  great  enemy.  Alexander 

*  Corio,  Historia  di  iVrilano.  p.  462. 

t  Delle  ReA'oliizione  d'ltalia,  par  Deniua,  lib.  xix.  p.  15.  in  torn.  iv. 
rimo,  Veil,  1779. 


UF  SAVONAROLA. 


185 


had  no  doubt  but  that  the  Cardmal  was  there  to  counsel  Charles 
to  every  extreme  measure  against  his  person.  In  fact,  the 
Cardinal  Rovero  did  not  fail  to  stimulate  the  King  to  institute 
proceedings  against  Alexander,  as  a  simoniacal  pontiff,  and 
most  unworthy  of  that  dignity,  to  depose  Alexander,  and  to  elect 
another  Pope.  But  either  the  feelings  of  veneration  of  Charles 
towards  the  Holy  See,  or  more  probably  the  persuasion  and 
advice  of  William  Bressonet,  Bishop  of  St.  Malo,  his  Ma- 
jesty's principal  minister,  to  whom  Alexander  had  promised  the 
dignity  of  Cardinal,  restrained  the  King  from  so  mischievous 
a  determination,  one  which  would  have  exposed  the  Church  to 
a  most  pernicious  schism,  in  times  already  too  calamitous  for 
religion.  But  negociations  having  been  entered  into,  and  con- 
cluded, the  Pope  came  forth  from  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  he 
appeared  in  public  and  in  private  with  the  King,  with  the 
customary  ceremony  observed  in  such  congresses."* 

Roscoe  observes,  ^'  that  Benedetti,  in  his  Fatto  D'Arme  del 
Tarro,  asserts  that  Charles  was  invited  into  Italy  by  Ludovico 
Sforza,  Ercole,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  Cardinal  Juliano  della  Rovere, 
and  Lorenzo  de  Medici  (son  of  Piero  Francesco),  assigning  as  a 
reason  for  it,  which  strongly  confirms  the  idea  that  Alexander 
was  uniformly  hostile  to  the  measure,  that  the  aversion  in  which 
the  Pope  was  held  by  some  of  the  cardinals,  induced  them  to 
wish  for  a  change  in  the  pontificate. "f 

A  case  is  endeavoured  to  be  made  out  for  Alexander  the 
Sixth  by  Audin,  in  his  "  Histoire  de  Leon  X."    He  says  : — 

Some  weeks  after  the  death  of  Alexander's  predecessor,  ac- 
cording to  Infessura,  more  than  two  hundred  homicides  were 
committed  within  the  walls  of  Rome,  by  two  or  three  families, 
who  had  the  privilege  of  shedding  blood  with  impunity,  for 
Rome  belonged  to  them.  The  long  sojourn  of  the  Popes  at 
Avignon,  the  schism  that  had  broken  out  upon  their  return  to 
Italy,  the  scandalous  disputes  of  the  fathers  at  the  Council  of 

*  Denina,  Delle  llivohiz.  d'ltalia,  lib.  xix.  p.  16.  Vide  Appendix  for 
original  })assage. 

t  See  Life  of  Leo  X,  toL  i.  p.  452. 


186 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Basle,  had  aclmii-ably  served  the  purposes  of  the  great  vassals  of 
the  Holy  See.  Sheltered  from  punishment,  these  feudatories 
had  constituted  themselves  independent  sovereigns.  It  is  thus 
that  Malatesta  had  appropriated  Cessene ;  the  Riario  family, 
Imola  and  Forli ;  the  Manfredi,  Faenza ;  the  Sforza  family, 
Pessaro  ;  the  Bentivoglio  family,  Bologna;  the  Baglioni, 
Perugia." 

"  When  Charles  the  Eighth,"  continues  Audin,  "  invaded 
Italy,  most  of  these  great  lords  came  to  offer  their  services  to  the 
conqueror.  It  is  not  the  fault  of  Alexander  that  Charles  crossed 
the  Alps.  We  know  now,  thanks  to  the  learned  researches  of 
Bosmini,  that  the  Pope  tried  in  vain  to  hinder  the  alliance  of 
Lodovico  Sforza  with  Charles  the  Eighth.  He  proposed  to 
Sforza  a  triple  alliance  with  Bome,  Milan,  and  Naples,  which 
certainly  would  have  rendered  the  invasion  impossible.  Two 
powerful  houses  hastened  by  their  defection  the  occupation  of 
Bome,  namely,  the  Colonna's  and  the  Orsini,  and  delivered  up 
by  a  base  treachery  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  to  the  French. 
In  all  emergencies  the  Orsini  and  Colonna's  were  sure  to  find 
a  refuge  in  the  state  of  Venice,  for  the  policy  of  that  republic 
was  ever  interested  in  having  Bome  under  the  government  of  a 
weak  and  infirm  pope. 

"  Alexander  the  Sixth  dissimulated  his  resentment,  and  waited 
patiently  the  moment  for  vengeance.  Csesar  Borgia  was  th& 
instrument  of  whom  he  made  use  to  punish  the  felony  of  his. 
vassals  "* 

A  writer  yet  more  recent  than  Audin,  a  French  ecclesiastic — 
Monsieur  L'Abbe  Jorry — has  published  a  work  which  he  has 
entitled,  "  Histoire  du  Pape  Alexandre  VL,"  with  the  fol- 
lowing significative  motto : — Arracher  Vopprime  des  mains  du 
Calomniateur. 

It  should  have  been  entitled  an  eulogy  on  the  character  and 
career  of  the  Borgias — father  and  son.  This  work  is  published 
by  a  religious  society  for  "  the  propagation  of  good  books," — la 


*  Audin,  torn.  i.  p.  293. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


187 


Society  de  Saint  Victor,  with  the  approbation  of  Cardinal  de  la 
Tour  d'Auvergne. 

The  reverend  gentleman  who  has  written  this  book — as  he 
informs  us  at  the  close  of  it — "  to  render  some  services  to  the 
holy  cause  of  truth" — extols  the  pontificate  of  Alexander  the 
Sixth  as  dans  un  sens,  a  prelude  to  the  great  reign  of  Leo  the 
Tenth,  and  a  period  of  encouragement  that  led  to  the  resusci- 
tation of  the  arts.  "  He  (Alexander)  occupied  himself  above 
all  things  with  the  encouragement  of  the  arts."  ....  "In  his 
hours  of  recreation,  he  seemed  to  forget  completely  public 
affairs,  but  he  always  conducted  himself  so,  as  not  to  weaken  his 
intellectual  faculties."* 

Monsieur  L'Abbe,  in  his  zeal  for  the  interests  of  the  sacred 
cause  of  truth,  tells  the  world — 

"  But  even  if  Alexander  the  Sixth  had  all  the  vices  with 
which  he  had  been  charged,  those  vices  would  be  counter- 
balanced, to  a  certain  extent,  jusqu'a  un  certain  point,  by  the 
brilliant  quahties  which  distinguished  him." 

Among  the  calumniators  who  differed,  to  a  certain  extent,  in 
opinion  with  those  who  thought  that  the  brilliant  qualities  of 
Alexander  the  Sixth  counterbalanced  any  portion  of  the  vices 
imputed  to  him,  was  the  monk,  Girolamo  Savonarola. 

He  had  given  offence  to  the  man  of  the  brilliant  qualities,  and 
the  latter  had  said  of  the  begging  friar,  who  gave  him  more 
trouble  than  any  prince  :  "  Melior  est  bellum  cum  magno  prin- 
cipe  gerere,  quam  cum  uno  ex  fratrum  mendicantium  ordine." 

It  is  needless  to  say,  the  historian  of  Alexander  the  Sixth, 
zealous  for  the  sacred  cause  of  truth  and  the  character  of  Alex- 
ander the  Sixth,  Monsieur  L'Abbe  Jorry,  under  the  auspices 
of  a  religious  society,  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Cardinal 
Bishop  of  Arras,  thinks  less  favourably  of  Savonarola  than  he 
does  of  the  Sixth  Alexander.  This  reverend  historian  tells  us, 
that  "  the  religious  demagogue,  by  his  invectives  against  vices 
in  the  first  place,  then  against  persons,  had  made  himself  nume- 
rous enemies.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  some  reason  to 
*  Hist.  d'Alexandre,  p.  182. 


188 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


suspect  the  orthodoxy  of  his  sentiments  in  matters  of  faith. 
There  was  frequently  to  be  noticed  in  his  sermons,  certain  pro- 
positions little  conformable  to  truth.  On  that  account  he  had 
enemies  amongst  the  faithful  clergy."* 

The  abbe,  ever  zealous  for  the  sacred  cause  of  truth,  then 
proceeds  to  inform  his  readers,  that  "  the  religious  demagogue 
trampled  under  foot  his  o^vn  legislation,  constituted  himself  a 
tyrant  in  the  bosom  of  a  city  which  he  was  to  have  put  in  surety 
for  ever  against  all  tyranny.  There  was  nothing  more  re- 
quired to  raise  a  thousand  arms  against  him."  The  Abbe  Jorry, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  really  believes  that  in  thus  writing  of 
Alexander  the  Sixth  and  of  Savonarola,  he  has  served  the 
sacred  cause  of  truth.  It  might  have  been  better  for  the 
abbe,  however,  if  he  had  never  learned  to  read  or  write,  than 
to  make  use  of  knowledge  in  defence  of  guilt  that  has  done 
deadly  injury  to  religion,  and  in  condemnation  of  innocence 
andvu'tue  that  have  been  oppressed  and  borne  down  by  injustice. 
In  palliation  of  the  very  worst  atrocities  of  Caesar  Borgia,  the 
Abbe  Jorry  has  employed  language  calculated  to  confound  all 
notions  of  right  and  wrong.  In  relation  to  the  frightful  trea- 
chery and  massacre  of  Caesar's  victims  at  Senegtiglia,  the  abbe 
finds  only,  "  les  mceurs  et  les  usages  du  temps."  .  .  .  .  "  Lem*s 
mort  fut  regime  par  la  justice  de  I'epoque." 

Elsewhere  the  abbe  speaks  of  the  butcheries  of  Caescu:  Borgia 
as  executions — Selon  les  lois  de  la  guerre." 

*  Histoire  du  Pape  Alexandre  TI.,  par  Mons.  L'Abbe  Jorry.  Flanry, 
1851. 


OF  SAVON  AROTA. 


189 


CHAPTER  X. 

the  reform  of  san  marco.  fra  girolamo  called  on  to 

preach  during  the  lent  in  bologna,  in  1498.  offence 

given  by  the  preacher  to  the  wife  of  john  bentivo- 

glio. — attempt  on  the  life  of  fra  girolamo.  return  to 

florence.  resumption  of  the  labours  of  his  mission.  

reform  commenced  of  his  order.  beginning  of  the  quar- 
rel with  the  court  of  rome.  offer  made  to  him  of  a 

cardinal's  hat. — 1493  to  1494. 

"  That  angel  of  the  world  doth  make  distinction 
Of  place  'twixt  high  and  low." 

Shak.  Cym.  act  iv. 

In  1493  Savonarola  occupied  himself  exclusively  for  a  con- 
siderable time  with  the  reform  of  his  Order,  especially  of  his 
own  convent.  He  sent  two  of  the  most  able  theologians  of  his 
brethi-en,  Fra  P.  A.  Rinuccini,  a  Florentine,  and  Fra  Domenico 
(Bonviccini),  of  Pescia,  to  the  Pope,  Alexander  the  Sixth,  to 
endeavour  to  get  the  sanction  of  his  Holiness  for  the  proposed 
reform. 

One  of  the  principal  objects  sought  for,  was  permission  for 
San  Marco,  and  some  other  Dominican  convents,  to  erect  them- 
selves into  a  separate  congregation,  including  only  natives  in  its 
communities,  leaving  to  the  Dominican  province  the  other  con- 
vents of  the  Order,  but  earnestly  seeking  to  be  separated  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lombard  Congregation. 

The  Lombard  Congregation  sent  agents  to  Rome  to  oppose 
the  application.  Princes  and  prelates,  cardinals  and  ambas- 
sadors, threw  themselves  into  the  contention  which  this  subject 
had  occasioned.    The  Cardinal  Caraffa,  general  of  the  Domini- 


190 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


can  Order,  tlien  much  in  the  confidence  of  the  Pope,  had  long 
urged  in  vain  on  Alexander  the  suit  of  Fra  Girolamo.  On  one 
occasion,  when  the  capricious  Pontiff  refused  to  attend  a  consis- 
tory, and  dismissed  the  assembled  cardinals.  Cardinal  Caraflfa, 
using  the  great  freedom  which  the  familiar  nature  of  these  terms 
of  intercourse  permitted,  took  the  ring  off  the  Pope's  finger, 
and  signed  and  sealed  the  long-prepared  brief  of  separation  for 
the  Florentine  Dominicans,  after  having  fruitlessly  pressed  his 
Holiness  for  its  ratification.  Then  we  are  told  the  Holy  Father 
seemed  not  to  be  conscious  of  the  matter,  or  rather  to  connive 
at  an  act  which  interested  him  very  little. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  Burchard's  Diary  will  be  re- 
minded of  many  simulated  slumberings  and  syncopes  of  the 
Pontiff,  at  various  ceremonies,  on  important  occasion 

When  the  cardinal  put  the  duly  executed  brief  in  the  hands  of 
Fra  Girolamo's  agents,  he  said  to  them,  Lose  no  time  in  car- 
rying out  the  good  work  you  have  proposed,/or  it  is  only  by  the 
goodness  of  God  I  obtained  this  brief. Nothing  was  said  by 
the  good  Father  of  the  little  liberty  taken  with  the  finger  of  his 
Holiness  on  the  occasion. 

Burlamacchi  informs  us  of  the  timely  arrival  of  the  two 
Dominicans  with  the  Pontifical  brief  in  Florence.  The  Provin- 
cial of  the  Dominican  Order  in  Lombardy  had  already  taken 
steps  to  remove  Savonarola  from  San  Marco,  in  his  anger  at 
the  efforts  made  in  Pome  for  the  separation  of  the  Florentine 
convents  from  his  congregation,  and  his  inability  to  prevent  the 
proposed  separation.  A  few  days  before  the  expedited  brief 
had  reached  the  Prior  of  San  Marco,  he  sent  a  formal  and 
peremptory  order  to  the  Superior  of  the  Convent,  in  Fiesole,  to 
be  communicated  to  Savonarola,  and  some  others  of  the  brethren 
of  his  convent,  commanding  them  to  quit  San  Marco  altogether, 
and  to  retire  from  Florence,  on  pain  of  excommunication. 

Accident  had  delayed  the  communication  of  this  order  for 
nine  days  ;  when  eventually  it  was  presented  to  Savoranola,  he 

*  Hist,  de  Sav.'par  M.  Carle,  p.  126. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


191 


was  no  longer  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lombard  Pro- 
vincial. 

The  reform  proceeded,  and  extended  to  the  Dominican  con- 
vents in  Fiesole,  Pisa,  Prato,  and  Sienna.  A  chapter-general 
was  held  in  Florence  this  same  year,  1493,  and  the  Prior  of  San 
Marco  was  invested  with  the  dignity  of  Vicar-General  of  the 
congregation. 

The  community  of  San  Marco  augmented  so  considerably,  that 
the  Prior  was  obliged  to  seek  for  additional  accommodation  for 
his  brethren.  The  republic  liberally  conceded,  for  the  use  of 
the  community,  a  portion  of  the  building  called  the  Sapienza. 

The  series  of  sermons  on  Genesis,  which  Fra  Giralomo  had 
been  preaching  in  Florence,  was  interrupted  in  1493,  Fra  Gu'o- 
lamo  having  undertaken  to  preach  during  the  Lent  in  Bologna. 
The  fullest  account  of  a  singular  incident  which  took  place  at 
one  of  his  sermons,  in  the  course  of  his  preaching  on  that  occa- 
sion at  Bologna,  is  given  by  Burlamacchi. 

"  At  the  commencement  of  his  preaching  in  that  city  there 
was  not  a  very  large  concourse  of  people,  abstaining  as  he  did 
from  matter  which  merely  gratified  curiosity,  and  confining  him- 
self to  subjects  that  were  useful,  and  likely  to  produce  good 
effects,  and  tend  towards  the  salvation  of  souls. 

"  He  expounded  the  Sacred  Scriptures  with  great  simplicity^ 
retrenching  everything  that  was  superfluous  (in  style  or  com- 
ment). 

"  Therefore,  by  the  wise  of  this  world,  he  was  accounted  (there) 
a  poor  simple  man,  '  a  preacher  for  women,'  '  uomo  sem- 
plice  e  predicatore  de  donne.'  It  happened  at  this  time  that 
the  wife  of  John  Bentivoglio,  the  tyrant  lord  of  Bologna,  attended 
his  sermons,  and  always  came  into  the  church  when  the  sermon 
had  been  commenced,  accompanied  usually  by  a  great  number 
of  gentlewomen  and  young  ladies — ^  gentildonne  e  damigelle  ' — 
who  greatly  disturbed  not  only  the  congregation  but  the  preacher 
also,  who,  on  several  occasions,  was  obliged  to  pause  in  his  dis- 
course until  the  disturbance  had  ceased. 

"  On  this  account,  on  the  first  occasion  of  the  disturbance,  he 


192  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

begged,  with  mildness,  of  those  ladies  in  general  who  attended 
his  preaching,  that  they  would  all  endeavour  to  be  present  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sermon,  in  order  to  avoid  any  more  giving 
distui'bance  while  the  word  of  God  was  preached.  But  his 
request  not  being  at  all  attended  to,  the  very  proud  woman  (of 
whom  mention  has  been  made)  persisting  still  in  coming  into 
church  as  she  was  wont  to  do,  the  preacher  one  morning  in  par- 
ticular said,  in  a  very  courteous  manner,  while  she  was  proceed- 
ing to  her  place,  '  My  lady  madonna,  you  would  do  what  is 
pleasing  to  God,  and  also  to  me,  to  come  into  church  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sermon,  so  that  neither  the  congregation  nor 
myself  should  be  disturbed.'  But  all  expostulation  was  in 
vain.  On  the  third  occasion  of  a  similar  interruption,  seeing 
the  same  lady  walk  in  in  her  accustomed  manner  with  great 
pomp,  feeling  himself  inflamed  with  zeal  (for  the  honour  of  reli- 
gion), he  cried  out  in  a  loud  voice,  ^  Behold  the  evil  one,  behold 
the  e\il  one  who  comes  to  pertui'b  (the  preaching  of)  the  word 
of  God — Ecco  il  demonio  !  ecco  il  demonio  che  viene  a  perturbare 
il  vertio  di  Dio.^ 

"  On  hearing  these  words,  the  haughty  woman,  infuriated, 
having  apprised  her  husband  of  what  had  taken  place,  prevailed 
on  him  to  dispatch  two  of  his  satellites  to  assassinate  the  father, 
even  in  the  pulpit ;  but  the  Lord,  who  was  his  helper,  did  not 
permit  those  machinations  to  be  carried  into  eflfect. 

The  preacher  having  returned  to  his  cell,  the  offended  lady, 
still  full  of  anger  and  rage,  employed  two  other  agents,  more 
wicked  than  the  former,  to  put  him  to  death.  \\Tien  they  came 
to  the  convent  gate,  the  porter,  named  Fra  Dionysio  (having 
spoken  with  them),  went  to  call  Fra  Girolamo,  telling  him  there 
were  two  soldiers  of  the  signore  who  enquired  for  him,  and  there- 
fore he  (Fra  Dionysio)  advised  him  to  be  on  his  guard  against 
some  treachery. 

"  Fra  Girolamo  answered,  that  all  his  trust  was  in  God,  and 
therefore  he  might  admit  those  men  ft'eely. 

"  Being  therefore  admitted,  when  they  came  into  his  presence, 
he  asked  them,  with  perfect  composure,  what  good  news  they  had 


OF   SAVONAROLA.  193 

I   for  him ;  and  tliey,  feeling  their  hearts  moved  and  their  in- 
!   tentions  altered,  with  great  respect  said  to  him,  "  Our  lady- 
sent  us  to  your  reverence,  to  know  if  you  had  need  of  any- 
thing ;  and,  if  so,  that  she  was  most  willing  to  provide  for  your 
j  necessities." 

1  To  which  the  father  replied  suitably,  giving  them  thanks,  and 
!  with  courteous  words  dismissed  them.  So  striking  an  example  of 
boldness  (in  the  discharge  of  his  sacred  duties)  began  to  procure 
a  large  attendance  at  his  sermons  ;  so  many  came,  that  the  church 
could  hardly  contain  the  nimibers.  And  at  length,  coming  to 
the  conclusion  of  his  course  of  sermons,  he  said  publicly. 
This  night  I  will  take  the  road  for  Florence  with  my  slender 
staff  and  my  wooden  flask,  and  I  will  repose  at  Pianoro  :  if  any 
person  want  aught  of  me,  let  him  come  before  I  set  out. 
Nevertheless  the  solemnity  of  my  death  is  not  to  he  celebrated  at 
Bologna — hut  elsewhere^    And  so  it  came  to  pass.* 

In  proof  of  his  humility,  Burlamacchi  states  that  the  arch- 
bishopric of  Florence  was  pressed  on  him  and  refused  by  him, 
and  that  the  cardinal's  hat  was  ofiered  to  him  on  two  occasions, 
and  was  likewise  declined  by  him. 

The  first  occasion  was  when  the  Venetians,  treating  of  a 
confederation  with  the  Florentines,  oflfered  in  vain  to  procure 
I  that  dignity  for  him  if  he  would  use  his  good  offices  in  their 
favour. 

The  second  occasion  was  when  Alexander  the  Sixth  made 
I   him  the  offer  of  that  dignity,  on  condition  of  his  abstaining 
from  preaching  of  future  events,  and  retracting  some  things 
he  had  said.    But  he  did  the  opposite  of  all  that  was  expected 
of  him.  t 

Dr.  Hafe,  in  his  remarkable  work  of  "  The  New  Prophets," 
states  that  Alexander  the  Sixth  offered  a  cardinal's  hat  to 
Savonarola,  but  the  latter  replied — "he  desired  no  other  hat 
than  the  martyr's  blood-stained  crown."  + 


*  Burlamacchi,  Vit.  de  Sav.  p.  536. 
X  Neue  Propheten,  p.  125. 
VOL.  I. 


t  Ibid.  p.  538. 

O 


194 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


We  are  even  told  by  Hafe,  that  Alexander  wished  Savona- 
rola to  come  to  Rome  to  prophesy  for  him.    But  Savonarola 

excused  himself,  and  declined  visiting  the  Eternal  City  

The  only  effect  the  intimated  desire  of  his  Holiness  seems 
to  have  had  on  Fra  Girolamo,  was  to  incite  him  to  more  active 
measures  to  bring  the  scandals  of  Alexander's  Pontificate  to  a 
close. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


195 


CHAPTER  XL 

PREDICTED   IXVASIOX   OF   ITALY    BY    CHARLES   THE  EIGHTH  OF 

FRANCE.  ARRIVAL  OF  CHARLES  AND  HIS  ARMY  IN  FLORENCE. 

 FLIGHT  OF  THE  MEDICI.  RESTORATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  

THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  SAVONAROLA's  INFLUENCE  IN  PUBLIC 

AFFAIRS.  SUCCESSFUL  RESULTS  OF  HIS  EFFORTS  ON  BEHALF  OF 

THE  FLORENTINE  REPUBLIC,  AND  SUBSEQUENT  MEDIATION 
WITH  THE  KING  AT  FLORENCE  TO  PREVENT  THE  SACKING  OF 

THE  CITY.  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  FRENCH  FROM  FLORENCE.  

CLOSE  OF  THE  YEAR  1494. 

The  coming  into  Italy  of  the  French  sovereign  with  an  army- 
had  been  predicted  by  Savoranola  in  1484,  in  a  sermon  which 
he  preached  in  Brescia ;  and  in  1494,  m  several  of  his  sermons, 
that  coming  event  was  referred  to,  as  will  be  found  in  several 
passages  of  the  sermons  contained  in  the  "  Compendio  delle 
Revelazioni." 

Charles  the  Eighth  in  those  predictions  is  spoken  of  as  Cyrus, 
whom  the  Lord  would  lead  by  the  right  hand,  in  the  words  of 
Isaiah.  This  new  Cyrus  will  cross  the  mountains,  sweep  all  Italy, 
and  take  possession  of  it  in  a  few  days,  without  shedding  a  drop  of 
blood.  It  will  be  in  vain,  he  tells  his  countrymen,  to  fancy 
themselves  secure  in  fortresses  and  in  rocky  places,  because  they 
will  be  taken  without  difficulty. 

It  was  not,  however,  till  almost  the  middle  of  1494  that  the 
preacher,  explaining  the  book  of  Genesis,  made  especial  appli- 
cation of  the  menaces  which  preceded  the  universal  deluge, 
and  when  the  people  of  Florence  were  plunged  into  alarm  by 
a  particular  sermon,  wherein,  with  new  energy  and  earnestness, 
he  called  on  them  to  provide  against  the  coming  calamities — 

o  2 


196 


'J'lIE   LIFE  AND  MARTYIIDOM 


J  ust  men,"  he  exclaimed,  "  enter  tlie  Ark  !  Behold  the  cata- 
racts of  heaven  are  about  to  fall.  They  come  !  I  see  the  plains 
inundated,  the  mountains  disappear  in  the  middle  of  the  waters. 
Behold,  my  brethren — ^behold  the  day  of  the  A  engeance  of  the 
Lord !  " 

Burlamacchi  says,  in  the  preceding  expositions,  which  occu- 
pied a  considerable  period,  those  who  attended  the  sermons 
were  often  surprised  that  the  subject  of  the  construction  of  the 
Ark  took  up  so  much  time,  and  that  it  seemed  as  if  Savonarola 
could  never  arrive  at  that  text  where  it  is  said,  Ego  adducam 
aquas  diluvii,^^  till  the  French  monarch  with  his  invading  army 
had  actually  entered  Italy.* 

Guicciardini  truly  observes,  that  Fra  Girolamo,  "  having 
publicly  preached  the  Word  of  God  in  Florence  during  many 
years,  and  combining  a  singular  reputation  for  sanctity  Avith 
much  sound  doctrine,  had  acquired  the  character  of  a  prophet, 
and  obtained  an  immense  influence  in  the  estimation  of  a  great 
number  of  people,  because  when  there  appeared  no  sign  (of 
danger)  in  Italy,  but  all  were  rejoicing  in  a  profound  tranquillity, 
he  had  predicted  several  times  in  his  sermons  the  arrival  in 
Italy  of  foreign  armies,  formidable  on  account  of  their  strength 
and  numbers,  which  would  cast  down  their  walls,  destroy  their 
troops,  burn  their  cities,  declaring  that  these  predictions,  and 
many  others  which  he  introduced  continually  into  his  sermons, 
he  did  not  make  by  means  of  human  science,  nor  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  Scriptures,  but  by  a  special  Divine  revelation."  f 
The  predictions  referred  to  were  accomplished  sooner  or  later. 

Nevertheless,  Savonarola  in  our  times  passes  for  a  fanatic,  a 
fool,  or  an  impostor.  In  his  own,  being  "  a  True  Monk,"  in 
the  worst  age  of  the  Christian  Church,  persecution  and  calumny, 
and  even  death,  might  naturally  have  been  expected  for  him. 

History  teaches  mankind  more  truths  than  are  to  be  found 
sanctioned  in  ephemeral  literature,  or  political  or  polemical 
periodicals. 


*  Burlamacchi,  p.  544. 


t  Guicciardini,  Hist,  d'ltalia. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


197 


It  teaclies  them  that  all  "  arrant  humbug  "  is  not  on  the  side 
of  credulity. 

It  teaches  them  that  an  inveterate  habit  of  disbelief,  an  obstinate, 
dogged,  unimpressible  scepticism,  is  as  inimical  to  truth  as  un- 
reasoning credulity  itself,  and  somewhat  more. 

History  teaches  learning,  modesty ;  and  religion — teaches 
scholars  and  sages  forbearance  and  humility.  History  teaches 
man  that  truth  and  justice  have  not  shrines  at  which  the  w^orship 
of  this  world  is  extensively  performed.  Its  lessons  make  us 
acquainted  with  the  facts  that  few  men  of  genuine  philanthro^^y, 
and  of  original  genius  or  piety,  or  a  spirit  that  manifestly  soared 
above  selfish  sordid  interests,  ever  appeared  on  this  mortal  stage, 
in  the  character  of  reformers  entrusted  with  any  great  mission 
of  importance  to  the  interests  of  humanity,  however  high  or 
holy,  who  were  not  slandered,  cried  down,  discredited,  mocked, 
and  ridiculed,  and,  if  possible,  got  rid  of,  either  by  stabbing 
their  reputation,  or  driving  them  into  exile,  or  taking  away 
then*  lives. 

Even  so  it  fared  with  Savonarola  and  his  eiforts  to  serve  God 
and  the  people  among  whom  his  lot  was  cast :  he  was  defamed, 
his  mission  was  brought  into  contempt,  he  was  persecuted  and 
put  to  death.  The  Apostles  of  truth  and  justice,  in  all  nations 
who  war  with  wickedness,  should  never  be  unprepared  for  some 
such  doom  for  all  heroic  efforts  to  serve  mankind  effectuallv,  to 
exalt  and  to  spiritualise  them. 

Discords  having  arisen  between  Alphonso  of  Arragon,  King 
of  Naples,  and  Lodovico  Sforza  (II  Moro),  of  Milan,  the  latter 
commenced  his  machinations  at  the  court  of  Charles  the  Eighth, 
the  young  king  of  France,  for  the  ruin  of  the  house  of  Arragon- 
Lodovico's  diplomacy  was  successfully  directed  towards  inducing 
the  French  sovereign  to  assert  a  claim  which  he  called  "  his 
rights  "  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  in  virtue  of  his  hereditary 
title  to  aU  the  territory  that  had  been  possessed  by  Renato 
D'Angio.  In  the  meantime  there  were  misunderstandings  be- 
tween Alexander  the  Sixth  and  Alphonso  of  Naples,  and  a 
rupture  in  the  amicable  relations  that  had  previously  subsisted 
between  Pietro  de  Medici  (the  son  of  Lorenzo)  and  Lodovico 


11)8 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Sforza.  In  moreover,  there  were  grave  dissensions  between 

Alexander  the  Sixth  and  the  Cardmal  Giulano  della  Rovera, 
styled  Cardinal  di  San  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  a  most  formidable 
adversary  of  Alexander — "  Isimicissimo  del  Papa."  This  Car- 
dinal was  subsequently  (in  1503)  Pope  Julius  the  Second.  The 
Cardinal,  in  1493,  was  in  communication  and  correspondence 
with  the  court  of  France  for  the  same  designs  which  Savonarola 
had  in  view  —  the  removal  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  from  the 
Papal  throne,  the  calling  of  a  council,  and  the  reformation  of 
church  discipline  and  government.    In  the  work  of  Peumont, 

Chronologiche  e  Sincrone  Delia  Storia  Fiorentina,"  we  read, 
in  the  records  of  the  year  1493,  of  the  "  Maneggi  alia  Corte  del 
Re  di  Francia  .  .  .  della  Cardinali  di  San  Pietro  in  Yincoli." 
And  then  the  same  annals  inform  us  there  are  "  suspicions  and 
armaments  on  all  sides." 

Thus  Ave  find  there  were  "  Maneggi  "  at  the  court  of  France 
on  the  part  of  a  Cardinal,  afterwards  a  Pontiff,  for  the  removal 
of  Alexander,  and  the  only  means  of  accomplishing  this  desi- 
rable act  appeared  to  the  Cardinal  to  be  the  coming  into  Italy 
of  the  French  sovereign  with  sufficient  strength  to  effect  that 
object.  * 

Savonarola  was  not  then  in  communication  with  the  French 
government,  but  he  was  so  a  Kttle  later,  and  with  the  same 
object  at  heart  which  the  Cardinal  had  in  view. 

A^^iat  did  not  pass  for  treason  in  the  general,  was  rank  per- 
fidy and  sedition  in  the  private  Christian  soldier,  in  the  sight  of 
the  infidel  critic  Bayle. 

In  1494,  Charles  the  Eighth  set  out  on  his  expedition  against 
Naples,  without  any  adequate  preparation  or  proA'ision,  plan  or 
purpose,  that  was  intelligible  to  his  counsellors  or  to  himself. 
Alphonso  of  Naples,  at  the  same  time,  despatched  his  son,  Fer- 
dinand, with  some  troops,  into  Pomagna,  against  the  forces  of 
Lodo\dco  Sforza,  and  sent  his  son,  Frederic,  with  a  fleet  to 
Genoa.  All  his  efforts  of  resistance  failed ;  the  cup  of  his  ini- 
quity was  full,  the  divine  retribution  was  about  to  fall  on  the 
*  Eeumont,  Storia  Fiorentina,  4to.  Fir.  1841,  an.  1493. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


199 


Neapolitan  branch  of  the  house  of  Arragon,  and  never  did  it 
visit  greater  turpitude. 

People  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  the  pride  of  intellectual 
and  social  progress  and  civilization,  do  not  believe  much  in  the 
theory  of  retribution  falling  on  nations  and  dynasties,  who  have 
signally  outraged  justice,  humanity,  and  religion.  But  it  falls 
for  all  that ;  and  it  fell  with  a  vengeance  on  the  unfortunate 
Alphonso,  King  of  Naples,  and  his  childi'en.  The  French  king, 
Charles,  as  if  he  was  performing  a  part  in  a  melodramatic 
entertainment,  marched  through  Italy  with  great  pomp  and 
pageantry,  carousing,  borrowing,  offering  battle  and  giving 
balls,  levying  contributions  and  visiting  churches,  till  he  came 
to  Asta  Pavia,  and  entered  Romagna  without  any  resistance. 
The  poor  French  sovereign  himself  was  quite  unable  to  com- 
prehend the  successes,  not  of  his  arms,  but  the  mere  sight  of  an 
army  without  a  commissariat,  a  military  chest,  or  officers  fit  to 
set  a  squadron  in  the  field. 

Up  to  this  period  of  his  exploits — namely,  the  appearance  of 
his  army  and  the  ravages  of  it,  from  which  the  unfortunate 
Italian  peasantry  suffered  wherever  he  came — Florence  and  its 
ruler  made  a  show  of  hostility  to  the  designs  of  the  French 
sovereign.  But  no  sooner  did  the  invaders  enter  Tuscany, 
than  Pietro  de  Medici,  in  October,  1494,  consulting  only  his 
fears,  forgetting  his  duty  to  the  Republic,  and  to  its  magistrates 
and  councillors,  without  apprizing  any  officer  of  the  govern- 
ment or  the  State,  proceeded  to  the  camp  of  Charles  at  Sazzano, 
and  entered  into  an  ill-advised  treaty  of  amity  with  the  French 
sovereign,  binding  himself  and  the  republic  to  yield  up  to  the 
French,  during  the  war,  five  of  the  principal  fortresses  of  the 
state. 

Some  days  prior  to  the  9th  of  October  (1494),  Savonarola 
was  sent  on  an  embassy,  with  some  other  citizens,  to  the 
king  of  France,  then  at  Lunigiana,  accompanied  by  Fra  Fran- 
cisco Salviati,  Fra  Thomaso  Businum,  and  Fra  Domenico  de 
Pescia.  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  on  every  occasion 
of  great  importance,  Fra  Domenico  is  either  the  agent  or  the 


200 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


companion  of  Savonarola.  Fra  Girolamo  had  set  out  on  foot 
on  his  embassy,  but  the  Signoria  had  a  mule  prepared  for  him 
and  sent  after  him,  which,  "  for  the  honour  of  the  republic,  he 
consented  to  ride  the  remainder  of  the  journey." 

The  influence  acquired  by  Fra  Girolamo  over  the  citizens  of 
Florence,  and  the  apprehension  entertained  by  them  of  the  in- 
tentions of  the  French  sovereign,  are  very  manifestly  shewn  in 
this  embassy. 

The  embassy  of  the  friar  had  to  follow  the  King  Charles  to 
Lucca,  and  finally  to  Pisa,  where  an  audience  with  the  king 
was  granted. 

Fra  Girolamo  made  a  discourse  remarkable  for  its  eloquence, 
dignity,  and  anxiety  for  the  interests  of  the  republic,  to  the 
French  sovereign. 

The  main  design  of  the  orator  was,  to  impress  the  mind  of 
Charles  with  the  idea  that  a  great  mission  had  been  given  to 
him  ;  that  he,  King  Charles,  had  been  chosen  by  God  to  be  the 
minister  of  the  divine  justice,  for  the  restoration  of  religion,  and 
the  repression  of  impiety  and  tyranny. 

Future  blessings  were  predicted  for  him  if  he  accomplished 
that  mission,  and  prevented  the  people  of  Italy,  and  especially  of 
Florence,  from  being  oppressed  or  injured  by  his  troops  ;  and 
menaces  of  the  divine  retribution  falling  on  him,  and  on  his 
house,  were  not  wanting,  in  the  event  of  his  disregarding  those 
counsels  which  were  given  to  him  by  God's  command. 

"  After  this  discourse,"  says  Burlamacchi,  "  one  of  the  first 
barons  of  the  king  took  the  father  by  the  hand,  and  conducted 
him  into  the  royal  chamber,  where  he  had  a  conversation  with 
the  king  that  lasted  for  an  hour.  This  was  on  a  Sunday,  on  the 
9tli  of  November. 

"  It  was  on  the  following  day  that  the  king  set  the  Pisans  at 
liberty  ;  and  on  the  same  day,""  adds  Burlamacchi,  Pietro  de 
Medici  returned  to  Florence,  after  the  secret  convention  into 
which  he  had  entered  with  the  king,  thinking  on  his  arrival  in 
Florence  to  take  possession  of  the  palace  of  the  Signoria,  and  to 
establish  himself  as  an  absolute  sovereign  under  the  protection 
of  a  foreign  prince." 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


201 


But  the  scheme  failed,  and  the  power  of  the  Medici  was 
broken  down. 

The  first  mention  by  Nardi,  in  his  History  of  Florence,  of 
Fra  Girolamo,  in  relation  to  the  unauthorized  surrender  of 
the  five  fortresses  of  the  republic  to  the  French  sovereign,  and 
to  the  embassy  in  which  Fra  Girolamo  was  sent  to  the  king,  is 
to  the  following  effect : — 

"  Those  things  (done  by  Pietro),  on  being  heard  in  Florence 
by  the  Signoria  and  the  people,  how  he  alone,  without  any 
authority  from  the  Signoria,  and  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
associate  envoys  of  the  republic,  had  the  courage  to  deprive  his 
own  country  of  so  many  important  possessions,  caused  a  great 
ferment  in  the  city,  every  one  being  extremely  indignant  at 
such  conduct.  They  immediately  appointed  five  other  oratori^ 
among  whom  was  Fra  Girolamo."  ....  Nardi  says,  the  first  in- 
terview of  this  new  embassy  with  the  king  was  at  Lucca,  and 
that  the  mind  of  his  majesty  was  found  to  be  very  much  pre- 
occupied and  prejudiced  against  the  objects  of  this  mission  by 
Pietro.  But  they  were  desired  to  proceed  to  Pisa,  to  which 
place  the  king  was  then  going,  as  one  more  convenient  for  con- 
sidering the  matters  they  were  charged  with  treating  of,  by  the 
republic.  "  If  it  were  not,"  says  Nardi,  "  that  Fra  Girolamo 
spoke  very  efficaciously  in  defence  of  the  Florentine  people, 
and  made  use  of  many  words  deprecatory  (of  injustice)  and 
menacing  of  the  divine  retribution,  this  embassy  would  be  of 
small  importance."* 

Thus,  while  Pietro  was  intriguing  against  the  republic,  an 
active  agent  of  it  was  neutralizing  his  efforts. 

This  matter  is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  We  can  only  get 
at  the  real  facts  relating  to  it,  by  reading  the  various  accounts 
given  by  different  historians  of  the  mission  of  Pietro  de  Medici 
to  King  Charles,  and  by  comparing  the  date  of  that  mission, 
and  the  date  also  of  an  embassy  sent  to  the  same  sovereign, 
immediately  after  Pietro's  departure  from  Florence,  which 
appears  to  have  been  determined  on  by  certain  members  of  the 

*  Nardi,  Hist,  della  Citta  di  Fioreiiza,  lib.  1,  p.  18,  4to.  Fir.  1584. 


202 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Signoria,  who  were  inimical  to  the  Medici,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  preventing  any  measures  hostile  to  the  republic,  which 
were  evidently  suspected  to  be  meditated  by  Pietro. 

Audin  de  K-ians,  in  his  "  Sommario  dellaVita  de  Savonarola," 
recording  of  the  affairs  of  1494,  says  : — Savonarola  succeeded 
fully  in  his  embassy  to  the  king  at  Pisa,  in  appeasing  his  anger 
against  the  Florentines,  when  he  was  bent  on  manifesting  his 
indignation  against  the  republic  ;  and  more  than  once  he  suc- 
ceeded with  his  mild,  persuasive,  and  energetic  words,  and  bet- 
ter than  the  celebrated  Pietro  Capponi,  to  prevent  the  carnage 
with  which  the  city  of  Florence  was  menaced :  and  moreover, 
those  persuasive  Avords  of  his,  profoundly  felt  by  the  monarch, 
procured  for  the  republic  in  its  adversity  better  terms  than 
would  have  been  otherwise  obtained."* 

"  The  embassy  having  been,"  to  use  Nardi's  words,  "  honour- 
ably, courteously,  and  magnificently  received,"  soon  after  re- 
turned to  Florence.  Pietro,  who  had  remained  also  in  Pisa 
during  the  sojourn  of  the  envoys  there,  after  taking  certain 
measures  of  a  military  kind  in  conjunction  with  the  Orsini,  for 
effecting  his  plans  in  Florence,  took  his  departure  about  the 
same  time. 

"  He  departed,"  says  Nardi,  "  with  a  firm  resolution  to  make 
himself  an  absolute  prince  of  his  country,  instigated  chiefly  so 
to  do  by  his  wife  and  her  relatives,  the  Orsini,  and  also  to  put 
to  death,  or  send  into  exile,  all  those  whom  he  knew  to  have  ma- 
chinated against  him.'''' 

The  rest  of  his  account,  respecting  his  return  to  Florence, 
and  his  flight  from  it,  is  in  conformity  with  that  given  by  the 
other  historians,  except  that  it  ascribes  the  ultimate  panic  of 
Pietro,  which  seems  to  have  suddenly  prostrated  all  his  ener- 
gies, to  the  tolling  of  the  great  bell  of  Florence,  "  campana 
grossa  a  martella,"  which  he  had  taken  some  measures,  suffi- 
cient ones  as  he  erroneously  imagined,  to  prevent  the  Signoria 
or  the  citizens  obtaining  access  to.f  The  moment  he  heard  the 
ominous  sound  of  that  great  bell,  which  had  been  the  signal  in 
*  Sommario  della  Vita,  &c.  p.  22.         f  Nardi.  p.  22 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


203 


former  times,  on  so  many  occasions,  for  outbreaks  of  sedition 
and  disaffection,  and  tumults  against  his  family,  it  seemed  to 
him  as  if  the  knell  of  his  fortunes  and  those  of  his  house  was 
tolled,  and  that  his  destiny  and  theirs,  as  rulers  of  Florence, 
was  accomplished. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  French  invader  made  his  triumphal 
entry  into  Florence,  the  ITth  Xovember,  149-i,  the  Count  Pico 
della  Mirandola,  the  luminary  and  wonder  of  his  age,  the  great 
friend  of  Savonarola  and  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  took  his  de- 
parture out  of  this  world. 

He  died  in  Florence,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  the 
Convent  of  San  Marco. 

The  8th  of  Xovember,  1494,  Pietro  de  Medici  had  returned, 
according  to  Reuniont,  to  Florence,  but  the  news  of  his  infamous 
treaty  had  arrived  before  him.  General  discontent  prevailed  in 
Florence.  It  walked  before  him  as  he  proceeded  to  the  palace 
of  the  Medici,  and  it  met  him  at  its  gates.  Luca  Corsini,  one 
of  the  Signoria,  as  Pietro  approached  the  palace,  shut  the  doors 
in  his  face.  Sedition,  which  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic,  appa- 
rently unpreconcerted,  spread  all  at  once  over  the  city.  Pietro, 
accompanied  by  his  brother  Julian  (the  subsequent  Pontiff, 
Leo  the  Tenth)  and  a  younger  brother,  fled  to  Bologna.  The 
palace  of  the  Medici  was  sacked.  The  power  of  the  Medici — 
the  growth  of  ages,  the  work  of  minds  of  the  first  order  of  intel- 
lect— in  one  instant,  without  the  slightest  effort  at  resistance,  was 
laid  in  the  dust.  At  the  first  intimation  of  the  disaster,  the 
Cardinal  de  Medici  had  taken  refuge  in  the  convent  of  San 
Marco.  There  it  was  thought  ad^dsable  to  procure  for  him  the 
disguise  of  a  Franciscan  monk,  and  in  this  habit  he  effected  his 
escape  to  Bologna.  The  citizens  of  Florence  recalled  the  ba- 
nished Pazzi  and  Xeroni,  and  released  those  of  both  foniilies 
who  were  still  in  confinement,  and,  with  their  aid,  restored 
their  ancient  Republican  form  of  government.  All  these  oc- 
currences took  place  between  the  9th  and  17th  of  Xovember, 
1494. 

The  king,  on  his  arrival,  having  summoned  the  newly-ap- 


204 


THE   LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


pointed  government  to  confer  with  liim,  he  put  forward  the 
treaty  entered  into  with  him.  by  Pietro  de  Medici,  and  gave 
unmistakeable  intimations  of  his  intention  of  enforcing  its  stipu- 
lations. Pietro  de  Caponi,  one  of  the  principal  magistrates, 
had  the  courage  to  address  those  memorable  words  to  the  foreign 
invader — "  You  will  sound  your  trumpets,  and  we — will  ring 
our  bells  !" 

*  A  dozen  of  bold  words,  articulately  spoken,  seemed  to  have 
saved  Florence  from  being  pillaged  and  enslaved.  A  compact 
was  entered  into,  whereby  the  Florentine  fortresses  were  allowed 
to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  French  during  the  war ;  and, 
after  some  tumults  occasioned  by  the  brutality  of  the  French 
troops,  the  king,  on  the  28th  of  Xovember,  took  his  departure 
for  Naples,  and  left  the  newly-restored  Republic  of  Florence  in 
the  full  possession  of  its  independence.  But,  during  his  stay 
there,  some  very  remarkable  occurrences  took  place. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  king  in  Florence,  his  first  visit  was  to 
the  Duomo,  where  he  paid  his  devotions.  During  the  nine 
days  of  his  sojourn  in  Florence,  notwithstanding  the  terror  that 
reigned,  and  the  tumults  that  had  broke  out,  one  of  which  was 
attended  with  disastrous  consequences,  Fra  Girolamo  preached 
daily  to  a  vast  auditory,  calling  the  people  to  penance,  prayer, 
and  fasting.  A  general  fast  was  proclaimed  by  him,  and  parti- 
cular prayers  were  prescribed  by  him,  in  this  important  crisis, 
to  be  repeated  in  every  house,  several  times  a-day,  and  in  the 
convent  of  San  Marco.  The  whole  community  was  almost 
constantly  engaged  in  prayer  and  psalmody,  hoping  by  such 
efficacious  means  to  appease  the  wrath  of  heaven,  and  to  pro- 
cure its  protection  for  the  city  from  the  imminent  dangers  with 
which  it  was  beset. 

Never  in  this  world  did  patriot  exhibit  love  of  country,  of  his 
birth  or  of  his  adoption,  greater  than  was  manifested  by  the 
Dominican  monk  of  San  Marco,  for  the  safety  and  the  honour 
of  the  Republic  of  Florence  and  its  people.  And  this  exalted 
patriotism  was  exhibited  by  a  man  of  the  cloister  and  the  cowl 
— a  monk,  a  priest,  and  a  man  believing  in  his  religion. 


OF  SAVONAROr-A. 


205 


During  the  stay  of  tlu  French  king  and  his  army  in  Florence, 
we  never  hear  of  any  intercourse  between  him  and  Fra  Girolamo, 
except  Avhen  Florence  and  her  citizens  were  to  be  saved  from 
some  impending  or  apprehended  peril,  by  the  interference  of 
the  latter  in  their  behalf  with  the  invader. 

Nardi,  referring  to  the  serious  tumult  which  broke  out  be- 
tween the  French  soldiers  and  the  citizens,  out  of  a  circumstance 
of  small  importance  in  itself,  but,  nevertheless,  which  endan- 
gered the  whole  city  and  the  republic,  namely,  the  rescue  of  a 
Florentine  prisoner  from  the  hands  of  some  French  soldiers, 
— commends  the  conduct  of  Fra  Girolamo  on  that  occasion. 

In  all  the  tumults  consequent  to  the  return  of  Pietro,  and  ter- 
minating in  his  flight,  wc  hear  nothing  of  Savonarola,  either  as 
an  actor  or  an  adversary.  "  But  in  the  scandaloLis  and  perilous 
tumults  which  took  place  in  Florence  during  the  sojourn  of  the 
king  in  Florence,"  says  Xardi,  "  the  above-mentioned  Fra 
Gu'olamo  exerted  himself,  and  toiled  exceedingly.  Hence,  in 
those  times,  as  it  appeared  to  the  Signoria,  that  the  king  pro- 
crastinated all  affairs,  not  appearing  to  have  any  intention  of 
departing  from  the  city  so  speedily  as  they  desired,  the  above- 
mentioned  friar  was  obliged  to  visit  his  majesty,  saying  to  him, 
that  the  people  were  very  much  afflicted,  and  could  no  longer 
bear  such  a  state  of  anxiety,  nor  remain  any  longer  exposed  to 
so  much  danger.  And  that,  moreover,  in  trivial  occupations, 
he  wasted  time  unprofitably,  and  that  he  should  look  well  to  his 
council,  whose  determination  might  be  useful  to  them,  but  not 
advantageous  to  his  interests  :  and,  that  God  having  called  him 
to  the  work  of  the  restoration  of  the  Italian  Church,  as  he  had 
already  announced,  and,  for  four  years  previous  to  his  arrival, 
had  predicted  of  him,  and  publicly  preached,  if  his  majesty  pro- 
ceeded in  this  manner,  by  acts  of  injustice  on  his  part,  or  on  the 
part  of  his  ministers,  perhaps  he  would  not  be  deemed  worthy 
of  conducting  this  great  mission  to  an  end  ;  but  God  would 
never  want  for  other  hands  and  instruments  to  perfect  this  great 
work.  Such  were  the  considerations  which  this  man  laid  before 
the  king,  in  conformity  with  those  which  we  know  at  that  time 


206 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Avere  the  views  and  councils  of  the  king's  captain-general  of  the 
army  of  Romagna,  Monsieur  Obigni."* 

But  it  is  from  Burlamacchi  we  must  learn  the  full  account  of 
the  efforts  of  Savonarola  at  this  period^  for  the  salvation  of 
Florence. 

The  members  of  the  Signoria,  he  tells  us  a  second  tinie^  in 
the  midst  of  dismay  and  bewilderment,  had  to  seek  Savonarola's 
aid  and  council. 

The  same  Pietro  de  Capponi,  who  talked  to  the  king  of  caus- 
ing the  bells  of  all  the  churches  in  Florence  to  be  set  a-ringing 
should  he  give  an  order  for  sounding  his  bugles  and  his  trum- 
pets, got  private  information  from  one  of  the  king's  courtiers,  to 
whom  he  had  been  known  in  France,  that  the  king  being  re- 
solved there  should  be  no  alarm  excited  by  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet,  and  time  allowed  for  rousing  the  citizens  to  arms  by 
the  bells  of  the  city,  had  determined  on  sacking  the  city  by 
night,  and  had  appointed  the  very  night  on  which  the  timely 
information  was  given,  for  letting  loose  his  troops  on  the  city.f 
It  was  then  within  two  hours  of  the  appointed  time,  when 
Capponi,  in  vain,  endeavoured  to  get  the  members  of  the  go- 
vernment to  take  some  prompt  measures  against  the  danger. 
They  were  bewildered  with  terror  and  consternation,  and  more 
like  drunken  men,  deprived  of  judgment,  than  councillors, 
fit  to  advise  in  so  terrible  an  emergency.  The  councillors,  on 
whose  wisdom,  fortitude,  and  presence  of  mind,  the  destinies  of 
a  whole  city — the  lives  and  fortunes  of  its  citizens,  the  safety 
of  their  children,  and,  more  than  all,  the  honour  of  their  "v^-ives 
and  daughters  depended  — sat  weeping  and  wringing  their  hands, 
and  lamenting  their  hard  fate,  utterly  incapable  of  all  exertion. 
Then  was  a  prediction  of  Savonarola  verified  to  the  letter — "When 
you  shall  find  youi'selves  in  those  straights  and  tribulations,  you 
will  become  like  drunken  men,  and  lose  all  use  of  reason."  In 
the  midst  of  the  lamentations  and  tears,  some  person  cried  out 
in  a  loud  voice,  repeating  his  exclamations — "  Go  to  the  servant 
of  God,  Fra  Girolamo  !  Go  to  the  servant  of  God,  Fra  Giro- 
lamo  ! " 

*  iVardi.  t  Burlamacchi,  p.  545. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


207 


The  name  of  the  Prior  of  San  Marco  was  no  sooner  heard, 
than  a  sudden  change  came  over  the  spirit  of  theii'  consultation, 
— vivid  hopes,  with  the  quickness  of  lightning,  flashed  on  their 
minds.  Instantly  a  deputation  to  the  father  was  determined  on, 
the  members  of  it  arriving  almost  breathless  at  San  Marco.  They 
gain  admittance,  and  find  the  prior  and  all  his  brethren  assem- 
bled in  the  choir  in  prayer — in  prayer  for  the  protection  of  the 
city,  at  that  very  moment  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  with  the  final 
order  for  giving  it  to  fire  and  sword  about  to  be  issued,  while 
its  inhabitants  are  utterly  unconscious  of  all  danger. 

There  was  one  person,  however,  it  is  to  be  believed,  not  alto- 
gether unconscious  of  that  danger,  not  apprized  of  it  like  Capponi 
by  mortal  man, — and  that  person  was  praying  to  God  to  avert  it, 
at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  that  deputation.  Savonarola  was  not 
unconscious  of  the  danger,  but  his  mind  was  not  bewildered  like 
the  minds  of  the  State  Councillors.  He  was  taking  prompt  and 
efficacious  measures  with  his  community  for  frustrating  the  de- 
signs of  the  enemy.  With  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  he  and  his 
friars,  weak  with  fasting  and  watching,  as  they  were,  were  still 
fighting  for  Florence,  battling  in  prayer  with  the  wickedness  of 
men,  and  wearying  heaven  with  supplications  to  turn  away  its 
wrath  from  the  devoted  city. 

Oh,  if  we  could  know  what  was  passing  in  the  mind  of  that 
mysterious  friar,  the  night  of  the  intended  spoliation  of  his 
beloved  Florence,  when  he  deemed  it  necessary  to  have  his 
brethren  in  the  church,  spending  the  little  time  allotted  to 
them  for  repose  in  prayer,  what  solemn  interest  should  we  not 
find  even  in  so  much  knowledge  ! 

If  we  coidd  fathom  his  deep  thoughts  for  some  preceding 
days,  when  he  was  prescribing  prayer  and  fasting,  and  calling 
the  people  to  do  penance — "  agite  penitentiam,  agite  peniten- 
tiam" — in  such  earnest  terms  of  entreaty,  as  a  man  might  use 
who  was  aware  some  terrible  calamity  was  impending  over  them, 
of  which  they  knew  not,  what  a  subject  for  grave  reflection 
should  we  have.  If  we  could  realise  his  feelings  when  the  young 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


and  the  thoughtless  listened  to  his  earnest  admonition' with  a 
smile  at  his  solicitude,  or  perhaps  a  sneer  at  his  supposed  fanati- 
cism ;  if  we  coLild  fancy  ourselves  in  a  corner  of  the  church, 
with  the  lights  only  burning  in  the  cloister,  that  night  of  mortal 
anxiety,  for  the  safety  of  the  city  in  the  minds  of  the  Signoria, 
and,  doubtlessly,  in  the  mind  of  Savonarola  also,  and  might 
watch  his  featui'es,  when  the  rapping  at  the  convent  gate  for 
admission  at  that  advanced  hour  of  the  evening  was  heard,  and 
when  Capponi  and  his  companions  announced  the  catastrophe 
that  was  on  the  very  verge  of  taking  place,  what  a  sight  it  would 
have  been  to  have  observed  the  workings  of  the  strong  feelings 
of  the  heart,  the  emotions  of  the  holy  spirit,  and  the  fixed  pur- 
pose of  the  heroic  mind  in  the  varying  expression  of  the  coun- 
tenance of  Savonarola  on  that  occasion. 

When  Savonarola,  says  Burlamacchi,  was  inforiiied  of  the 
cause  of  the  visit  to  him,  he  said  to  the  brethren,  "  My  children, 
after  refreshment,  come  back  to  the  choir,  and  persist  in  prayer 
till  I  return." 

Having  taken  for  his  companion  Fra  T.  Busini,  he  pro- 
ceeded immediately  to  the  palace  of  the  Medici,  where  the  king 
lodged,  and  having  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  palace,  he 
encountered  the  first  sentinel,  who  said  to  him,  *  A\Tiere  are 
you  going  ?  go  back,  you  cannot  enter  here,  nor  have  an  audi- 
ence.'" 

"  The  Barons  who  were  about  the  king,  had  directed  that  no 
one  should  enter,  in  order  that  their  designs  might  not  be  inter- 
rupted. The  father,  then  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to  gain 
admission,  and  that  the  time  was  spent  in  vain,  quickly  returned 
to  the  convent,  and  gave  himself  up,  with  great  fervour  and  con- 
centration of  spirit,  to  prayer.  After  some  time,  he  felt  himself 
inwardly  illuminated,  and  with  the  ears  of  the  heart,  he  heard  a 
voice,  saying  :  ^  Return  !  return  !  you  shall  enter.'  Turning  to 
his  companion  (the  friar),  he  said,  ^  Let  us  go  back  to  the  palace, 
for  there  I  have  to  confer  with  the  king.'  The  citizens  who 
were  present,  wondered  very  much  at  this.  They  returned 
with  him  to  the  palace  where  the  king  was.     The  father  ad- 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


209 


vanced  to  the  entrance  alone,  he  was  at  once  admitted,  and 
quickly  passing  the  second  and  third  sentinel,  he  was  conducted 
before  the  king,  who  was  in  his  chamber  all  armed,  ready  to  put 
in  execution  his  most  nefarious  design.  When  he  observed  the 
servant  of  God^  he  looked  at  him  for  a  little,  and,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  kings  of  France,  he  rose  up  to  salute  him. 
The  servant  of  God  took  a  small  crucifix,  which  he  always  car- 
ried about  with  him,  and  advancing,  he  held  it  up  to  the  lips  of 
the  king,  saying,  ^  This  represents  the  Christ  who  made  heaven 
and  earth ;  respect  not  me,  but  respect  Him.  He  is  the  King 
of  Kings,  the  Lord  of  Lords,  who  causes  the  earth  to  tremble, 
and  gives  victory  to  princes,  according  to  his  pleasure  and  his 
justice.  He  punishes  and  brings  ruin  on  impious  and  unjust 
kings,  and  will  destroy  you  and  all  your  army,  if  you  do  not 
desist  from  such  cruelty  as  you  meditate,  and  abandon  the  design 
you  have  formed  against  this  city,  OtherAvise,  there  being  in  this 
city  so  many  friends  and  servants  of  God,  and  so  many  innocent 
souls  night  and  day  engaged  in  praising  His  majesty,  their  cries 
will  ascend  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  confusion  and  destruction 
will  fall  on  all  your  army.  Do  you  not  know  that  it  is  of  small 
moment  with  God  whether  he  is  victorious  over  a  few  or  over 
many  ?  Do  you  not  remember  what  he  did  with  Sennacherib, 
that  most  proud  king  of  Assyria  ?  Remember,  that  while  Moses 
continued  praying  to  the  Lord,  J oshua  and  the  people  triumphed 
over  their  enemies.  So  will  it  be  with  you,  who,  by  your  pride, 
are  brought  to  covet  that  which  is  not  yours.  Let  it  suffice  you 
to  have  the  hearts  of  the  Florentines.  Leave,  then,  your  most 
cruel  and  impious  purpose,  meditated  against  an  innocent  and 
most  faithful  people.' 

"Thus  spoke  the  father  to  the  king,  putting  much  fear  into  his 
heart,  menacing  him  with  retribution  on  the  part  of  God,  and 
still  holding  the  crucifix  in  his  hand.  And  with  such  ardour 
and  efficacy  did  he  speak,  that  those  present  were  filled  with 
dread.    The  king,  with  his  ministers,  began  to  weep. 

"  Then  the  father  took  the  king  by  the  hand,  and  said  to  him  : 
'Know,  sacred  majesty,  that  the  will  of  God  is,  that  you  depart 

VOL.  I.  p 


210 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


from  this  city,  without  making  any  change  in  its  affairs,  other- 
wise you,  with  your  army,  will  lose  your  lives  here.'  "* 

"The  spirit  of  God,"  observes  Burlamacchi,  "manifested  itself 
in  a  striking  manner  in  the  aspect  and  manner  of  Fra  Girolamo  : 
when  he  was  mirthful  and  lively,  it  appeared  as  if  everything 
in  nature  smiled  around  him,  and  Paradise  unfolded  all  its  beau- 
ties and  its  blessings." 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  "  when  he  was  disturbed  in  mind,  his 
mien  was  that  of  a  man  who  could  mahe  all  the  world  tremble.''^ 

Florence  was  saved  by  Fra  Girolamo  from  the  dreadful  fate 
of  Brescia,  and  some  other  places,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
this  insensate  marauder,  whom  Savonarola,  in  his  zeal  for  Flo- 
rence, called  a  sacred  king.f 

There  were  provocations,  or  at  least  pleas,  for  the  menaced 
plunder  and  spoliation  of  Florence  on  the  part  of  Charles  the 
Sixth,  which  the  biographers  of  Savonarola  have  either  not 
noticed,  or  only  slightly  referred  to. 

The  king,  on  his  arrival,  had  demanded  of  the  Florentines  a 
sum  of  120,000  crowns  of  gold,  to  enable  him  to  continue  his 
march  on  Naples.  He  had  given  twenty-four  hours  only  to 
realise  this  sum.  It  was  in  the  extremity  of  the  distress  occa- 
sioned by  this  demand  and  menace,  says  Audin,  that  the  magis- 
trates came  to  seek  the  succour  of  Savonarola.^ 

Fra  Girolamo,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  preached  on  the  28th 
of  October,  1497,  gives  all  the  particulars  of  this  occurrence 
which  are  here  related,  and  ends  his  account  of  it  in  these 
words :  "  O,  Florence  !  all  that  was  done  that  day  was  effected 
by  God,  and  mediation  that  came  by  prayer." 

After  the  preceding  interview  of  Savonarola  with  the  king, 
negociations  were  immediately  entered  into,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  an  amicable  treaty  between  the  French  sovereign  and 
the  Republic.  An  honourable  capitulation  was  completed,  and 
Florence  remained  a  free  and  independent  republic. 
*  Burlamacchi,  p,  546. 

t  It  is  strange  that  Philip  de  Comines  makes  no  reference  to  this  happy 
interference  of  Savonarola  with  the  king  Charles,  nor  Eeudon. 
X  Audin,  Hist,  de  Leo  X. 


OF  SAVONAROLA.  211 

Burlamacclii  states,  that  one  of  the  chief  nobles  of  King  Charles 
acknowledged  that  the  salvation  of  Florence,  on  this  occasion, 
was  the  work  of  Savonarola. 

And,  moreover,  he  adds,  the  whole  account  of  that  interference 
is  narrated  by  Pietro  degli  Alberti,  who,  at  that  time,  was  not 
the  enemy  of  Savonarola,  and  almost  every  one  believed  that 
account  to  be  true. 

In  ratifying  the  treaty  entered  into  with  the  republic,  the 
Signoria  and  the  king  gave  a  solemn  sanction  to  it  by  attending 
high  mass,  and  receiving  the  sacrament  at  the  Duomo,  and  swear- 
ing" to  observe  it  faithfully,  The  king  swore  on  the  sacred  host^ 
in  the  presence  of  all  the  people^  that  he  would  faithfully  ohserve 
the  coynpact.''^* 

It  certainly  was  no  sense  of  justice  or  humanity,  or  tendency 
to  moderation,  that  induced  Charles  to  leave  Florence,  not  only 
unpillaged,  but  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  her  liberty. 

The  king  took  his  departure  at  last,  as  we  are  told  by  Nardi, 
on  the  28th  of  November,  1494,  leaving  lasting  remembrances 
of  the  brutality,  insolence,  and  insubordination  of  his  troops, 
who  made  hardly  any  distinction  between  friends  and  enemies, 
in  their  conduct  towards  them.  The  prudence  of  the  govern- 
ment alone,  and  the  efforts  of  Fra  Girolamo  to  second  them 
efficiently — suh  Dio — saved  Florence  from  utter  ruin. 

*  Burlamacclii,  p.  546. 


p  2 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XII. 

F1.0RENCE  RESTORED  TO  ITS  LIBERTY.  THE  REPUBLICAN  EORM 

or    GOVERNMENT    RE-MODELLED.  SAVONAROLa's    AID  AND 

COUNCIL  SOUGHT  FOR  BY  THE  SIGNORIA.  HIS  INTERPOSITION 

IN  SECULAR  AFFAIRS.— HIS  DISCOURSE  ON  GOVERNMENT  BE- 
FORE THE  SIGNORIA.  HIS  TREATISE  ON   GOVERNMENT.  THE 

QUESTION  OF  THE  LICITNESS  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  INTERFERENCE 
IN  SECULAR  AFFAIRS.  SAVONAROLa's  MOTIVES  FOR  IT,  AND 

;   ITS  RESULTS. — 1494,  1495.  ^ 

"  Before  the  days  of  change,  still  is  it  so  : 
By  a  divine  instinct,  men's  minds  mistrust 
Ensuing  danger  ;  as  by  proof,  we  see 
The  waters  swell  before  a  boist'rous  storm." 

Shaks.  Rich.  III.  Bxii  1. 

In  the  beginning  of  1495,  Savonarola's  interposition  in  the 
affairs  of  government  commenced. 

The  ruling  passion  of  Savonarola's  mind  was  a  desire  to 
make  Florence  a  spiritual  state,  a  theocracy,  a  republic  go- 
verned by  the  people,  under  the  dominion  of  the  divine  law. 
He  deemed  it  essential  for  its  duration,  and  to  secure  for  it  the 
di'VT.ne  protection,  that  it  should  commence  existence  by  an  act 
of  mercy  ;  and  therefore,  he  caused  to  be  proclaimed  a  general 
amnesty,  extending  to  all  the  adherents  of  the  Medici.  In  one 
of  his  sermons  he  expressly  tells  his  hearers  on  what  grounds 
he  had  advocated  a  change  of  government — it  was  to  lead  Flo- 
rence to  adopt  a  new  regim^,  "  that  she  should  begin  to  become 
a  spiritual  state,"  and  to  make  the  law  of  God  the  basis  of  all 
her  legislation. 

It  was  on  a  singular  theory  that  he  recommended  from  the 


suit: 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


213 


pulpit  and  in  his  writings  this  mode  of  ruling  a  people  :  "  I 
have  always  shown  to  thee/'  he  said,  "  on  clear  grounds,  that  a 
kingdom  is  so  much  the  stronger,  the  more  spiritual  it  is  ;  and 
so  much  the  more  spiritual,  the  nearer  it  relates  itself  with  God. 
But  with  God  no  one  can  have  communion,  who  makes  not 
peace  with  his  neighbour  ! " 

If  we  could  form  an  opinion  on  this  subject,  regarding  only 
the  motives  of  Savonarola,  mthout  any  reference  to  the  feasi- 
bility of  the  project,  we  should  find  little  difficulty  in  coming  to 
a  conclusion  on  it. 

But  the  question  is,  was  the  project  practicable  ?  was  it  calcu- 
lated to  promote  peace  and  unanimity  ?  was  the  theocratic  form 
of  government  he  advocated,  likely,  if  established,  to  endure  ? 

There  was  a  partial  success  in  the  attempt,  it  is  true,  a  reno- 
vation in  one  class  of  religious  influences,  and  a  reformation  in 
manners,  which  endured  for  a  few  years.  But  these  benefits 
were  not  lasting,  and  while  they  did  exist,  they  were  certainly 
accompanied  with  great  contestations,  strife,  and  tumult.  But 
perhaps  it  may  be  said,  and  truly  said,  this  is  one  of  the  con-^ 
ditions  of  life,  one  of  the  contingencies  inseparable  from  it — 
that  no  good  can.  ever  exist  in  the  world,  or  be  attempted  to  be 
done  in  it,  that  will  not  be  alloyed  with  evil,  or  adulterations, 
or  adverse  influences  of  some  kind  or  other. 

The  world  has  had  one  theocracy,  and  in  all  probability  it 
will  never  have  another,  till  the  end  begins  to  come.  The  world 
has  called  for  kings,  and  God  has  given  them  Sauls  in  abun- 
dance, in  His  anger.  And  when  nations  sicken  of  these  Sauls, 
and  the  voice  of  the  people  has  been  proclaimed,  the  voice  of 
God,  and  this  mundane  deity  of  concrete  dirt,  ignorance,  and 
pride,  cries  out — "  Give  us  a  constitution  !  a  republic  with  two 
chambers  !  or  a  nominal  monarchy  with  republican  institutions, 
with  a  parliament  and  a  press  for  its  palladium,  and  trial  by 
jury  for  a  glorious,  privilege  ;"  they  obtain  what  they  shouted  for, 
or  shed  their  blood  to  get  possession  of ;  and,  perhaps,  their 
material  and  moral  interests  are  by  no  means  benefitted  by 
the  triumph  of  the  desires  of  their  heart,  but  their  institutions 


214 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


are  bound  to  their  back,  and,  like  Sinbad  the  sailor,  they  cannot 
get  rid  of  their  oppressive  burden. 

The  gravest  charge  laid  to  the  account  of  Savonarola  in 
history,  both  cotemporaneous  and  modern,  is  that  of  his  inter- 
ference in  temporal  affairs. 

I  will  endeavour  to  do  as  I  have  done  in  other  matters  of 
controversy,  respecting  accusations  brought  against  Savonarola 
— I  will  afford  my  readers  all  the  authentic  information  that  can 
be  obtained,  and  may  be  required  to  enable  them  to  form  a  cor- 
rect opinion  on  the  subject  of  this  inquiry. 

But,  independently  of  such  information,  they  will  require  a 
knowledge  of  matters  which  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  impart,  or 
my  province  to  provide  for  them. 

They  will  have  to  satisfy  themselves  on  these  points : 

1.  Are  spiritual  men — specially  devoted  to  the  service  of  God 
and  the  ministrations  of  religion,  at  all  times,  under  all  circum- 
stances, and  in  all  relations  of  government  to  the  interests  of 
the  people,  both  temporal  and  eternal,  authorised  or  forbidden 
by  God's  law,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  which  emanate 
from  it — to  take  a  part  in  the  enactment  or  administration, 
emendation  or  abolition,  of  the  laws  of  a  State  ? 

2.  Does  it  trench  or  not,  on  the  limits  of  their  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction,  to  counsel  princes  or  their  ministers  of  State,  in 
matters  that  are  of  a  mixed  kind,  affecting  not  only  immediately 
the  liberties  of  a  people,  but  remotely  the  lives  of  the  poor  ? 

3.  At  what  point  is  the  line  to  be  drawn  between  the  interests 
of  religion  and  those  of  humanity;  and  when  fixed,  where  the  well- 
defined  duties  of  the  ministry  of  religion  shall  cease  to  be  im- 
perative, and  those  which  the  interests  of  humanity  impose, 
commence  to  be  obligatory? 

4.  Is  the  interference  of  ecclesiastics  in  political  affairs,  for 
mere  party  purposes — for  the  sake  of  notoriety,  for  the  sake  of 
popularity,  for  the  sake  of  gain — compatible  or  otherwise  with 
their  spiritual  avocations,  with  the  canons  of  the  Church,  with 
the  interests  of  religion,  with  the  influence  of  a  Christian  mi- 
nistry ? 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


215 


5.  Does  not  the  question  of  the  legitimacy  of  ecclesiastical 
interference  in  political  affairs  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  mo- 
tives for  interposition  in  them,  discriminating  between  selfish^ 
interested,  and  ambitious  or  vindictive  feelings,  animating  such 
motives  and  impulses,  arising  from  a  desire  to  defend  or  to  ad- 
vance the  several  or  separate  interests  of  humanity,  morality, 
truth  and  justice,  which  are  all  comprised  in  those  of  religion  ? 

6.  How  are  we  to  arrive  at  a  knowledsre  of  the  motives  for 

o 

the  interference  of  ecclesiastics  in  political  affairs  ? 

7.  Is  it  by  the  beneficial  or  disadvantageous  results  of  such 
interference,  in  their  bearings  on  the  moral  or  material  interests 
of  the  people  ;  and  also  by  the  fact  of  such  interference  being 
calculated  to  produce  results,  or  to  impede  events,  that  are  in 
harmony  with  religious  instincts,  or  the  interests  of  humanity, 
such  motives  are  to  be  ascertained  ? 

8.  Can  the  material  interests  of  humanity  be  licitly  pro- 
moted by  ecclesiastical  interference  in  political  concerns,  if  the 
honour  or  the  service  of  God  be  neglected  or  prejudiced  by  the 
promotion  of  those  material  interests  ? 

9.  Lastly,  if  emergencies  should  arise  when  it  is  licit  for  the 
good  of  religion,  or  the  benefit  of  humanity,  for  ecclesiastics  to 
take  a  part  in  affaii-s  of  State  of  a  legislating,  elective,  and  mi- 
nistrative  kind,  should  not  such  interference  be  an  exceptional 
line  of  action,  seldom  adopted  and  reluctantly  had  recourse  to, 
rather  than  a  regular  course  of  proceeding,  that  habit  makes  a 
pursuit,  and  undue  devotion  to  it  a  passion,  a  pastime,  or  a 
trade  ? 

These  are  questions  that  must  be  answered,  before  we  are  in 
a  condition  to  form  and  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  conduct 
of  Savonarola. 

So  long  as  Savonarola  confined  his  interposition  in  State 
affairs  to  efforts  of  a  mediative  kind,  using  the  influence  of  his 
ministry  with  the  French  sovereign,  for  the  safety  of  the  re- 
public, and  the  salvation  of  its  citizens  from  rapine  and  spolia- 
tion, I  suppose  it  will  be  agreed  by  all,  that  he  exercised  his 
spiritual  influence  for  a  salutary,  nay  more,  for  a  holy  purpose. 


216 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


inasmuch  as  God's  honour  is  promoted  in  serving  our  fellow - 
men,  who  are  the  members  of  his  Christ. 

But  when  the  interference  of  Fra  Girolamo  in  temporal  affairs 
extended  to  a  decision  on  modes  of  government,  and  the  act  of 
devising  a  civil  constitution  for  a  State,  we  no  longer  must  ex- 
pect the  same  unanimity  of  opinion,  in  regard  either  to  the 
prudence  or  the  piety  of  the  ecclesiastic  who  undertook  the 
office  of  a  Solon  or  a  Lycurgus. 

But  he  who  finds  himself  in  a  position  to  answer  satisfactorily 
the  preceding  queries,  will  in  all  probability  come  to  no  con- 
clusion unfavourable  to  the  religious  principles  of  Savonarola, 
in  so  far,  at  least,  as  his  motives  were  concerned  in  this  inter- 
position in  civil  matters ;  and  even  though  they  may  condemn 
his  prudence,  and  find  fault  with  his  expectations,  they  will  be 
obliged  to  acquit  his  piety,  and  acknowledge  the  purity  of  his 
intentions. 

Savonarola  found  himself  compelled,  on  divers  occasions,  to 
leave  the  seclusion  of  his  convent  for  the  council  chamber  of 
the  Signoria,  at  their  importunate  request  and  solicitation.  He 
had  to  answer  communications  received  from  the  French  sove- 
reign and  his  ministers,  during  his  stay  in  Italy. 

Burlamacchi  states,  "  that  after  the  King  Charles  had  con- 
quered Naples,  having  learned  that  the  Venetians  and  Milanese 
Governments  were  of  accord  to  intercept  him  on  his  return 
from  Naples  to  his  own  dominions,  he  despatched  an  agent  to 
Fra  Girolamo,  named  Jacopo,  to  ascertain  whether  there  was 
any  danger  to  be  apprehended  for  him  on  his  return. 

The  Father  replied,  that  G  od  had  conferred  many  benefits  on 
him,  and  had  conceded  to  him  the  acquisition  of  a  mighty  king- 
dom without  any  difficulty.  And  though  his  Majesty,  since  all 
these  favours  had  been  granted  to  him,  had  committed  many 
crimes,  nevertheless  it  was  God's  pleasure  that  his  enemies 
should  not  prevail  against  him,  and  that  he  should  return  tri- 
umphantly into  his  own  kingdom,  and  that,  Avithout  unsheathing 
a  sword,  he  would  lose  the  kingdom  of  Naples  as  he  had  ac- 
quired it;  as  afterwards  it  came  to  pass. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


217 


"  In  the  letter,  however,  which  he  wrote  to  the  King  at  a 
later  period,  he  said,  that  God  willed  by  his  instrumentality  to 
destroy  all  the  tyrants  of  Italy ;  and  that,  after  accomplishing 
this  mission,  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  go  against 
the  Turks.  And  he  was  reminded  that,  if  he  had  kept  his 
word  with  the  Florentines,  the  kingdom  of  Naples  would  not 
have  revolted  against  him,  and  he  would  have  had  great  success 
against  the  infidels.  And  he  signified  to  his  Majesty  that  he 
never  wrote  to  him  except  those  things  which  were  revealed  to 
him  from  on  high."* 

On  the  King's  return  from  Naples,  on  his  arrival  in  Poggi- 
bonzi,  Fra  Girolamo  once  more  was  sent  as  ambassador  of  the 
Republic  to  his  Majesty,  to  compliment  him  on  his  successes, 
and  to  obtain,  if  possible,  the  restitution  of  the  five  Florentine 
fortresses  which  had  been  temporarily  conceded  to  him. 

Fra  Girolamo  set  out  on  his  embassy,  accompanied  by  Barto- 
lomeo  Ridolfi  and  three  Friars  of  his  Order.  He  had  four 
audiences  of  the  King.  On  the  first  occasion  the  King  was  at 
table  when  the  Father  was  admitted.  His  Majesty  no  sooner 
heard  that  Fra  Girolamo  had  arrived,  than  he  rose  from  table, 
and  walked  out  to  the  head  of  the  stairs  to  meet  him.  The 
audience  then  given  lasted  nearly  an  hour.  The  second  time 
he  conferred  with  the  King  was  in  the  principal  church  of  the 
place,  and  then  he  promised  to  restore  Pisa  to  the  Florentine 
Republic,  The  King  pressed  the  Father  to  follow  him  to 
Pisa,  which  the  latter  declined,  alleging  the  necessity  of  re- 
turning to  his  flock.  The  third  time  when  he  conferred  with 
the  King  he  consented  to  join  his  Majesty  at  Castel  Fiorentino. 
And  there  he  had  another  formal  audience,  his  Majesty  not 
having  passed  by  Florence,  as  the  Father  had  declared  expressly 
he  should  not  pass  that  way.  "  He  predicted,"  adds  Burla- 
macchi,  "  to  the  King  that,  if  he  did  not  restore  Pisa  to  the 
Florentines,  and  did  not  treat  the  latter  well,  that  his  only  son 
would  die,  and  that  God  would  take  from  him  that  which  he 
had  dearest  to  him  in  the  world." 

*  Burlamaccbi,  p.  548. 


218 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTYKUOM 


Florence  iii  the  meantime  remained  under  the  government  of 
the  Signoria,  and  of  that  body  the  executive  consisted  of  twenty 
persons,  supposed  to  be  of  superior  discretion.  The  acts  of 
the  adherents  of  the  Medici,  and  the  movements  of  Pietr 
and  his  companions  in  exile — Fuor-usciti  " — gave  much  un- 
easiness to  the  government.  All  those  who  had  taken  any  part 
against  Pietro  felt  there  was  no  security,  unless  a  more  stable 
form  of  government  was  established.  On  this  point  it  would 
appear  that  Savonarola  was  considted  by  the  authorities  soon 
after  the  departure  of  the  French,  though  the  fact  is  not  ex- 
pressly mentioned  by  his  biographers. 

Nardi  states,  however,  that,  in  order  to  calm  the  public  mind, 
Fra  Girolamo  was  requested  to  preach  before  the  Signoria  and 
other  magistrates,  and  to  the  people.  He  accordingly  preached 
one  morning  to  a  congregation,  from  wliich  women  and  children 
were  excluded. 

He  proposed  to  his  audience,  says  Xardi,  foiu-  subjects  for 
consideration,  conducive  to  peace  and  security  from  all  danger. 
First,  the  fear  of  God,  to  induce  people  to  reform  their  manners 
and  customs,  to  do  all  things  in  a  Christian  manner  for  Christian 
ends,  in  order  to  obtain  the  Divine  grace. 

The  second,  the  love  of  the  Republic ;  sacrificing  to  it  every 
private  consideration. 

The  third,  a  universal  peace,  with  oblivion  of  injuries.  By 
which  amnesty  it  was  understood  that  every  error  and  ofience 
connnitted  by  the  friends  of  the  former  government  (under  the 
Medici,  up  to  the  date  of  the  removal  of  the  past  rulers)  should 
be  pardoned,  excepting,  from  the  concessions  granted,  the  res- 
toration of  pri^oleges,  and  of  public  monies  to  be  repaid  by 
those  who  had  been  previously  declared  indebted  to  the  State ; 
the  recovery  of  which,  he  said,  was  to  be  efiected  vrith  all 
reasonable  promptness  and  discretion,  forgiving,  however,  such 
debtors  all  penalties  and  j)ains  which  in  strict  justice  they  might 
have  incurred. 

The  fourth  thing  they  should  consider  doing  was,  to  consti- 
tute a  form  of  government  as  universal  (in  its  obligations  and 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


219 


privileges)  as  possible,  which  should  comprehend  all  citizens, 
to  whom,  according  to  the  orders  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
the  government  belonged,  from  all  that  consideration  and  re- 
spect from  position  due  to  their  discretion,  on  account  of  which 
they  should  be  chosen  and  deemed  eligible  for  office. 

But,  that  no  person  should  be  allowed  to  lord  it  over  the  civil 
government,  to  aspire  to  an  equality  of  power  wdth  its  funda- 
mental rights  and  privileges,  or  a  superiority  over  them  as  in  past 
times  it  had  been  done  by  the  seven  citizens  of  the  Republic, 
and,  therefore,  he  said  that  the  new  government  should  com- 
prehend all  the  citizens,  excluding  none  who  were  legitimately 
eligible  for  the  functions  of  government,  as  we  have  before 
observed.  And,  as  if  by  way  of  example,  he  proposed  to  his 
audience  a  form  of  government,  and  a  grand  council,  like  that  of 
the  city  of  Venice,  but  adding  to  it  and  taking  from  it  as  the 
peculiarities  of  the  character  of  the  Florentines  might  make  it 
expedient  to  do,  or  as  it  might  be  judged  useful,  and  would  be 
becoming  of  discreet  reformers  to  determine.  People  thought 
that  this  man  understood  very  little  about  worldly  affairs,  but 
discussed  these  matters  generally,  in  relation  only  to  their  moral 
aspect,  and,  above  all,  in  reference  to  the  Divine  principles  of 
truth  and  Christian  philosophy.* 

In  his  sermon,  says  Burlamacchi,  he  said  it  was  the  will  of 
God  that  the  safety  of  the  Republic  and  the  citizens  should  be 
secured  by  a  new  mode  of  administering  public  affairs ;  and 
instead  of  a  small  number  of  administrators,  amounting  to 
twenty,  there  should  be  a  great  council  representing  all  classes 
of  citizens  ;  and  thus  (by  his  recommendation)  there  was  in- 
troduced into  a  popular  government  a  popular  element  which 
was  essential  to  a  Republic. 

The  citizens  of  the  aristocratic  order  manifested  their  dissatis- 
faction at  this  suggestion.    On  the  other  hand,  the  people,  the 

• 

*  The  new  Council  General,  after  the  expulsion  of  Pietro,  was  composed 
at  first  of  830  citizens,  eventually  the  number  was  increased  to  1725. — 
Storia  Florcntina  Da  Eeumou,  A.D,  1495.  Nardi,  Hist.  Flor.  lib.  Imo, 
p.  29. 


220 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


industrial  class,  in  general  approved  very  strongly  of  it.  A 
committee  was  formed,  soon  after  Savonarola's  views  were  put 
forward,  to  consider  this  subject,  and  very  long  and  angry  dis- 
cussions followed  between  three  parties,  all  of  different  views 
on  the  matter.  "  In  another  sermon,  notwithstanding  these  dis- 
sensions, the  Father  said,  let  what  will  happen,  whether  they 
wish  the  project  should  be  carried  into  effect  or  not,  it  will  be 
accomplished,  awe?  the  white  beans  will  become  blacky*  The  white 
beans  represented  affirmative  votes,  and  the  black  those  which 
were  adverse.  At  length,  in  the  month  of  December  (1494), 
the  great  council  was  determined  on,  by  means  of  the  strong 
pressure  of  the  popular  will  in  favour  of  that  measure. 

In  the  discussion  on  the  proposed  form  of  government  in  the 
council,  Antonio  Soderini,  a  man  of  great  weight  in  the  Repub- 
lic, spoke  at  considerable  length  in  favour  of  the  principle  of 
popular  influence  and  power  in  the  administration  of  public 
affairs,  Antonio  Vespucci,  a  person  of  much  eminence  and  abi- 
lity, declaimed  strenuously  against  democracy  and  the  interven- 
tion of  the  people  in  the  business  of  the  State.  He  appealed  to 
history  for  the  fact  of  the  failure  of  all  hopes  which  were  ever 
built  on  the  wisdom,  stability,  and  steadfastness  of  the  people 
in  matters  appertaining  to  the  State.  It  was  a  bad  government 
where  measures  were  decided  by  counting  votes,  rather  than  esti- 
mating the  value  of  opinions.  There  was  a  tendency  to  go  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other,  from  one  tyranny  to  another ;  but  the 
worst  tyranny  of  all,  was  that  of  a  democracy  which  was  re- 
strained by  no  authority,  nor  confined  within  any  limits.  The 
government  of  Venice  was  not  built  up  in  a  day ;  it  was  a  work 
of  ages  i  there  was  a  third  element  in  it  moreover — in  the  per- 
petuity of  the  office  of  the  Doge  ; — not  to  take  into  account 
that  the  important  matters  of  State  were  decided  on  by  a  small 
council,  while  the  great  council  of  the  nation  took  cognizance  of 
the  general  affairs  of  the  country.  In  Florence,  the  materials 
for  disorder  were  numerous — there  was  a  sickly  state  of  society 
— and  it  was  a  folly  to  suppose,  in  a  condition  bordering  on  dis- 
*  Biirlamaccbi,  p.  516. 


OF  SAVOXAROLA. 


221 


organization,  there  was  an  innate  principle  of  arrangement  in  a 
popular  constitution — by  virtue  of  which  the  organic  elements 
of  society  would  coalesce,  and  become  re-composed  in  a  sym- 
metrical manner. 

Rather  it  was  to  be  feared  the  elevation  of  the  popular  power 
would  tend  to  make  it  dizzy,  and  lead  to  new  disorders.  Rome 
and  Athens,  when  they  were  democratic  republics,  were  ever 
plunged  in  wars.  These  states  had  fallen,  and  in  democracy  the 
seeds  of  their  dissolution  were  sown.  Italy,  at  the  present 
time,  was  weak  and  distracted,  and  she  needed  to  be  governed 
by  wisdom  and  experience,  and  not  subjected  to  experiments 
and  novelties  in  the  practice  of  the  new  state  physicians.  Ves- 
pucci, it  is  admitted,  was  a  man  of  greater  w^orldly  wisdom 
than  Soderini,  or  even  his  great  friend  Savonarola ;  but  their 
opinion  prevailed,  and  Vespucci's  was  scouted  by  the  party  then 
dominant,  namely,  the  democratic  one. 

Savonarola's  Treatise  on  Government  is  a  composition  well 
worthy  of  attention ;  with  this  remarkable  discourse  the  reader 
will  be  made  acquainted  in  another  part  of  the  work. 

The  dominant  idea  which  prevails  throughout  the  whole  per- 
formance, like  the  all-pervading  aria  of  some  overture,  w^iich 
makes  itself  distinguishable  in  all  its  variations,  is  the  notion 
(little  understood  in  the  fifteenth  century)  that  a  popular  go- 
vernment of  the  people,  for  all  its  interests,  moral,  intellectual, 
and  material,  was  the  test  of  all  forms  of  government,  and  the 
most  calculated  to  make  the  people  good  and  happy. 

But  Savonarola,  unquestionably,  was  largely  indebted  to  the 
treatise  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas — "  De  Regimine  Principum" — 
for  this  theory  of  popular  government.  St.  Thomas  has  pointed 
out  the  evils  of  tyrannical  government  perhaps  more  clearly  and 
truly  than  any  modern  political  writer.  And  equally  clearly 
and  truly  he  has  shewn  that  whatever  form  of  government  tends 
most  to  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  material  interests  of  the 
people,  and  includes  the  largest  number  of  citizens  in  the  pale 
of  its  protection,  is  the  best. 

The  profound  speculations  of  the  doctor  of  the  schools,  as 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


embodied  in  his  ideas,  "  De  Regimine  Principum,"  were  never 
put  in  practice  till  tlie  Prior  of  San  Marco  presented  to  the  Sig- 
noria  of  Florence,  for  the  basis  of  a  constitution,  his  "  Discorso 
circa  il  Reggimento  i  Governo  degli  Stati  e  Specialmente  sopra 
il  governo  della  Cetta  di  Firenza." 

The  mistake  of  Savonarola,  if  mistake  it  were,  was  in  imagin- 
ing that  everything  that  was  good  in  theory,  must  be  equally  ex- 
cellent in  practice.  '  But  Savonarola  proposed  his  form  of 
Gohierno  Popolare  not  as  perfect  or  faultless,  but  as  being  the 
least  bad  of  existing  civil  constitutions,  and  most  expedient  for 
the  Florentines,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  their  Pepublic. 

It  is  said  by  those  who  deem  Savonarola  not  only  faultless  but 
almost  infallible,  that  he  constantly  announced  from  the  pulpit 
the  inconveniences  and  mischiefs  of  too  much  liberty,  and  that 
the  GobiernoPopolare  was  far  from  perfect.  It  is  very  true  that 
he  spoke  often,  and  in  very  strong  terms,  of  those  inconveniences 
and  mischiefs  ;  hut  it  was  after  the  constitution  he  framed  for  the 
Republic  had  been  adopted  and  put  in  force.  The  evils  of  too 
large  an  amount  of  liberty  were  made  apparent  to  the  modern 
lawgiver,  in  a  multitude  of  conflicting  interests  and  influences 
in  the  new  government,  which  would  have  rendered  the  State 
quite  ungovernable,  if  it  were  not  for  the  religious  element  that 
had  been  introduced  into  it,  making  the  Gohierno  Popolare,  in 
fact,  a  species  of  republican  theocracy,  and  the  Supreme  Lord 
of  the  Florentines,  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

But  let  those  who  will  see  nothing  but  the  wildest  fanaticism 
in  the  idea  of  establishing  a  civil  government  on  such  a  basis, 
turn  to  the  work  of  a  distinguished  statesman  of  our  own  times, 
a  student  of  Christ  Church — "  The  State  in  its  Relations  with 
the  Church,"  by  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Esq. 

The  whole  theory  of  the  author  rests  on  the  proposition  that 
the  propagation  of  religious  truth  is  one  of  the  principal  ends  of 
government  as  government ;  and  that  there  is  no  protection  for 
any  true  interests  of  a  people,  moral  or  material,  except  in  the 
dominant  influence  of  religious  truth  in  civil  government. 

"  We  may,"  says  Mr.  Gladstone,  "  state  the  same  proposition 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


22S 


in  a  more  general  form,  in  which  it  surely  must  command  uni- 
versal assent.  AYherever  there  is  power  in  the  universe,  that 
power  is  the  property  of  God,  the  King  of  that  universe — ^his 
property  of  right,  how^ever  for  a  time  withholden  or  abused. 
JsTow  this  property  is,  as  it  were,  realized,  is  used  according  to 
the  will  of  the  owner,  when  it  is  used  for  the  purposes  he  has 
ordained,"  &c.* 

Savonarola,  however,  differed  from  Mr.  Gladstone  as  to  the 
means  of  giving  a  Chiistian  character  to  a  government,  for  the 
purpose  of  exerting  a  Christianizing  influence  on  a  people.  The 
friar  would  purify  the  Church,  for  the  sake  of  adding  to  its  re- 
ligious power ;  the  statesman  would  aggrandize  and  endow  the 
Church  Avith  great  power  and  political  influence,  with  the  view 
of  extending  its  control,  and  fortifying  its  iDosition  in  the  State. 

In  a  sermon  of  Savonarola's,  expounding  the  book  of  Exodus, 
in  the  early  part  of  1498,  not  long  before  his  death,  he  said,  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  discourse  :  "  This  government,  which  has 
been  established,  or  rather  given  to  you  by  God,  as  the  best 
(in  the  circumstances  of  the  times),  and  for  your  greater  good, 
has  passed  the  limits  which  prevent  it  becoming  more  perfect. 
In  this  government  now  there  are  only  mists,  and  not  perfection." 

This  language  is  somewhat  mystified,  but  the  meaning  is  ob- 
vious enough.  Savonarola  had  lived  long  enough  to  see  his 
"  Gobierno  Popolare"  had  not  realized  his  hopes,  and  its  power 
was  not  even  suflicient  for  the  protection  of  his  own  life. 

*  But  Mr.  Gladstone's  idea  of  a  beneficent  dominant  influence  of  reli- 
gious truth  in  civil  government,  is  not  the  idea  of  a  justifiable  ascendancy 
of  one  creed  over  another  in  matters  of  civil  rights  or  privileges. 

"We,  as  faUible  creatures,"  says  Mr.  Gladstone,  "  have  no  right,  from 
any  bare  speculations  of  our  own,  to  administer  pains  and  penalties  to  our 
fellow-creatures,  whether  on  social  or  religious  grounds.  We  have  the 
right  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  land  by  such  pains  and  penalties,  because 
it  is  expressly  given  by  Him  who  has  declared  that  the  civil  rulers  are  to 
bear  the  sword  for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,  and  for  the  encourage, 
ment  of  them  that  do  well.  And  so,  in  things  spiritual,  had  it  pleased  God 
to  give  to  the  Church  or  the  State  this  power,  to  be  permanently  exercised 
over  their  members,  or  mankind  at  large,  we  should  have  the  right  to  use 
it ;  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  so  received,  and,  consequently,  it 
should  not  be  exercised." 


224 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


The  excellence  of  that  theory  of  goyernment,  which  he  com- 
posed by  the  desire  of  the  Signoria  of  Florence,  in  1494,  can- 
not be  called  in  question.  Any  body  who  takes  the  trouble  of 
looking  into  it,  will  perceive  that  it  combines  all  that  was  good 
in  the  speculations  on  this  subject  of  ancient  philosophy,  with  a 
great  deal  that  is  to  be  found  in  modern  views  of  government. 

TJie  Treatise  on  Government ^  by  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  the 
celebrated  Doctor  of  Di\inity  of  the  Dominican  order,  who 
flourished  some  six  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  requires  to  be  read 
by  those  who  desire  to  form  a  correct  jiidgment  of  the  similar 
Treatise  on  Government  by  Savonarola,  written  in  1494.  Both 
compositions  are  exceedingly  curious. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  treatise  of  St.  Thomas,  faith- 
fully translated,  were  published  by  me,  in  a  work  of  mine,  in 
1847.  The  author  of  that  treatise,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
was  a  man  of  gigantic  intellectual  powers,  of  vast  erudition,  em- 
bued  with  all  the  doctrinal  learning  of  his  Church,  and  likewise 
with  all  the  philosophy  of  former  ages,  as  well  as  that  of  his  own 
time.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on  government,  which  the  admirers 
of  Locke  and  Bolingbroke  may  not  be  ashamed  to  see  cited  in 
the  same  pages  in  which  their  names  are  found,  and  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  same  subject  which  has  been  treated  by  them. 

The  treatise  I  refer  to  is  that  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  and 
is  called  "  Opusculum  de  Regimine  Principum,"  ad  Eegem 
Cypri.*  The  object,  he  declares  in  his  preface,  is  to  describe 
the  duties  of  the  kingly  office,  guided  by  the  authority  of  the 
Sacred  Writings,  the  doctrines  of  philosophers,  and  examples  of 
past  rulers.  When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  unpalatable 
truths,  scattered  so  abundantly  through  this  treatise,  were  writ- 
ten for  the  perusal  of  a  king,  and  for  his  guidance,  we  ought 
not  only  to  admire  the  noble  daring  of  the  writer,  but  the  public 
virtue  of  the  earliest  defender  of  the  full  rights  of  the  people. 
The  following  passages  are  literally  translated,  and  afford  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  political  opinions  of  a  saint,  whose  knowledge 
of  the  subject  of  which  he  treats  might  serve  to  make  the  repu- 
tation of  half-a-dozen  sages  of  modern  times  : — 
*  Edit.  Fol.  Antweyyice,  1612. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


225 


"  The  intention  of  every  ruler,"  says  St.  Thomas,  "  ought  to 
be  to  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  body  which  he  undertakes  to 
govern.  But  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  community  con- 
sists in  the  preservation  of  that  unity  which  is  called  peace. 
Every  disturbance  of  it  endangers  the  utility  of  the  social  life ; 
nay,  more,  a  distracted  community  renders  society  burdensome 
to  itself.  It  should  then  be  the  chief  object  of  the  rulers  of  the 
multitude  to  procure  that  unity  which  constitutes  peace.  When 
a  government,  therefore,  is  most  efficacious  in  promoting  that 
object,  it  is  most  useful.  Hence  we  call  that  most  useful  which 
conduces  most  to  this  end.  It  is  manifest,  that  the  union  which 
is  most  effective,  is  that  which  is  (so  maintained)  by  one  rather 
than  many.  .  .  .  AVherefore  the  government  of  one  is  more  use- 
ful than  that  of  many."  .  .  .  [This  proposition  he  proves  at  some 
length  from  religion,  reason,  and  analogy  with  natural  pheno- 
mena :  In  toto  universo  unus  Deus  factor  omnium  et  rector 
...  in  membrorum  multitudini  unum  est  quod  omnia  movet, 
scilicet  cor,  &c.  .  .  .  omne  enim  naturale  regimen  ab  uno  est."]* 
But  as  the  government  of  a  king  is  the  best,  so  the  govern- 
ment of  a  tjT.'ant  is  the  worst.  .  .  For  power  in  unity  is  more 
efficacious  than  power  divided  or  dispersed.  As,  therefore, 
power  operating  good  is  useful,  and  more  unity  renders  it  still 
more  potent  for  good,  so  the  mischief  is  greater  if  the  power 
which  effects  evil  is  unbroken  and  undivided.  .  .  .  ^^Hierefore, 
in  2i  just  government  the  more  unity  (of  action)  the  more  useful 
is  the  rule,  as  the  rule  of  a  king  is  better  than  that  of  an  aristo- 
cracy, and  that  of  an  aristocracy  rather  than  that  of  the  many. 
So,  on  the  other  hand,  in  an  unjust  government,  the  more  the 
governing  power  is  removed  from  unity,  the  more  mischievous. 
Wherefore,  the  tyranny  (of  one)  is  more  pernicious  than  an 
oligarchy,  but  an  oligarchy  is  more  pernicious  than  a  demo- 
cracy." 

And  further,  "  the  government  becomes  unjust  which  despises 
the  common  good,  and  seeks  the  private  advantage  of  the  ruler. 
The  more,  therefore,  it  recedes  from  the  public  weal,  the  more 

*  De  Eegimine  Principum  S.  Thomse  Aquinatis,  cap.  i.  p.  160, 
VOL.  I.  Q 


226 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


unjust  is  that  government.  It  recedes  more  from  the  public 
weal  in  an  oligarchy  in  which  the  welfare  of  a  few  is  sought^ 
than  in  a  democracy,  where  the  good  of  the  many  is  the  object. 
But  further  still  does  it  recede  from  the  common  good  in  a  ty- 
rannous government,  in  which  the  good  of  one  alone  is  sought. 
Therefore  a  tyranfs  rule  is  the  more  unjust.  But,  like  the  mani- 
fest order  of  Divine  Providence  which  prevails  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  universe,  all  good  in  human  affairs  arises  only  from 
one  perfect  cause  ;  but  what  is  evil  in  them  is  separately  pro- 
duced by  each  particular  defect.  For  there  is  no  beauty  in  a 
body,  unless  there  is  a  corresponding  disposal  of  all  the  mem- 
bers ;  but  deformity  is  the  result,  when  any  part  is  not  in  keep- 
ing with  another ;  and  thus  deformity  from  many  causes  and  in 
different  ways  arises,  but  comeliness  in  one  way  only,  and  from 
one  perfect  cause.  And  thus  it  is  in  all  things,  good  and  evil. 
Providence  determines  in  this  matter  also,  that  the  good  arising 
from  one  cause  should  be  powerful,  but  evil  from  many  causes 
should  be  weak.  Hence  it  is,  therefore,  that  a  just  government 
should  be  of  one,  in  order  that  it  should  be  strong.  But  if  it 
declines  into  an  unjust  one,  it  is  better  that  it  should  be  of  many, 
that  it  may  be  weaker,  and  that  the  rulers  may  embarrass  and 
thwart  each  other.  Therefore  ^  inter  injusta'  democratic  ^oxexw- 
ment  is  more  tolerable,  but  tyranny  truly  is  worst  of  all. 

"  If  a  ruler  govern  a  multitude  of  free  men  for  the  common 
good  of  the  multitude,  the  government  will  be  good  and  just, 
such  as  becomes  freemen.  But  if  the  government  be  conducted 
not  for  the  common  good  of  the  multitude,  but  for  the  private 
good  of  the  ruler,  the  government  will  be  unjust  and  perverse. 
Whence  the  Lord  thi-eatens  such  rulers  through  Ezechiel,  say- 
ing, '  Woe  to  the  shepherds  who  feed  themselves,'  as  if  seeking 
their  private  personal  advantage  ;  ^  should  not  the  flocks  be  fed 
by  the  shepherds  V  That  is,  as  shepherds  ought  to  seek  the 
good  of  the  flock,  so  rulers  ought  each  to  seek  the  good  of  the 
multitude  subject  to  him.  If,  therefore,  the  government  by  one 
becomes  so  unjust  as  that  he  seeks  only  his  private  advantage, 
and  not  the  good  of  the  multitude  subject  to  him,  such  a  ruler  is 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


called  a  tyrant ^  a  title  derived  from  strength,  because  he  op- 
presses by  power  ;  he  does  not  govern  hy  justice.  But  an  unjust 
government  when  conducted  not  by  one  but  by  many,  if  by  a 
few  it  is  called  oligarchy,  to  wit,  when  a  few,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  their  wealth,  oppress  the  people,  differing  only  in  number 
from  a  tyrant.  But  if  the  unjust  government  be  in  the  hands 
of  many,  it  is  then  called  a  democracy,  that  is,  the  dominion  of 
the  people,  when,  to  wit,  the  populace  by  the  power  of  their 
multitude  oppress  the  rich.  For  thus  a  whole  people  would  be 
as  one  tyrant.  In  like  manner  a  just  government  ought  to  be 
distinguished.  If  it  be  administered  by  any  numerous  body,  it 
is  called  politia,  as  when  a  military  body  govern  in  a  city  or 
province.  If  it  be  administered  by  a  feiv  virtuous  men,  the  go- 
vernment is  called  an  aristocracy ;  and  if  a  just  government 
belong  to  one,  he  is  properly  called  a  king.  Whence  the  Lord 
says  by  Ezechiel,  ^  My  servant  David  will  be  king  over  all,  and 
he  will  be  one  pastor  over  all  these.'  Hence  it  is  manifestly 
shown,  that  what  constitutes  a  kingly  government  is,  that  he 
who  governs  should  be  one,  and  that  he  should  be  a  pastor  seek- 
ing not  his  own  good,  but  the  common  good  of  the  multitude.'"* 

"  If  a  tyrant  be  avaricious,  he  amasses  wealth  at  the  expense 
of  his  subjects.  If  he  be  sanguinary,  he  makes  no  account  of 
shedding  blood.  Hence  it  is  said  in  Ezechiel,  '  Her  princes  in 
the  midst  of  her,  are  like  wolves  ravening  for  prey  to  shed  blood.' 
Therefore,  there  is  no  security,  all  things  are  unsettled  when  the 
law  is  abandoned,  nothing  can  be  steady  or  relied  on  which  de- 
pends on  the  will  or  rather  caprice  of  an  individual.  They 
burden  their  subjects  not  only  in  material  things  ;  they  are 
inimical  even  to  their  intellectual  advantages  (spiritualia  bona), 
because  their  object  is  to  rule,  not  to  benefit.  They  also  thwart 
every  undertaking  of  their  subjects,  suspecting  that  the  prosperity 
of  their  subjects  would  be  prejudicial  to  their  unjust  domination. 
The  good  are  greater  objects  of  suspicion  to  tyrant  rulers  than 
the  base.  They,  therefore,  labour  to  prevent  their  subjects  from 
becoming  virtuous,  lest  assuming  a  spirit  of  magnanimity,  they 

*Cap.  1,  p.  161. 

Q  2 


228 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


should  refuse  to  endure  unjust  domination.  They  also  prevent 
a  union  of  friendship  from  growing  strong  among  their  serfs, 
and  thus  cause  men  to  distrust  one  another,  so  that  nothing  by 
union  can  be  effected  against  the  government.  Hence  they  sow 
discord  and  nourish  it  when  existing ;  hence  they  prohibit  those 
things  which  promote  union  among  their  subjects,  such  as  mar- 
riages, festive  intercourse,  and  other  things  by  which  confidence 
and  familiarity  are  produced  among  men.  They  also  strive  to 
prevent  them  becoming  powerful  or  rich,  because,  judging  of 
their  subjects  according  to  the  standard  of  their  own  malice, 
they  fear  that  theu'  subjects,  imitating  themselves,  might  use 
their  power  and  wealth  to  inflict  injury ;  whence  Job  says  of  the 
tyrants,  *  The  sound  of  their  terror  is  always  in  their  ears ;  and 
when  all  things  are  peaceful,  no  one  plotting  evil  against  them, 
they  often  suspect  treachery,'  

"  It  is  also  natural,  that  men  brought  up  under  terror  should 
degenerate  into  persons  of  sla\'ish  dispositions,  and  should  become 
very  timid  and  incapable  of  any  manly  and  daring  enterprise 
(virile  opus  et  strenuum),  an  assertion  which  is  proved  by  the 
conduct  of  countries  that  had  been  for  a  long  time  under  despotic 
government.  Solomon  says,  ^  When  the  impious  are  in  power, 
men  hide  away,'  in  order  to  escape  the  cruelty  of  the  tyrants, 
nor  is  it  astonishing,  for  a  man  governing  without  law  and  ac- 
cording to  his  o^Ti  caprice,  differs  in  nothing  from  a  beast  of 
prey  ;  hence,  Solomon  designates  an  imj^ious  ruler  over  an  im- 
poverished people,  a  roaring  lion  and  a  ravenous  bear.*  Because, 
therefore,  the  government  of  one  is  to  be  preferred,  which  is 
the  best,  and  because  this  government  is  liable  to  degenerate 
into  tyranny,  which  has  been  proved  to  be  the  worst,  hence  the 
most  diligent  care  is  to  be  taken  so  to  manage  the  establishment 
of  a  king  over  the  people,  that  he  cannot  fall  into  tyranny. 

"  The  first  thing  necessary  for  the  election  of  a  king  is,  that 
a  man  who  by  nature  and  disposition  is  totally  averse  to  ty- 
ranny, be  advanced  to  the  sceptre  by  those  whose  duty  it  is. 
Wherefore  Samuel,  praising  the  providence  of  God  with  refer- 

*  Cap.  3.  pp.  161-62. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


229 


ence  to  the  institution  of  royalty,  says,  '  He  sought  for  Himself 
a  man  according  to  His  own  heart.'  The  next  thing  necessary 
is,  that  the  government  of  the  kingdom  be  so  disposed  of,  as  to 
remove  from  the  king  who  has  been  elected,  all  occasions  of  fall- 
ing into  tyranny.  Also,  let  his  power  be  so  confined  or  mode- 
rated, that  he  cannot  without  difficulty  fall  into  tyranny.  In 
fine,  we  must  endeavour  to  foresee  the  opportunities  he  may 
have  of  changing  from  a  mild  to  a  tyrannical  government. 
And  indeed  it  is  much  better,  if  the  tyranny  be  not  excessive, 
to  endure  it  for  a  time,  than  by  a  revolt  to  implicate  oneself  in 
many  dangers,  which  may  be  more  grievous  than  the  tyranny 
itself.  For  it  may  happen,  that  those  who  revolt  may  not  suc- 
ceed, and  by  thus  provoking  the  tyrant,  subject  themselves  to 
more  cruelty  than  they  had  before  endured.  But  even  sup- 
posing that  any  individual  succeeded  against  the  tyrant,  thence 
most  injurious  dissensions  among  the  people  frequently  arise, 
for  the  multitude  may  divide  into  party  factions,  either  at  the 
moment  in  which  they  are  warring  with  the  tyrant,  or  after 
they  have  subdued  him.  It  sometimes  also  happens,  that  he, 
through  whose  means  the  tyrant  has  been  expelled  by  the  mul- 
titude, while  in  power  seizes  on  the  sovereign  authority  ;  and 
fearing  to  suffer  fr'om  another  what  his  predecessor  sufiered 
from  him,  023presses  his  subjects  with  far  greater  severity.  It 
is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  royalty,  that  the  latter  possessor  is 
more  cruel  than  he  that  went  before,  for  he  not  only  allows  the 
grievances  inflicted  by  his  predecessor  to  continue,  but  also 
increases  them  from  the  malice  of  his  own  heart. 

"  It  seems  better  that  proceedings  be  taken  against  the  cru- 
elty of  a  ruler,  by  no  other  than  the  public  authority.  For, 
first,  if  it  belongs  of  right  to  the  public  to  choose  for  themselves 
a  king,  it  belongs,  consequently,  to  them  either  to  dethrone  him 
if  he  abuse  his  authority,  or  to  set  limits  to  his  power.  .  .  .  Thus 
the  Romans  banished  from  the  kingdom,  on  [accoimt  of  his 
tyranny  and  that  of  his  children,  Tarquin  the  Proud,  whom 
they  themselves  had  advanced  to  sovereignty,  and  in  conse- 
quence instituted  the  lesser  authority  of  the  consuls.  Thus 


230 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


also  Domitian^  who  succeeded  the  very  mild  emperors,  Vespa- 
sian, his  father,  and  Titus,  his  brother,  was  killed  by  the  senate, 
whilst  he  was  exercising  tyranny,  and  all  his  unjust  decrees 
were  repealed.  Whence,  blessed  John,  the  evangelist  and  be- 
loved disciple  of  our  Lord,  was  recalled  to  Ephesus,  by  a  decree 
of  the  senate,  from  the  island  of  Patmos,  to  which,  by  order  of 

Domitian,  he  had  been  banished  

"  But  if,  in  short,  no  human  power  can  withstand  tyranny, 
we  must  have  recourse  to  God,  who  is  our  helper  in  our  dis- 
tresses and  tribulations,  for  it  is  in  his  power  to  turn  the  cruel 
heart  of  a  tyrant  into  meekness,  according  to  those  words  of 
Solomon  :    ^  The  heart  of  the  king  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
whithersoever  he  will  he  shall  turn  it.'  (12  Par.  alias  Wisd. 
xxi.  1.)    He  turned  into  clemency  the  cruelty  of  king  Assu- 
erius,  who  was  contriving  the  death  of  the  Jewish  people.  It 
is  he  who  converted  the  cruel  king  Nabuchodonosor,  and  made 
him  bear  testimony  to  his  divine  power.    ^  Therefore,'  says  hcj, 
'  I,  Nabuchodonosor,  do  now  praise,  and  magnify,  and  glorify 
the  King  of  heaven  :  because  all  his  works  are  true,  and  his 
ways  judgments,  and  them  that  walk  in  pride  he  is  able  to 
abase.'  (Dan.  iv.  34.)    But  those  tyrants,  whom  he  judges  un- 
worthy of  conversion,  he  can  either  destroy  or  reduce  to  nothing, 
according  to  Ecclesiasticus,  x.  17.    '  God  hath  overturned  the 
thrones  of  proud  princes,  and  hath  set  up  the  meek  in  their 
stead.'  For  he,  on  beholding  the  affliction  of  his  people  in  Egypt, 
and  hearing  their  groans,  plunged  the  cruel  Pharaoh  wdth  his 
whole  army  into  the  sea ;  for  it  is  he  who,  having  cast  the 
above-mentioned  proud  Nabuchodonosor  not   only  from  his 
throne,  but  also  from  the  society  of  men,  changed  him  into  a 
beast.    Nor  is  his  hand  shortened  so  that  he  could  not  now 
liberate  his  people  from  their  tyrants ;  for  he  promises,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophet  Isaias,  that  he  will  give  his  people  rest 
from  the  labour,  and  confusion,  and  hard  servitude  in  which 
they  have  been  plunged ;  and  in  xxxiv.  10,  of  Ezechiel,  he  says, 
'  I  will  deliver  my  flock  from  their  mouth,'  that  is,  of  those 
pastors  who  feed  themselves.    But  that  people  may  deserve  to 
receive  this  benefit  from  God,  they  ought  to  refrain  from  sin. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


231 


The  government  of  tyrants  cannot  be  long  lived,  since  it  is 
hateful  to  the  public ;  for  that  cannot  be  of  long  continuance, 
which  is  repugnant  to  the  wishes  of  the  many.  The  ^^i^esent 
life  never  passes  without  adversity,  wherefore  an  opportunity 
cannot  be  wanted  for  revolting  against  a  tyrant ;  and  when  a  fa- 
vourable opportunity  occurs,  then  also  is  found  some  one  to  profit 
by  it,  for  the  people  will  very  willingly  follow  him  who  revolts. 
And  the  revolution  will  scarcely  be  void  of  effect,  since  it  is 
accompanied  with  the  good  will  of  the  public.  'Wherefore  the 
dominion  of  a  tyrant  can  scarcely  be  prolonged  for  any  length 
of  time.  This  is  also  very  evident  to  any  person  who  considers 
whence  or  how  it  is  that  the  dominion  of  tyrants  is  preserved ; 
for  it  is  not  preserved  by  loVe,  since  the  friendship  of  the  sub- 
ject multitude  for  the  tyrant  is  evidently  either  very  slight  or 
none  at  all. 

Tyrants  cannot  trust  the  loyalty  of  their  subjects,  for  among 
the  populace  virtue  is  not  found  to  exist  to  such  an  extent  as 
to  hinder  them  from  shaking  off  the  yoke  of  extraordinary  op- 
pression .... 

"  A^Tierefore  it  follows,  that  the  rule  of  tyrants  is  to  be  sup- 
ported by  fear  alone ;  and  theu*  whole  aim  is  to  have  themselves 
feared  by  their  subjects.  But  fear  is  a  weak  foundation,  because 
those  who  are  kept  under  obedience  by  fear,  never  let  any  op- 
portunity escape,  in  which  they  can  hope  for  impunity,  of 
rebelling  against  their  rulers,  and  that  too  with  proportionably 
greater  ardour,  as  by  fear  they  were  restrained,  just  like  water, 
shut  up  by  force,  which  gushes  out  the  more  impetuously  when 
a  passage  has  been  opened  for  its  escape.  Nor  is  fear  itself 
free  from  danger,  since  from  too  great  a  fear  many  fall  into 
despau* ;  but  despair  of  safety,  precipitates  people  boldly  to 
attempt  any  thing.* 

"  Wherefore  a  tyrant's  government  cannot  be  of  long  con-, 
tinuance.    This  is  apparent,  no  less  from  example  than  reason, 

*  Had  Bacon  those  toords  in  remembrance  when  he  said  in  his  Essay  on 
Seditions  :  "  For  they  are  most  dangerous  discontents  where  the  fear  is 
greater  than  the  feeling  ;  grief  has  bounds,  but  fear  has  none  "  P 


232 


THE  LIFE  AND  MAKTVKDOM 


to  any  one  who  takes  the  trouble  of  reflectmg  on  the  actions  of 
the  ancients  and  the  events  of  modern  times." 

The  doctrine,  that  tyranny  is  oftener  found  in  the  government 
of  many  than  that  of  one,  and  therefore  that  the  latter  is  to  be 
preferred,  is  advocated,  if  not  successfully,  at  least  with  great 
ability,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  treatise. 

"  "^VTien  we  must  select  between  two  things,  to  each  of  which 
danger  is  attached,  we  ought  to  take  that  from  which  the  smallest 
evil  follows.  But  from  monarchy,  even  though  it  should  be 
converted  into  tyranny,  less  evil  results  than  from  the  govern- 
ment of  many  nobles,  when  it  is  corrupted.  For  dissension, 
which  for  the  most  part  arises  from  the  government  of  many,  is 
opposed  to  the  well-being  of  peace,  which  is  the  principal  thing 
in  a  social  multitude,  and  which  at  least  is  not  destroyed  by 
tyranny ;  only  something  that  is  the  good  of  individuals  is 
threatened,  unless  there  should  have  been  an  excess  of  tyranny 
which  would  attack  the  entire  community.  Therefore  the 
government  of  an  individual  is  preferable  to  that  of  many, 
although  evils  should  sj)ring  from  both.  Besides,  it  seems  that 
we  ought  to  avoid  that  from  which  great  evils  can  oftener  arise ; 
but  greatest  evils  for  the  multitude  follow  more  frequently  from 
the  government  of  many  than  from  that  of  one.  Because  it 
oftener  haj^pens  that  out  of  many,  some  one  falls  off  from  the 
intention  of  the  common  good  than  if  there  were  one  only.  But 
if  any  one  out  of  many  governors  should  turn  away  from  the 
intention  of  the  common  good,  the  danger  of  dissension  hangs 
over  the  multitude  of  their  subjects ;  because  it  follow^s,  that 
when  dissension  exists  among  the  heads  it  should  exist  also 
among  the  members.  But  if  one  should  have  the  government, 
he  would  for  the  most  part  regard  the  common  good ;  or  if  he 
should  divert  his  attention  from  it,  it  does  not  immediately  fol- 
low that  he  intends  the  oppression  of  his  subjects,  which  is  an 
excess  of  tyranny,  and  holds,  as  Was  already  shown,  the  highest 
step  in  bad  government.  Therefore  the  dangers  which  spring 
from  the  government  of  one,  are  more  to  be  guarded  against. 
Nay,  it  does  not  less  often  occur  that  the  government  of  many 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


233 


is  tallied  into  tyranny  than  that  of  one,  but  perhaps  more  fre- 
quently. For  it  often  happens,  in  the  governnient  of  many, 
that  when  any  dissension  arises,  one  vanquishes  the  others  and 
usurps  to  himself  the  government  of  the  people."  * 

Finally,  the  resume  of  all  the  reasoning  in  the  treatise  just 
quoted,  is  to  be  found  in  his  Summa  Theologiee,  a  work  of  un- 
equalled excellence.  In  that  work  we  find  the  follo^Wng  pro- 
position, in  plain  intelligible  language,  which  Paley  never  could 
have  ventured  to  put  forth  in  the  same  explicit  terms,  and  yet 
which  is  the  doctrine-  «f  the  rebel  lords  and  prelates  who  be- 
came    the  patriots  "  of  1688. 

"  A  tyrannical  government  is  unjust,  being  administered  not 
for  the  common  good,  but  for  the  private  good  of  the  ruler. 
Therefore  the  disturbance  of  this  rule  is  not  sedition,  unless 
when  the  overthrow  of  t^^ranny  is  so  inordinately  pursued,  that 
the  multitude  suffers  more  from  the  disturbance  than  from  the 
existence  of  the  government.  Magis  autem  tyr annus  saeditiosus 
est,  qui  in  populo  sibi  subjecto  discordias  et  seditiones  nutrit,  ut 
tutius  dominari  possit;  hoc  enim  tyrannicum  est,  cum  sit  ordi- 
natum  ad  boiium  proprium  prsesidentis  cum  multitudinis  nocu- 
meato."  f 

Away  then  with  the  trash  of  the  political  theologians,  which 
is  poured  forth  in  solemn,  specious,  sanctimonious  language  in 
the  pulpit,  in  the  press,  and  in  public  assemblies,  on  the  subject 
of  the  slavish  tendencies  of  the  Church  of  the  great  body  of  the 
Chi'istian  world,  and  of  the  teaching  of  the  master-spirits  of  it  of 
byegone  ages.  Nothing  unfavourable  to  the  moral  or  material 
interests  of  mankind  will  be  found  in  either.  They  will  stand 
the  scrutiny  of  modern  lore  and  science,  as  they  have  stood  the 
test  of  time  and  persecution.  They  are  happily  separable  from 
the  acts,  the  policy,  and  the  abuses  of  the  State  power  of  Italian 
Potentates. 

A  critical  work  of  great  ability  gives  an  admirable  notice  of 
Fra  Girolamo's  disquisition  on  the  same  subject. 

The  treatise  of  Savonarola  on  the  government  of  Florence, 
*  Cap.  V.  p.  163,  Ibidem.       f  Vol.  xvii.  p.  186.    Ed.  ful.  Vc^i.  1787. 


234 


THE   LIFE  AND  :MARTYKD0M 


written  in  Italian,  by  the  desire  of  the  Signoria,"  says  Dr. 
Hafe,  in  his  recent  German  work,  Xeiie  Propheten/'  "  deve- 
lopes  his  political  opinions,  although  he  does  not  particularly 
bring  forward  the  subject  of  the  bearing  on  them  of  that  supe- 
riority he  considered  Florence  possessed  in  point  of  religion 
over  other  places,  nor  the  details  of  his  theory  of  a  republican 
form  of  government.  For  many  years  he  had,  by  his  writings 
and  preaching,  pursued  a  fourfold  aim  :  to  prove  the  truth  of 
the  Christian  religion ;  to  establish  that  the  simplicity  of  a 
Christian  life  is  the  highest  wisdom;  to  foretell  future  events 
(some  of  his  predictions  were  fulfilled  at  once,  while  others 
came  to  pass  shortly  afterwards)  ;  so,  in  fine,  to  support  the 
cause  of  the  new  goverment  of  the  State,  which  was  to  be 
improved  by  enlarging  its  administrative  sphere."  On  this  sub- 
ject he  wishes  that  all  may  see  "  that  we  preach  sound  maxims 
woven  in  with  natural  reason  and  the  statutes  of  the  Church." 

He  treats,  first,  of  the  best  government  for  the  state  of  Flo- 
rence, in  which  he  seeks  to  blend  together  his  theoretical  res- 
pect for  a  monarchy  with  his  leaning  to  a  republic. 

God  rules  the  universe  in  two  ways  ;  unreasoning  creatures 
by  the  law  of  nature,  reasoning  creatures  by  the  inborn  law  of 
a  free  being.  An  isolated  man  does  not  sufiice  for  himself; 
from  the  wants  of  men  spring  the  necessity  of  their  living  in 
community.  One  must  be  either  a  god  or  a  beast  to  be  able  to 
live  alone.  A  good  government  is  solicitous  for  the  material 
and  spiritual  good  of  every  one  ;  generally  speaking,  a  demo- 
cratic government  is  good,  an  oligarchical  government  is  bet- 
ter, and  that  of  a  king  is  best.  For  the  peace  and  welfare  of  a 
people  is  an  end  which  it  is  easier  to  attain  through  one  than 
through  a  few,  through  a  few  than  tlirough  a  many,  for  when 
all  are  obliged  to  fear  and  love  one  person,  there  is  much  less 
danger  of  intriguing.  Therefore,  to  speak  absolutely,  the  go- 
vernment of  one  person,  when  it  is  good,  excels  all  others ;  but 
as  it  often  happens  that  this  one  person  is  not  good,  then  it  is 
for  the  people  to  decide  what  is  best  to  be  done.  Or  else,  after 
his  death,  they  should  put  it  to  the  vote  as  to  what  the  best 


OF  SAVONAKULA. 


235 


may  be  ;  but  in  that  way  several  chiefs  arise,  and  those  who 
vanquish  the  other s,  necessarily  become  tyrants.  Some  nations, 
however,  cannot  tolerate  a  monarchical  government.  A  wise 
man,  who  has  acquired  a  kingdom,  "s\'ill,  before  everything  else, 
weigh  well  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  people  ;  a  bold,  ardent 
people,  without  much  genius,  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  north, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  have  genius,  but  who  are  pu- 
sillanimous, submit  themselves  easily  to  the  rule  of  one  person, 
and  live  peacably  under  him,  and  those  who  are  neither  coura- 
geous nor  clever,  submit  themselves  more  easily  still ;  but  a 
clever,  brave  people  will  not  easily  bear  being  ruled  over  by 
one  person ;  to  keep  such  a  people  in  subjection,  he  would  be 
obliged  to  tyrannize  over  them ;  from  the  versatility  of  their 
genius,  they  would  be  continually  contriving  plots  against  him ; 
and  from  their  boldness,  they  would  not  fear  to  put  them  in 
execution,  as  has  been  witnessed  in  Italy  long  since.  Xow  of 
all  people,  the  Florentines  have  got  the  greatest  cleverness  and 
the  boldest  spu'it.  Hence,  although  a  commercial  people,  they 
have  always  succeeded,  sooner  or  later,  in  obtaining  the  victory 
over  great  princes  and  t}T:ants,  who  have  wished  to  subdue 
them.  Thus  it  is  the  nature  of  this  people  not  to  submit  to  a 
prince,  even  though  he  were  good  and  perfect.  The  oligar- 
chical form  of  government  does  not  answer  moreover  to  the  habits 
of  this  people  ;  for  we  have  seen  that  the  tyrants  themselves,  who 
retained  for  a  long  thne,  with  great  finesse,  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  free  states  (I  allude  to  the  republican 
magistrates),  could  only  succeed  with  the  greatest  adroitness  in 
getting  themselves  established  through  the  influence  of  their 
friends.  Now  it  is  a  Repubhc  re-established,  not  by  men,  but 
by  God,  which  would  alone  answer  the  nature  and  habits  of 
this  people. 

The  second  section,  entitled,  "  the  Worst  Government  for 
Florence,"  depicts  the  rule  of  the  tyrant  with  the  same  acute  poli- 
tical ^dews  which  Machiavelli  in  his  book,  "  the  Prince,"  brings 
to  bear  on  that  subject,  for  other  ends  ;  the  more  enlightened 
parts  are  evidently  drawn  from  other  sources.    "  The  worst  go- 


236 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


vernment  is  that  of  a  single  ruler,  if  lie  should  happen  to  be 
bad,  on  account  of  the  greatness  of  his  power  ;  for  the  contrary 
of  what  should  be  the  best,  must  be  the  worst.  The  worst  ty- 
rant of  all,  is  he  who  has  risen  to  be  one  from  being  a  citizen. 
He  is  always  imagining  offences,  and  seeking  to  be  avenged 
for  them  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  easily  forgets  benefits.  He 
surrounds  himself  with  strangers,  because  he  mistrusts  his  rela- 
tives ;  he  gives  the  daughters  of  the  noble  inhabitants  in  mar- 
riage to  his  favourites  of  mean  extraction.  In  his  govern- 
ment, he  seeks  to  effect  three  objects :  First,  that  his  subjects 
may  understand  nothing  of  his  administration,  in  order  that 
they  may  not  perceive  its  wickedness.  Second,  to  nourish  dis- 
sensions, not  merely  in  the  State,  but  in  private  families  ;  for  a 
tyrant  can  only  hope  to  maintain  himself  by  the  strifes  of  the 
rest  of  mankind.  Third,  to  humble  the  powerful,  and  to  ruin 
distinguished  men,  he  discourages  reunions  where  men  might 
form  friendships,  least  these  might  lead  to  conspiracies  against 
him ;  above  all,  he  sends  thither  his  spies,  and  tries  to  make  all 
mistrustful  of  one  another.  He  has  secret  understandings  with 
other  princes.  He  harasses  the  people  with  taxes  for  his  o^vn 
emolument ;  he  employs  every  means  for  acquiring  money  to 
pay  soldiers,  and  provokes  useless  wars.  At  the  same  time,  he 
debauches  the  people  with  festivals  and  theatricals,  he  main- 
tains singers,  builds  palaces  with  the  money  of  the  State,  and, 
above  all,  adorns  these  palaces  with  his  escutcheons.  He  be- 
haves mildly  in  unimportant  matters,  gives  audience  sometimes 
to  young  people  and  old  persons,  and  defends  them  against 
trivial  wrongs.  He  makes  himself  appear  to  be  the  source  of 
all  favours  and  honours,  but  ascribes  all  punishments  and  execu- 
tions to  the  magistrates,  justifying  himself  by  saying  he  could 
not  prevent  them. 

"  He  seeks  to  appear  very  pious  and  devout,  but  he  confines 
himself  to  externals,  such  as  going  to  church,  giving  alms,  build- 
ing churches  and  chapels.  He  hates  nothing  so  much  as  a  truly 
Christian  life,  because  it  is  opposed  to  his,  and  thence  he  secretly 
undermines  it,  and  where  there  is  a  good  bishop,  priest,  or  monk, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


2S7 


particularly  if  he  be  one  who  tells  him  the  truth,  he  is  sure  to 
try  and  remove  him  to  a  distance  from  the  state,  or  else  tries  to 
corrupt  him  by  bribery  or  flattery.  He  says  himself,  and  has  it 
promulgated  by  his  accomplices,  that  he  is  the  support  of  the 
State,  and  the  preserver  of  the  ]3ublic  welfare  (conservatore  del 
bene  commune).  But  nothing  is  safe  under  a  tyrant,  for  he 
wishes  to  rule  everything  by  his  own  will,  and  will  not  be  guided 
by  reason,  but  only  by  the  passions.  God  allows  a  tyrant  to 
reign  only  to  chastise  a  nation  for  its  sins,  and  purify  it  from 
them ;  as  soon  as  this  object  has  been  attained,  the  tyrannical 
government  falls  to  pieces. 

"  The  third  section  treats  of  the  means  by  which  the  present 
good  government  of  Florence  may  be  retained  and  continually 
improved.  Riches  are  not  so  dangerous  to  a  State  (for  no  one 
can  be  so  rich  as  to  be  able  to  buy  up  the  majority  of  a  whole 
nation)  as  the  elevation  of  individuals  and  an  accumulation  of 
honours,  which  change,  by  degrees,  a  citizen  into  a  tyrant.  There- 
fore, official  situations  and  honours  should  be  distributed  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  whole  nation.  But  then,  as  it  is  impossible  to 
collect  the  whole  people  together,  and  bring  them  to  concur  ixj  the 
appointment  of  the  magistracy,  a  number  should  be  elected  with 
their  approbation.  This  number  of  persons  should  not  be  too  small, 
as  then  they  would  be  liable  to  be  corruj)ted  by  money,  by  their  re- 
lations, or  otherwise,  nor  too  large,  which  would  cause  confusion, 
and  the  rabble  might  contrive  to  insinuate  themselves  therein ; 
this  medium  number  should  be  named  in  full  council  {grande 
consiglio),  as  governors  of  the  State.  This  great  council  should 
not  be  called  together  too  often,  nor  for  trifles,  but  in  regular 
assemblies  ;  it  should  be  bound  by  stringent  laws,  in  order  not 
to  degenerate  into  tyranny.  Every  good  citizen  should  believe 
that  this  constitution  was  accorded  to  Florence,  by  the  special 
providence  of  God,  to  protect  her  from  impending  difficulties. 
But  God  has  ordained  that  the  gifts  he  presents  to  us  should  be 
imperfect  at  first,  in  order  that  with  the  understanding  and  free 
will  which  he  has  given  us,  we  should  perfect  them.  From  this 
it  follows  that  to  perfect  the  gift  of  a  good  form  of  government, 
four  things  are  requisite.     First,  the  fear  of  God  ;  secondly,  to 


238 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


be  SO  much  imbued  with  a  public  spirit  as  to  despise  all  selfish 
interests  ;  thirdly^  that  the  citizens  should  love  one  another,  and 
forget  all  past  causes  of  hatred ;  fourthly,  that  they  should  exercise 
justice.  If  they  do  not  these  things,  although  the  government 
established  by  God  may  exist  for  a  while,  it  shall  become  extin- 
guished by  degrees,  and  the  sons  of  Florence  shall  lose  by  degrees 
this  precious  gift  of  a  perfect  form  of  government.  Already  has 
God  given  signs  of  his  anger.  To  the  discontented,  he  says — 
'  You  shall  be  always  restless,  and  shall  carry  about  a  hell  within 
your  own  bosoms ;  both  this  world  and  the  next  shall  be  lost  to 
you.' 

"  It  may  be  perceived,  from  his  syllogism  about  the  misery  of 
tyrants  and  their  accomplices,  (among  whom  he  places  the  citizens 
who  are  dissatisfied  with  the  republican  government,  and  who 
would  be  tyrants,  only  they  have  not  the  power  to  be  so,)  con- 
cerning the  misery  of  this  world  and  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
next,  and  about  the  happiness  of  free  self-governing  citizens,  what 
pleasure  Savonarola  must  have  taken  in  his  political  speculations. 
By  serving  the  State,  in  his  view,  eternal  felicity  is  earned ;  he 
who  governs,  resembles  God  much  more  than  he  who  is  go- 
verned ;  in  free  states,  no  one  is  impelled  to  wickedness  through 
poverty  or  compulsion ;  worldly  advantages  are  promoted  along 
with  spiritual  ones,  under  good  rulers,  spiritual  and  temporal ; 
such  a  State  becomes  a  Paradise  upon  earth,  where  there  is  jubi- 
lee and  singing  of  psalms ;  the  children  become  as  angels  in  pro- 
portion as  they  are  brought  up  to  a  Christian  and  peaceful  life."* 

The  chief  end  and  objects  of  good  government  undoubtedly 
are  not  now  better  understood  than  they  were  in  ancient  times ; 
but  what  was  formerly  known  only  to  philosophers,  is  now  com- 
prehended by  the  people. 

Plato  understood  by  "good  government"  one  "  whose  cares 
extended  equally  to  the  whole  body  of  the  state,  without  favour 
to  one  portion  more  than  to  another."  It  is  given  as  an  instance 
of  the  wisdom  of  Lycurgus,  that,  when  he  came  to  Delphos  to 

*Dr.  Hafe,  Neue  Propheten,  p.  307,  12mo.  Leipsic,  1851.— I  am  in- 
debted to  a  lady,  well  acquainted  with  the  German  language,  Miss  Walsh,  for 
the  translation  of  that  portion  of  Dr.  Hafe's  work  which  treats  of  Saronarola. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


2S9 


consult  the  oracle  of  Apollo,  on  the  subject  of  the  perfection  of 
his  laws,  he  enquired  not  concerning  the  duration  of  his  power, 
or  the  extension  of  his  authority ;  his  only  question  was, 
"  A\Tiether  the  laws  were  good,  and  tended  to  make  the  Spar- 
tans happy  ? "  When  he  received  the  answer  he  desired,  he 
judged  that  liis  mission  was  at  an  end;  and,  seeing  that  his 
object  was  accomplished,  he  is  said  to  have  died  content. 

Cicero  maintained  that  a  State  could  not  be  governed  well 
without  a  strict  observance  of  justice :  "  Sine  summa  justitia 
respublica  regi  non  posset."  This  injustice  is  not  a  question  of 
creed,  or  class,  or  colour,  every  member  of  the  State  is  entitled 
to  it ;  and  for  every  denial  of  it,  the  government  gathers  up 
wrath  for  the  days  to  come — for  the  days  of  reckoning  will 
come,  though  it  may  not  be  given  to  the  wronged  and  oppressed 
to  be  made  the  judges  or  the  avengers  of  the  insulted  laws  of 
justice,  even  of  that  little  portion  of  the  latter  which  is  kno\\Ti, 
or  dreamt  of,  or  enjoyed  on  this  side  the  grave.  The  relative 
duties  of  protection  and  obedience  impose  obligations  which 
are  as  binding  on  the  prince  as  on  the  people. 

A  failure  of  these  on  the  part  of  either,  endangers  the  com- 
pact, and  many  signal  failures  tend  inevitably  to  dissolve  it. 
"  In  all  governments,"  says  Lord  Bolingbroke,  "  there  are 
either  expressly  or  tacitly  certain  conditions  between  the  people 
and  their  rulers,  which,  in  conscience,  they  arc  both  bound  to 
preserve.  In  more  arbitrary  governments,  the  traces  of  an 
original  compact  are  less  discernible."  "  Xobody  can  be  so 
weak  or  so  wicked  as  to  deny  that  the  prosperity  of  mankind  is 
one  of  the  great  ends  of  government."  ("  On  Liberty,"  p.  285.) 
"It  is  the  nature  of  all  governments  to  degenerate,"  we  are 
truly  told  in  his  essay  "  On  the  Power  of  the  Prince  ;"  "  but  the 
representative  government  has  this  advantage,  that  its  forms 
admit  of  a  frequent  renewal  of  the  constitution."  In  arbitrary 
governments,  on  the  other  hand,  where  Machiavelli's  position 
is  peculiarly  applicable  to  their  infirmities,  "  that  all  institutions 
need  to  be  frequently  brought  ^back  to  their  first  principles," 
rapacity  and  tyranny  augment  with  decrepitude,  and  they  die 


240 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  themselves  as  surely,  though  not  perhaps  so  speedily,  as  they 
might  do  at  the  hands  of  their  own  slaves  and  subjects."  The 
destinies  of  states  and  kingdoms  are  not  left  to  the  blind  govern- 
ment of  bad  rulers,  or  the  capricious  will  of  unworthy  princes ; 
nor  are  the  designs  of  Providence  so  easily  discoverable  to  us, 
as  to  be  promoted  at  all  times,  and  when  and  where  oppression 
stalks  by  means  of  revolt,  or  the  substitution  of  one  form  of 
government  for  another. 

The  expectations  of  the  people  by  whom  revolutions  have 
been  made,  and  the  form  of  government  altered,  are  always  of 
a  nature  that  renders  it  impossible  they  can  be  realised. 

"  Fare  ogni  cosa  di  nuovo  in  quello  stato ;  nelle  Citta  fare 
nuovi  governi  con  nuovi  nomi,  con  nuova  autorita,  con  nuovi 
nomini,  fare  i  poveri  ricchi,  disfare  delle  vecchie  citta,  cambiare 
gli  abitatori  da  un  luogo  ad  un  altro,  e  in  somma,  non  lasciare 
cosa  niuna  intatta,  e  che  non  vi  sia  ne  grado,  ne  ordine,  ne  stato, 
ne  richezza,  che  chi  la  tiene  non  riconosca  da  te."* 

The  interposition  of  Savonarola  in  secular  affairs,  though  in- 
tended by  him  to  promote  spiritual  interest,  produced  results 
that  were  ultimately  favourable  only  to  factions. 

The  re-action  against  his  influence  with  the  government,  be- 
came manifestly  perilous  to  himself  towards  the  close  of  1495. 

Among  his  principal  enemies,  who  so  hastily  he  had  to  dread 
and  to  guard  against,  was  a  high  officer  of  the  government,  the 
Gonfaloniere  de  Giustizia,  chosen  soon  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Medici.  This  functionary,  named  Filippo  Corbelli,  succeeded 
in  stirring  up  the  high  dignitaries  of  the  Church  against  the 
father,  and  causing  a  synod  to  be  called,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
quiring into  the  orthodoxy  of  the  preaching  of  Savonarola. 

This  measure  was  concurred  m  by  the  abbots,  priors,  and  pre- 
sidents of  nearly  all  the  monasteries  and  convents  of  Florence ; 
all  the  masters  in  theology,  two  canons  of  the  Duomo,  and  va- 
rious others  :  among  whom  was  the  celebrated  Marsilius  Ficinus, 
a  canon  of  the  Duomo,  a  great  admirer  of  Plato,  who  continually 
kept  a  lamp  burning  in  his  chamber,  before  a  bust  of  the  phi- 
losopher. 

*  Machiavel,  Discorsi,  lib.  i.  cap.  6, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


241 


This  council  having  assembled  in  the  great  hall  of  the  palace, 
the  cause  for  which  they  were  called  together  was  explained. 
After  some  time,  Fra  Girolamo  was  sent  for,  to  be  examined  before 
the  council.  He  came  to  it  attended  by  one  of  his  faithful 
brethren,  Fra  Domenico  da  Pescia. 

The  Gonfaloniere  de  Giustizia,  who  took  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings, informed  him,  on  taking  his  seat,  that  the  council  re- 
quired some  information  with  respect  to  his  preaching,  and 
therefore  he  should  answer  to  the  questions  put  to  him.  A 
Master  of  Theology  of  the  Dominican  order.  Maestro  Giovanni 
Carlo,  of  S.  Maria  Novella,  greatly  famed  for  his  knowledge  of 
canon  law,  though  a  person  of  very  small  stature,  therefore 
called  Garofanino,  began  to  reflect  severely  on  Fra  Girolamo's 
mode  of  preaching  and  acting,  saying  that  he  ought  not  to  med- 
dle in  affairs  of  State,  nor  occupy  himself  with  matters  which  did 
not  concern  him,  reminding  him  of  St.  Paul's  observation — nemo 
militans  Deo,  implicat  se  negociis  secularihus. 

"  Then  Fra  Girolamo,"  says  Burlamacchi,  "  who  was  natu- 
rally mild,  seeing  that  the  council  was  assembled  with  views 
hostile  to  him,  and  having  heard  the  objection  that  had  been 
raised  by  the  theologian,  replied  with  great  meekness,  that 
Maestro  Carlo  was  mistaken  about  his  mode  of  preaching — there 
was  no  novelty  in  it;  it  was  as  old  as  the  Apostles  and  the  Saints 
of  former  days,  and  was  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  It  was  in  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of 
all  other  true  Apostolic  preachers ;  and  he,  Fra  Girolamo,  did  not 
believe  that  such  mode  of  preaching  was  inconvenient,  seeing  that 
many  Saints  and  just  men  had  used  the  same,  as  we  read  in  the 
book,  'De  Pulchritudine  S.  Marise  Novelise ;'  and  moreover, when 
any  business  is  so  ordered,  that  the  honour  of  God  and  the 
good  of  our  neighbour  are  kept  in  view  (in  the  transaction  of 
it),  it  ought  not  to  be  called  secular,  but  rather  sj)iritual  and 
holy.  But,  nevertheless,  it  appeared  to  him  a  matter  with  very 
great  evil  attaching  to  it,  that  friars  of  his  own  order  should 
be  the  first  to  raise  their  voice  in  opposition  to  a  brother 
preacher,  and  that  in  him  the  words  of  prophecy  were  verified 

VOL.  I.  R 


U2 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


— '  The  sons  of  my  motlier  have  fought  against  me.'  But  still  it 
was  most  gratifying  to  him  to  conform  himself,  even  in  trials  of 
that  kind,  to  the  example  of  the  Di\T.ne  Sa\dour. 

"  Then  each  member  of  the  council,  one  after  another,  spake 
on  the  same  subject,  and  Fra  Girolamo  replied  with  benignity 
to  each,  breaking  every  flimsy  argument  of  theirs  with  the 
heavy  hammer  of  Sacred  Scriptui-es.  Thus  passed  more  than 
two  hours.  Then,  feeling  that  things  were  taking  a  turn  that 
was  reflecting  discredit  on  them,  one  member  rose  abruptly,  and 
said  to  Fra  Gii'olamo,  '  Speak  openly  and  clearly ;  have  you 
those  things  from  God  or  not,  so  that  all  may  believe  in  you  if 
they  be  from  God  V  To  which  the  father  replied,  '  I  have 
spoken  always  before  the  world,  and  in  private  I  have  not 
spoken.*    To  which  words  no  reply  was  made. 

The  council  then  diflering  among  themselves,  an  end  was 
put  to  the  proceedings,  without  coming  to  any  definite  conclu- 
sion. The  members  were  dismissed,  the  meekness  and  sound 
doctrine  of  the  father  being  given  all  due  praise  and  honour."* 

Burlamacchi  adds,  "  It  was  a  special  grace  of  God  which  Fra 
Girolamo  possessed,  that  when  he  entered  into  argument,  he 
always  did  so  with  serenity  of  spirit,  without  ever  becoming 
excited  or  raising  his  voice  in  the  heat  of  passion,  as  men  in  ar- 
gument generally  do,  and  as  John  Pico,  of  Mii'andola,  and 
Domenico  Beneviene,  and  others,  have  observed."  Whether 
the  members  of  the  synod  had  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
explicitness  of  the  answer  given  to  the  last  question  put  to 
Fra  Girolamo,  possibly  the  reader  may  not  be  so  entirely 
persuaded  as  Burlamacchi.  The  words  of  our  Sa^dour  can 
never  be  applied  to  our  own  circumstances  with  too  much  hu- 
mility and  care,  to  avoid  even  the  semblance  of  spii-itual  pride. 

Savonarola  felt,  no  doubt,  he  was  encompassed  by  his  enemies, 
who  were  ready  to  seize  on  any  admission  or  avowal  of  the 
spiritual  gifts  that  were  ascribed  to  him,  and  therefore  thought 
it  necessary  to  shroud  his  thoughts  in  vague  and  mysterious 
language. 

*  Burlamacchi,  p.  547. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


Let  US  see  how  the  enemies  of  Savonarola  view  this  question 
of  the  interference  in  politics,  as  they  are  represented  by  one. 
modern  critic,  who  is  a  faithful  exponent  of  all  their  adverse 
opinions. 

Bayle  says,  that  "  Savonarola  concerned  himself  too  much  in 
political  affairs,  which  is  always  blameable  in  persons  who  have 
dedicated  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  of  God,  and 
particularly  so,  when  they  meddle  with  the  government,  in  a 
State  which  is  divided  into  factions,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
republic  of  Florence,  which  was  torn  by  the  dissensions  of  two 
parties — the  aristocracy  and  the  democracy." 

On  this  subject,  Bayle  observes — "  He  began  by  little  and 
little  to  show  some  marks  of  his  secret  ambition,  when  so  soon 
as  in  the  year  1494,  as  he  himself  says  in  the  book  he  wrote  on 
his  prophecies,  he  mixed  with  politicians,  and  procured  him- 
self to  be  called  to  the  council,  which  at  that  time  w^as  held  at 
Florence,  for  establishing  a  popular  government,  where  he  ex- 
cited all  the  citizens  to  embrace  it  with  one  consent ;  and  pro- 
posed to  them  four  or  five  points  of  great  consequence,  in  order 
to  support  themselves  in  it,  saying,  that  these  were  revealed  to 
him  by  God  Almighty,  and  that  they  ought  punctually  to  ob- 
serve them,  if  they  were  desirous  of  making  their  state  the  most 
flourishing  in  all  Italy.  Whereupon,  though  affairs  had  not  taken 
the  turn  that  he  expected,  he  nevertheless  did  not  fail  to  improve, 
day  after  day,  his  credit  with  the  people,  teaching,  as  in  the  ser- 
mons which  he  preached  in  the  year  1489,  on  St.  John's  revela- 
tion, that  the  Church  was  thi'eatened  with  a  speedy  reforma- 
tion, and  that  the  petty  kings  and  tyrants  of  Italy  would 
shortly  feel  the  avenging  scourge  of  all  their  iniquities.  He 
proved  this  in  such  a  manner  by  the  passages  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  by  maintaining  the  certainty  of  his  revelations, 
that  after  the  expedition  of  Charles  the  Eighth  into  Italy,  which 
he  had  foretold  and  proclaimed  two  years  before,  everybody  so 
confidently  expected  that  he  would  return  again,  as  Savonarola 
affirmed,  that  they  did  not  lose  hopes  of  it  till  the  year  1498, 

R  2 


244 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


in  which  King  Charles,  and  he  that  had  favoured  him  so  much 
in  his  sermons,  were  translated  from  this  life  into  another. 

"  He  had  incurred  the  hatred  not  only  of  Pope  Alexander 
the  Sixth,  and  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  clergy,  against  whom 
he  used  to  declaim  in  the  pulpit,  but  likewise  of  all  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  of  Florence,  by  the  execution  which  he  advised 
to  be  made  of  seven  or  eight  of  the  chief  noblemen  amongst 
them ;  so  that  having  no  friends  left  but  the  partizans  of  Paul 
Antony  Soderini,  who  made  use  of  him  to  support  the  popular 
government,  in  opposition  to  Guy  Antony  Vespucci,  who 
wanted  to  establish  an  aristocratical  form,  they  were  not  able  to 
resist  those  of  the  contrary  party,  who  during  this  commotion 
broke  open  the  gates  of  his  convent,  and  dragged  him  to  punish- 
ment. This  they  did,  in  order  that  their  city  might  have  rest 
and  quiet,  by  the  death  of  that  man  who  kept  them  at  variance 
with  the  Pope,  on  account  of  his  new  doctrine,  and  nourished 
factions  and  divisions  amongst  them,  which,  if  they  had  been 
suffered  to  go  any  further,  could  not  have  failed  to  end  in  the 
ruin  of  their  State  and  authority. 

"  Had  he  meddled  with  the  government  with  no  other  view 
but  to  maintain  concord,  and  had  succeeded  in  his  design,  he 
could  hardly  be  excused ;  for,  as  laymen  have  no  business  with 
things  appertaining  to  the  altar,  so  monks  have  as  little  to  do 
with  political  affairs  :  every  one  should  keep  within  the  bounds 
of  his  own  profession. 

"  What  shall  we  say,  then,  of  a  man  who  immersed  himself 
wholly  in  cabals  of  State,  and  occasioned  so  many  troubles  and 
divisions  ?     Paul  Jovius  is  moderate  enough  in  the  censure 

which  he  passes  upon  him  ^  He  was  chiefly  set  against 

the  family  de  Medicis,'  says  Jovius,  and  opposed  that  form 
of  a  republic  which,  as  he  said,  was  liable  to  be  governed  by 
the  violence  and  lust  of  a  few  great  men.  For  this  reason,  he 
had  evidently  divided  the  city  into  parties,  and  was  very 
justly  censured  by  grave  and  wise  citizens  ;  because,  that  laying 
aside  his  religious  profession,  and  the  contemplation  of  divine 
matters,  he  had  concerned  himself  in  the  management  of  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


245 


State,  with  more  ambition  than  became  a  man  of  his  holy  pro- 
fession.' " 

"  See,  in  Guicciardini,"  continues  Bayle,  "  how  he  declared  it 
to  be  the  will  of  God,  that  the  government  of  the  people  should 
be  set  up,  and  nevertheless  he  consented  that  they  should  in- 
fringe the  prerogatives  of  that  form  of  government,  in  the  point 
of  executing  four  or  five  persons  that  were  condemned  for  high 
treason^ 

"  Their  relations  having  appealed  from  the  sentence  to  the 
great  council  of  the  people,  by  virtue  of  a  law  which  had  been 
made  at  the  establishment  of  the  democracy,  those  who  had  been 
authors  of  the  condemnation,  fearing  lest  compassion  for  their 
age  and  quality,  and  the  multitude  of  their  relations,  should 
mitigate  in  the  minds  of  the  people  the  severity  of  the  sentence, 
bestirred  themselves  so  much,  that  they  procured  it  to  be  de- 
bated before  a  smaller  number  of  citizens,  whether  they  should 
be  suffered  to  proceed  or  not  in  their  appeal,  where,  as  the  ad- 
vantage both  in  number  and  authority  was  on  their  side,  who 
maintained  that  it  Avas  a  dangerous  thing,  and  might  very  pos- 
sibly end  in  sedition,  and  that  the  laws  themselves  allowed  they 
might  be  dispensed  with  in  the  like  case,  to  prevent  tumults ; 
some  of  the  chief  magistrates  were  impetuously,  and  in  a  man- 
ner by  force  and  threatenings,  forced  to  consent,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  appeal  was  lodged,  the  execution  should  be  performed 
that  very  night ;  and  for  this,  the  friends  of  Savonarola  were 
more  zealous  than  the  rest,  to  the  great  scandal  of  him  who  did 
not  dissuade,  even  his  own  followers,,  from  violating  a  law 
which  he  himself  had  proposed  a  few  years  before  as  very  use- 
ful, and  almost  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  liberty.  We 
may  discover  in  this  conduct  of  Savonarola  some  marks  of  the 
unregenerated  man,  and  of  the  unchristian  politician.  Note, 
that  Varillas  supposes  that  this  monk  endeavoured  to  save  th^ 
lives  of  these  State  criminals.  Had  this  been  true,  Guicci- 
ardini  would  not  have  said  just  the  reverse.  I  add,  that  An- 
tonio Maria  Gratiana,  Bishop  of  Amelia,  observes,  that  the 
relations  of  the  condemned  persons  in  vain  besought  Valori  and 


246 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Savonarola  upon  their  knees ;  they  could  not  obtain  for  them 
that  they  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  an  appeal  to  the  people."* 
Bayle^  in  his  elaborate  article  on  Savonarola,  in  "  The  Critical 
Dictionary/'  has  brought  to  his  attempt  to  sketch  the  character 
of  the  Dominican  friar  of  Ferrara,  a  certain  amount  of  that  cri- 
tical acumen  for  which  he  was  remarkable,  in  dealing  with  con- 
tradictory accounts  of  occurrences  long  past,  the  real  facts  of 
which  had  been  misrepresented,  lost  sight  of,  suppressed,  or 
overlaid. 

But  Bayle  could  not  help  looking  on  any  highly-gifted  man, 
who  was  profoundly  convinced  of  the  truths  of  Christianity, 
with  misgivings  of  his  sincerity.  He  felt  a  passionate  interest 
in  the  task,  of  setting  Savonarola  before  the  world  as  a  fanatic 
and  likewise  an  impostor. 

Bayle,  however,  it  would  appear  from  his  article,  had  not 
giveri  himself  the  trouble  to  read  the  works  of  Savonarola.  He 
composed  his  article  from  the  productions  of  those  w^ho  wrote 
against  the  Dominican. 

But  supposing  the  principal  writings  of  Savonarola  had  been 
within  the  reach  of  Bayle,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  tracts  on 
"  Mental  Prayer,"  the  work  entitled  "  Triumphus  Crucis,"  and 
the  other  admirable  performance,  "  De  simplicitate  verae  Chris- 
tianse,"  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  Bayle  could  have  en- 
tered into  the  spirit  of  such  performances. 

Hume,  with  all  his  powers,  would  be  incapable  of  apprecia- 
ting the  peculiar  merits  of  "  The  Imitation  of  Christ,"  ascribed 
to  Thomas  a  Kempis,  Carlyle,  with  all  his  genius,  would  in  all 
probability  see  nothing  in  the  sublimest  passages  of  the  most 
spiritual  of  the  fragments  of  Blaise  Pascal,  but  \'isionary  ideas 
that  should  be  squelched. 

Yet  Savonarola,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and  Pascal,  have  left 
works  which  will  be  probably  admired  when  those  of  Bayle, 
and  Hume,  and  Carlyle  will  scarcely  be  remembered. 

So  much  for  Bayle.    If  his  observations  be  just,  if  his  alleged 

♦  Bayle'p  Critical  Diet.  vol.  t.  p.  62. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


247 


facts  be  true,  the  memory  of  Savonarola  should  perish.  But  if 
his  statements  of  what  he  calls  facts,  are  not  founded  on  truth, 
and  his  conclusions  are  erroneous  and  unjust,  then  is  his  own 
memory  deserving  of  obloquy. 

The  execution  of  the  five  conspirators  took  place  the  21st 
of  August,  1497.  The  power  and  influence  of  Savonarola  in 
the  government  was  then  gone.  He  had  no  act  or  part  in  the 
proceedings  against  the  conspirators.  The  proofs  of  this  asser- 
tion will  be  found  elsewhere. 


248 


THE   LITE   am;  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

LETTERS  OF  SAVONAROLA  TO  HIS  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS,  FROM 
THE  LETTERE  INEDITE  OF  THE  PADRE  MARCHESE,  O.S.D. 
RECENTLY  BROUGHT  TO  LIGHT. 

"  Avea  nel  conversar  tal  gentilezza, 

Che  uon  ciascun  si  confacea  a^quale 
AfFabil,  dolce  e  senza  alciin  aspriezza, 
Era  di  tal  judizio  naturale. 

Oltr'  alia  sua  scienzia  e  gran  bonta, 
Ch'al  secul  piu  rion  era  un  simil  tale. 

Clemente,  pio,  e  pien  di  carita, 

Longanimo,  fidele,  e  di  gran  core, 

Pien  di  virtu  e  pien  d'ogni  umilta. 
Era  di  poverta  gran  araatore, 

Ma  sordidezza  area  molto  a  descaro  : 

Che  Sempre  visse  netto  el  Salvatore." 
Vita  de  Sav.par  Fra  Benedetto,  sive  Cedrus  Lihani. 

The  most  valuable  information  concerning  the  private  life  of 
SaA'onarola,  is  to  be  found  in  a  recent  publication  of  the  Padre 
Marchese,  O.S.D. ,  containing  several  unpublished  letters  of 
Savonarola,  and  official  documents  relating  to  his  affairs  with 
Rome,  in  the  thirty-seventh  volume  of  the  Archivio  Storico 
Italiano,  Appendix  No.  23. 

Here  we  find  a  multitude  of  chronological  errors  pointed  out, 
which  have  crept  into  nearly  all  the  biographies  of  Savonarola, 
whose  authors  have  derived  their  information  from  Burlamacchi, 
and  taken  the  dates  they  found  in  his  work,  without  considering 
that  Burlamacchi  following  the  old  style  of  computation — ah 
tncarnatione — anticipated,  by  the  term  of  a  year,  the  period  of 
which  he  treated  according  to  the  new  mode  of  computing  time. 

Amongst  the  letters  previously  inedited,  and  apparently  un- 


or  SAVOXAROJ,A. 


249 


known  to  former  biographers,  we  find  two  letters  to  his  mother, 
and  several  others  to  his  sisters,  brothers,  disciples,  and  most 
intimate  friends,  of  great  importance,  as  throwing  a  new  light 
on  his  character,  as  manifested  in  his  relations  of  love  and  friend- 
ship with  his  nearest  and  dearest  friends,  and  by  the  tender- 
ness of  heart,  the  simplicity  of  mind,  and  innate  excellence  of 
disposition  w^hich  they  exhibit,  enabling  us  to  form  a  more  just 
opinion  than  we  were  before  in  a  condition  to  arrive  at,  on  the 
subject  of  that  political  ambition  and  passion  for  pre-eminence 
in  the  state  with  w^hich  he  is  charged  with  being  animated. 

Those  letters  of  Savonarola  seemed  to  me  so  important,  as 
illustrative  of  his  private  character  and  relations  with  his  friends 
and  family,  and  so  calculated  to  enable  us  better  to  appreciate 
the  motives  of  ambition  and  vain  glory  ascribed  to  him  in  his 
relations  with  the  ruling  powers  of  the  republic  in  the  years 
1494  and  1495,  that  I  have  not  separated  them,  and  placed  the 
various  communications  with  the  matter  of  the  several  vears 
corresponding  wdth  their  dates,  deeming  it  better  they  should 
follow  consecutively,  as  they  have  been  given  by  Padre  ]Marchese. 

The  first  letter  in  this  precious  collection  is  addressed  to  his 
mother — A'' Elena  Buonacorsi,  Sua  Madre.  It  occupies  three 
pages  and  a  half.  In  this  letter,  written  at  Pavia,  the  25th  Jan- 
uary, 1490,  he  speaks  of  a  journey  to  Genoa,  being  commanded 
by  his  superiors  to  preach  during  the  Lent  in  that  city,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  none  of  his  biographers  seem  to  have  been 
aware  of.  In  this  letter,  he  alludes  to  misfortunes  and  embar- 
rassments which  had  befallen  his  family,  and  which  he  knew  his 
mother  had  to  contend  with.  He  tells  her,  his  prayers  were  con- 
stantly addi-essed  to  God  for  her.  "  For  her,  he  knew  not  w^hat 
else  to  do.  If  it  were  otherwise,  and  he  could  help  her,  he 
would  aid  her  willingly.  But  once  having  been  free,  he  had 
made  himself  a  slave  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  love 
of  his  had  made  a  new  man  of  him. 

"  Then,  in  all  things,"  he  says, "  I  seek  the  glory  of  that  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God,  and  for  this  end  I  study  all  that  I  can  to  serve 


250 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Him,  and  to  avoid,  by  any  earthly  or  carnal  affection,  to  with- 
draw myself  from  the  work  assigned  me  for  his  love,  voluntarily 
labouring  in  his  vineyard  in  various  cities,  so  that  I  may  not 
only  save  my  own  soul,  but  also  the  souls  of  others,  fearing  even 
greatly  the  divine  judgment  if  I  failed  to  do  these  things ;  for 
if  He  has  given  me  talent  for  this  work,  it  is  necessary  I  should 
expend  it  in  the  manner  that  is  pleasing  to  him.  So,  my  most 
loved  mother,  do  not  lament  my  being  far  from  you,  and  going 
about  from  place  to  place,  for  I  do  all  this  for  the  salvation  of 
many  souls,  preaching,  exhorting,  confessing,  reading,  and  giving 
counsel,  and  I  go  nowhere  except  for  these  ends,  for  which  also 
I  am  always  sent  by  my  superiors.  And,  therefore,  you  ought 
rather  to  be  comforted,  in  feeling  that  God  had  been  pleased  to 
choose  a  child  of  yours  for  this  mission. 

Had  I  remained  at  Ferrara,  be  assured  I  could  not  have 
done  the  good  I  have  done  elsewhere,  for  no  persons  devoted  to 
religion,  or  at  least  very  few,  ever  effect  much  by  the  labours 
of  a  holy  life  in  theu'  o^ti  land.  And  hence  it  is  that  we  find  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  so  frequently  the  servants  of  God  directed 
to  go  forth  from  their  own  country,  as  if  it  were  that  so  much 
confidence  is  not  placed  in  a  teacher  in  his  own  land  as  in  a 
stranger,  w^hether  in  his  sermons  or  in  his  counsel ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  Lord  said  that  a  prophet  had  no  honour  in  his  own 
country,'  and  hence  it  was  that  He  found  none  in  his  own 
country  

I  have  not  written  thus  of  those  matters  (his  labours  and  the 
fruits  of  them  in  divers  cities),  on  account  of  the  praise  of  some 
persons,  nor  because  praise  is  gratifying  to  me,  but  to  shew  you 
my  reasons  for  quitting  Ferrara  and  remaining  from  it,  so  that 
you  should  know  this  is  done  voluntarily,  on  the  con\dction  that 
I  am  doing  what  is  most  pleasing  to  God,  and  most  serviceable 
to  the  souls  of  my  fellow-creatures,  which  objects,  in  my  sight, 
are  of  more  importance  than  all  the  treasures  of  the  world,  and 
in  comparision  with  which,  in  my  estimation,  all  things  are  as 
dirt.  And,  therefore,  Madre  Mio  Honor andissima,  do  not  grieve 
at  this,  because  the  more  pleasing  I  make  myself  to  God,  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


251 


more  efficacious  will  be  my  prayers  to  Him  for  you.  Do  not 
consider  yourself  abandoned  by  God  in  your  tribulations,  but 
rather  that  you  have  abandoned  Him.  And  if  His  scourges  come 
upon  you,  that  it  is  to  compel  you  to  return  to  Him.  Perhaps  it  is 
by  these  means  He  wishes  to  save  you  and  yours,  and  is  pleased 
to  hear  my  prayers,  in  which  I  do  not  pray  for  worldly  goods 
but  for  His  graces  for  you,  and  that  he  may  conduct  you  to  eternal 
life,  by  whatever  paths  it  may  please  Him  to  lead  you  in  this  life. 

I  intended  to  write  only  a  few  words,  but  love  has  set  no 
limits  to  them,  and  I  have  opened  to  you  my  heart  more  than  I 
intended  doing.  Know  then,  finally,  that  my  mind  is  more  fixed 
than  ever  in  the  resolution  to  expend  the  powers  of  my  mind 
and  body,  and  all  the  knowledge  that  God  has  given  me,  and 
all  the  gifts  of  his  grace,  for  the  love  of  God  and  the  good  of  the 
souls  of  men,  and  because  I  cannot  do  this  in  my  own  native 
place,  I  will  endeavour  to  do  it  elsewhere.  Therefore,  I  pray 
you,  that  this  course  of  mine  you  will  not  try  to  impede,  know- 
ing, assuredly,  that  whenever  I  can  help  you  in  any  way,  I  will 
do  it ;  and  when  there  is  a  necessity  for  my  going  to  Ferrara,  it 
will  not  give  me  trouble  to  go  there.  But,  without  necessity,  it 
would  be  in  my  opinion  a  grave  sin  for  small  objects  to  leave 
the  works  of  God  w^hich  are  committed  to  me."* 

The  second  letter  in  the  collection,  written  the  8th  March, 
1490,  is  addressed  from  Florence  to  Fra  Domingo  da  Pescia, 
who  at  that  time  was  preaching  in  Pisa. 

Fra  Girolamo  begins  his  letter  by  announcing :  Our  work 
prospers  well,  for  God  has  wonderfully  aided  it.  I  will  relate 
all  things  that  have  happened  to  you  on  your  return — now  the 
opportunity  does  not  serve  for  so  doing.  Many  have  doubted, 
and  still  doubt,  if  it  should  not  happen  to  me  as  it  did  happen 
to  Fra  Bernardino  (St.  Bernardino  di  monte  Feltro,  who  was 
banished  from  Florence  for  preaching  against  usury).  Certainly, 
in  some  respects,  I  have  not  been  free  from  danger ;  but  I  have 
always  acted  without  fear  in  God's  service,  knowing,  as  the  holy 
Scriptures  say,  the  heart  of  the  king  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord, 
*  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  p.  113. 


252 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


and,  therefore,  it  might  please  him  to  turn  it.  I  hope  in  the  Lord 
that  by  our  mouth  his  word  will  have  much  fruit ;  for  every  day 
he  consoles  me,  and  when  I  am  downcast  he  comforts  me  by  the 
voice  of  his  spirit,  which  many  times  says  to  me,  '  Fear  not,  since, 
of  a  certainty,  God  inspires  you — di  securamente  cio  die  Dio  fin- 
spira — for  the  Lord  is  with  you :  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  contend 
against  you,  but  they  will  not  prevail.'  ....  I  preach  frequently 
on  the  renovation  of  the  church,  and  the  tribulations  which  are 
to  come,  not  absolutely,  (in  the  way  of  prophecy  he  evidently 
intends  to  be  understood,)  but  always  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  so  that  no  one  can  reprehend  me,  save  those  who 
do  not  wish  to  live  well."* 

The  third  letter  in  the  collection  is  addressed  to  his  youngest 
brother,  Albert,  a  physician  of  high  reputation,  in  this  manner : 
— Egregio  Artium  et  Medicinse  Doctore  Maestro  Alberto  Sa- 
vonarole  fratri  suo  amantissimo,  dated  28th  of  October,  1495, 
exhorting  him  to  assist  his  eldest  brother,  Ognibene,  who  had 
fallen  into  great  poverty,  as  a  duty  of  charity  he  owed  to  God, 
and  of  affection  towards  a  brother  in  adversity. 

The  fourth  letter  in  the  collection  (the  second  to  his  mother), 
dated  from  Florence,  the  5th  November,  1495,  addressed  to  his 
mother.  Alia  Madr^ ;  Jesus  Marice  Filius,  begins  with  these 
words  :  "  Most  honoured  and  most  loved  mother,  the  divine 
peace  and  consolation  be  with  you.  Having  heard  of  the  death 
of  our  uncle  Borso,  your  brother,  I  began  to  think  what  were 
the  designs  of  Providence  with  regard  to  our  house ;  for  the 
more  I  prayed,  and  have  prayed  for  it,  the  more  every  day  it 
has  been  stricken  by  God.  And,  truly,  I  am  thankful  to  the 
most  wise  and  beneficent  God,  the  Creator  and  Redeemer  of 
our  souls,  who  does  for  them  much  better  than  we  know  how 
to  ask  or  think  what  is  good  for  them.  I  believe  that  my  prayers 
are  heard  more,  or  for  a  better  end,  tha.n  I  had  in  view  :  be- 
cause, praying  as  I  have  done  for  the  salvation  of  your  souls, 
I  see  it  approaching  to  you,  if  you  will  only  approach  towards 
it.  But  the  more  the  soul  is  attached  to  earthly  things,  the 
farther  is  it  from  its  eternal  end — God. 

*  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  p.  116 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


253 


"  Thus  I  shew  you  clearly  that  human  hopes  are  blind,  and 
false,  and  insufficient  to  elevate  your  soul  to  heavenly  things. 
Your  Creator  lays  his  hand  on  you  often  to  awaken  you,  in 
order  that  you  should  rise  from  the  heavy  sleep  in  which  you 
have  long  lain,  loving  more  the  present  than  the  future  life. 
These,  my  dear  mother,  are  the  sounds  of  truths  from  heaven 
— Questi  sono  madre  mia  voce  dal  cielo.  Shut  them  up  in  your 
heart.  They  are  voices  which  cry  aloud  to  you  to  withdraw 
from  earthly  things,  and  invite  you  to  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Believe  me,  mother,  sisters,  and  brother,  all  most  beloved,  that 
the  most  sweet  Jesus,  our  all-powerful  Saviour,  comes  straight 
towards  you,  exclaiming.  Come  to  my  kingdom — leave  this  world 
full  of  iniquity.  Why  do  you  still  sleep  ?  He  who  is  desirous 
of  your  salvation,  endeavours  to  awaken  you.  Open,  then, 
your  eyes,  and  consider  if,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  if  ever  any  servant  of  God  was  free  from  tribulations, 
and  temptations,  and  persecutions.  God  scourges  His  children, 
in  order  that  they  may  not  set  their  hopes  on  earthly  things. 
He  casts  away  from  them  every  support,  every  root,  every 
trust ;  so  that,  seeing  themselves  abandoned  finally  by  the  world 
{in  their  trusts),  having  no  other  resource,  they  must  come  to 
Him  to  cast  themselves  into  His  arms.  Oh,  good  God !  Oh, 
inifinite  mercy !  Oh,  inestimable  charity  !  that  He  should  come 
to  our  hearts,  as  if  he  had  a  great  necessity  for  us  

"  And  I  pray  you,  therefore,  my  sisters,  my  spiritual  children, 
Beatrice  and  Clara,  that  you  would  resolve  to  give  yourselves 
up  totally  to  prayer,  and  to  leave  all  vanities,  not  only  in  act 
and  deed,  but  in  worldly  attachments,  and  betake  yourselves  to 
a  retired  life  and  holy  reading.  Be  constant  in  prayer  !  Care 
not  for  company,  neither  to  see  or  to  be  seen.  Contemplate 
Jesus  Christ  in  his  life,  step  by  step.  Do  not  seek  the  company 
of  men,  but  keep  your  heart  constantly  with  Jesus  Christ,  and 
He  will  comfort  you  more  than  you  can  conceive."  .... 

[He  returns  apparently  to  some  observation  of  his  mother, 
with  respect  to  the  misfortunes  which  had  fallen  on  the  family.] 

 "  If  you  say  to  me  that  one  is  ashamed  at  falling  into 


254 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


poverty,  I  reply  to  you,  that  no  one  ought  to  be  ashamed  of 
being  in  a  condition  like  unto  that  in  which  were  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary.  Where  is  faith,  if 
we  do  not  believe  that  the  glory  which  God  has  promised  to 
those  who  love  Him  is  immense,  ineffable,  eternal,  and  that  the 
pains  of  hell  are  horrible !  And  as  it  is  necessary  for  us  to 
arrive  at  one  of  those  regions,  why  do  you  not  seek  to  flee  from 
hell  and  to  reach  heaven  ?  Here  we  cannot  long  remain,  but 
the  time  we  have  to  live  in  this  other  life  has  no  end." 

....  "  Do  not  be  solicitous  about  joux  children.  Take  care 
that  they  be  good,  not  only  after  the  fashion  of  that  goodness 
which  the  world  lauds,  but  in  conformity  with  that  which  pleases 
God ;  so  that  they  become  devout,  given  to  prayer,  to  fasting, 
to  the  hearing  of  holy  sermons,  as  the  spouses  of  Christ  should 
be,  and  be  certain  that  God  will  have  a  care  of  them,  and  lead 
them  to  a  better  end  than  they  know  how  to  ask  for  at  His 
hands.  And,  although  they  are  not  in  monasteries,  they  can 
serve  God  no  less  in  the  world,  and  be  spouses  of  Christ."  . .  . 

Finally,  after  giving  his  mother  all  the  comfort  that  religion 
could  afford  for  the  loss  of  her  brother,  and  endeavouring  to 
turn  the  time  of  mourning  to  a  profitable  account,  by  leading 
her  thoughts  from  worldly  concerns  to  cares  of  another  sort,  he 
touches  on  a  subject  which  seemed  to  be  ever  present  to  his 
mind,  his  approaching  doom.  He  refers  to  some  rumour 
that  had  been  promulgated  of  his  death,  in  a  strain  that  seemed 
as  if  he  took  advantage  of  it,  to  prepare  his  mother's  mind  for 
more  than  the  possibility  of  that  event  at  no  distant  day.  But 
what  mysterious  influence  leads  him  at  this  juncture,  involved 
in  no  difliculties,  attended  with  apparent  dangers  to  his  life,  to 
take  occasion  of  the  loss  of  a  mother's  brother,  and  a  passing 
rumour  of  his  own  death,  to  prepare  the  mind  of  that  mother, 
cautiously  and  ambiguously,  but  still  with  an  evident  design 
clearly  visible  in  the  warning,  for  a  greater  loss  than  that  which 
she  had  just  sustained?  Here  are  the  words  which  he  addresses 
to  her  two  years  before  the  time  of  his  martyrdom :  "  I  would 
wish  that  such  was  your  faith  that,  without  tears,  you  could  see 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


255 


them  (your  own  children)  die  and  suffer  martyrdom,  as  that  most 
holy  Hebrew  woman  saw  hers  martyred — the  woman  before 
whom  seven  holy  sons  were  slain,  she  encouraging  them  at  the 
moment  of  death ;  and  as  holy  Felicita  did,  of  whom  we  read  in 
the  New  Testament.  I  do  not  desire  this  (doom),  because  I  do 
not  wish  to  have  you  to  require  consolation  for  such  a  trial — 
for  this  would  be  against  charity,  but  in  order  to  diminish  the 
power  of  grief,  so  that  if  it  should  come  to  pass  that  I  should  die, 
you  should  not  give  way  to  too  much  sorrow.^^* 

Two  years  after  the  mother  received  this  letter  from  her  son, 
the  tidings  were  brought  from  Florence  to  her  at  Ferrara,  that 
he  had  been  cast  into  prison,  slandered,  tortured,  strangled,  and 
that  the  ashes  of  the  burned  body  of  that  beloved  child  of  hers 
had  been  thrown  into  the  river ;  that  Alexander  the  Sixth,  the 
sovereign  Pontiff,  had  not  deemed  the  remains  of  her  poor 
Girolamo  worthy  even  of  the  rites  of  Christian  sepulture. 

But  let  us  return  to  this  letter.  "  If  the  action  of  time  and 
the  mischievous  hands  of  men,"  says  the  Padre  Marchese,  "  had 
destroyed  all  the  other  writings  of  Savonarola,  and  left  this 
letter  alone  in  safety,  it  would  be  enough  to  prove  the  strong- 
sense  of  religion  and  the  sincere  piety  of  the  soul  of  the  writer 
of  it." 

The  fifth  letter  in  the  collection,  dated  the  3rd  of  November, 
1496,  is  addressed  to  his  "  Most  beloved  sister  Beatrice,"  sending 
her  a  little  piece  of  poetry,  officiolo,  "  which  (he  says)  he  had 
composed  in  praise  of  Saint  Mary  Magdalen,  for  the  preservation 
of  purity  of  mind  and  body,  and  with  them  the  remission  of 
sins ;  in  order  that  she  might  have  it  in  memory,  and  that  it 
should  be  as  a  substitute  for  a  letter  which  he  had  intended 
to  write  to  her." 

I  am  surprised  to  find  the  Padre  Marchese  say  there  is  no 
account  of  this  small  work  (operetta)  of  Savonarola  sent  to 
Beatrice.  Savonarola  does  not  allude  to  a  work  he  had  written, 
but  to  a  small  piece  he  had  composed,  Uno  Officiola  chi  ho 
composto.^l 

*  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  p.  112. 


256 


THE   LIFE   AND  MARTVllDOM 


This  title  of  officiola  he  gave  to  a  small  poem  of  great  beauty, 
entitled  "  Lauda  di  Santa  Maria  Magdalena/'  which  is  to  be 
found  in  De  Rian's  collection  of  his  sacred  poetry,  and  an 
English  version  of  it  in  another  chapter. 

The  sixth  letter  in  the  collection  is  addi-essed  to  the  Count 
Galeotto  Pico  della  Mirandola  (the  father  of  John  Francisco, 
the  biographer  of  Savonarola),  wherein  he  observes  to  the 
Count,  who  was  one  of  the  most  tyrannical  princes  of  his 
age,  that  he  had  heard  his  sermons  had  been  reported  to 
his  Excellency  as  being  offensive  to  him  personally.  He  tells 
the  Count  he  is  sorry  to  be  on  bad  terms  with  him,  "  His 
love  for  his  Excellency  is  what  it  is  for  all  the  princes  of  Italy, 
and  for  all  mankind,  and  he  was  ready,  for  the  good  of  the 
Count,  and  for  their  salvation,  to  die."  God  had  bestowed 
on  him,  by  His  grace,  the  gift  of  illumination  of  spirit, 
whereby  he  was  made  acquainted  with  the  calamities  that 
were  destined  to  fall  on  Italy,  her  princes,  and  her  people, 
if  they  did  not  repent  of  their  sins.  And  he  warned  the  Coimt 
"  there  was  no  remedy  for  him  but  recourse  to  his  Saviour,  and 
repentance  for  his  sins,  for  the  scourge  was  approaching ... 
'^and  he  had  thus  written  to  him,  not  from  motives  of  human 
respect  or  fear,  nor  of  love  for  temporal  things  ;  for  neither  of 
him,  or  of  the  other  Italian  princes,  he  desired  gold  or  silver, 
nor  favour,  nor  fame,  nor  any  transitory  advantage,  nor  reward 
of  any  kind :  for  as  to  recompense  he  had  expected  none^  nor  did 
he  now  expect  any  hut  infamy  and  opprobrium,  and  persecutions, 
and  eventually  death,  which  he  waited  for  with  a  great  longing, 
as  for  his  last  delight — quia  mihi  vivere  Christus  est  et  mori 
lucrum."  *  From  the  prince  to  whom  he  had  written  in  this 
strain  he  had  not  long  previously  refused  a  gift  of  600  scudi,  as 
a  marriage  portion  for  his  sister,  as  we  are  informed  by  his  son, 
in  his  Biography  of  Fra  Girolamo  (cap.  xi.  p.  13). 

In  the  seventh  letter  in  the  collection,  addressed  to  the  same 
Count  Galeotto  of  Mirandola,  dated  the  26th  March,  1496,  he 
tells  his  excellency  he  had  prayed  long  and  assiduously  to  God 
for  his  spiritual  welfare,  and  by  the  divine  illumination  he  had 
*  Lettere  Iiiedite  di  Sav.  p.  124. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


257 


been  moved  once  more  to  write  to  him,  and  to  urge  him  on  the  part 
of  God  to  turn  from  his  evil  ways  and  be  converted,  and  recognise 
his  Creator  and  Eedeemer,  and  live  as  it  became  a  Christian.  "  It 
was  necessary  for  him  to  be  heartily  sorry  for  his  past  sins,  and 
to  confess  them,  and  in  future  to  abstain  from  sin,  and  with  all 
his  heart,  verily  and  truly,  to  reduce  his  passions  and  vindictive 
feelings  to  the  standard  of  the  di^-ine  mercy.*  Otherwise,  let 
him  be  ad^dsed  there  was  a  great  scourge  hanging  over  him,  and 
he  would  be  sorely  punished  in  his  person  and  in  his  house  ; 
and,  moreover,  that  his  life  was  only  for  a  short  time,  and  it 
behoved  him  to  prepare  to  die  well,  to  live  chastely,  to  restore 
what  he  had  unjustly  taken,  and  to  become  reconciled  with  his 
brother  and  with  the  church :  to  govern  his  vassals  well,  to 
give  them  a  good  example,  because  their  sins  would  be  imputed 
to  him  if  he  failed  to  do  so,  and  he  would  be  called  on  to  render 
an  account  of  them. 

"And,  more  than  this,  he  had  to  say — if  the  time  that 
remained  for  him  was  not  devoted  to  God,  as  he  had  been  ad- 
monished, he  would  be  grievously  punished  in  this  world  and 
the  next,  and  his  soul  would  be  committed  to  eternal  fire.  But 
if  he  returned  to  God,  he  truly  would  shew  mercy  to  him.  Thus, 
Signore  (he  continues),  in  your  hands  are  life  and  death.  It  is 
for  you  to  make  your  election,  to  choose  that  which  is  good,  or 
that  which  is  evil.  This  letter,  when  you  shall  he  before  the  tri- 
bunal of  Christ,  will  be  laid  before  you,  and  you  will  have  no 
excuse  then  to  mahe. 

"  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  illuminate  you,  and  con- 
duct you  into  the  sure  harbour  of  salvation. 

"  The  unprofitable  servant  of  Jesus  Christ, 

"  Fra  Girolamo." 


The  eighth  letter  of  the  collection  of  Lettere  Inedite  is  ad- 

*  This  Couut  Galeotlo  of  jMii'andola,  at  tlie  period  of  Savonarola's  com- 
munication, was  not  only  a  terror  to  his  vassals,  but  to  his  own  family  :  he 
liad  his  wife  and  one  of  his  children,  about  this  period,  incarcerated  in  the 
castle  of  Mirandola. 

VOL.  I.  § 


26S 


THE   LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


di-essed,  at  tlie  instance  of  the  husband  and  brother  of  the  ladies 
written  to,  to  Madonna  Giovanna  Caraffa,  the  -wife  of  the  Count 
J.  Francesco  Pico  de  Mirandola,  and  Madonna  Dianora,  the 
sister  of  the  Count.  This  letter,  dated  the  3rd  of  April,  1497, 
is  one  of  exhortation  to  the  practice  of  a  religious  life,  without 
giving  way  to  scrupulosity  and  undue  anxiety  in  the  efforts 
made  to  accomplish  this  end.  Savonarola  tells  these  noble  ladies 
"  they  must  force  themselves  to  taste  and  to  know  how  good  and 
how  sweet  is  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  although  he  wishes 
not,  that  we  should  walk  in  the  broad  ways  of  sin,  neverthe- 
less does  not  require  of  us  such  rigour  and  scrupulosity  of 
conscience — conscientia  tanto  stretta — that  we  shoiild  repute  every 
mote  a  beam. 

"  Our  Saviour  desu-es  that  we  should  have  the  conscience 
serene,  tranquil,  peaceful.  He  did  so  much  for  us  by  his  good- 
ness and  the  effusion  of  his  blood,  that  we  may  believe  that  our 
minute  offences  will  be  easily  absorbed  in  the  immensity  of  the 
mercy  with  which  the  ^dscera  of  his  love  abounds. 

"  He  Tvills  that  we  should  guard  as  much  as  lies  in  our  power 
even  from  venial  sins.  Still,  he  wishes  that  when  man,  by  his 
fragility,  falls,  he  shall  not  afflict  himself  so,  that  he  shall  lose 
the  tranquillity  of  his  mind,  but  that  he  should  immediately  recall 
the  great  sweetness  of  his  nature  and  say  :  ]My  beneficent  Lord 
will  make  satisfaction  for  me,  making,  however,  a  firm  resolution 
of  faithful  ser\dce  to  him. 

"  For  he  who  makes  a  scruple  of  everything  unduly,  shews 
that  he  has  small  confidence  in  the  di^dne  goodness,  which  does 
not  require  from  us  more  than  we  can  do.  But  to  be  in  this 
world  without  venial  sin,  we  cannot :  and  to  seek  to  make  venial 
sin  mortal,  and  to  unquiet  oui'selves,  is  to  render  the  Christian 
life  a  slavery,  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  is  a  true  liberty,  and 
to  make  of  religion  a  law  of  fear,  which  is  in  reality  a  law  of 
love.  Give  the  heart  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Chi-ist,  and  separate 
yourselves  from  attachments  to  earthly  things,  and  serve  the 
Lord  with  love  truly,  for  he  is  so  loving  that  he  will  never  be 
moved  to  anger  when  this  is  done.    Even  those  who  do  not  love 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


259 


him  thus,  he  coutmually  renovates  the  hearts  of,  with  a  love  of 
the  divine  spouse,  if  they  only  walk  in  his  ways,  joyfully  medi- 
tating often  on  the  eternal  felicity  which  he  has  prepared  for 
his  beloved.  The  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you.  Amen."* 
The  ninth  letter  in  the  collection,  addressed  to  his  brother, 
the  physician — A'' Maestro  Alberto  suo  fratello — dated  the  24th 
July,  1497,  thus  begins  : 

"  Most  beloved  brother, — Fra  Maureliof  is  outside  Florence, 
in  a  place  of  ours,  on  account  of  the  pestilence,  and  especially 
on  account  of  the  death  of  a  member  of  our  community.  No 
others,  however,  of  the  community  have  suffered.  The  dis- 
ease in  the  country  is  not  yet  very  serious  ;  but  the  beginning 
of  a  great  calamity  is  plainly  visible,  if  God  does  not  inter- 
pose his  aid  in  our  behalf.  More  die  of  a  certain  pestilential 
fever  than  of  ]3lague  itself.  The  deaths  range  from  fifty,  sixty, 
to  seventy  a  day,  and  even  one  hundred,  some  say— I  know 
not  if  it  be  true — and  it  does  not  cease  ;  nay,  we  now  see  only 
crosses  at  every  door,  and  dead  bodies.  We  are  well  here, 
thank  God  ;  I  have  not  quitted  Florence  ^  although  I  have  sent -of 
our  Community  away  from  the  city  upwards  of  seventy  brethren.  If 
you  hear  that  we  are  in  tribulations,  don't  be  disturbed,  for  God 
will  deliver  us  from  all  our  trials,  and  as  we  have  been  the  first 
stricken  in  Italy,  so  shall  we  be  the  first  comforted.  Speak  en- 
couragingly on  our  part  to  our  brothers  and  sisters,  and  all  the 
others  of  our  friends.  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  be  with  you. 
"  Frater  Hieronymus  Savonarola  Germanus." 

The  tenth  letter  in  the  collection,  addressed  to  the  Cancelliere  di 
Ercole,  Duca  di  Ferrara — A' Maestro  Lodovico,  Pittore — dated 
13th  August,  1497,  is  still  on  the  subject  of  the  plague  then 

*  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  p.  127. 

t  The  Fra  Maurelio  above  named  was  the  brother  of  Savonarola,  Marco 
Aurelio,  who  received  the  habit  at  the  hands  of  Fra  Girolamo,  in  San  Marco, 
the  23rd  February,  1496,  and  was  professed  the  12th  March,  1497.  He 
died  in  Lucca,  in  the  convent  of  San  Eomano.  In  the  necrology  of  the 
convent,  *'  bonis  et  humilis  et  imitator  sanctitatis  fratris  sui." 

s  2 


260 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


raging  in  Florence.  "  In  those  times  of  tribulation,"  he  says, 
there  has  been  even  an  augmentation  of  charity  and  fervour  in 
relieving  distress,  and  he  has  had  experience  of  the  opinions  of 
many  citizens  who  had  in  effect  demonstrated  their  ardour  for  reli- 
gion, by  the  fact  of  their  not  having  withheld  their  substance  in 
furnishing  accommodation  in  their  places  of  abode  for  numbers 
of  the  community,  some  accommodating  twenty-four,  others 
thirty,  of  the  brethren  chiefly,  of  the  young  novices,  in  order  to 
separate  them  from  this  contagion,  and  give  them  the  advan- 
tages of  a  purer  air  ;  but  not  in  places  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  . 
because  it  would  be  rash  and  not  doing  our  duty  on  our  parts, 
and  tempting  God. 

"  I  have  remained  here  with  the  more  ancient  of  the  fathers, 
and  we  live  in  joy  and  consolation  of  the  spirit ;  by  the  grace 
of  God,  we  do  not  feel  within  us  the  slightest  perturbation, 
for  God  is  round  about  us,  and  has  placed  himself  as  a  wall  of 
defence  between  us  and  all  hurt — Dominus  est  in  centro  nostro  et 
jjosuit  se,  pro  antemurali. 

"  With  respect  to  the  excommunications  fulminated  against 
us,  many  graver  censures,  it  is  thought,  might  be  taken  away 
for  a  consideration."* 

The  eleventh  letter  in  this  collection,  addressed  to  his  brother 
Albert,  is  dated  the  Vigil  of  the  Assumption,  1497.  Savonarola 
bids  his  brother  to  entertain  no  doubts  on  the  score  of  the  safety 
of  his  two  brothers  then  in  San  Marco,  nor  on  account  of  the  per* 
secution  raised  against  him.  The  letter  begins  :  "  Most  beloved 
brother,  I  am  well,  although  we  have  the  plague  in  the  convent. 
Fra  Maurelio  is  also  well.  Doubt  not  of  us,  and  have  no  appre- 
hension as  to  the  things  which  have  been  told  to  you,  for  every 
day  they  invent  a  thousand  fables.  Be  assured  that  in  this  per- 
secution God  will  give  us  the  victory  ;  God  is  my  helper,  I  will 
not  fear  what  man  can  do  to  me  

"  If  Rome  is  against  me,  know  that  it  is  not  contrary  to  me, 

*  It  was  proposed  to  Savonarola  to  pay  certain  debts  of  the  Cardinal 
Piccolomini,  in  Florence,  to  the  amount  of  5000  scudi,  on  condition  of  the 
censures  being  removed,  wliich  ojffer  Savonarola  rejected. 


4-4 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


261 


but  to  Christ,  and  its  controversy  is  with  God.  But  who  shall 
resist  him  and  have  peace  ?  Doubt  not  that  God  will  conquer. 
Have  no  fear  for  me  on  account  of  my  being  in  Florence  in  the 
midst  of  the  plague,  for  the  Lord  will  be  my  succour.  I  remain 
to  console  the  afflicted,  the  brethren,  and  also  the  laity.  Al- 
though I  have  been  solicited  by  the  brethren  and  the  community 
to  leave  Florence,  and  many  places  have  been  offered  to  me, 
nevertheless,  I  did  not  wish  to  abandon  the  flock. 

The  twelfth  letter  in  the  collection,  addressed  to  the  brethren 
of  the  Dominican  convent  of  Bologna,  is  dated  Christmas  day, 
and  Padre  Marchese  says  the  year  was  1497,  subsequently  to 
the  excommunication.  This  letter  occupies  nine  pages  and  a 
half,  and  is  more  a  homily  than  an  epistle.  I  will  merely  ex- 
tract a  few  brief  detached  passages,  worthy  of  a  place  among 
the  memorable  sayings  of  the  Saints. 

He  begins  his  letter  to  his  brethren  in  Bologna  by  referring  to 
the  sanctity  of  the  day  on  which  he  writes,  the  Lord's  Nativity, 
and  the  jubilation  expressed  in  the  canticle  of  the  angels, 
"  Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  peace  on  earth  to  men  of 
good  will." 

"  This  night,"  he  says,  "  thinking  of  you  and  praying  for 
you,  sinner  though  I  am,  and  placing  myself  before  God  and 
recommending  myself  to  Him,  not  only  there  came  into  my 
heart  a  great  instinct  to  write  to  you,  but  also  the  thought  that 
I  should  communicate  to  you.  Therefore,  glory  be  to  God  in 
the  highest  for  all  the  gifts  given  to  us  by  the  Eternal  Father, 
through  the  merits  of  the  passion  of  our  Saviour  this  day  born, 
by  which  we  have  been  brought  out  of  the  dark  abyss  of  our 
sins  and  ignorance  into  His  admirable  light,  in  which  we  became 
acquainted  with  the  brightness  of  His  glory  and  the  height  of 

His  majesty,  to  which  we  hope  to  attain  by  His  grace  

The  peace  (of  which  the  angels  sung)  doubtless  was  given  to 
us  by  our  Saviour,  in  order  that  in  tribulations  we  may  not 
be  perturbed  through  the  love  of  Christ  and  of  truth.  Cer- 
tain I  am  that  our  illuminations  are  of  a  celestial  origin,  and 

*  Lettere  Inedite  di  8av.  p.  130. 


262 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


proceed  not  from  human  wisdom,  like  tlie  emanations  of  the 
intelligence  of  the  lukewarm,  i  tepidi,  but  from  that  true  Tvds- 
dom  which  makes  the  spirit  conscious  of  its  possession,  takes 
away  carnal  desii'es,  and  makes  knoAvn  the  way  of  truth,  and 
causes  it  to  be  clearly  linderstood,  that  tribulations  are  good,  use- 
ful, and  necessary,  in  the  Church  of  God,  for  many  reasons. 
First,  for  the  glory  of  God,  which  manifests  itself  in  the  tribu- 
lations of  the  just,  so  that  by  them  it  may  be  known  how  great 
is  the  power,  the  T\-isdom,  and  the  goodness  of  God.  His  di^dne 
power  is  shown  in  those  tribulations  of  the  just,  when  God 
makes  choice  of  things  which  are  weak,  in  order  to  confound 
those  which  are  strong.  Therefore,  by  the  persecutions  of  the 
fishermen  all  over  the  world,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  martp's, 
and  the  torments  endm'ed  by  young  virgins.  He  overcame  the 
potent  t)T.-ants  of  the  universe  and  the  world  itself.  His  wis- 
dom is  also  shown  in  this,  when  by  his  passion,  which  appeared 
so  foolish  to  all  the  world,  and  by  the  sufferings  of  the  just.  He 
taught  all  men  to  live  well,  much  better,  unquestionably,  than 
all  the  philosophers  in  their  academic  disputations,  and  in  theii- 
books,  taught  their  disciples. 

"  Secondly,  tribulations  are  necessary  to  the  salvation  of 
every  Christian  person,  as  by  these  means  men  are  rescued  from 
sinful  states  and  eartlily  attachments.  For  when  beset  by  afflic- 
tions, seeing  themselves  persecuted  by  the  world,  men  fly  fi'om 
that  world  and  run  to  God  as  to  that  refuge  which  alone  is  sui-e 
for  them.  They  are  necessary  also,  because  sorrows  and  trials 
make  men  wise  and  prudent,  more  especially  in  divine  things, 
since  they  make  known  how  great  is  the  goodness  of  God,  and 
his  providence  towards  his  elect,  when  (however  persecuted)  he 
does  not  let  them  perish,  but,  on  the  contrary,  wonderfully 
delivers  them,  and  enables  them  in  a  wonderful  manner  to  over- 
come their  enemies. 

Tribulations,  moreover,  bring  men  to  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  themselves  and  of  their  fragility ;  and  seeing  that  without 
God  they  are  nothing,  from  humility  they  maintain  themselves 
in  the  grace  of  God. 


OF  SAVOXAROLA. 


263 


"  In  the  third  place,  they  are  necessary  to  the  Church  for  the 
well-being  of  the  faithful  who  are  to  come  after  us ;  who,  con- 
sidering the  tribulations  of  the  just  then  living,  when  they 
shall  have  ceased  (and  reflecting  on  those  previously  endured 
likewise),  will  become  confirmed  in  the  faith  and  in  good  works. 
Thus  it  is  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  shed  of  old,  much  strengthens 
us  in  the  faith.  For  we  should  not  doubt,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  purpose  of  thus  u]3holding  and  enlightening  our  faith,  as- 
suredly such  a  multitude  of  men  and  women  would  not  have  so 
joyfully  supported  such  exquisite  torments  in  their  martrydom 
as  they  endured  

*^  Tribulations  of  the  Church,  then,  being  so  necessary  to  it, 
no  one  amongst  us  ought  to  wonder  if,  being  desirous  of  follow- 
ing Christ,  preaching  his  evangelical  truth,  we  should  suffer 
great  contradictions  and  persecutions.  On  the  contrary,  it 
woidd  be  much  to  be  wondered  at,  if  in  all  states  which  are  in 
communion  with  the  Church,  whoever  has  endeavoured  to  follow 
Christ  had  not  suffered  tribulations  and  persecutions,  and  if  we 
alone  should  be  free  from  them.  Truly,  if  this  were  so,  we 
should  be  members  of  the  Church  very  different  from  the  Head 
of  it.  But  much  more  singular  and  shameful  it  would  be,  if  the 
least  member  should  be  so  delicate,  as  to  expect  to  be  exempt 
from  suffering,  and  the  rest  of  the  body  afflicted  and  sorely 
grieved  

[He  then  exhorts  the  brethren  to  purity  of  life  and  manners.] 
"  Miracles,  without  a  good  Kfe,  would  be  worth  little  against 
the  adversaries  of  Christ,  but  this,  (example  of  holiness  of 
living),  even  without  miracles,  is  very  potent  to  confound  and 
overcome  his  enemies.  On  which  account  it  is,  we  perceive, 
that  when  the  perverse  seek  to  bring  the  good  into  contempt, 
they  astutely  try  to  attach  infamy  to  them,  and  to  charge 
them  with  some  transgression,  for  goodness  is  of  such  power  in 
itself,  that  even  bad  men  have  not  the  audacity  to  combat  it  openly, 
but  they  endeavour  to  affix  some  stain  upon  it,  in  order  that,  with 
less  shame  to  themselves,  they  may  be  able  to  extinguish  it.  And 
this  is  the  manner  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  acted  with  our 


264 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


blessed  Lord ;  to  be  enabled  to  kill  the  Christ,  they  studied  to 
find  in  him  some  sin.  But  truth  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  the 
more  it  is  battled  with,  the  more  clearly  it  makes  itself  manifest 
and  the  more  potent  it  becomes ;  while  iniquity,  by  contradic- 
tions and  contests,  becomes  debilitated.  And,  therefore,  do  not 
fear,  my  beloved,  that  the  word  of  God  will  fall  to  the  ground, 
but  the  carnal  and  animal  men  will  be  brought  to  the  dust.  .  .  . 

"  If  onr  adversaries  then  should  proceed  to  the  last  extremi- 
ties against  us,  our  course  should  be  neither  to  seek  to  perse- 
cute nor  to  disturb  them.  In  tunes  of  tranquillity,  virtue  has  a 
tendency  to  decline,  and  in  time  of  battle  it  becomes  perfect.  The 
tyrants  of  old  were  the  occasion  of  the  martyrs  becoming  more 
perfect,  as  it  was  made  manifest  to  all  the  world.  And  those 
who  fell  into  false  doctrine,  were  the  occasion  of  the  holy  doc- 
tors of  the  Church  better  understanding  and  expounding  the 

Sacred  Scriptures  

But,  above  all  things,  keep  yourselves  from  the  adulation  of 
the  tepid  and  indifferent,  who  know  not  the  ways  of  truth,  and 
confide,  and  make  others  confide,  in  exterior  works  and  cere- 
monies, opere  e  ceremonie  exteriori,  and  who,  within,  have  no 
charity,  nor  humility,  nor  any  virtue.  They  commend  poverty 
with  their  lips,  but  they  are  not  willing  to  sufier  the  least  of- 
fence ;  and  they  are  greedy  of  the  goods  of  this  world,  more 
than  all  people  belonging  to  it.  They  are  without  pity  or  com- 
passion, covetous  of  glory  and  inimical  to  truth,  like  unto  a 
sepulchre,  beautiful  without,  and  full  of  all  filthiness  within. 
They  make  on  us  perpetual  war,  because  we  have  discovered 
a  great  part  of  their  vices,  in  order  that  the  simple  might  no 
longer  be  deceived,  and  by  their  falsity  be  brought  to  eternal 
ruin  

'  Fear  not,  oh  lovers  of  Christ,  the  tribulations  which  have  to 
come  on  the  earth,  especially  on  Italy.  Even  exult  that  the 
time  of  your  redemption  is  drawing  nigh."* 

Will  the  readers  of  these  passages  concur  in  the  opinion  that 


*  Lettere  Incdile  di  Sav.  p.  132. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


265 


forces  itself  on  the  author ;  namely,  that  the  mission  of  the  man 
by  whom  this  letter  was  written  could  only  be  from  God  ? 

There  are  two  other  very  brief  and  quite  unimportant  letters 
in  this  collection  of  the  Lettere  Inedite  of  Savonarola,  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  the  researches  of  Padre  Marchese  ;  and 
now,  for  the  first  time,  introduced  into  a  biography  of  Fra 
Girolamo. 


266 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OPPOSITION  TO  SAVONAROLA  OF  SOME  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS, 
AND  OF  THE  FRANCISCANS  ESPECIALLY,  AND  THEIR  ADHE- 
RENTS THE  PALLESCHI.  FRA  GIROLAMO  AND  THE  USURERS  OF 

FLORENCE.  THE  ANTAGONISM  OF  SPIRITUAL  INFLUENCES  AND 

SORDID  INTERESTS.  1495  TO  1496. 

"  My  soul  is  full  of  the  mocking  of  the  wealthy  and  the  despitefulness  of 
the  proud." — Ps.  cxxiii. 

"  The  just  man  is  above  the  world,  and  superior  to  all  events  ;  he  com- 
mences in  the  present  life  to  reign  with  Christ ;  all  creatures  are  subject  to 
him,  and  he  is  subject  to  God  alone."  Massillon's  Sermons. 

"  Ye  merchants !  leave  olF  usury — give  back  what  you  have  unjustly 
gained,  but  of  your  superfluity  give  to  the  poor."       Sermon  of  Savon. 

Nardi,  in  the  second  book  of  his  Florentine  History,  referring 
to  the  affairs  of  Florence,  in  1495,  after  the  departure  of  the 
French,  says,  the  machinations  of  the  adversaries  of  Fra  Giro- 
lamo  were  not  without  the  instigation  "  of  some  persons  of 
religious  orders."* 

Those  machinations  found  agents  to  accomplish  the  objects  of 
the  Palleschi  in  Rome. 

The  Florentine  envoy  at  the  Court  of  Rome  wrote  to  the 
Signoria,  the  5th  of  April,  1496,  that  there  had  been  recently 
held  a  consultation  with  fourteen  Dominican  Masters  in  Theo- 
logy, on  the  subject  of  Fra  Girolamo's  affairs.  All  the  theo- 
logians, with,  one  exception,  protested  against  Fra  Girolamo  ; 
the  one  who  opposed  the  violent  measures  recommended  against 
their  brother,  Fra  Girolamo,  was  a  young  member  of  the  order, 
who  defended  the  cause  of  Savonarola  with  a  high  hand." 
*  Nardi,  Hist.  Fior.  p.  32. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


267 


Burlamacchi  relates,  "  That  on  one  occasion,  after  Fra  Giro- 
lamo's  return  from  Bologna,  some  people,  who  seem  to  have 
represented  the  monied  interest,  had  a  discussion  in  the  palace 
of  the  Medici,  when  the  advisability  of  the  expulsion  of  Fra 
Girolamo  from  the  city  was  taken  into  consideration.  Some 
said  they  ought  to  do  with  Fra  Girolamo  as  they  had  done  with 
Fra  Bernardino  da  Monte  Feltro." 

"  This  holy  man,"  continues  Burlamacchi,  "  had  preached  in 
Florence  with  much  fruit,  and  afterwards  he  was  expelled  pub- 
licly for  preaching  against  usury,  and  wishing  to  introduce  and 
to  found  the  charitable  institutions  of  Monte  della  Pieta.  At 
this  discussion,  Fra  Angelo  Carducci,  a  Franciscan,  was  pre- 
sent, and  being  ordered  to  report  it  to  Fra  Girolamo,  the  latter 
replied, — '  Know  that  I  will  remain  in  Florence  longer  than 
Lorenzo ;  for  Lorenzo  de  Medici  will  die  this  year  (1492),  and  also 
the  Pope  Innocent  the  Eighth.  The  end  of  his  son,  Pietro,  I 
wish  not  to  speak  of,  because  it  would  be  a  scandal.'  These 
things  all  happened  which  he  spoke  of,  for  the  Pope  died  in  this 
year,  and  also  Lorenzo."* 

Towards  the  end  of  December,  1495,  there  came  to  Florence 
a  Franciscan  friar  named  Zoccoli,  sent,  as  he  said,  by  the  Duke 
of  Milan,  to  express  his  disapproval  of  Fra  Girolamo's  pro- 
ceedings as  a  preacher.  This  Franciscan  began  to  oppose  Fra 
Girolamo  very  vehemently.  Finding,  however,  that  he  made  no 
impression  whatever  on  the  public  mind  against  Fra  Girolamo, 
he  took  his  departure. 

The  friars  of  several  other  orders  took  similar  steps,  and  they 
gained  nothing  by  their  attempts  but  confusion. 

A  certain  monk  of  Vallambrosa,  named  Agnolo,  also  at  this 
time  denounced  a  letter  of  the  fathers  ;  but  the  denunciation 
produced  no  good  effect. 

A  nun  also  at  this  time,  who  lived  in  a  convent  far  from 
Florence,  was  desirous  to  enter  into  theological  discussion  with 
Fra  Girolamo  ;  "  but  the  father,  in  reply,  desired  she  might  be 
requested  to  attend  to  her  spinning,  and  apply  herself  to  the 
performance  of  a  woman's  duties." 

*  Burlamacchi,  Vita  de  Sav.  p.  537. 


268 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


!Many  also,  and  very  formidable,  were  the  persecutions  wliich 
he  endured  at  the  hands  of  the  Tepidi.  But  the  good  father 
stood  like  a  rock  in  the  midst  of  contentious  billows,  encoun- 
tering unmoved  all  then-  fui'y.  His  reputation  maintained  its 
ground  in  the  midst  of  persecution  and  calumny.  The  wise  and 
good  were  his  friends,  with  few  exceptions. 

In  1495  and  1496  the  opposition  to  Fra  Girolamo  went  on 
gradually  augmenting ;  in  149T  it  became  a  deadly  animosity 
which  could  hardly  be  controlled  by  the  government,  and  towards 
the  close  of  that  year  some  of  the  authorities  gave  an  official  coun- 
tenance to  it.  The  same  adversaries  he  had  from  the  beginning 
were  still  his  foes  ;  the  dissolute,  the  impious,  the  avaricious,  and 
the  despotic.  Not  only  were  various  attempts  made  against  his 
life,  but  a  constant  system  of  annoyances  and  vexatious  insults 
was  adopted  by  his  oj)ponents,  of  the  most  unworthy  as  well  as 
unmanly  character. 

On  one  occasion,  they  had  formed  a  -plan  for  setting  fire  to 
the  pulpit  while  the  father  was  preaching :  at  another  time  they 
procured  that  rare  object  in  nature,  a  dead  ass ;  stuffed  the  skin, 
and  set  it  up  in  the  pulpit,  a  short  time  before  Fra  Gu'olamo 
was  expected  to  ascend  the  steps.  On  another  occasion  of  par- 
ticular solemnity  also,  when  he  was  to  preach,  they  fixed  sharp 
nails  in  the  cushion  along  the  edge  of  the  pulpit,  with  the  points 
projecting  upwards,  so  that  when  the  preacher  used  any  vehe- 
mence of  action  by  striking  his  hands  on  the  cushions,  he  was 
sure  to  inflict  a  severe  wound  on  himself. 

More  than  once  his  life  had  been  attempted  on  his  way  to  the 
churches  in  which  he  preached,  and  even  in  the  church  itself. 
On  one  of  those  occasions,  the  women  who  were  favourably  dis- 
posed to  him,  cried  out  those  words,  that  had  so  thrilling  an  effect 
at  the  commencement  of  the  reform,  "  Viva  Jesus  Christo  Xostro 
Re  !  Viva  Jesu  Christo  Re  de  Firenza !"  The  men  on  both 
sides — those  who  were  admirers  of  Fra  Girolamo,  and  those 
who  belonged  to  the  ribald,  godless  class  of  religion-hating 
ruffians — drew  their  swords,  and  menaced  one  another's  life. 
Verily  the  reformed  republic  with  its  great  council,  and  the  spi- 


OF  SAVOXATIOLA. 


209 


ritual  regime  superseding  the  authority  of  the  police,  the  rule  of 
liberty  and  equality  in  all  their  fulness  under  the  new  theocracy 
did  not  i^ractically  work  well. 

The  money  dealers  and  usurers  of  all  grades,  from  the  private 
Lombard  lenders  on  pledges,  to  the  great  bankers,  who  turned 
their  official  influence  in  the  state  to  the  account  of  their  private 
advantages,  began  to  find  their  interests  and  those  which  Fra 
Girolamo  espoused  and  advocated,  were  at  variance. 

The  conflict  was  carried  on  for  some  time,  principally  in  dis- 
cussions on  general  subjects  of  complaint  against  the  friar  in  the 
houses  of  those  opposed  to  Fra  Girolamo,  on  account  of  his  mode 
of  preaching,  or  who  were  the  adherents  of  the  Medici. 

The  worshippers  of  Mammon,  in  their  efforts  to  discredit  him, 
took  care  to  keep  out  of  sight  their  own  particular  reasons  for 
opposition  to  him. 

That  old  policy  of  theirs  was  pursued  which  has  prevailed  in 
all  ages  and  phases  of  civilization,  and  which  has  all  the  energy 
and  recuperancy  of  youth  in  its  old  pliant,  never-failing  craft 
and  cunning  of  making,  the  sordid  interests  of  avarice  seem  to 
men  identified  with  the  interests  of  order,  morality,  and  religion  ; 
and  both  secured  by  that  union  of  force  and  influence  which  is 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  its  power. 

Calvin,  in  one  of  his  letters,  discusses  the  question,  "  How 
far  it  is  consistent  with  morality  to  accept  of  interest  for  a  pe- 
cuniary loan  ?"  He  opposes  the  opinions  of  Aristotle  and  of  some 
Catholic  theologians,  by  shewing  that  the  Mosaic  law  on  this 
point  was  not  a  moral,  but  a  municipal  prohibition,  that  was 
not  to  be  judged  of  upon  the  principles  of  natural  equity. 

Lending  houses,  somewhat  on  the  principle  of  Loan  Fund 
Societies,  called  "Bancos  dei  Poveri,"  and  also  Monte  di  Piet^, 
had  been  established  in  Italy  so  early  as  1464,  by  the  Francis- 
cans. Some  Dominicans  opposed  them,  "  ab  initio,"  as  tending 
to  promote  usury,  though  nominally  established  to  advance  loans 
to  the  poor  free  of  interest.  In  1464,  the  Franciscans  obtained 
a  papal  sanction  for  them. 


270 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


There  was  one  of  these  institutions  established  at  Orvieto, 
under  Paul  the  Second ;  another  at  Viterbo,  under  Sixtus  the 
Fourth ;  and  one  also,  by  a  special  bull  of  this  pontiiF,  at  Savona, 
his  birth-place. 

Devote,  in  his  "  Institutiones  Cononicse"  (torn.  ii.  p.  361)  says, 
the  first  Monte  di  Pieta  was  established  by  Cardinal  Cameraria, 
of  Ostia,  under  the  name  of  Monte  Chi'isto,  and  was  confirmed 
by  a  brief  of  Pius  the  Second,  in  1463.  About  the  same  time, 
a  Monte  was  established  in  Perugia,  which  Paul  the  Second 
confirmed  in  1467. 

Tiraboschi,  referring  to  some  controversies  of  1476,  says, 
"  Another  question  was  concerning  Monte  di  Pieta,  about  this 
time  instituted  by  Saint  Bernardino  de  Feltre,  of  the  Franciscan 
order.  Although  Paul  the  Second,  Sixtus  the  Fourth,  and 
Innocent  the  Eighth,  by  their  bulls,  had  authorised  and  praised 
them,  some  'theologians,  however,  and  canonists  considered 
they  were  illicit,  and  involved  the  crime  of  usury.  Whence 
disputes  and  published  controversies  on  one  side  and  another 
prevailed,  and  a  collection  of  these  were  printed  in  Cremona,  in 
1496.  There  we  find,  first  of  all,  a  treatise  in  defence  of  the 
Monte  di  Piete,  by  the  famous  Joannis  Nanni,  or  Annius  de 
Viterbo,*  and  several  other  theologians,  and  with  two  briefs  of 
Innocent  the  Eighth  in  their  favour,  and  one  piece  opposed  to 
them  by  an  Augustinian  friar,  Nicolo  Bariani."t 

In  the  time  of  Savonarola,  the  Lombard  money  jobbers  and 
the  Jews  were  the  pawnbrokers  and  money-lenders  of  Italy. 

*  Annio  de  Yiterbo,  the  Dominican,  was  a  very  celebrated  literary  im- 
postor, whose  fabrications  and  falsifications  of  history,  and  pretended  dis- 
coveries of  several  books  of  the  lost  works  of  Berosus  and  Manethon,  have 
greatly  contributed  to  corrupt  a  very  large  portion  of  Spanish  history  and  the 
chronicles  compiled  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  unfor- 
tunately not  only  of  the  time  of  Annio,  but  long  subsequent  to  it.  Annius 
published  his  spurious  Chaldean  histories  in  foho,  in  1498,  entitled  "  Anti- 
quities," in  Eome,  where  he  died  in  1502,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  in  high 
estimation  with  the  Pope,  "Alexandre  YI.  que  en  faisait  beaucoup  de  cas," 
says  the  Abbe  Feller,  speaking,  as  he  imagines,  in  praise  of  the  Dominican. 

t  Hist,  de  Let.  Ital.  torn  vi.  p.  300.  _  _ 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


271 


They  managed,  whenever  they  established  themselves,  to  secure 
the  protection  of  persons  in  authority,  either  spiritual  or  tem- 
poral, and,  if  possible,  of  both.  There  were  few  governments 
of  which  they  possessed  not  the  influence  of  some  members  ;  and 
it  was  the  same  with  the  religious  orders. 

The  Lombards  had  Monte  della  Pieta  institutions  in  Florence, 
which  had  been  perverted  from  their  original  objects,  and  made 
subservient  to  the  interests  of  numerous  capitalists  only. 

These  usurious  institutions  were  strenuously  and  successfully 
opposed  by  Savonarola. 

His  warfare  with  the  Lombards  led  him  into  hostility  with 
the  Franciscans,  who  were  supposed  to  be  favourable  to  his  op- 
ponents and  their  interests.  And  this  quarrel  throws  no  little 
light  on  the  rancorous  opposition  to  Savonarola's  missionary 
labours,  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  Franciscan  order.* 

In  ojDposition  to  the  Lombard  lending  houses,  Savonarola 
caused  two  charitable  Montes  de  Piete,  on  the  old  system  of  Ber- 
nardo de  Feltre,  to  be  established.  The  decree  of  the  republic, 
in  approval  of  these  institutions,  of  1497,  is  cited  by  Marchese. 

Muriani  states,  in  his  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  that 
the  Jews  had  offered  the  republic  20,000  florins  to  prevent  the 
establishment  of  Monte  di  Pieta  in  Florence. 

The  decision  of  Leo  the  Tenth  jiermitted  the  exaction  of  inte- 
rest on  loans,  but  only  sufficient  to  defray  the  expense  of  ma- 
nagement.* 

Mention  is  made  of  the  establishment  of  "  Sagro  Monte 
della  Pieta"  in  Rome,  in  the  "  Descrizione  de  Roma  Antica  e 
moderna,"  as  having  taken  place  in  1539,  the  founder  being  the 
general  of  the  Franciscan  order,  Fra  Giovanni  Calvo.  This 
father,  having  observed  that  the  extreme  misery  of  the  poor  was 
aggravated  by  the  usurious  interest  which  they  were  charged 
with  by  the  J ews,  with  whom  they  were  in  the  habit  of  pledging 
their  clothing,  or  had  the  necessity  of  selling  whatever  belonged 

*  After  Savonarola's  death,  the  Franciscans  obtained  a  bull  from  Leo 
the  Tenth  declaring  lending  houses  legal  and  useful,  and  those  who  opposed 
them  subject  to  censure. 

t  Mastrofini  Sopra  Usuria. 


272 


0 

THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


to  them  for  the  merest  trifle,  when  they  were  in  urgent  neces- 
sit}',  obtained  from  Paul  the  Third  his  sanction  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  confraternity  of  many  wealthy  people,  who,  without 
interest,  advanced  to  the  needy  sums  of  money  on  pledges  not 
exceeding  thirty  scudi.  On  repayment,  the  borrowers  received 
back  their  pledged  apparel  or  goods  ^vithin  a  term  of  eighteen 
months.  But  if  not  redeemed  within  that  period,  they  were 
sold  publicly  by  auction ;  and  if  there  was  any  surplus  from  the 
produce  of  the  sale,  after  reimbursing  the  bank  for  the  money 
lent,  that  amount,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  returned  to  the 
borrower. 

But  for  sums  lent  on  pledges  to  an  amount  exceeding  thirty 
scudi,  two  per  cent,  a  year  was  charged  for  the  use  of  it.* 

Of  this  institution  in  Kome,  St.  Carlo  Boromeo  being  the  pro- 
tector, he  drew  up  several  rules  and  regulations  for  its  govern- 
ment, and  the  Pope,  Sixtus  the  Fifth,  bestowed  on  it  a  sum  of 
7,000  scudi,  with  which  they  purchased  a  suitable  edifice,  and 
in  the  pontificate  of  Clement  the  Seventh,  another  in  1604  (the 
present  establishment),  with  which  was  combined  a  bank  for  de- 
posits, the  whole  governed  by  a  confraternity  of  Cavaliers. f 

*  Those  who  would  consult  the  best  authority  on  the  subject  of  the 
money-lending  and  banking  institutions  generally  of  Italy,  especially  in 
tlie  middle  ages,  have  only  to  refer  to  the  learned  work  of  the  Abbate 
Mastrofini  sopra  '1  Usuria. 

t  Koma  Antica  e  Moderna,  tome  i.  p.  597.  12mo.  Boma,  1750. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


273 


CHAPTEH  XV. 

Oy  THE  DISCERNMENT  OF  SPIRITS. 

"  Believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of  G-od." 

1  John,  iv.  1. 

*'  Savonarola,  on  account  of  the  prophetic  spirit  with  which  he  was  in- 
spired, began  to  enunciate  some  mysteries  about  an  impending  destruction, 
although  he  concealed  them  under  the  cover  of  sacred  Scripture,  that 
impure  men  might  be  prevented  from  perceiving  them,  fearing  lest  the  holy 
thing  should  be  given  to  the  dogs,  and  meantime  be  rendered  absurd  by 
visions  that  were  still  doubtful.  Tliis,  Savonarola  told  to  me  in  private  ; 
but  in  pubhc  he  very  frequently  said  that  all  he  had  preached  concerning 
futurity,  he  apprehended  by  a  positive  infusion  of  Divine  light  to  be  true, 
just  in  the  same  way  as  any  person  of  sound  mind  knew  that  every  part  is 
less  than  the  whole." — P.  Pico  de  Mieandola,  in  Vit.  Sav. 

The  question  of  Savonarola's  sincerity  and  sanctity  is  one 
which,  has  been  repeatedly  asked  and  replied  to,  and  yet  the 
latest  of  his  biographers  makes  the  same  inquiry  as  the  first, 
and  people  still  desire  to  be  informed  whether  the  monk  of 
Ferrara  -was  a  fanatic,  an  impostor,  a  frenzied,  or  a  wdse  and  a 
holy  man,  pure  of  heart,  single-minded,  sound  in  faith  and  doc- 
trine— a  spiritualized,  contemplative,  ardent  follower  of  Christ 
crucified,  eminently  pious  and  prayerful,  and  largely  endowed 
with  spiritual  gifts  and  privileges  ?  Others  inquire,  was  Savo- 
narola a  true  prophet  ? — was  his  an  extraordinary  mission  direct 
from  God,  for  some  special  purpose  ?  Were  his  revelations 
derived  from  heaven  ? 

Those  persons  will  never  satisfactorily  answer  the  question, 
who,  like  Bayle,  dispose  of  this  inquiry  boldly  and  compen- 
diously, on  the  supposed  simple  merits  of  the  case,  and  the 
bearing  on  them  of  certain  laws  of  nature  as  they  are  inter- 

VOL.  I.  T 


274 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


preted  by  them,  and  restricted  in  their  operation  within  limits 
which  they  undertake  to  prescribe  for  them.  It  will  not  do  to 
ignore  all  the  circumstances  which  contribute  to  the  exaltation 
of  minds  wholly  devoted  to  religion,  all  the  influences  which 
flow  from  contemplative  piety,  all  the  favours  from  God  which 
are  bestowed  on  devotion,  fervent  and  triumphant  over  self,  and 
all  external  objects  which  absorb  the  senses,  and  in  its  highest 
degree  of  intensity  wraps  the  soul  in  that  state  of  ecstasy  in 
which  glimpses  of  the  spiritual  world  are  said  to  be  enjoyed  by 
contemplative  persons  of  eminent  sanctity  and  purity.  The 
nature  of  those  circumstances,  influences,  favours,  and  spiritual- 
izing eflects  ascribed  to  mental  prayer,  cannot  be  disposed  of 
with  a  sneer  ;  the  evidence  on  which  they  rest,  in  numerous 
instances,  is  of  a  kind  that  demands  the  most  patient  and  sober 
inquiry  that  can  be  given  to  the  subject. 

Humboldt,  in  his  "  Cosmos,"  page  124,  says  :  "  A  presump- 
tuous scepticism,  which  rejects  facts  without  examination  of  their 
truth,  is  in  some  respects  even  more  injurious  than  an  unques- 
tioning credulity." 

Those  persons  who  have  little  faith  in  those  peculiar  spiritual 
gifts  which  I  have  referred  to,  are  not  justified  still  as  treating 
as  impostors  numbers  of  holy  persons  in  ancient  times,  who 
believed  that  such  privileges  had  been  bestowed  on  them. 

The  amiable  and  philosophic  mind  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh 
revolted  at  the  representations  made  by  modern  writers,  pro- 
fessing to  be  of  evangelical  dispositions,  of  the  piety  of  ancient 
times,  even  in  the  exuberance  of  its  zeal  and  exaltation,  as  a 
pretence  or  an  imposture,  a  cover  for .  fraudulent  contrivances 
and  cunningly-devised  fictions. 

The  illusions  of  sight,  the  shades  by  which  di'eams  some- 
times fade  into  waking  visions,  the  disturbance  of  the  frame 
from  long  abstinence,  and  from  the  stimulants  incautiously  taken 
to  relieve  it,  together  with  a  permanent  state  of  mental  excite- 
ment, sanctioned  by  the  firm  faith  which  then  prevailed  in  the 
frequent  and  ascertainable  interpositions  of  Divine  power,  are 
sufficient  to  relieve  us  from  the  necessity  of  loading  the  teachers 


OF  SAVOXAROLA. 


275 


of  our  forefathers  with  a  large  share  of  fraudulent  contrivance 
and  unmingled  fiction.  The  progress  of  a  tale  of  wonder,  espe- 
cially when  aided  by  time  or  distance,  from  the  smallest  begin- 
ning to  a  stupendous  prodigy,  is  too  generally  known  to  be  more 
particularly  called  in  aid  of  an  attempt  to  enforce  the  reason- 
ableness of  dealing  charitably,  not  to  say  justly,  with  the 
memory  of  those  who  diffused  Christianity  among  ferocious 
barbarians."* 

Mental  prayer,  or  contemplative  piety,  in  its  highest  degree 
'  of  spirituality,  is  said  to  be  productive  of  peculiar  enlighten- 
ment. That  kind  of  illumination  and  state  of  mind  which 
those  versed  in  mystic  theology  mean  by  the  term  ecstatic,  we 
must  endeavour  to  comprehend,  if  we  would  be  qualified  to  form 
a  judgment  of  Savonarola's  claim  to  spiritual  gifts  and  graces, 
as  manifested  in  his  visions  and  revelations. 

Perhaps  the  knowledge  that  I  speak  of  may  not  tend  towards 
the  establishment  of  those  high  pretensions  of  Savonarola's 
advocates  to  the  character  they  claim  for  him,  of  a  prophet,  in 
the  ordinary  acceptation  of  that  appellation.  Perhaps  that 
knowledge  may  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  men  eminently  pious 
and  wholly  separated  from  worldly  things,  who  have  subdued 
their  passions,  and  given  their  hearts  entirely  to  God,  may 
become  more  spiritualized  beings,  even  in  the  flesh,  than  other 
men  who  are  less  pure  and  holy ;  and  that  Savonarola  had  some 
claims  to  be  considered  as  one  of  that  favoured  class,  one  who, 
from  his  youth  to  his  dying  day,  had  communed  with  God  in 
prayer,  and  was  spiritually  benefited  by  that  communion. 

We  may  obtain  the  kind  of  knowledge  I  refer  to,  by  making 
ourselves  acquainted  with  the  revelations  of  a  person  of  Savo- 
narola's Church,  who  was  held  by  it  to  have  lived  and  died  in 
the  odour  of  sanctity,  and  who  is  believed  to  have  been  endowed 
with  supernatural  gifts,  and  special  privileges  of  a  spiritual  kind. 
St.  Teresa  is  accounted  by  the  Church  to  have  been  one  of  its 
children  thus  gifted,  and  privileged  to  a  wonderful  extent :  and 


*  History  of  En<rland,  vol.  i.  p.  55. 


276 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


in  the  science  and  mystery  of  mental  prayer,  to  have  been  un- 
surpassed in  knoAvledge  and  experience. 

A  faithful,  but  necessarily  a  very  compendious  account  of 
the  spiritual  career  of  St.  Teresa,  will  not  be  misplaced  then  in 
this  chapter.  But  previously  a  few  words  may  be  said  respect- 
ing the  several  modes  in  which  divine  revelations  are  stated  to 
have  been  made  to  various  persons  of  holy  lives  and  doctrines. 

Glanville,  in  his  treatise  on  "  The  Progress  and  Advancement 
of  Knowledge,"  (Lon.  1668,  p.  100,)  observes,  that  the  Holy 
Oracles  of  God  were  communicated  ordinarily  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  Prophets.  That  God  was  pleased  in  those  inspira- 
tions to  apply  himself  much  to  the  imagination  of  the  Prophets. 

In  support  of  which  opinion,  he  remarks,  "  That  both  the 
schoolmen  and  others  usually  divide  prophecy  into  intellectual 
and  imaginary  (query  imaginative  I).  The  former  is  from  a  light 
immediately  infused  into  the  understanding,  the  latter  (is  under- 
stood), when  the  prophetic  spirit  makes  its  first  impressions  on 
the  imagination  by  sensible  and  material  representation. 

"  As  for  the  first,  it  was  so  rare,  that  not  above  one  or  two 
instances  are  produced  by  the  learned  of  this  kind,  viz.  of 
Moses  and  St.  Paul.  Now,  commonly  the  Mosaical  inspii-ation 
was  distinguished  from  the  prophetical,  and  the  difiference  is 
plainly  enough  expressed  in  Deuteronomy  xxxiv.  10.  ^And 
there  arose  not  a  Prophet  like  unto  Moses,  whom  the  Lord 
knew  face  to  face.'  For  the  other  Prophets,  God  saith,  '  I  will 
make  myself  known  to  him  in  a  ^dsion,  and  will  speak  unto  him 
in  a  dream  ;  my  servant  Moses  is  not  so,  Avith  him  Avill  I  speak 
mouth  to  mouth,'  Numbers  xxii.  6.  Thus  was  intimated  a 
transcendent  privilege  to  Moses  above  the  Prophets,  in  the  im- 
mediate way  of  application  to  his  mind  A^dthout  the  mediation  of 
sensible  impressions.  And  upon  this  account,  it  is  said  in  the 
New  Testament,  '  They  have  Moses  and  the  Prophets ; '  imply- 
ing the  difference  of  the  dignity  and  degree  of  their  inspira- 
tion."* 

The  second  instance  adduced  by  Glanville,  of  immediate  Intel-  . 
*  Glanville's  Plus  Ultra,  &c.  p.  J  32. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


277 


lectual  inspiration,  is  the  rapture  of  St.  Paul,  referred  to  in  2  Cor. 
xii.  2,  and  belongs  rather  to  ecstasy  than  prophetic  revelation. 

The  rarity  of  this  immediate  communication  of  the  divine 
spirit  to  the  understanding,  is  no  less  evident  than  the  frequency 
of  the  ordinary  influx  of  inspiration,  in  the  latter  days  of  pro- 
phesy, particularly  made  known  to  the  senses  immediately  by 
the  imagination,  as  the  Scripture  tells  us  it  should  be.  And  I 
will  make  myself  known  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  speak  unto  him 
in  a  dream." 

In  this  way,  prophetic  illumination  takes  the  language  of 
similitudes,  allegories,  and  parables.  We  find  instances  of  this 
in  Jeremiah's  basket  of  figs,  the  boiling  pot,  the  rod,  in  Daniel's 
tree  and  the  four  beasts,  in  Ezekiel's  fiery  chariot,  in  St.  John's 
living  creatures  let  down  from  heaven,  &c. 

These  objects  commentators  are  agreed  were  not  entities,  but 
representations  of  such,  miraculously  made  on  the  imagination. 
Cornelius  a  Lapide  lays  it  down  as  a  general  rule  : — "  Propheta- 
rum  visiones  et  revelationes  communiter  fuerunt  sensiles  sive 
imaginaria." 

Glanville  cites  Pabbi  Albo's  opinion,  "  that  prophesy  was  an 
influence  from  God,  upon  the  mind,  by  the  mediation  of  the 
phantasy  ; "  and  likewise  cites  the  opinions  of  Maimonides. 

"  That  all  the  degrees  of  prophesy  are  contained  in  those  two 
(modes  of  inspiration),  a  dream  and  a  vision."  And  Joel,  he 
reminds  us,  c.  ii.  v.  28,  mentions  these  as  comprehending  all 
degrees  of  prophesy. 

This  only  remains  to  notice,"  says  Glanville,  "  that  it  was 
the  general  belief  of  the  Jewish  writers,  and  of  the  Christian 
fathers  and  schoolmen,  universally  confirmed  by  the  authority 
of  Scripture,  that  angels  were  ordinarily  the  eflicients  (agents), 
by  whose  ministry  the  scene  of  prophetic  representation  was 
disposed  and  ordered,"  (page  135). 

They  are  the  internuncii,  the  agents,  whose  power  of  pre- 
venting the  prophetic  aspects  of  divine  thoughts  is  limited  to 
the  imagination,  as  Maimonides  aflfirms  by  divers  ways,  all 
which  he  calls  "  Gradus  Imaginarii,"  in  contradistinction  to 


278 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  Gradus  Mosaic us^  which  is  the  intellectual  mode  of  inspi- 
ration proceeding  directly  from  the  Deity,  to  the  spirit  of  man. 

Neander,  a  Protestant  writer  of  celebrity,  in  his  life  of  St. 
Bernard,  in  reference  to  the  visions  and  revelations  ascribed  to 
the  Abbess  Hildegard,  observes — "  The  soul  being  in  connexion 
with  two  worlds,  the  one  the  seat  of  its  shrouded  head  hidden 
from  our  sight,  but  to  which  by  its  real  nature  it  belongs :  the 
other  foreign  to  its  proper  nature,  but  in  which  it  is  now  embo- 
died, and  according  to  the  laws  of  which  it  effects  its  develop- 
ment, and  attains  to  the  consciousness  of  itself :  it  is  therefore 
natural  that  it  should  receive  the  influences  of  both  worlds,  and 
where  its  relations  to  both  have  not  been  harmoniously  culti- 
vated in  accordance  with  the  law  of  its  temporal  development, 
that  these  influences  should  be  easily  confounded,  and  should 
mutually  cloud  and  perplex  each  other.  The  sense  for  the  spi- 
ritual perception  of  the  world  beyond  the  ken  of  the  senses 
exists  only  as  a  spiritual  sense,  which  may  predominate  over  the 
other  faculties  of  the  soul,  so  as  to  become  overwhehncd,  and 
this  experience  teaches. 

"  At  various  periods  there  have  been  men  in  whom  the  sense 
has  manifested  itself  independently  of  all  cultivation,  and  who, 
although  unacquainted  with  human  teachers,  have  had  many 
glimpses  of  the  higher  world,  to  which  others  have  been  only 
able  to  attain  by  patient  reflection  in  the  common  mode  of  human 
education.    But  from  the  want  of  the  resrular  and  harmonious 

o 

cultivation  of  the  spiritual  powers,  it  frequently  and  easily 
happens  that  such  men  confound  in  a  singular  manner  feelings 
and  objects  of  sense  with  those  revelations  of  the  higher  world : 
that  from  being  incapable  of  any  careful  and  reflective  self 
knowledge,  they  regard  many  things  as  supernatural,  which 
have  in  fact  had  their  origin  immediately  in  the  influence  of 
the  inferior  powers  of  the  soul."* 

Gcrson,  the  celebrated  Chancellor  of  Paris,  and  erudite  theolo- 
gian, composed  his  treatise  on  the  Examination  of  Spirits, "  De 

*  The  Life  and  Times  of  St.  Bernard  by  Dr.  Augustus  Neander,  trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  Miss  Wrench,  p,  230,  li?mo.  London,  18-i3. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


Probatione  Spirituum/'*  during  the  sitting  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance, on  the  occasion  of  an  application  being  made  to  the 
church  of  Rome  by  the  Swedish  sovereign  for  the  beatification 
of  three  persons  of  great  sanctity,  which  application  was  disposed 
of  after  some  investigation  in  the  council.  Gerson  was  one  of 
the  commissioners  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the 
spiritual  gifts  and  graces  of  the  persons  whose  canonization  was 
applied  for. 

His  treatise  on  the  Discernment  of  Spirits "  holds  the 
highest  rank  in  theological  literature  devoted  to  this  inquiry. 

In  this  treatise,  Gerson  establishes  three  tests  whereby 
Spirits  may  be  known,  and  true  visions  discerned  from  false 
ones.  The  first  test  is  Sacred  Scripture,  well  understood.  The 
second  is  experience  and  peculiar  power  of  perception,  which  he 
calls  La  manne  cacheey  et  le  Caillou  blanc, — hidden  manna,  and 
the  white  stone,  wherein  there  is  a  new  name  written  that  no 
one  knows  except  he  who  has  received  it.  The  third  is  actual 
knowledge  by  revelations,  or  the  gift  of  discernment  of  Spirits, 
which,  according  to  Gerson,  is  a  privilege  accorded  to  Apostles 
and  the  Hierarchial  Order.  But  it  is  evident  that  Gerson  does 
not  place  unlimited  confidence  in  the  two  last  ways,  namely,  by 
experience  and  revelation,  with  the  possession  of  which  every 
body  might  flatter  himself. 

He  returns  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  says  there  are  still 
many  reflections  to  make  with  respect  to  the  persons  who  have 
visions  :  the  nature  of  those  visions  even,  the  foundation  on 
which  they  rest,  and  all  particulars  respecting  the  persons  to 
whom  they  were  first  disclosed,  the  manner  of  their  coming,  and 
the  sources  from  which  they  arise.  "  With  regard  to  the 
persons  alleging  to  have  visions,"  Gerson  directs  "  a  strict  exa- 
mination of  their  conduct,  to  ascertain  if  they  have  good  sense, 
if  they  are  free  from  frenzy,  or  any  melancholy  ailment,  or  if 
they  are  exempt  from  all  violent  passions,  such  as  anger,  jea- 
lousy, love,  or  even  zeal  for  some  new  devotion." 


*  Op.  Gcr,  torn.  i.  p.  43.  44.- 


S80 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOxM 


He  thinks  also^,  it  is  necessary  to  j^ay  particular  attention  to 
the  way  that  the  person  has  been  brought  up  or  reared,  with 
whom  associated,  his  ruling  passions,  and  finally  whether  rich 
or  poor. 

"  If  the  person  (says  Gerson)  he  rich,  we  may  fear  that  pride, 
which  may  he  called  after  St.  Bernard  *  un  malfort  subtil,'  may 
enter  into  the  matter,  and  the  more  so  hecause  it  is  horn  sometimes 
in  the  hosom  of  humility ^  and  is  developed  under  the  hair  shirt  and 
in  penance,  though  it  appears  quite  opposed  to  pride. 

"  But,  on  the  contrary,  if  the  person  is  poor,  as  necessity  is  a  ■ 
bad  councillor,  it  happens  only  too  often  that  it  has  recourse  to  lies 
and  imposture  to  derive  advantage  from  it. 

With  resj)ect  to  the  subject  of  visions,  Gerson  judiciously 
observes : — 

I'irst  of  all,  strict  examination  must  be  made  if  every  thing 
that  is  reported,  he  true.  It  is  a  very  common  artifice  with  im- 
postors to  mahe  use  of  several  truths  as  a  veil,  to  cause  a  single 
lie  to  pass  current  (under  that  covering).  And  it  is  for  that 
reason  that  the  lord  Jesus  Christ  forbade  the  possessed,  as  St. 

Paul  did  the  Pythoness,  to  give  evidence  to  the  truth  

Moreover  it  must  be  observed.,  if  there  be  in  the  visions  {which  are 
■reported  to  us)  the  character  of  that  true  wisdom  that  comes  from 
on  high,  of  which  St.  James  has  given  us  an  idea  in  the  Epistle 
Hi.  V.  17.  Finally,  v:e  ought  to  pay  attention  to  the  matter  of 
those  visions.  Either  they  contain  nothing  but  what  is  already 
taught  in  the  Sc7iptures,  or  by  the  light  of  common  sense,  or  they 
contain  some  things  that  are  different.  If  they  include  things 
that  differ  {  from  those  that  are  taught  by  Scrij)ture,  or  hnown  by 
reason),  then  they  ought  to  he  held  in  suspicion:  hecause  we  are 
bound  to  stand  fast  by  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

"  If  visions  include  nothing  that  has  not  been  (dready  known  to 
us  by  Scripture  and  right  reason,  such  visions  and  revelations  are 
of  no  use,  since  we  have  already  a  revelation  by  which  we  must 
stand.  Otherwise  it  would  depend  on  the  phantasy  of  each  in- 
dividual, to  heap  visions  on  visions,  which  ive  should  be  called  on  to 
*  Ger.  ubi  sup.  p.  40. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


281 


believe,  as  if  they  proceeded  from  God ;  and  thus,  the  Christian 
religion,  which,  according  to  St.  Augustin,  consists  of  a  few  articles, 
would  become  without  comparison  more  burthensome  than  the  Mo.mic 
Law  itself 

He  then  proceeds  to  treat  of  those  pretended  Illuminati  who 
impart  their  revelations  to  others^  and  on  this  point  he  gives 
most  excellent  advice.  He  recommends  that  the  motives  should 
be  inquired  into,  which  might  have  induced  those  illuminati 
to  impart  their  revelations,  that  they  should  not  be  encouraged 
by  approbation,  as  commonly  is  done,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
it  should  be  represented  to  them  that  it  is  not  becoming  they 
should  pretend  to  be  more  sage  than  the  rest  of  mankind,  who 
conduct  themselves  in  matters  relating  to  salvation  by  the  lights 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  of  common  sense.  And  the  ex- 
amples of  a  vast  number  of  Saints  are  to  be  borne  in  mind, 
shewing  how  those  pretended  visions  have  been  resisted,  as 
temptations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Finally,  he  represents  in  strong 
terms  of  roproval,  the  abuses  which  a  spirit  of  fanaticism  had 
introduced  into  religion. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  understand  (says  Gerson)  what  large  numbers 
of  people  have  been  seduced  and  turned  away  from  the  true  religion, 
by  this  spirit  of  curiosity,  in  regard  to  visions  and  miracles.  From 
this  source  have  we  so  many  popular  siq)crstitions  which  infect  the 
Christian  religion.  People  run  after  miracles  as  the  Jews  sought 
after  signs.  The  worship  of  Latria  is  rendered  to  images,  and 
more  faith  is  put  in  Saints,  who  have  not  been  even  canonized,  and 
in  writings  without  legitimate  authority,  than  in  true  Saints  and 
in  the  Gospel.^' 

Gerson  next  directs  particular  attention  to  be  paid  to  the 
precise  objects  which  those  persons  seemed  to  have  in  view,  who 
profess  to  have  had  supernatural  communications  with  Heaven. 

"iVb^  only  (observes  Gerson)  the  object  the  most  proximate  and 
apparent  must  be  enquired  into,  but,  as  much  as  possible,  the  most 
remote  and  secret,  because  it  often  happens  that  actions  ivhich  seem 
to  have  an  edifying  and  holy  aim,  come  to  a  bad  and  scandalous 
*  Gerson,  ubi  supra,  p.  41.  apl'EDfant. 


282 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


issue,  whether  it  be  that  the  result  does  not  correspond  loith  the  he- 
ginning  or  that  bad  designs  were  concealed  under  the  appearances 
ofpietxjr 

Numerous  other  observations  of  a  like  evangelical  character, 
are  to  be  found  in  this  treatise. 

There  is  one  point  particularly  deserving  of  attention  in  the 
observations  of  Gerson.  Above  all  things,  he  says,  the  nature 
of  spirits  is  to  be  discerned,  by  the  fact  of  the  alleged  communi- 
cations Avith  them  being  productive  of  pride,  or  tending  to  ad- 
vancement in  humility ;  as  true  visions  tend  to  humiliation,  and 
false  ones  to  pride.  "  Si  unum  hoc  humiiitatis  signum  bene 
excuteretur  et  pateret,  alias  inquirere  notas  necesse  non  foret. 
Nam  ex  humilitate  et  superbia  in  rebus  Sj^iritus  facillime  quis 
discat  qusenam  verse  sint  et  qusenam  falsitate  oleant."* 

One  of  his  concluding  observations  is  also  deserving  of  much 
attention.  He  says,  "  those  who  have  recourse  to  visions,  even 
with  good  intentions  towards  the  interests  of  morals,  or  the 
doctrines  of  the  church,  ought  to  think  that  it  is  rather  to 
tempt  God,  than  to  honour  him,  to  imagine  his  designs  are  to 
be  promoted  in  this  manner,  as  if  He  had  not  pro^dded  for  all 
that  is  necessary  for  faith  and  morals  by  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  by  the  ordinary  operations  of  his  divine  providence." 

Finally,  he  observes,  and  the  observation  he  makes  is  one  in 
which  the  highest  wisdom  is  united  with  the  most  truly  Christian 
humility  of  spirit  : — "  People  should  distrust  exceedingly  visions 
which  they  may  imagine  they  have,  and  those  which  others 
boast  to  them  of  having,  knowing  well  by  experience  which  he 
has  had  himself,  how  much  there  is  of  illusion  to  be  feared,  and 
of  impostui'e  likewise  in  such  visions."* 

Gerson's  admirable  treatise  had  the  effect  on  the  Council  in 
relation  to  the  proposed  canonization  of  three  Swedish  Saints,  of 
a  modern  motion  in  Parliament  to  read  a  bill  that  day  six  months, 
thereby  to  bury  the  proposed  measure  with  all  decorum  ;  or  of  an 

*  De  Probatione  Spirituum,  cap.  xx. 

t  Pe  Probatione  Spirituum,,  ap.  Gers,  tome  i.  pp.  37  and  43,  ap.  Hist. 
duCou.  de  Const,  tom.  i.  pp.  447  and  450. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


283 


ancient  procedure  to  postpone  an  undesirable  event  to  the 
period  of  the  Greek  Calends.  The  canonization  was  postponed 
by  a  special  bull  of  the  Council  to  a  future  time  for  conside- 
ration, in  order  to  give  time  to  the  Swedish  Bishops  to  make  a 
more  exact  report  on  the  several  cases  for  submission  to  a  future 
Pope. 

Catholics  who  take  exception  to  the  visions  and  revelations  of 
Savonarola,  on  the  ground  of  their  appearing  to  many  unneces- 
sary, irreconcileable  with  our  notions  of  the  dignity  of  the  Deity, 
not  absolutely  essential  to  the  interests  of  religion,  being  evi- 
dential of  pride  or  fanaticism,  or  credulity,  should  bear  in  mind 
that  on  similar  grounds  exception  had  been  taken  to  the  revela- 
tions and  raptures  of  St.  Teresa,  prior  to  her  canonization.  Yet 
Bishop  Milner  says  of  her  productions — "  There  have  been  no 
writings,  perhaps,  that  have  been  more  pointedly  or  more 
strongly  approved  of  by  this  unerring  judgment,  than  those  of 
St.  Teresa.  Her  spirit  of  prayer,  and  the  character  of  her 
ascetical  works,  were  not  only  examined  and  approved  of  by  the 
most  eminent  divines  of  her  age,  but  also  by  a  constellation  of 
her  holy  contemporaries,  such  as  St.  F.  Borgia,  St.  Peter  of 
Alcantara,  and  St.  John  of  the  Cross,  who  were  the  best,  because 
they  were  experimental  judges  of  the  excellency  of  her  '  hea- 
venly doctrine as  it  is  styled  by  the  church  in  the  prayer 
inserted  in  her  public  liturgy."* 

Yet,  in  her  revelations,  we  meet  with  many  accounts  of  her 
communications  with  the  spiritual  world,  of  interviews  and  dis- 
courses with  the  Deity,  of  mysterious  colloquies  in  the  inmost 
sanctuary,  and  of  unutterable  things  too — "  Arcana  verba  quae 
non  licet  homini  loqui" — far  more  wonderful  and  startling  to 
credibility  than  any  to  be  met  with  in  the  works  of  Savonarola, 

Cardinal  Bona,  speaking  of  the  visions  and  revelations  of  St. 
Teresa,  said :  "  She  never  desired  any  visions  or  raptures. 

"  She  besought  God  to  lead  her  to  him  by  the  common  beaten 
path  of  duty  and  submission  to  his  will. 

"  When  her  mental  prayer  became  eminently  spiritualized, 

*  Preface  to  the  Translation  of  her  "  Exclamations,"  &c.  London,  1790. 


284 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYllDOM 


and  visions,  raptures,  and  marvellous  revelations  were  frequently 
experienced  by  her,  she  advanced  the  more  in  love  and  humility. 
Those  from  whom  she  sustained  great  persecution,  she  loved  and 
prayed  for  most  assiduously. 

"  An  internal  peace  reigned  in  her  soul  that  no  worldly  quiet 
or  repose  could  simulate. 

"  Her  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls  was  most  ardent,  and  her 
desire  to  be  perfect  most  fervent. 

"  Those  who  conversed  with  her  were  struck  with  the  spirit 
of  holiness,  humility,  and  modesty  that  breathed  in  all  her 
thoughts,  words,  looks,  and  actions. 

Her  visions  generally  followed  long  and  fervent  prayer  and 
approach  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist." 

There  is  no  "  imitation  of  the  oracular  voice  of  the  obscui-e 
Sphinx"*  in  those  outpourings  of  ecstatic  piety  of  St.  Teresa; 
no  affectation  of  excitement  or  enthusiasm  wrought  up  to  a  high 
pitch  of  fury.  The  words  she  breathes  in  her  raptures  are  not 
like  those  the  Sibyl  utters,  dread  oracles  of  dubious  import, 
which  she  sends  forth  from  the  cavern,  blending  truth  with  ob- 
scurity :  

"  Talibus  ex  adyto  dictis  Cumse  a  Siby.llo, 
Horrendas  canit  ambages  antrosque  remugit, 
Ohscuris  vera  involvens/'f 

St.  Teresa  was  born  in  1515.  She  was  sent  to  a  convent  for 
educational  purposes  at  the  age  of  about  fourteen,  and  was  fre- 
quently obliged  to  return  home  on  account  of  severe  illnesses, 
principally  affecting  the  nervous  system.  She  entered  on  reli- 
gious life  at  the  age  of  twenty.  By  the  instructions  of  her 
director,  she  commenced  an  account  of  her  career  and  spiritual 
experience  in  the  year  1681,  when  she  was  in  her  forty-seventh 
year.f 

In  1564,  she  wrote  a  spiritual  work,  entitled  "  The  Way  of 
Perfection." 

*  Lycopliron  Cassandra,  v.  7.  f  Virg.  ^n,  6. 

The  original  MS.  is  deposited  in  the  Escxirial. — The  Interior  Castk\ 
&c.  translated  by  the  llev.  John  Dallon,  8vo.  Loti.  18.52. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


285 


In  1574,  she  wrote  another  work,  the  history  of  "  The  Foun- 
dations" of  her  convents.  At  a  later  period,  she  wrote  several 
treatises,  instructions  chiefly,  and  an  exposition  of  the  book  of 
Canticles,  of  which  only  a  small  portion  remains. 

When  the  saint  was  in  her  sixty-second  year,  in  1576,  she 
commenced  the  work  which  she  has  entitled  "  Castillo  Interior 
O  Las  Moradas'' — the  Interior  Castle,  or  the  Mansions. 

This  work  is  esteemed  by  eminent  theological  writers  as  "  her 
greatest  and  most  sublime  production." 

Nevertheless,  it  was  witten  under  the  most  unfavourable  cir- 
cumstances, in  regard  to  health  and  composure  of  mind.  In  the 
preface  to  this  work,  she  says  the  writing  of  it  has  been  of  the 
greatest  difficulty  to  her  ;  first,  because  she  did  not  feel  a  spirit 
nor  a  desire  to  write  it ;  secondly,  "  because  she  had  had,  for  the 
last  three  months,  such  a  noise  in  her  head,  that  she  wrote  with 
pain  even  on  necessary  business." 

Again,  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  fourth  mansion,  she  com- 
plains— "  "WTiile  I  am  writing  these  words,  and  considering  the 
great  noise  which,  as  I  said  in  the  beginning,  runs  in  my  head, 
so  that  I  consider  it  almost  impossible  to  finish  what  I  am  com- 
manded to  write,  methinks  there  are  within  it  many  vast  rivers, 
and  on  the  other  side  of  these  waters,  that  several  little  birds 
were  chirping.  This  noise  is  not  in  my  ears,  but  in  the  top  of 
my  head,  Avhere  they  say  the  superior  part  of  the  soul  resides." 

"  In  this  work  the  Saint  conducts  a  soul  from  the  first  elements 
of  prayer  by  steps  as  it  were  to  the  seventh  mansion,  the  palace 
of  the  heavenly  spouse,  the  king  of  glory.  She  teaches,  that 
without  the  gift  of  prayer  a  soul  is  like  a  paralytic,  without  the 
use  of  his  limbs  :  mental  prayer  is  the  gate  by  which  she  enters 
into  herself,  and  learns  first  to  know  herself  and  the  riches  of 
grace  to  which  she  ought  to  aspire  ;  so  that  the  knowledge  of 
her  ovra  miseries,  which  is  the  foundation  of  humility,  and  the 
knowledge  of  God,  are  the  first  step  or  mansion.  In  the  three 
following  mansions  the  Saint  explains  the  states  of  interior  con- 
flicts, and  spiritual  dryness  and  desolation,  with  intervals  of 
heavenly  sweetness  in  prayer,  till  the  soul  arrives  at  the  prayer 


286 


THE  LTFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  Quiet.  In  the  fourth  mansion  (chap,  iii.)  she  teaches  that 
Quiet  or  Recollection,  in  which  the  soul  remains  inactive  and 
without  sentiments  of  God,  is  an  illusion,  and  to  be  shunned  : 
for  in  all  supernatural  prayer  the  soul  is  active  and  vigorous, 
and  has  lively  sentiments  of  God.  This  remark  is  a  pre-con- 
demnation  of  the  fanaticism  of  the  Quietists.  The  fifth  mansion 
she  calls  the  prayer  of  Union,  which  produces  in  the  soul  an 
ardent  desire  speedily  to  enjoy  God,  which  only  his  will  that  she 
should  still  remain  in  this  exile,  can  mitigate.  In  the  sixth  man- 
sion are  explained  the  grievous  interior  pains,  and  also  the 
raptures  and  visions  which  sometimes  befall  a  soul  in  this  ha- 
bitual state.  The  seventh  mansion  is  a  higher  degree  of  the 
prayer  of  Union,  in  which  a  soul  (not  by  intuitive  vision,  which 
is  the  beatitude  of  heaven,  but  by  an  intellectual  vision  with 
created  species  or  images)  receives  a  kind  of  distinct  knowledge 
of  the  Trinity  and  other  high  mysteries  in  a  clear  light,  and  with 
a  supreme  degree  of  delight  and  jubilation.  In  this  state  the 
soul  feels  no  intervals  of  interior  pains,  but  enjoys  an  habitual 
jubilation  and  feast,  though  such  elevations  only  happen  as  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  pleased  to  favour  a  soul  with  them  in  prayer. 
There  is  no  state  in  which  a  soul  may  not  forfeit  the  divine  grace 
by  falling  into  sin,  nor  is  the  most  sublime  prayer  of  Union  an  ab- 
solute assurance  that  a  soul  is  even  then  in  the  state  of  grace."* 

Describing  the  state  of  her  soul,  with  regard  to  her  manner 
of  prayer,  she  says,  "  She  began  to  consider  Christ  as  present 
in  her  soul,  in  the  same  manner  as  she  had  been  accustomed  to 
do  after  communion."  Thus  she  entertained  herself  with  Him 
in  her  ordinary  actions  and  in  mental  prayer. 

From  the  twentieth  year  after  she  had  first  applied  herself  to 
this  exercise,  she  made  little  use  of  argument  to  inflame  her 
affections.  The  intuitive  perception  of  aught  that  was  Divine 
in  any  subject  of  meditation,  immediately  produced  in  her  heart 
the  most  ardent  act  of  Divine  love.  The  tenderness  of  her  love, 
and  her  feeling  sense  of  her  own  wants,  enabled  her  to  pray 
without  studied  or  chosen  words,  or  long  reasoning  and  reflec- 
tion in  meditation. 

*  Butler's  Life,  p.  97. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


287 


St.  Teresa  says  she  had  been  accustomed  to  feel  at  particular 
times  a  tender  heavenly  sweetness  in  her  devotions,  but  at  this 
time  her  soul  began  to  be  frequently  raised  by  God  in  the  sub- 
lime degrees  of  supernatural  passive  prayer.  For  she  observes, 
that  the  servants  of  God  arrive  not  suddenly  at  the  highest 
region  of  spirituality  in  prayer,  but  advance  slowly  and  steadily 
in  the  paths  of  perfection. 

St.  Teresa  distinguishes  four  degrees  in  mental  prayer.  In 
the  first,  the  soul  applies  herself  to  holy  meditation,  for  which 
a  calm  state  of  mind,  and  a  retired  place,  are  necessary,  and  the 
life  of  Christ  one  of  the  first  and  most  important  subjects.  No 
state  of  dryness  or  difiiculties  must  make  a  person  lay  it  aside ; 
he  is  not  to  seek  his  own  satisfaction,  but  ought  to  be  content 
with  humbling  himself  before  God,  and  knowing  that  his  Divine 
Majesty  regards  the  desire  of  our  hearts  to  love  Him,  and 
knows  and  compassionates  our  miseries  and  weakness  more  than 
we  ourselves  can  do.  We  must  be  willing  to  bear  our  cross, 
to  suffer  and  to  receive ;  and  the  Saint  says  she  afterwards  ex- 
perienced that  one  hour  of  consolation  abundantly  paid,  even 
in  this  life,  for  all  the  crosses  she  had  suffered. 

St.  Teresa  assigns  the  second  degree  of  prayer  to  be  that  of 
Quiet,  in  which  the  powers  of  the  soul  are  recollected,  but  not 
absorbed  in  God,  the  will  or  affections  being  strongly  captivated 
in  God,  and  employed  in  acts  of  love,  and  the  understanding 
and  memory  aiding  some  little  the  will  to  enjoy  this  its  sove- 
reign good  and  quiet,  though  the  will  is  so  taken  up  in  God  as 
not  to  regard  or  be  distracted  by  the  concurrence  of  these 
powers.  This  state  is  accompanied  with  an  exceeding  great 
interior  comfort  or  delight,  the  powers  of  the  soul  are  ap23lied 
without  labour  or  pains  (so  that  this  prayer  never  wearies,  how 
long  soever  it  continues),  and  often  tears  flow  with  joy,  of  their 
own  accord,  or  without  being  procured.  The  intellect  here 
may  suggest  certain  humble  silent  reflections  of  thanksgiving, 
love  or  the  like,  which  increase  the  flame  of  the  will ;  but  if 
the  intellect  raises  too  great  a  tumult,  or  the  will  strives  to 
silence  or  recollect  it,  or  the  memory  or  imagination,  this  quiet 


288 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


is  lost,  and  vanishes.  This  recollection  or  quiet  in  the  exercise 
of  Divine  love,  inspired  and  produced  by  the  spirit  of  God,  differs 
infinitely  from  a  pretended  quiet  of  the  will,  which  human  in- 
dustry may  try  to  produce  in  it,  but  which  is  without  any  effect 
or  sublime  operation ;  it  quickly  expires,  and  is  succeeded  by 
great  dryness  in  the  affections. 

The  third  degree  of  prayer  she  calls  the  repose  of  the  soul : 
it  is  the  prayer  of  Union,  in  which  the  soul  overflows  with  incom- 
parably greater  joy,  ardour  and  delight  in  the  Divine  love  than 
in  the  former ;  she  consumes  herself  in  the  most  sublime  affec- 
tions of  love  and  praise,  as  St.  Teresa  explains  at  large,  and  is 
not  inactive,  as  the  false  mystics  or  Quietists  pretended,  though 
she  knows  not  at  all  how  she  acts.  The  fourth  degree  of  prayer 
distinguished  by  her  is  a  more  perfect  union  of  all  the  powers 
of  the  soul,  suspended  and  absorbed  in  God,  as  she  explains  at 
large.  This  is  accompanied  with  so  great  interior  joy  and 
delight,  that  the  Saint  assures  us,  a  single  moment  would  be, 
even  in  this  life,  a  sufficient  recompense  for  all  the  pains  we  can 
have  undergone.  St.  Teresa  distinguishes  the  prayer  of  Union, 
in  which  her  soul  was  able  to  resist  the  Divine  operation,  from 
a  rapture  or  ecstasy  in  which  it  could  not  resist,  and  in  which 
her  body  lost  all  the  use  of  its  voluntary  functions,  and  every 
part  remained  in  the  same  posture,  without  feeling,  hearing,  or 
seeing,  at  least  so  as  to  perceive  it ;  though  she  says,  on  such 
occasions  the  soul  knows  she  is  in  a  rapture,  whilst  she  is  by 
the  most  ardent  love  ravished  in  God.  These  raptures  continue 
sometimes  for  hours,  though  not  all  that  time  in  the  same  de- 
gree. In  them  the  soul  sees  in  a  wonderful  and  clear  manner 
the  emptiness  of  earthly  things,  the  greatness  and  goodness  of 
God,  and  the  like.  St.  Teresa  mentions,  that  having  suffered 
two  raptures  in  the  church,  which  could  not  escape  the  obser- 
vation of  others,  she  prayed  that  this  might  no  more  happen 
to  her  in  public,  and  from  that  time  it  had  not,  when  she 
wrote:  but  this  was  not  long  after.  She  says  she  w^as  some- 
times raised  from  the  ground  in  prayer,  though  she  endeavoured 
to  resist  it. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


289 


After  having  exercised  herself  twenty  years  in  mental  prayer, 
she  began  to  -withdraw  herself  from  the  conversation  of  secular 
persons,  and  was  favoured  by  God  frequently  with  the  prayer  of 
Quiet  and  that  of  Union.  In  her  ecstasies  revelations  were  im- 
parted to  her,  with  visions,  and  other  great  favours,  all  which 
served  continually  to  humble  and  fortify  her  soul,  to  give  her  a 
strong  disrelish  for  the  things  of  this  life,  and  to  inflame  her  with 
the  most  ardent  desires  of  possessing  God.  In  raptures  she  was 
sometimes  elevated  in  the  air,  of  which  she  gives  the  following 
description.  Having  said  that  the  soul  has  the  power  of  resist- 
ing in  the  prayer  of  Union,  but  not  in  raptures  in  which  her 
soul  was  absolutely  carried  away,  so  that  she  could  not  stop  it, 
she  adds  :  "  Sometimes  my  whole  body  was  carried  with  it,  so 
as  to  be  raised  up  from  the  ground,  though  this  was  seldom. 

 AVlien  I  had  a  mind  to  resist  these  raptures,  there  seemed 

to  me  somewhat  of  so  mighty  force  under  my  feet,  which  raised 

me  up,  that  I  know  not  what  to  compare  it  to  All  my 

resistance  availed  little ;  for  w^hen  our  Lord  hath  a  mind  to  do 

a  thing,  no  power  is  able  to  stand  against  it  The  effects 

of  this  rapture  are  great.  First,  the  mighty  power  of  the  Lord 
is  hereby  made  manifest ;  for  when  he  is  pleased,  we  are  no 
more  able  to  detain  our  bodies  than  our  souls :  we  are  not  mas- 
ters of  them,  but  must,  even  against  our  will,  acknowledge  that 
we  have  a  superior,  that  these  favours  come  from  Him,  and  that 
of  ourselves  we  are  able  to  do  nothing  at  all :  and  a  great  im- 
pression of  humility  is  made  on  the  soul.  Further,  I  confess  it 
also  produced  in  me  a  great  fear  (which  at  first  was  extreme) 
to  see  that  a  massy  body  should  be  thus  raised  up  from  the  earth. 
For  though  it  be  the  spirit  which  draws  it  after  it,  and  though 
it  be  done  with  great  sweetness  and  delight  (if  it  be  not  resisted), 
yet  our  senses  are  not  thereby  lost ;  at  least  I  was  so  perfectly 
in  my  senses,  that  I  understood  I  was  then  raised  u-p.  There 
also  appears  hereby  so  great  a  majesty  in  him  who  can  do  this, 
that  it  makes  even  the  hair  of  the  head  stand  on  end ;  and  there 
remains  in  the  soul  a  mighty  fear  to  offend  so  great  a  God. 
Yet  this  fear  is  wrapped  up  in  an  excessive  love,  which  the 
VOL.  I.  ♦  V  9 


390 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


soul  conceives  afresh  towards  Him,  whom  she  finds  to  bear 
so  great  a  love  to  such  wretched  worms  as  we  are.  For  He 
seems  not  content  with  drawing  the  soul  to  Himself,  but  he 
will  needs  draw  up  the  very  body  too,  even  whilst  it  is  mortal, 
and  compounded  of  so  filthy  an  earth  as  we  have  made  it  by 
our  sins.  This  favour  also  leaves  in  the  soul  a  wonderful  dis- 
engagement from  all  the  things  of  this  world.  In  raptures  of 
the  spirit  alone  there  seems  a  total  loosening  of  the  soul  from  all 
things,  as  it  concerns  the  spirit.  But  here  it  seems  that  also 
the  body  partakes  of  this  disengagement.  And  it  breeds  such 
a  new  aversion  and  disgust  of  the  things  of  this  world,  that  it 
mak€s  even  our  life  much  more  painful  to  us,"  &c. 

Bishop  Yepez  relates,  that  the  Saint,  when  she  was  prioress  of 
the  convent  of  St.  Joseph,  at  Avila,  as  she  was  going  to  receive 
the  communion  at  the  hands  of  the  bishop  Don  Alvarez,  of 
Mendoza,  was  raised  in  a  rapture  rather  higher  than  the  grate 
through  which  (as  is  usual  in  nunneries)  she  was  to  receive  the 
holy  communion ;  of  which  also  sister  Mary  Baptist,  prioress  of 
Valladolid,  was  an  eye-witness  with  others.  Likewise  Yannes, 
a  very  learned  theologian  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  whose 
name  is  famous  in  the  schools,  and  who  was  for  some  time  con- 
fessor to  St.  Teresa,  testified  that  the  Saint  one  day,  in  public, 
as  she  was  raised  in  the  air  in  the  choir,  held  herself  by  some 
rails,  and  prayed  thus  :  "  Lord,  suffer  not,  for  such  a  favour,  a 
wicked  woman  to  pass  for  virtuous."  He  mentions  other  in- 
stances in  the  public  choir ;  but  says,  that,  at  her  earnest 
request,  this  never  happened  to  her  in  public  during  the  last 
fifteen  years  of  her  life.  Richard  of  St.  Yictor  teaches,  that 
raptures  arise  from  a  vehement  fire  of  Divine  love  in  the  will, 
or  from  excessive  spiritual  joy,  or  from  a  beam  of  heavenly 
light  darting  upon  the  understanding.  We  learn  from  St. 
Teresa,  that  these  three  efiects  of  an  external  grace  usually 
concur  in  raptures.  She  says,  the  faculties  or  powers  of  the 
soul  are  lost  by  being  most  straightly  united  to  God,  so  that 
she  thought  she  neither  saw,  nor  heard,  nor  perceived  any 
thing  about  her;  but  this  was  only  for  a  very  short  space^ 


OF  SAVOXAROLA. 


291 


during  the  highest  part  of  some  raptures  :  during  the  rest  of 
the  rapture,  the  soul,  though  she  can  do  nothing  of  herself  as 
to  the  exterior  or  the  voluntary  motions  of  the  body,  under- 
stands and  hears  things  as  if  they  were  spoken  from  afar  off. 
When  she  returns  to  herself,  her  powers  continue  in  some 
degree  absorbed  sometimes  for  two  or  three  days. 

All  acknowledge  that  in  these  revelations  the  most  secret  adyta 
of  the  sanctuary  are  here  laid  open,  and  the  most  abstruse  maxims 
which  experience  alone  can  teach,  but  no  words  utter,  are  ex- 
plained with  greater  perspicuity  than  the  subject  seemed  capable 
of  bearing ;  and  this  was  done  by  an  illiterate  woman,  w^ho 
wrote  alone,  without  the  assistance  of  books,  without  study,  or 
acquired  abilities,  who  entered  upon  the  recital  of  the  divine 
favours  vnth.  sentiments  of  humility  and  reluctance  !* 

The  works  of  St.  Teresa  are  numerous ;  they  are  all  of  a 
devotional  or  instructive  character.  The  arcana  of  Mystic 
Theology,  in  all  its  depths  and  heights,  are  evidently  familiar  to 
the  writer  of  them.  However  marvellous  are  the  revelations 
that  we  find  in  those  works,  however  strained  and  frequently 
ill-chosen  and  applied  the  metaphors  that  abound  in  them,  not- 
withstanding the  manifest  ignorance  of  the  principal  branches  of 
human  knowledge,  and  total  unacquaintance  with  medical  science, 
noticeable  in  those  writings ; — ignorance  causing  her  frequently 
to  attribute  the  effects  of  bodily  ailments  to  spiritual  influences ; 
— anguish  of  mind,  fits  of  despondency,  and  mental  hallucina- 
tions to  Satanic  agency ;  natural  phenomena  to  special  interpo- 
sitions of  Providence,  and  though  the  results  in  numerous  in- 
stances were  of  little  moment,  and  in  many  cases  proved  of  no 
lasting  utility,  the  sincerity,  piety,  and  humility  of  the  author, 
are  beyond  all  doubt.  We  cannot  carefully  examine  those 
works  of  the  Saint's  without  being  persuaded  that  a  state  of  spi- 
rituality, such  as  hers,  could  hardly  be  attained  without  a  great 
gift  of  prayer  and  of  humility,  great  powers  of  self-concen- 
tration, abstraction,  and  recollection,  and  signal  favours  from 

*  Life  of  St.  Teresa,  abridged  by  the  Rev.  Alban  Butler,  pp.  31  et  seq. 
12mo.  Dub.  1794. 

U  2 


292 


THE  MFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  Almighty,  leading  to  ultimate  communion  of  the  spirit  with 
Him. 

Those  who  will  not  give  credence  to  any  account  by  Christian 
writers  of  the  flight  of  the  soul,  and  of  union  during  this  life 
with  the  Supreme  Being,  may  find  a  passage  on  this  subject  in 
a  pagan  author,  that  may  seem  to  them  deser\ing  of  some  atten- 
tion. "A  passage  so  sublime  and  full  of  meaning,"  says  Matthias, 
in  his  Pursuits  of  Literature,  "that  without  a  paraphrase  it  is 
absolutely  impossible  to  render  it." 

"  Such  is  the  life  of  gods,  and  of  godlike,  happy,  highly- 
favoured  men ;  a  deliverance  and  separation  from  the  low  cares 
of  mortality.  It  is  a  life  which  receives  not  its  pleasures  and 
satisfaction  from  the  things  of  this  world ;  an  ascent  or  flight  of 
the  soul,  which  is  one,  simple,  and  uncompounded,  to  that 
Being  who  is  One,  and  alone  in  an  eminent  and  incommuni- 
cable sense,  God  Himself  !"* 

St.  Teresa,  in  her  book  of  "  The  Mansions,"  devotes  a  portion 
of  a  chapter  to  "  The  Flight  of  the  Soul  to  the  one  true  God," 
and  might  with  advantage  to  her  subject,  have  placed  the  passage 
from  Plotinus  at  the  head  of  that  chapter. 

In  dealing  with  the  phenomena  of  which  we  read,  in  the 
works  of  those  who  are  versed  in  mystic  sciences,  we  have  to 
consider  the  power  of  oui'  mental  faculties,  and  the  extent  to 
which  God  has  enabled  man  to  investigate  the  secrets  of  creation. 

"VVe  are  told,  that  "  the  human  mind  can  receive  no  other 
direct  impressions  than  those  communicated  by  the  organs  of 
sensation,  nor  can  form  any  ideas  but  such  as  are  drawn  from 
those  impressions."  Sensitive  ideas,  or  those  proceeding  from 
sensation,  are  simple,  compound,  and  complete.  Reflective  ideas 
are  formed  by  the  operation  of  the  mind  in  contemplating  ideas 
thus  received,  by  which  we  judge  not  only  of  the  qualities,  use, 
and  properties  of  things  observed,  but  of  those  with  which  by 
our  nature  we  are  unacquainted. 

aXXuv  rm  rrids,  Qiog  ar/j5ovog  ruv  rr,di,  <^rTU  MONOT  nP02  MONON. 
— JPlotini  Ennead,  6,  1.  9.  c.  xi. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


29S 


This  order  consists  of  comparative,  relative,  and  an;dogical 
ideas.  With  the  latter  we  have  most  to  do,  in  considering  the 
phenomena  which  are  supjDosed  to  have  any  rapport  with  those  of 
somnambulism.  Analogical  ideas  are  formed  by  reflexion  on 
deductions  from  relative  and  comparative  ideas,  by  which  no- 
tions, more  or  less  probably  correct,  are  formed  of  things  which 
we  can  have  no  knowledge  of,  by  the  organs  of  sensation. 

To  this  class  of  ideas  we  must  refer  the  revelations  of  ecstatic 
somnambulists,  the  visions  of  mystic  philosophers,  the  theories 
and  hypotheses  of  speculative  sages. 

Philosophers,  however,  have  an  easy  way  of  resolving  all 
difficulties  that  are  presented  to  them,  in  well-authenticated  ac- 
counts of  visions,  raptures,  and  ecstasies  of  religious  persons 
like  St.  Teresa.  Imagination  effects  all  the  wonders.  Old  Burton, 
in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  tells  us,  in  his  quaint  w^ay, 
"  Fracast.  (Z.  3.  de  intellect)  refers  all  extasies  to  this  force  of 
imagination ;  such  as  lye  whole  dayes  together  in  a  trance,  as 
that  priest  priest  whom  Celsus  speaks  of,  that  could  separate 
himself  from  his  senses  when  he  list,  and  lie  like  a  dead  man 
void  of  life  and  sense.  Cardan  brags  of  himself,  that  he  could 
do  as  much,  and  that  when  he  list.  Many  times  such  men, 
when  they  come  to  themselves,  tell  strange  things  of  heaven  and 
hell,  and  what  visions  they  have  seen  ;  as  Sir  Owen  in  Matthew 
Paris,  that  went  into  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  and  the  monks  of 
Evesham  in  the  same  author.  Those  common  apparitions  in 
Bede  and  Gregory,  Saint  Briget's  revelations,  Wier,  /.  3.  de 
lamiis  c.  1 1 ,  Csesar  Vanninus  in  his  Dialogues,  &c.  reduceth, 
with  all  those  tales  of  witches'  progresses,  dancing,  riding,  trans- 
formations, operations,  &c.  to  the  force  of  imagination,  and  the 
devil's  illusions.  The  like  effects  almost  are  to  be  seen  in  such 
as  are  awake ;  how  many  chimseras,  anticks,  golden  mountains, 
and  castles  in  the  air,  do  they  build  unto  themselves !  I  appeal 
to  painters,  mechanicians,  mathematicians." 

St.  Augustine  gives  the  following  description  of  ecstasies : — 
"  Wlien  the  attention  of  the  mind  is  entirely  diverted  from  the 
odi  ly  sensations,  this  is  what  is  called  ecstasies.    In  this  case. 


294 


THE  LIFE  AND  MAllTYRDOM 


although  the  eyes  may  be  open,  all  the  objects  which  are  present 
are  not  perceived  :  voices  are  not  heard ;  all  the  attention  of  the 
mind  is  fixed  upon  the  images  of  bodies,  by  a  species  of  spiri- 
tual or  intellectual  vision,  in  which  it  is  concentrated  on  in- 
corporeal things,  which  are  not  presented  in  any  substantial 
image." — St.  Aug.  de  Gen.  lib.  xii.  cap.  11. 

St.  Augustine  afterwards  makes  mention  of  an  ecstasy  of  a 
young  man,  who,  in  a  fit  of  sickness,  became  entranced  and  in- 
sensible to  pain  and  to  surrounding  objects.  On  coming  to 
himself,  he  said  he  had  seen  the  joys  of  Paradise,  and  the  blessed 
playing  on  musical  instruments  in  a  place  of  most  brilliant 
light,  and  spoke  of  the  damned  being  in  a  place  of  thick 
darkness. 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  phenomenon  of  persons 
in  a  state  of  trance  or  ecstasy,  speaking  in  languages  of  which 
they  had  no  previous  knowledge,  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
indubitable  signs  of  demoniac  possession.  Colquhon  observes, 
that  it  appeared  among  the  nuns  of  Loudon,  the  prophets  of  the 
Sevemies,  and  the  convulsionaires  of  the  cemetery  of  St.  Medard, 
in  Paris  ;  and  the  mystics,  in  fine,  of  all  ages  and  religions.  "  The 
faculty  of  seeing  without  the  use  of  the  visual  organs,  and  of 
hearing  without  the  employment  of  the  auricular  one,  in  the 
*  perfect  crisis,'  of  somnambulism  either  of  spontaneous  occur- 
rence, or  produced  by  artificial  means,  there  can  now  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  of." 

These  phenomena  are  minutely  and  elegantly  described  in 
the  Hamartigema,  by  Prudentius,  a  Latin  poet  of  the  fourth 
century. 

The  communication  of  thought  in  a  language  novel  to  the 
thinker,  is  hardly  more  extraordinary  than  the  transmission  of 
the  powers  of  one  organ  to  another. 

The  communication  of  thought  likewise,  as  if  by  volition, 
without  the  medium  of  language,  looks,  or  signs,  and  the  fact 
of  obeying  an  order  given,  without  a  single  word  spoken,  or 
sign  given,  is  one  of  the  indications  of  possession  Avhich  is  laid 
down  as  justifying  recourse  to  the  prescribed  form  of  exorcise. 


OF  SAVUXAUOLA. 


^95 


With  respect  to  modern  revelations  of  another  kind,  it  may  be 
observed : — We  receive  accounts  of  the  spiritual  world,  and 
solutions  of  the  mysteries  of  nature,  from  persons  not  remark- 
able for  superior  intelligence,  or  pre-eminent  for  piety,  humi- 
lity, or  benevolence  ;  from  persons,  humanly  speaking,  to  whom 
we  should  not  look  for  deej)  philosophy,  or  manifest  evidence 
of  inspiration. 

The  seers  of  mesirierism  owe  nothing,  we  are  told,  to  ima- 
gination, when  they  are  in  the  superior  condition ;  nor  to  the 
ministration  of  angels,  good  or  evil,  to  bring  them  into  com- 
munication with  the  spiritual  world,  nor  to  any  mediate  influ- 
ences of  a  religious  nature,  leaving  impressions  in  the  mind  of 
objects  representative  of  divine  realities.  They  soar  all  at  once 
to  the  highest  heaven,  and  penetrate  all  its  glories. 

They  come  back  to  earth,  however,  unawed,  undazzled,  and 
unconscious  of  any  mighty  change  effected  in  their  souls,  or 
momentous  matter  in  this  world  committed  to  their  care. 

It  cannot  also  fail  to  strike  the  reader  who  is  at  all  conversant 
with  the  writings  of  the  seers  of  mesmerism,  what  similitudes, 
in  minor  circumstances,  there  are  in  them,  with  those  that  are 
found  in  some  of  the  revelations  of  St.  Teresa.  It  appears 
almost  impossible  that  the  latter  have  not  been  read  by  the  ec- 
static somnambulists  of  mesmerism.  Such  striking  resem- 
blances do  we  find  in  the  accounts  of  their  communications  with 
the  spiritual  world,  with  the  similar  descriptions  of  the  raptures 
of  St.  Teresa,  that  on  any  other  ground  it  would  be  diflicult  to 
account  for.  It  would  be  indeed  impossible  on  other  grounds 
to  account  for  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  observed,  that  with  respect  to 
more  important  matters  which  touch  the  great  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  the  revelations  of  the  seers  are  usually  not  only  at 
variance  with  those  of  St.  Teresa,  but  at  variance  not  unfre- 
quently  with  the  revelations  of  divine  inspiration  itself.  The 
revelations  of  ecstatic  somnambulism,  of  mesmerism,  are  of  an 
eclectic  character ;  there  are  numerous  traces  of  a  tendency  in 
them  to  borrow  ideas,  to  recast,  reproduce,  and  dispose  of  them 


296 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


as  original.  There  are  very  few  claii'voyants  of  celebrity  now 
in  existence,  whose  revelations  are  not  at  variance  with  very 
many  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity.  It  is  not  so  with 
the  revelations  of  St.  Teresa. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  the  influences  ascribed  to  mental 
prayer  by  St.  Teresa,  in  forming  any  judgment  of  those  phe- 
nomena which  we  meet  with  in  the  visions  and  revelations  of 
Savonarola. 

Without  a  full  knowledge  of  those  influences,  we  never  can 
comprehend  the  accounts  we  read  of  Fra  Girolamo's  predictions 
and  revelations. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


^97 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  TEACHING  AND  PREACHING  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

*'  Vocem  adyti  dignum  templo." 

 Omnes 

Admonet,  et  magna  testatur  voce  per  umbras, 
Discite  justitiam  moniti,  etnon  temnere  Divos." 

ViEG.  ^i.  6. 

"  He  gives  admonition  to  all,  and  cries  with  a  loud  voice  through  the 
shades,  give  ear  unto  me  and  be  warned ;  revere  justice,  and  despise  not 
the  power  of  the  Gods." 

The  "  Triiimphus  Crucis"  is  the  great  work  of  Savonarola, 
by  which  his  name  is  destined  to  live  in  distant  ages,  and  his 
memory  to  be  reverenced  by  all  Christian  people. 

In  the  first  chapter,  he  shews  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  know 
God,  as  the  philosophers  do,  through  his  visible  works  in  nature, 
but  through  the  majesty  and  glory  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  invisible  to  us.  And  these  are  to  be  known,  not  through 
rhetorical  books  of  sophists  and  sages,  but  by  faith,  which  is  a 
supernatural  light  infused  by  God  into  our  souls. 

The  second  chapter  sets  forth  the  scheme  of  redemption,  the 
whole  progress  of  the  divine  mission  of  the  Redeemer,  termi- 
nating in  the  triumph  of  the  cross. 

This  progress  he  makes  a  subject  for  meditation,  as  sublime 
as  it  is  in  the  power  of  piety  and  of  poetry  of  the  highest  order 
to  make  it.  The  career  of  Christ  on  earth,  with  all  its  miracles, 
is  thus  symbolized  : 

"  It  is  desirable  to  present  all  those  passages  in  one  image  to 
the  mind,  representing  a  triumphal  chariot,  so  that  the  hum- 


298 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYllDOM 


blest  intellect  may  compreliend  that  which  is  set  before  it  for 
contemplation,  not  only  in  each  separate  part,  but  all  the  pas- 
sages combined  in  one  spectacle. 

"  Let  us  first  imagine  we  behold  a  chariot  with  four  wheels, 
and  on  it,  in  a  triumphant  manner,  Christ  crowned  with  thorns, 
with  innumerable  injuries  (evidences  of)^  contumelies,  and  most 
wicked  and  shameful  punishments,  and  the  kind  of  death  he  un- 
derwent, and  superadded  to  them  the  exhibition  of  livid  wounds 
and  cicatrices  of  the  whole  tortured  frame. 

"  A  globe  of  light  most  brilliant  shines  with  dazzling  rays — 
trina  facie — emblematic  of  the  Trinity,  which,  with  ineffable 
splendour,  illuminates  at  once  the  Redeemer  and  his  church. 
Christ  must  seem  to  us  to  hold  in  his  left  hand  a  cross,  with  the 
other  instruments  of  torture  of  his  passion,  and  in  his  right  hand 
the  sacred  books  of  both.  Testaments.  At  his  feet  let  the  chalice 
be  placed,  with  the  host  upon  it,  and  around  it  several  vases  of 
water,  wine,  oil,  and  balsams,  with  the  other  types  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  church. 

Immediately  below  the  step  on  which  Christ  is  stationed,  let 
his  mother,  the  most  clement  Virgin  Mary,  sit.  Below  the  place 
of  the  Virgin  and  around  it,  let  there  be  golden,  silver,  and 
crystalline  vases  ranged,  adorned  with  precious  stones  and  gems, 
not  wanting  the  bones  and  ashes  of  the  dead  therein.  Before 
the  chariot  are  to  be  seen  the  apostles  and  all  preachers  of  the 
word,  as  if  aiding  to  draw  the  chariot,  with  the  patriarchs  and 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  an  innumerable  band  of 
men  and  women  going  before  them.  Around  the  chariot  let  a 
vast  concourse  of  martyrs  throng,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  con- 
ditions, and  by  their  side  let  there  be  doctors  of  the  universal 
church — universi  Doctores — holding  the  sacred  Scripture  in  each 
hand. 

"  Then  let  there  follow  the  chariot  an  infinite  multitude  of 
either  sex  of  all  nations  and  races  of  mankind :  J ews,  Greeks, 
Latins,  Barbarians,  of  the  rich  and  poor,  of  sages,  scholars,  of 
the  unlearned  of  all  ages,  sending  forth  plaudits. 

"  But  all  around  these,  in  advance  and  in  the  rear,  let  us  place 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


299 


numberless  throngs  of  enemies  opposing  the  church  with  all 
their  strength — for  instance,  emperors,kings,  princes,  and  poten- 
tates of  the  world.  Sages  also,  and  philosophers  and  heretics, 
tribes  of  all  tongues  and  nations,  enslaved  or  free,  and  husband 
and  wife,  and  in  all  relations  an  infinite  concourse  of  all  sorts  of 
people.  And  close  to  them  let  there  be  represented  shattered 
images  of  gods,  and  idols  destroyed,  scattered  around  in  frag- 
ments. Moreover,  let  there  be  there  the  ashes  of  the  burned 
books  of  heretics,  and  the  confuted  dogmas  of  other  sectaries — 
confutataque  cceterarum  sectarum  dogmata — and  the  worship  of 
all  other  religions  (but  his)  cast  down  and  overthroTVTi. 

"  In  this  way,  therefore,  the  chariot  thus  set  up  and  accom- 
panied, being  represented  before  our  eyes,  will  be  like  unto  a  new 
spectacle  of  universal  interest,  from  which  it  ^^dll  be  in  our  power 
to  derive  a  new  kind  of  knowledge.  .  .  Thus  philosophers  having 
before  their  eyes  the  order  of  the  universe,  and  considering  its 
effects  with  admiration  and  ardour,  learning  by  their  researches 
the  very  causes  of  those  natural  effects  by  little  and  little,  from 
inferior  to  superior  things  ascend  to  the  knowledge  of  the  divine 
majesty  of  invisible  things.  So  shall  it  be  with  us  if,  pursuing 
our  enquiries  diligently,  daily  and  incessantly,  respecting  the 
results  of  this  triumph  of  the  cross,  the  image  of  which  has  been 
represented  to  our  minds,  we  begin  to  admii*e  and  to  inquire 
into  the  causes  of  those  effects,  and  thus,  by  degrees,  we  shall 
arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  the  divinity  and  the  invisible  things 
of  his  majesty."* 

With  a  view  of  further  shewing  on  what  foundation  the  teach- 
ing and  the  preaching  of  this  man  rested,  I  lay  before  my  readers 
a  single  chapter,  which  has  the  merit  of  being  short,  as  well  as 
most  saintly  in  its  doctrine,  from  the  great  work  of  Savonarola, 
"  The  Triumph  of  the  Cross,"  which  I  have  translated  from  the 
Italian  version,  made  by  its  author  from  the  original  Latin.f 

*  Triumphus  Crucis  sive  de  Yeritate  Fidei,  Hb.  iv.  Bat.  1633,  lib.  i.  pp.  9, 
et  seq. 

t  I  quote  this  chapter  from  the  quarto  edition  in  both  languages. 


300 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Chapter  II.    Book  2. — That  there  is  an  interior  worship  and 
another  exterior. 

"  As  God  can  be  honoured  by  men  in  two  manners^  namely, 
with  the  spirit  and  with  the  body,  we  say  that  one  worship  is 
interior  and  the  other  exterior.  The  interior  manifests  itself 
to  God  by  the  intellect  and  by  the  will.  The  exterior  exhibits 
itself  by  corporeal  works,  ceremonies,  and  sacrifices.  The  inte- 
rior worship  then,  is  properly,  the  righteousness  of  the  heart 
towards  God,  and  the  perfection  of  the  life  of  the  man.  And 
this,  which  is  hence  called  the  divine  worship,  is  principally 
designed  to  honour  God  :  but  man  cannot  honour  God  more 
than  by  the  perfection  of  his  life,  as  every  effect  in  its  perfec- 
tion renders  the  more  honour  to  its  cause :  hence  artificers 
acquire  honour  and  glory  in  the  perfection  of  their  works. 
There  not  being  then  in  this  world  any  efiect  more  worthy  of 
man,  no  greater  honour  can  be  given  to  God  by  him :  and  the 
more  honour  is  given  by  man,  the  more  perfect  is  his  life. 
Then  it  appears  that  the  greatest  honour  man  can  manifest  to 
God  is  the  perfection  of  his  life,  and  so  it  follows  that  this  is 
the  true  and  integral  divine  worship. 

"  Thus  we  render  worship  to  God  not  solely  to  honour  him, 
but  also  to  procure  our  own  felicity.  Hence  it  appears  that 
the  divine  worship  is  a  disposition  and  means  of  ours  to  attain 
our  ultimate  aim  and  end.  A  good  life,  therefore,  being  a  better 
means  to  attain  beatitude  than  sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  it  is 
necessary  to  say  that  a  good  life  is  a  much  more  true  worship 
than  an  exterior  one. 

"  Besides,  God  not  being  corporeal,  but  pure  spirit,  it  is 
certain  that  man  renders  to  him  a  more  perfect  worship  by 
purity  of  heart  than  by  exterior  acts.  That  God  is  a  spirit,  and 
he  who  adores  God  should  adore  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."* 

Yet  it  was  deemed  necessary  for  the  interests  of  religion,  as 
they  were  understood  by  Alexander  VL,  to  hang  the  man  who 

*  Gloriosus  Triumplius  Crucis,  Fra  Hier.  Savonarola,  lib.  ii.  cap.  11. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


301 


gave  expression  to  such  thoughts  as  these,  as  if  he  were  a  dog, 
or  even  worse  than  a  beast,  to  burn  his  dead  body,  and  cast  even 
his  ashes  into  the  Arno  :  such  remains  as  his  not  being  deemed 
worthy  of  Christian  burial. 

In  the  treatise  of  Savonarola,  "  On  reading  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures," we  find  other  observations  of  his  which  could  only  be 
made  by  one  eminently  Christian,  and  skilled  in  the  science  of 
salvation. 

"  It  is  necessary  for  him  who  would  profit  by  spiritual  reading, 
and  penetrate  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  above  all  things  to  cleanse 
the  heart  well,  not  only  from  every  mortal  sin,  but  also  from  all 
self-love,  and  to  read  not  only  that  he  may  teach,  but  in  the  first 
place  to  learn  for  himself  how  to  live  well ;  and  whenever  he 
begins  to  read,  he  should  first  pray  that  God  would  enlighten 
him  in  the  way  of  truth,  and  then  read  diligently,  not  carelessly, 
but  considering  and  remembering  the  sentences,  and  referring 
even  to  his  conscience,"  &c  

Of  contemplative  prayer,  Savonarola  thus  speaks  in  his  trea- 
tise, Deir  amore  di  Jesu  Christo,  which  was  first  published  in 
Florence,  in  1493. 

"  When  the  kind  and  loving  J esus  influences  a  soul  which 
really  loves  and  seeks  him,  he  bestows  on  the  intellect  so  much 
light,  and  so  warms  the  affections,  and  fills  them  with  such  de- 
light in  his  benignity  and  presence,  that  he  raises  the  soul  above 
itself,  and  softens  it  so,  that  the  abundant  sweetness  descends  from 
the  superior  part  to  the  inferior,  which  melts  into  tears.  And 
He  awakens  so  great  a  longing  in  the  mind  for  eternal  things,  that 
it  sojourns  on  earth  as  if  separated  from  the  body,  and  ab- 
sorbed in  spirit.  It  is  true  this  is  the  privilege  of  few.  This 
we  see  every  day  in  religion ;  and  when  any  one  begins  to  enjoy 
the  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  glad  to  be  alone,  and  immediately  sepa- 
rates himself  from  other  comforts  and  corporeal  recreations, 
which  would  not  be  if  he. did  not  feel  within  his  breast  greater 
consolations  than  those  he  refuses.  But  what  is  this  spiritual 
comfort — repose  of  mind,  peace,  sweetness,  gentleness,  joy, 
exultation,  triumph,  love,  ardent  desire,  celestial  intoxication, 
almost  eternal  felicity,  or  whatever  else  it  may  bo  called  ?  I  do 


S02  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

not  think  it  can  be  explained  or  understood,  but  by  experience : 
let  it  suffice  at  present  that  we  have  proved  this  consolation, 
which  proceeds  from  the  love  of  Jesus,  whatever  it  is,  to  be 
beyond  comparison  greater  than  all  worldly  pleasures." 

Of  that  kind  of  spiritual  prayer  or  meditation  which  in  mystic 
theology  is  described  as  the  supernatural  union  of  the  soul  of 
man  with  the  divine  essence,  Savonarola  speaks  in  one  of  his 
sermons  of  a  subsequent  date.  "  This  remedy  has  been  ever 
found  the  most  efficacious  to  restore  happiness  to  man,  and 
which,  as  it  consists  in  the  Divine  essence,  might  have  appeared 
impossible  from  the  Divine  sublimity,  and  the  meanness  of  our 
intellect,  had  not  God  been  pleased  to  unite  the  human  nature  to 
the  divine  in  one  person,  which  is  more  wonderful  than  the  union 
of  the  souls  of  the  blessed,  to  the  divine  soul  in  that  person,  so 
that  men  have  hope  of  being  able  to  arrive  at  that  glory :  hence 
we  see,  that  since  this  incarnation  men  begin  to  arise  again,  and 
aspire  to  the  former  blessedness." 

Elsewhere,  in  his  discourse  on  Heb.  iv.  4 — 6,  he  says  — 
^^When  the  soul  feels  warmed  by  this  tender  love,  enjoying  a 
spark  of  heavenly  things,  it  shoidd  be  ever  watchful  over 
itself,  that,  as  far  as  it  is  permitted  by  its  frailty,  it  may  not  offend 
the  eyes  of  the  merciful  Jesus,  who  has  given  it  such  a  treasure, 
reflecting  how  great  would  be  the  ingratitude  of  separating 
from  him  by  its  own  negligence,  and  being  so  much  the  more 
careful  in  proportion  as  it  has  tasted  his  sweetness,  and  expe- 
rienced its  own  infirmity." 

Dr.  Hafe  refers  particularly  to  one  of  the  treatises  of  Savon- 
arola, which  affords  the  clearest  evidence  that  Savonarola  owed 
whatever  sj)ii-itual  or  supernatural  gifts  he  possessed  to  a  great 
power  of  prayer,  of  contemplation,  and  meditation  on  the  divine 
attributes,  in  which  all  his  faculties  were  wont  to  be  absorbed, 
and  his  soul  placed  in  intimate  communion  with  the  spiritual 
world.  The  piece  referred  to  is  entitled  De  Simplicitate  vitcB 
ChristiancB. 

"  In  Savonarola's  work,  entitled,  '  Of  The  Simplicity  of  a 
Christian  Life,'  "  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  he  has  ascribed  every  really 
Christian  life  to  the  following  of  Jesus  in  this  simplicity  of 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


303 


heart,  which  is  opposed  to  every  deceit  in  art,  even  in  the  out- 
ward mode  of  life,  though  attentive  at  the  same  time  to  the 
necessities  of  the  seasons,  calling  in  life,  serving  the  Lord  like 
the  busy  Martha,  yet  giving  away  all  superfluities ;  for  God 
has  distributed  unequally  his  blessings,  in  order  that  those  who 
have  them  may  give  to  the  needy.  This  Christian  simplicity 
emanates  from  the  goodness  of  God,  nevertheless  man  can  aug- 
ment it  to  render  himself  more  susceptible  of  it  by  prayer,  con- 
templation of  death,  meditation  on  the  Scriptures,  in  all  kinds 
of  religious  exercises,  particularly  by  fasting,  as  also  by  ab- 
staining outwardly  and  inwardly  fi'om  every  sinful  enjoyment, 
even  in  thought  and  sentiment.  Its  end  is  union  with  God, 
who  is  infinite  simplicity,  so  that  the  believer,  released  fi-om  all 
earthly  cares,  chooses  only  the  one  thing  necessary  :  all  that  he 
thinks  or  that  he  loves,  he  thinks  and  loves  only  in  reference  to 
God ;  all  that  deserves  hatred,  he  hates  only  in  reference  to 
God ;  whereby  he  is  blessed  by  the  possession  of  the  highest 
good." 

But  Savonarola  appears  to  most  advantage,  adds  Dr.  Hafe,  as 
an  orthodox  teacher  of  the  Church,  in  his  work  entitled  "  The 
Triumph  of  the  Cross,"*  a  defence  of  Christianity,  with  respect 
to  its  fundamental  dogmas,  which  defence  is  founded  especially 
on  the  effectiveness  of  that  faith  against  an  education  which,  re- 
suscitating classical  antiquity,  if  not  the  belief  in  its  gods, 
teaches,  at  least,  the  disbelief  in  a  crucified  God,  and  inclines 
its  votaries  to  regard  as  a  fable  what  the  clergy  teach  concerning 
the  Resurrection. 

Hafe  then,  in  a  brief  summary,  refers  to  the  subject  of  the 
second  chapter,  which  we  have  already  noticed. 

"The  argument  of  this  apology  therefore  is  embodied  in  a  pic- 
ture representing  Christ  as  a  conqueror,  with  the  marks  of  his 
wounds  and  with  the  crown  of  thorns,  around  which  is  a  treble 
circle  of  rays ;  at  the  left,  are  the  cross,  and  the  other  instruments 

*  This  book  was  thought  so  much  of,  that  the  Cardinal  of  St.  Onofrio, 
Antonio  Barberini,  brother  to  Urban  the  Eighth,  set  aside  five  hundred 
ducats  in  his  will,  to  be  appUed  to  the  printing  of  a  good  edition  of  it,  and 
the  exposition  of  the  fifty-first  Psalm. 


304 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  martyrdom  ;  at  the  right,  the  Scriptures  drawn  on  a  triumphal 
car,  proceeding  before  him  are  the  Patriarchs,  Prophets,  and 
Apostles ;  near  them,  the  Martyi'S  and  great  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
and  following  behind  an  innumerable  troop  of  the  faithful."* 

Of  the  alleged  predictions  of  Savonarola,  Philip  de  Corn- 
mines  gives  the  following  account,  and  of  their  author  : — 

"  ~\Vliile  I  was  at  Florence,  on  my  way  to  the  king  (a.d.  1494), 
I  went  to  pay  a  visit  to  a  certain  friar,  called  Fra  Girolamo, 
who  by  report  was  a  very  holy  man,  and  had  lived  in  a  reformed 
convent  fifteen  years.  There  went  along  "svith  me  one  John 
Francis,  a  very  prudent  person,  a  steward  of  the  king's  house- 
hold. 

My  reason  for  going  to  see  him,  was  because  he  had  always 
preached  very  much  in  the  king's  favour,  and  his  words  had 
kept  the  Florentines  from  turning  against  us ;  for  never  had  a 
preacher  so  great  an  influence  over  a  city :  he  had  constantly 
foretold  the  king's  coming,  (notwithstanding  all  that  was  said 
or  written  to  the  contrary,)  affirming  that  he  was  sent  by  God 
to  drive  the  tyrants  out  of  Italy,  and  that  nothing  could  resist 
or  Avithstand  him  ;  he  had  likewise  said,  that  he  would  come  to 
Pisa,  and  that  he  would  enter  the  city,  and  that  on  the  same 
day  the  Florentine  State  would  come  to  an  end  ;  and  so  it  hap- 
pened ;  for  that  very  day  was  Peter  de  Medici  expelled :  and 
many  other  things  had  he  foretold  in  his  sermons,  before  they 
came  to  pass,  as  the  death  of  Lorenzo  de  Medicis  :  and  he  like- 
wise said  publicly,  that  it  was  revealed  to  him.  He  had  preached 
that  the  state  of  the  Church  should  be  reformed  by  the  sword. 
This  was  not  yet  accomplished,  but  it  was  at  one  time  very  near 
the  point,  and  he  still  maintained  that  it  should  be  eflfected.  Several 
persons  blamed  him  for  pretending  to  divine  revelations,  others 
believed  him.  For  my  part,  I  think  hun  a  good  man :  and  I 
asked  him  whether  the  king  coidd  proceed  in  his  journey  with- 
out any  danger  to  his  person,  considering  the  great  preparations 
of  the  Venetians  against  him,  of  which  he  was  able  to  give  a 
better  account  than  I  could,  who  was  just  come  from  ^'enice. 
He  answered,  that  the  king  would  meet  with  some  difficulties 
*  Hafe's  Neue  Propheten,  p.  312. 


OF  SAVOXAROLA. 


305 


by  the  way,  but  be  would  overcome  tbcm  all,  and  gain  immortal 
honour  by  it,  though  he  had  not  above  a  hundred  men  in  his 
company,  and  that  God  ^vho  had  conducted  him  hither,  would 
guard  him  in  his  return  :  but  because  he  had  not  applied  him- 
self as  he  ought,  to  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  and  because 
he  had  suffered  his  soldiers  to  plunder  and  rob  the  people  as 
well  as  those  of  his  own  party,  and  such  as  had  opened  their 
gates  freely  to  him,  as  his  enemies,  that  God  had  pronounced 
judgment  against  him  ;  and  that  he  should  shortly  feel  a  lash  of 
the  whip.  However,  my  task  was  to  tell  him,  that  if  he  would  have 
compassion  on  the  people,  keep  his  army  from  doing  mischief, 
and  punish  them  when  they  did,  as  his  duty  required,  God 
would  revoke  or  mitigate  his  sentence ;  and  that  it  was  not  suf- 
ficient for  him  to  plead,  /  myself  do  no  harm.  He  added,  that 
he  would  go  himself  to  meet  the  king,  and  would  tell  him  these 
words,  and  so  he  did,  and  spoke  of  the  restitution  of  the  Flo- 
rentine places.  When  he  mentioned  that  sentence  of  God,  the 
death  of  the  dauphin  came  very  fresh  into  my  mind ;  for  I  knew 
nothing  else  that  the  king  could  lay  so  much  to  heart ;  and  this 
I  likewise  say,  to  the  end  it  may  be  better  understood  how  the 
whole  of  this  expedition  was  a  mystery  conducted  by  God  him- 
self."* 

Centuries  before  the  time  of  Savonarola,  men  of  saintly  lives 
announced  events  that  would  come  to  pass,  which  from  any  ex- 
ercise of  the  reasoning  powers,  or  mere  speculations  on  former 
occurrences  or  present  circumstances,  or  any  light  they  could  ob- 
tain from  natural  knowledge  only,  they  could  not  have  foretold. 
We  are  told  by  Neander,  in  his  life  of  St.  Bernard,  that  when  the 
French  king,  Louis  the  Sixth,  seized  on  some  property  of  the 
archbishop  and  clergy  of  Paris,  St.  Bernard  wrote  to  the  King 
in  their  behalf :  and  not  satisfied  with  wiuting  only,  when  the 
rapacious  sovereign  disregarded  all  supplications,  and  remained 
inexorable,  St.  Bernard  proceeded  to  the  Court,  and  reproached 
the  King  vehemently  with  having  despised  the  priests  of  the 
Most  High,  and  concluded  with  this  menace  :  "  Your  obstinacy 

*  Memoires  de  Philip  de  Commiries,  lib.  viii.  cap.  2. 
VOL.  I.  X 


336 


THE  LIFE  AND  MAPvTYRDOM 


will  be  punished  by  the  death  of  your  eldest  son  Philip  ;  for 
last  night  in  a  dream  I  saw  you  with  your  youngest  son  Louis 
fall  at  the  feet  of  the  bishops  whom  you  yesterday  set  at  nought, 
and  hence  I  infer  that  the  death  of  your  first-born  is  at  hand, 
and  will  compel  you  to  implore  the  favour  of  that  Church  which 
you  now  oppress,  to  allow  you  to  set  your  son  Louis  in  his 
place."* 

In  the  course  of  about  three  years  Prince  Philip  died,  m 
consequence  of  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and  the  King  caused  the 
young  Prince  to  be  consecrated  in  the  room  of  his  brother,  as 
his  successor  on  the  throne. 

St.  Bernard  here  revealed  events  manifested  to  his  mind  in  a 
vision,  which  eventually  came  to  pass  about  three  years  later. 
No  one  suspects  St.  Bernard  of  imposture,  or  of  aught  to  do 
with  Satanic  agency.  Why  are  similar  revelations  concerning  a 
French  sovereign  by  Savonarola  so  very  differently  treated,  even 
by  religious  persons  / 

Several  writers,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  have  undertaken  to 
remove  what  they  assert  is  an  erroneous  idea,  namely,  that 
Savonarola  laid  claim  to  divine  inspiration,  and  the  gift  of 
knowledge  of  future  events  supernaturally  revealed  to  him. 
The  author  of  the  English  life  of  Savonarola  and  the  author  of 
the  letters  of  Columbanus  assert  that  Savonarola  has  claimed 
no  such  pretensions.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact.  Savona- 
rola made  a  distinction,  very  fine  drawn  it  must  be  allowed, 
between  calling  himself  a  prophet  and  claiming  the  gift  of  in- 
spiration. 

In  the  Compendium  of  his  Revelations,  published  by  himself 
some  years  before  his  death,  in  the  most  distinct  terms  he  claims 
the  gift. 

Yet,  in  defending  himself  against  the  charge  of  impiety  brought 
against  him  on  account  of  his  alleged  pretensions  to  the  charac- 
ter of  a  prophet,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Pope  Alexander,  he 
says : — 

"  It  is  said  that  I  speak  with  God.    I  have  never  affirmed 
*  I^eander's  Life  of  St.  Bernard,  p.  35.  12mo.  ion.  1840. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


307 


this,  or  any  thing  like  it,  as  all  Florence  can  testify.  But,  if  I 
had  done  so,  I  should  have  incurred  no  penalty.  It  is  not 
written  in  the  canon  or  the  civil  law,  or  in  any  book  of  autho- 
rity, that  if  one  says,  he  speaks  with  God  he  should  be  punished  : 
for  foolish  indeed  and  impious  would  be  such  a  decree,  for 
who  can  impose  laws  on  God  ?  He  can  speak  with  whom  He 
will,  and  command  them  to  tell  it  as  the  prophets  did — '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord. '  " 

We  have  only  to  turn  to  Nardi's  account  of  the  embassy  of 
Savonarola,  and  his  report  of  the  discourse  delivered  by  the  Friar 
to  the  French  sovereign,  to  find  the  most  clear  proof  of  this 
claim  of  Savonarola  to  divine  inspiration  in  his  own  words, 
after  an  exordium  of  some  length,  wherein  he  informed  the 
King  "  that  God  had  revealed  to  his  unprofitable  servant  who 
then  addressed  his  Majesty  a  mystery — that  He  meditated  the 
renewal  of  His  Church  by  the  operations  of  a  great  scourge. 
A\Tiich  mystery  His  unprofitable  servant,  already  four  years 
ago,  according  to  the  Divine  inspiration  and  revelation  vouch- 
safed to  him,  announced  in  the  city  of  Florence ;  since  when, 
even  to  this  day,  he  has  not  ceased  with  loud  voice  to  exhort 
the  people  to  repentance." 

In  1495  Savonarola  published  in  Florence  the  most  remark- 
able of  his  compositions,  entitled^  Compendio  Di  Revelatione 
Dello  Inutile  servo  di  Jesu  Christo  Frate  Hieronymo  da  Fer_ 
rara  Dello  Ordine  de  Frati  Predicatori."  * 

In  the  prologue,  he  says,  before  he  enters  into  the  matters  he 
has  to  speak  of,  "  It  is  necessary  to  understand  the  manner  in 
which  prophetic  revelations  are  inspired  by  God  which  are  de- 
clared to  the  people — el  modo  delle  revelationi  prophetiche,  ad 
fine  chi  ognuna  intende  come  gli  propheti  imperando  da  Dio  quello 
que  predicano  a  popoli." 

Then  he  observes,  "  He  who  now  is  called  a  prophet,  for- 
merly was  called  a  seer — vocabant  olim  videns.    He  is  properly 

*  This  work,  consisting  of  eighty-six  pages  8vo.  in  the  author's  poasession, 
at  the  end  has  the  words  "  Ee-correcta  Stampata  in  Firenza  de  V.  Sepbre. 
1495." 


308 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


named  a  proj^het  wlio  sees  things  afar  off,  and  not  within  the 
scope  of  the  natural  knowledge  of  any  human  creature. 

"  It  comes  to  pass  that  the  prophet  also  learns,  by  the  medium 
of  the  light  of  prophecy,  many  things  which  are  not  far  re- 
moved from  the  scope  of  human  knowledge,  because  that  light 
can  be  extended  to  all  things,  human  as  well  as  divine.  Far 
removed  from  the  scope  of  natural  knowledge  of  every  creature 
are  future  contingent  events — cose  future  contingente — chiefly 
those  which  are  dependent  on  free-will,  which  in  themselves 
cannot  be  known  by  men,  nor  by  any  other  created  beings, 
because  they  are  only  present  to  the  Eternal,  whose  knowledge 

embraces  all  times   Their  future  contingency  cannot  be 

knov/n  by  any  natural  light,  but  solely  by  God,  who  knows 
them  in  the  eternity  of  His  light,  and  by  Him  only  are  the 
things  communicated  to  those  to  whom  He  deigns  to  reveal 
them.  In  such  revelations  there  are  two  things  done  :  one  is, 
that  God  infuses  a  supernatural  light  into  the  mind  of  the  pro- 
phet, which  light  is  a  certain  degree  of  participation  of  His 
eternity  (of  knowledge).  By  such  participation,  the  prophet 
judges  of  that  which  is  revealed  to  him — that  the  revelation  is 
true,  and  that  it  comes  from  God.  And  of  such  efl5.cacy  is  this 
light,  that  the  prophet  is  made  certain  of  those  two  things 
above  mentioned,  as  the  natural  light  makes  philosophers  certain 
of  the  first  principles  of  science,  and  as  people  are  made  certain 
that  two  and  two  make  four.  The  other  thing  that  God  does 
in  those  revelations  is,  that  He  propounds  distinctly  to  the 
prophet  that  which  He  wishes  him  to  know  and  to  declare,  and 
that  He  does  in  various  ways,  as  it  is  written  in  Osias,  chap.  xii. 
*  I  have  spoken  by  the  prophets,  and  multiplied  vision,  and  I 
have  used  similitudes  by  the  ministry  of  the  prophets.'  " 

"  Sometimes  that  which  the  prophet  has  to  declare,  is  infused 
into  his  mind  without  any  visions  of  the  imagination  (visione 
imaginaria),  but  in  the  way  in  w^hich  wisdom  was  infused  into 
the  mind  of  Solomon ;  and  in  this  way  it  was  the  prophet 
Daniel  gave  utterance  to  prophecy.  Sometimes  in  the  imagi- 
nation various  figures  and  visions  of  phantasy,  which  signify 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


309 


tliat  which  the  prophet  has  to  understand  and  to  declare ;  and 
he,  by  the  light  so  infused,  understands  the  signification  of  such 
visions,  otherwise  he  could  not  be  called  a  prophet.  Hence  it 
is  written  in  Daniel,  chap,  x.,  '  There  is  need  of  understand- 
ing in  a  vision.'  And  many  times  in  those  visions  different 
words  spoken  by  various  persons  are  inwardly  thought  to  be 
heard,  or  so  represented  to  the  mind.  And  those  words  are 
understood  by  means  of  the  light  that  proceeds  from  God,  by 
the  ministry  of  the  angels.  Sometimes  God  offers  to  the  exte- 
rior senses,  chiefly  to  the  sight,  types  of  tilings  w^hich  are  to 
be  manifested,  as  we  read  in  Daniel,  in  the  fifth  chapter,  of  the 
hand  that  wTote  on  the  wall  before  the  eyes  of  Balshazzar — 
'  Mene,  Techel,  Phares.^  Which  words  Daniel  the  Prophet  saw 
with  the  external  organs  of  vision,  and  interpreted  by  the  in- 
ternal light.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  those  external  appari- 
tions, and  even  those  of  the  phantasy,  are  from  God,  and  mani- 
fested by  the  ministry  of  angels,  as  St.  Dionysius  says  in  the 
first  book  of  the  Celestial  Hierarchy,  because  every  work  of 
Apostolic  agency,  that  is,  of  God,  is  ordered  wisely — 'Juxta 
illud  apostoli.' 

"  And  in  the  order  of  His  A^dsdom,  infinite  things  are  accom- 
plished by  mediate  agents,  and  mediate  things  by  the  ministry 
of  Christ.  The  angels  being  mediate  agents  between  God  and 
man,  the  prophetic  illumination  comes  from  God  by  means  of 
angelic  spirits,  who  not  only  illuminate  the  interior  mind,  but 
cause  divers  apparitions  to  appear  to  the  phantasy.  But  they 
also  speak  inwardly  to  the  prophets ;  and  to  them  they  likewise 
appear  many  times  in  human  form,  and  announce  future  things 
to  them,  and  admonish  them  of  many  things  they  have  to  do. 
And  by  the  divine  light,  the  prophets  clearly  know  those  appa- 
ritions to  be  angelic,  and  that  which  is  spoken  to  them  to  be  true. 
In  these  three  manners  we  have  attained  and  known  future  things  : 
some  in  one  way,  some  in  another.  Moreover,  in  each  of  these 
modes  1  have  attained  to  the  knowledge  of  them,  and  always  have 
been  certified  of  the  truth  by  the  aforesaid  light. 
*  "  In  queste  tre  modi  habbiamo  liavute  e  conosciutc  le  cose  future ; 


810 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


I  have  thought  it  better  to  transcribe  the  whole  of  this  matter, 
which  has  never  been  done  in  extenso  by  any  of  the  biographers 
of  Savonarola  previously,  inasmuch  as  Savonarola  here  sets  forth 
his  ideas  of  the  mode  in  which  the  prophetic  spirit  is  infused 
into  the  minds  of  men  favoured  especially  by  God  :  and  puts 
forward  his  own  claims  to  the  possession  of  that  divine  light, 
which  enables  the  mind  so  illuminated  to  see  into  futurity  far 
beyond  the  range  of  natural  knowledge. 

The  reader  will  be  better  able  to  form  a  just  opinion  of  those 
claims  by  having  the  precise  words  of  the  asserter  of  them,  given 
to  him,  than  by  any  amount  of  comments  or  criticism  of  a  bio- 
grapher in  relation  to  them. 

A  German  critic  of  great  ability,  the  learned  Dr.  Hafe,  a 
Protestant  divine,  and  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Jena,  in 
his  recent  work,  "  Neue  Propheten,''^  has  treated  largely  and  with 
great  enlightenment  of  Savonarola's  spiritual  gifts  and  privileges. 

"  The  compendium  of  Savonarola's  Revelations,"  says  Dr. 
Ilafe,  "  is  a  short  summary  of  his  prophecies,  written  certainly 
when  he  was  surrounded  by  opponents ;  but  at  a  time  when  he 
w^as  at  the  summit  of  his  popularity,  as  a  security  against  per- 
verted official  reports,  and  as  a  self  justification.  He  gives  in  it 
an  account  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  prophetic  predictions 
— also  an  account  of  his  embassy  to  the  king  of  France,  and  of 
his  participation  in  the  changes  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
Kepublic.  As  it  is  reserved  to  divine  wisdom  to  foreknow  the 
casualties  that  depend  on  the  free  will  of  others,  the  Prophet  can 
only  learn  such  things  from  a  supernatural  light  infused  into  him 
by  God,  who  permits  him  thereby  to  participate  in  his  eternity. 
The  Prophet  separates  two  things  :  the  truth  which  is  evident  to 
him,  and  that  which  is  revealed  by  God.  The  understanding 
is  opened  to  futurity,  either  directly,  without  any  apparent  means, 
or  by  visions  from  the  impression  of  images  on  the  imagination, 
or  else  by  external  typical  appearances  ;  the  last  two  means  are 

filcune  in  nno,  alcnno  in  altro  benchi  in  qualunque  di  questi  modi  in  le 
habbi  havutte  sempre  son  stato  certificate  dellaverita per  ellumepredecto." 

— Compendio  di  Revel.  Prol. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


311 


generally  effected  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  angels,  and  the 
prophet,  aided  by  a  supernatural  light,  understands  the  meaning 
of  visions  and  apparitions. 

"  Savonarola  declares  that  he  received  these  three  kinds  of 
revelations.  He  divides  them,  from  the  example  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, into  unconditional  and  conditional  prophecies.  Of  the 
first  kind  are  the  renovation  of  the  Church,  as  also  the  remission 
of  the  sin  of  Florence,  which  pardon  would  have  been  revoked 
on  account  of  the  hostility  to  God  of  the  people  of  Florence  ;  but 
that,  what  is  ordained  by  divine  predestination,  the  repentance 
of  the  people  is  sure  to  come  to  pass.  A  conditional  prophecy 
is  one  of  the  same  description  as  that  made  by  the  Prophet  Jonas, 
relative  to  the  fall  of  Nineveh — for  example,  Savonarola's  pro- 
mise of  triumphant  success  to  the  French  king,  on  the  condition 
of  his  carrying  out  the  work  of  God  in  Italy. 

The  predictions  which  Savonarola  uttered,  inspired  as  it  were 
by  a  divine  impulse  when  in  the  act  of  speaking  from  the  pulpit, 
and  which  were  there  announced  by  him,  (for  he  wishes  to  have 
passed  over  in  silence  such  of  his  prophecies  as  were  made  in 
private  and  related  only  to  private  matters,  about  which  besides 
he  might  have  erred  as  man),  are  the  most  celebrated,  such  as 
the  devastation  of  Italy,  the  passing  of  the  Alps  by  an  invading 
king,  the  impending  reformation  of  the  Church.  That  is  to  say, 
according  to  a  divine  decree,  God  would  purify  the  church  by  a 
heavy  scourge  ;  and  in  order  that  the  elect  might  not  be  unpre- 
pared for  what  was  about  to  happen,  that  God  had  selected  his 
unworthy  servant  as  bearer  of  this  revelation,  and  disseminated 
it  through  him  as  superior  of  an  order  in  Florence ;  so  that  from 
Florence,  which  is  in  Italy,  as  the  heart  is  in  a  man,  the  centre 
of  a  kingdom,  the  revelation  of  this  beginning  of  salvation  might 
go  forth.  He  acquired  for  himself  still  more  fame  by  his  pro- 
phecy of  the  death  of  Lorenzo,  and  of  the  Pope,  Innocent  the 
Eighth,  which  was  fulfilled,  although  there  had  not  been  any  in- 
dications of  their  approaching  end  previous  to  his  prediction. 
He  professed  also  to  foretell  even  things  which  were  to  take  place 
immediately  :  the  conversion  of  the  Turks  and  Moors,  the  coming 
glory  of  Florence. 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


This  last  prophecy  had  a  very  simple  and  patriotic  purport, 
he  predicts,  and  predicts  with  divine  inspiration,  that  whatever 
enemy  should  take  possession  of  Florence,  without  having  re- 
ceived any  injury  from  its  republican  government,  would  be 
overtaken  by  divine  vengeance  ;  whatsoever  citizen  of  Florence, 
within  or  without  the  town,  who  should  aspire  to  its  sovereignty, 
he  and  his  whole  house  would  sink  to  the  depths  of  misery. 

"  During  the  first  years  of  his  activity  in  Florence,  he  only 
made  profession  gradually  of  his  powers  of  prophecy,  although 
he  possessed  already  a  high  acquaintance  with  hidden  things  ; 
yet,^as  he  saw  the  minds  of  men  were  not  prepared  for  these 
mysteries,  he  for  a  while  only  appealed  to  probable  grounds  and 
the  Scriptures.  At  last  he  began  to  bring  forward  his  prophetic 
visions  under  the  form  of  parables.  When,  sometimes  fi'om  the 
fear  of  the  contradiction  and  scoffing  of  men,  he  wished  to  preach 
of  other  matters,  God  would  not  permit  it ;  once  he  passed  the 
entire  Saturday  and  the  following  sleepless  night  seeking  for 
something  else,  but  in  vain,  every  other  subject  was  sterile  to 
him. 

"  Early  in  the  spring  of  1492,  he  ventured  to  speak  more 
explicitly :  '  Thus,  saith  the  Lord  God,  the  sword  of  the  Lord 
sliall  fall  quickly  on  the  earth.'  Presently  there  came  to  him 
fi'om  heaven  words  of  admonition,  which,  because  they  sounded 
like  Hebrew^  poetry,  were  imagined  to  be  taken  from  Holy  "Writ. 

"  The  above  discourse  about  the  word  was  the  result  of  a 
vision  of  the  night,  in  the  style  of  the  revelations  of  St.  John, 
and  it  appeared  to  him  that  it  was  in  visions  that  he  first  found 
out  that  he  was  possessed  of  supernatural  knowledge. 

"  A  great  part  of  the  book  is  taken  up  with  an  exposition  of 
a  vision  of  tliis  kind :  the  history  of  a  communication  with  the 
blessed  Virgin,  and  of  a  mission  which  he,  as  a  minister  of  re- 
ligion" of  Florence,  had  undertaken  after  much  prayer  and 
fasting,  and  had  discharged,  bearing  a  crown  with  him  as  an 
offering  on  that  mission.  Lender  the  forms  of  two  females^ 
Philosophy  and  Rhetoric  offered  themselves  to  him  as  compa- 
nions on  this  mission,  but  he  rejected  them  as  appertaining  too 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


313 


much,  to  the  senses,  and  made  choice  instead,  of  faith,  simplicity, 
piety,  and  patience,  with  whom  he  arrived  at  the  gates  of  Paradise. 

"The  description  of  what  he  saw  therein  is  scarcely  less 
sublime  and  poetic  than  that  of  Dante's  Paradise.  The  Virgin 
was  seated  on  a  lofty  throne  along  with  her  divine  child,  whose 
divinity  was  only  recognisable  from  a  treble  circle  of  rays  round 
the  head.  Upon  the  steps  of  the  throne  were  ranged  the  several 
orders  of  the  blessed  spirits  and  angels. 

"  The  answer  of  the  Virgin,  full  of  grace,  sounded  at  first  very 
obscure  :  '  Florence,  preserve  thy  belief  in  the  Lord  God,  my 
beloved  son — persevere  in  prayer,  be  strong  in  patience.  For 
thereby  shalt  thou  acquire  eternal  salvation  with  God  and  glory 
before  men.' 

"  But  as  Savonarola  prayed  with  outstretched  hands  for  more 
particulars,  she  afterwards  explained  the  meaning  :  '  Go  hence 
and  bring  to  my  beloved  people  this  answer ;  they  have  merited 
misfortimes  on  account  of  the  incredulity  of  many,  who  will  not 
believe  what  you  have  been  predicting  to  them  now  for  years. 
Therefore,  impress  upon  them  the  necessity  of  laying  aside  their 
hardness  of  heart ;  if  they  do  so,  the  state  of  Florence  shall  be- 
come more  glorious,  more  powerful,  and  more  rich  than  it  ever 
was  heretofore  ;  it  shall  repair  all  its  losses,  and  extend  its  ter- 
ritories. But  woe  to  the  seditious  citizens ;  long  since  was  it  said, 
with  respect  to  the  inhabitants  of  Pisa,  that  he  who  seeks  free- 
dom by  such  means  shall  only  meet  his  own  destruction.' 

"  In  fine,  to  the  question  whether  Florence  had  to  go  through 
tribulations  before  these  consoling  events,  she  gave  this  answer  : 
'  My  son,  for  many  years  already  hast  thou  been  predicting  the 
renovation  of  the  Church  :  this  consummation  shall  take  place, 
and  shortly  also,  but  not  without  being  followed  by  tribulation 
and  war,  especially  in  Italy,  where  the  pride  of  the  princes  and 
chiefs,  and  the  innumerable  crimes  that  are  committed,  will  be 
the  cause  of  these  evils.  Thou  must  not,  therefore,  regard  it  as 
a  misfortune  that  thy  city  shall  have  to  endure  tribulations  ;  but 
she  shall  have  less  of  them  to  suffer  than  the  other  States.' 

"  An  episode  enlivens  the  more  serious  parts  of  this  vision  :  it 


314 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


describes  a  conversation  between  Savonarola  and  the  tempter  of 
mankind,  who,  in  the  form  of  a  venerable  hermit,  presented 
himself  to  him  before  the  gates  of  Paradise,  and  in  short  and 
bitter  words  informed  him  of  all  that  his  enemies  said  against 
him,  particularly  against  his  prophecies,  and  also  against  his 
position  as  superior  of  the  monastery,  against  his  interference  in 
the  State,  and  against  the  Republican  government.  In  his  answers 
he  brings  forward,  with  the  utmost  clearness  in  intellect,  from 
the  Scriptures,  from  the  lives  of  remarkable  Saints,  from  the  un- 
doubted religious  tendencies  of  his  undertaking,  everything 
that  might  serve  in  his  defence. 

"  The  tempter  asked,  why  had  God  chosen  him  as  bearer  of 
his  revelations  ?  was  he  more  holy  than  others  ?  He  retorted  by 
the  question,  why  had  God  chosen  for  Princes  of  his  Apostles 
Peter  who  had  denied  him,  and  Paid  who  had  persecuted  him  ? 
Against  the  objection  that  many  of  his  prophecies  had  not  been 
fulfilled,  he  appealed  to  the  nature  of  the  prophetic  spirit,  which 
was  not  always  present  even  to  the  prophets  of  old,  which  comes 
and  goes,  even  when  present  is  often  only  partially  unveiled. 

"  The  tempter  pointed  out  also  many  other  faults  which  Savo- 
narola either  denied  or  proved  that  he  was  deceived  in  taking 
for  such ;  that  he  was  only  seeking  to  tempt  him,  but  that  he 
perceived  his  object;  he  added,  that  all  his  revelations  an- 
nounced from  the  pulpit  had  been  fulfilled,  or  should  be  so 
shortly ;  that  of  those  there  should  not  remain  an  iota  unac- 
complished. Supposing  it  might  be  imagined  that  his  pro- 
phecies were  the  work  of  a  far-seeing,  sagacious  and  lively  ima- 
gination, he  appeals  against  such  a  conclusion,  partly  to  the 
known  clearness  of  his  understanding  moulded  by  philosophy, 
partly  to  the  fact  that  in  all  human  probability  what  he  foretold 
was  most  unlikely  to  happen.  Sometimes  all  was  at  peace,  and 
he  announced  approaching  war  ;  now  the  globe  is  moved  with 
storms,  and  he  predicts  that  there  shall  be  shortly  peaceful  calms. 
When  the  Florentines  imagined  themselves  prosperous,  he  had 
told  them  of  coming  misfortunes ;  now  they  are  oppressed  he 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


315 


promises  them  soon  the  greatest  prosperity.  This  prosperity, 
however,  as  well  as  the  conversion  of  the  Turks  and  IMoors,  was 
not  to  be  witnessed  by  many  of  those  then  living.  But  as  a 
proof  that  these  should  come  to  pass,  he  appealed  to  the  fact, 
that  through  him  and  his  prophecies  things  that  had  been  con- 
sidered impossible  had  been  effected,  such  as  the  moral  and 
political  reformation  of  the  Florentine  states,  and  their  whole- 
some consequences. 

After  he  had  successfully  defended  his  cause  on  all  sides 
against  the  tempter,  he  remarked  that  his  companion  smiled, 
and  christian  simplicity  opened  his  eyes,  so  that  he  was  able  to 
recognise  the  tempter  of  the  human  race,  who  immediately  fled 
before  his  exorcisms. 

"  One  is  surprised,  even  in  this  extraordinary  book,  that  he 
should  expect  us  to  regard  as  a  supernatural  vision,  this  most 
carefully  composed  work  of  the  fancy,  which  was  first  delivered 
in  a  sermon,  and  which  even  imaginative  people  could  not  look 
on,  as  any  thing  more  than  a  poetic  fiction.  However,  he  him- 
self, according,  at  least,  to  a  later  exposition,  does  not  by  any 
means  want  it  to  be  understood  that  he  was  really  in  Paradise, 
for  all  the  external  objects  of  which  he  speaks  could  not  possibly 
be  found  there,  but  were  only  formed  in  his  fancy,  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  an  angel  however,  as  in  similar  visions  of  the  an- 
cient prophets,  particularly  Ezekiel's.  One  ought  to  recall  on 
this  subject  the  proofs  that  many  other  persons  have  given  of  a 
perfect  belief  in  a  supernatural  agency.  Thus,  Angelico  of 
Fiesole,  regarding  his  disposition  for  painting  holy  pictures  as  a 
divine  inspiration,  would  not  venture  to  paint  any  of  other  de- 
scriptions ;  and  Ruysbach,  in  all  pious  humility,  attributed  his 
abstruse  writings  to  the  dictations  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  After  Savonarola  began  to  see  his  expectations  fulfilled  by 
the  expedition  of  Charles  VIII.,  perhaps  the  fantastical  forms  in 
which  his  religious  and  patriotic  hopes  presented  themselves  to 
his  imagination  may  have  appeared  to  him  as  inspirations  which, 
from  the  known  workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  soul,  lost 
nothing  of  their  divine  origin,  and  which,  to  make  the  more  cer- 


316 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYllDOM 


tainly  pass  for  undoubted,  he  announced  from  the  pulpit  (his 
practice  in  relation  to  visions  and  revelations).  ^  This  am  I 
wont  to  do  ;  to  weigh  first  the  natural  grounds  and  certain  signs 
(of  things  out  of  nature)  in  the  scales  of  prayer  and  in  the 
Scriptures.'  "* 

Of  the  predictions  which  Savonarola  made  respecting  his  own 
death  and  his  excommunication,  the  following  extracts  will  give 
some  idea : — 

For  many  years  in  his  sermons,  in  different  places,  Fra  Giro- 
lamo  had  predicted  his  death  by  violence,  the  torments  to  be 
inflicted  on  him,  the  calamities  to  be  uttered  against  him,  and 
even  the  very  mode  of  putting  him  to  death.  Several  of  these 
predictions  exist  in  sermons  of  his  in  works  of  Savonarola  in  my 
possession  which  Avere  printed  in  Florence  long  prior  to  his 
death.  Those  predictions  I  will  quote  chiefly  from  the  works  of 
the  father,  the  majority  of  which  were  published  before  his 
death. 

In  the  church  of  San  Lorenzo,  1490,  in  one  of  his  sermons, 
he  clearly  and  explicitly  foretold  his  death.  This  sermon  after- 
wards he  translated  into  Italian.  In  one  passage  of  it,  he 
says — "  We  have  to  consider  the  when  and  how  great  will  be 
the  persecution  (of  which  I  speak)  when  the  true  preacher  will 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  persecutors.  Who  could  believe  it  that 
he  shall  be  excommunicated  and  taken  by  force,  when  the 
Franciscans  shall  seduce  people  by  their  cunning  and  their 
polemics,  when  they  shall  practise  hypocrisy,  and  j^ass  among 
the  people  for  saints  ?  " 

In  the  book  of  the  Dialogue,  he  says — "  These  persons,  ex- 
cited therefore  by  the  infernal  furies,  will  persecute  the  preachers 
of  the  divine  truth,  and,  like  seductors  and  heretics,  they  will 
condemn  him,  using  all  efforts  to  discredit  him  with  the  people." 

*  Neue  Proplieten,  Drei  Historisch  Politisch  Kirclienbilder,  von  Dr. 
Karl  Hafe,  Professor  an  der  Universitat  Jena,  &c.  &c.  12mo,  Leijpzic,  1851, 
pp.  307,  etseq. — For  the  translation  of  the  several  extracts  in  these  volumes 
from  the  German  work  of  Dr.  Hafe,  "  Neue  Propheten,"  I  am  indebted 
to  the  lady  I  have  already  referred  to — Miss  Husscy  Walsh. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


On  another  occasion,  when  preaching  in  San  Marco  on  the 
Apocalypse,  and  making  an  exposition  of  that  part  in  which 
death  is  spoken  of  as  mounted  on  a  pale  horse,  an  artist  who 
was  present  took  a  sketch  of  him,  and  had  it  engraved  on  copper, 
wdtli  the  view  of  printing  from  it.  ^^Tren  he  shewed  it  to  Fra 
Girolamo,  the  father  said — Nothing  is  wanting  but  three 
martyrs  suspended  in  their  shirts  from  a  cross,  which  you  had 
better  put  there."  "  And  the  artist  did  so,"  says  Burlamacchi, 
"  and  I  remenber  that  many  persons  had  impressions  of  it." 
"  And  in  this  manner/^  continues  Burlamacchi,  "  I  saw  him  hanged 
in  the  Piazza  de  Signori,  as  hy  his  own  instruction  to  the  artist  he 
had  been  previously  drawn  and  represented.''^^ 

In  a  sermon  (IT)  preached  in  Florence  in  the  year  following, 
he  said,  "  I  wish  to  make  you  understand  that  you  have  done 
very  ill,  and  require  to  reform  your  city.  Turn  yoiu*  fathers 
against  me,  and  slay  me  !  This  is  what  remains  to  be  done. 
Ah,  my  people,  what  have  I  done  to  you  .?" 

In  another  part  of  the  same  sermon,  he  said,  "  Go  and  read 
the  Scriptures  through,  and  you  w^ill  find  that  all  those  who 
have  predicted  future  events  have  been  put  to  death,  and  so  I 
reckon  it  will  be  done  with  me.  This  is  the  treasure  and  the 
triumph  I  wish ;  I  desire  no  other  recompense.  Let  that  trea- 
sure soon  be  mine,  and  my  destiny  be  accomplished,  to  die  in  a 
little  time  for  this  mission  and  for  Christ." 

And  again,  in  1491,  in  his  sermons  on  Amos  (Xo.  23),  when 
sj^eaking  of  Amassa  the  priest,  who  turned  against  Amos,  and 
said,  "  You  fool,  leave  the  city,  and  go  among  the  herds  of  cattle 
and  prophetize  there  among  your  equals,  and  struck  him  seve- 
ral times ;  and  finally  whose  son  put  him  to  death,  as  he  passed 
by  the  Temple,"  the  Father  said,  "  Marvel  not  at  our  persecu- 
tions ;  be  not  aifrighted,  my  good  people,  at  such  being  the  end 
of  the  prophets  !  This  is  our  end — qucsto  e  iljin  nostra — and  the 
reward  we  are  to  expect  in  this  world.  But  this  is  the  only  re- 
compense we  seek." 

In  1491,  when  expounding  the  psalm,  "  Expectans,  Expec- 
BurlamaccLi,  p.  533. 


318 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


tavi  Doninum"  he  said,  "  The  wicked  will  come  to  the  sanc- 
tuary with  fire  and  sword,  and  will  break  and  burn  the  doors ; 
and  they  will  seize  on  the  just,  and  in  the  principal  place  in  the 
city  they  will  burn  them.  And  the  remains  of  them  which  the 
fire  shall  not  have  consumed,  nor  the  wind  carried  away,  they 
will  cast  into  the  Arno." 

Savonarola,  in  another  of  his  sermons,  plainly  and  explicitly 
told  his  hearers  the  truth  he  preached  would  triumph,  but  the 
preacher  would  be  put  to  death.  But  the  death  of  a  man,  he  said, 
did  not  extinguish  the  truth  that  was  in  him — "  It  rather  served 
to  spread  abroad  the  light."  The  fire  irom  which  it  emanates 
is  kindled  soon  in  many  hearts.  If  they  try  to  quench  it  in  one 
bosom,  then  it  bursts  forth  with  a  stronger  flame  in  another." 

In  one  of  his  sermons,  before  the  fierce  war  of  the  Palleschi 
and  their  allies  of  the  Franciscan  order  was  waged  on  him,  he 
said,  "  Sometimes  it  has  happened  to  me  to  tremble  at  the  ap- 
prehension of  my  dear  little  children  failing  in  faith  when  they 
will  see  the  terrible  tribulations  of  the  times.  But,  my  dear 
little  children,  be  courageous,  because,  at  all  cost,  we  are  re- 
solved to  conquer,  and  the  victory  which  we  expect  is  to  be 
obtained  by  prayer." 

This  prediction,  says  Monsieur  Carle,  was  the  prelude  of  a 
tempest,  the  gusts  of  which  at  first  seemed  under  some  occult 
control,  but  the  storm  soon  burst  forth  in  all  its  fury,  howling  in 
a  terrific  manner.  It  appeared  that  the  nearer  was  the  approach 
of  that  great  struggle,  a  courage  full  of  exultation  took  posses- 
sion of  the  intrepid  Athlete  of  Christ. 

In  the  time  of  the  plague  at  Florence,  when  the  Father  was 
visited  by  Fra  Silvestro  Marufii,  and  one  of  the  community 
who  was  destined  to  die  with  him  at  the  stake,  showed  some 
symptoms  of  fear  of  infection,  Fra  Girolamo  said  to  him, 
"  A^Tiat  is  this  ?  Why  do  you  fear  ?  Do  you  not  know  what 
kind  of  death  is  reserved  for  us  ?  though  the  time  we  do  not 
know,  still  the  fact  we  know  well,  that  we  are  doomed  to  die." 

This  knowledge,  Burlamacchi  says,  was  communicated  to  him 
when  engaged  in  prayer,  by  an  angel,  who  seemed  to  him  to 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


319 


bind  his  members  with  ropes  and  chains  of  fire,  and  then  dis- 
appeared." * 

On  another  occasion,  preaching  in  the  palace  before  the  Sig- 
noria,  he  said,  "  This  festival  brings  strongly  to  my  mind  that  you 
will  provoke  the  anger  of  God  against  you ;  for  you  will  see 
the  time  when  those  who  are  innocent  shall  be  accused,  and  hy 
torments  made  to  confess  that  which  they  did  not  do,  and  thus 
will  be  punished  without  having  committed  any  crime.  And 
then  you  will  provoke  the  anger  of  God  against  you,  for  there 
is  nothing  so  much  provokes  the  anger  of  God  as  this  crime 
of  injustice." 

On  the  subject  of  the  odium  he  had  encountered  on  account  of 
his  efforts  with  the  French  sovereign  for  the  salvation  of  Florence 
and  her  citizens,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  preached  in  1496,  Fra 
Girolamo,  not  without  good  cause,  addi-essed  those  grave  re- 
proaches to  the  fickle  people  of  that  city.  "Oh  ungrateful 
Florence  !  Oh  people  ungrateful  towards  God  !  I  have  done 
for  you  what  I  would  not  have  done  for  my  brothers  in  the 
flesh.  For  them  I  have  refused  to  seek  the  favours  of  any  Prince, 
though  many  times  I  have  received  written  communications  from 
many  of  them  to  do  so,  which  are  still  in  my  possession.  For  you 
I  set  out  from  this  city  to  seek  the  King  of  France  ;  and  when 
I  found  myself  among  all  those  strangers  (of  his  Court),  it 
seemed  to  me  as  if  I  was  in  hell.  I  said  to  that  King  things 
which  you  never  would  have  dared  to  speak  to  him,  and  he  was 
appeased  not  by  me,  but  by  God,  and  I  can  now  declare,  because 
the  secret  was  made  known  to  me,  it  was  resolved  that  matters 
should  end  badly  with  you. 

....  "  That  which  I  effected  for  you,  oh  Florence,  has  created 
for  me  the  envy  of  a  great  number  of  persons  in  religion  and 
among  the  laity.  Populus  meus  quid  feci  tihi.  Oh  Florence, 
you  are  doing  that  which  I  will  yet  declare  to  you.  You  are 
doing  the  four  things  of  which  I  have  ah'eady  spoken  to  you. 
And,  finally,  to  be  convinced  that  I  seek  no  recompense  from 
you,  fix  me  to  a  cross  — cause  me  to  he  stoned — I  will  die  rejoicing 
and  contentJ^^ 

*  Burlamacclu,  p.  55*2. 


S20 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Well,  indeed,  migKt  Savonarola  say  to  the  Florentines,  "  My 
people,  what  have  I  done  to  you  ?"  And,  surely,  more  than  the 
ordinary  enlightenment  of  reason  Avas  in  this  man's  mind  when 
he  plainly  pointed  out,  in  1496,  the  doom  that  was  reserved  for 
him  at  the  hands  of  this  ungrateful  people  in  1498. 

In  1495,  on  the  night  of  Holy  Friday,  Fra  Girolamo  an- 
nounced in  a  sermon  that  the  conversion  of  the  Infidels  and  the 
reprobation  of  many  Christians  had  been  revealed  to  him  in  a 
vision.* 

It  has  been  objected  to  Fra  Girolamo's  predictions  in  general, 
that  some  of  them  not  having  been  accomplished,  all  must  be 
false  ;  and,  foremost  among  these  unaccomplished  prophecies  is 
the  prediction  declaring  the  conversion  of  the  Infidels  was  at 
hand. 

To  this  it  is  replied,  by  one  of  Savonarola's  advocates  (in 
INIiscellanea  Baluzii),  that  the  extensive  conversions  of  Infidels 
in  the  islands  of  the  Indian  seas  in  the  year  1500,  and  those 
generally  effected  by  St.  Francis  Xavier  in  the  East  Indies,  in 
such  vast  multitudes,  were  an  obvious  accomplishment  of  the 
prediction. 

In  the  following  passages,  from  another  sermon  preached  by 
Savonarola  in  1495,  we  have  a  fair  specimen  of  the  pulpit  elo- 
quence and  heroic  spiritual  zeal  of  the  true  monk  of  the  15th 
century : 

"  I  thank  Thee,  Lord,  that  Thou  hast  thought  me  worthy  to 
make  me  an  arrow  in  Thy  quiver,  and  to  make  me  in  sorrows 
and  in  troubles  like  to  Thee. 

"  So,  now,  come  forth,  thou  Satan  !  Awaken  thy  strength ; 
set  all  thy  engines  at  work  :  get  all  thy  Aveapons  ready  to  be 
used  against  me,  for  he  who  fears  not  death,  what  shall  he  fear 
beside  ? 

"  Hearken  to  my  words,  says  the  Evil  One  !  I  will  give  thee 
good  counsel — touch  not  the  places  that  have  been  left  sore  (by 
iniquity)  if  thou  wouldst  live  in  peace.    I  seek  not  thy  counsel 

*  Burlamacclii,  p.  546. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


and  thy  peace :  for  thy  peace  is  no  peace,  and  tliy  war  breaks 
not  my  peace."  * 

On  the  eleventh  day  of  October,  1495,  when  Fra  Girolamo 
recommenced  his  labours  in  the  pulpit,  after  abstaining  for  some 
time  from  preaching,  his  language  began  to  assume  a  more  de- 
termined character  of  opposition  to  the  Pope,  Alexander  the 
Sixth. 

"  Now  we  have  permitted  the  body  to  repose  a  little,  it  is  our 
intention,  in  the  first  place,  to  do  two  things.  One  purpose  is 
to  strive,  and  not  to  refi'ain  from  striving  until  death,  but  still 
to  conquer,  because  the  work  of  Chiist  must  always  conquer." 

In  another  sermon,  he  said :  "  If  I  w^ished  to  be  a  flatterer,  I 
should  not  to-day  be  in  Florence ;  and,  without  doubt,  I  should 
not  havo  my  mantle  torn,  and  I  should  know  well  how  to  avoid 
dangers,  I  should  also  know  how  to  flatter  ;  but  woe  to  me  if 
I  did  so.  Lord,  no ;  I  desire  not  those  things  ;  I  wish  not  for 
riches ;  I  desire  only  your  cross.  Lord,  let  me  be  persecuted. 
Lord,  I  ask  you  the  grace  not  to  die  in  my  bed,  but  that  of 
shedding  my  blood  as  you  did  for  me.  My  dear  little  children, 
doubt  not ;  be  strong  ;  the  Lord  will  send  you  help — qui  est 
benedictus  in  saecula."  * 

With  respect  to  revelations,  we  find  many  of  the  minor  pre- 
dictions of  Fra  Girolamo  noticed  by  writers  of  celebrity  both 
cotemporary  and  modern. 

On  one  occasion  Fra  Girolamo  wrote  to  Count  Galeotto  Pico 
Mirandula,  telling  him  that  he  had  but  a  short  time  to  live  ;  that 
certain  death  awaited  him,  and  heavy  misfortunes  were  impend- 
ing over  his  house ;  on  which  account  he  had  better  occupy 
himself  with  what  concerned  the  other  world,  if  he  wished  to 
escape  eternal  death.  The  son  (John  Francis  Pico,  author  of  the 
life  of  Savonarola,)  remarks,  that  his  father  was  then  in  his  fifty- 
fifth  year,  and  of  so  robust  a  constitution  that  he  might  have 
hoped  to  attain  extreme  old  age ;  nevertheless,  he  only  lived 
two  years  longer,  and  after  his  death,  a  bitter  feud  among  his 
sons  laid  waste  the  paternal  house  and  estates. 

*  Sermon  of  Savonarola,  preached  I7th  Feb.  1495. 
t  Hist,  de  Sav.  Carle,  p.  275. 

VOL.  I.  Y 


322 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM: 


All  these  stories  of  miracles,"  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  deserve 
consideration,  as  they  were  elicited  by  chance  from  numerous 
unprejudiced  sworn  witnesses  who  were  examined  by  judges, 
when  the  canonization  of  Savonarola  was  mooted ;  for  it  was  the 
strongest  wish  of  Pico  and  his  friends  to  obtain  Savonarola's 
canonization,  or  to  prove,  at  least,  that  he  deserved  it.  Thus,  a 
pious  writer  announced  him  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  heaven,  and 
declared  he  should  be  honoured  in  the  Church  under  the  three 
titles  of  teacher  of  catholic  truth,  of  a  martyr,  and  of  a  prophet. 
It  was  also  remarked,  that  Alexander  the  Sixth,  in  justifying 
himself,  had  said  to  a  Florentine,  '  It  was  your  people,  and  your 
priests,  who  delivered  him  up  to  me.'  As  for  him,  he  would 
willingly  place  Era  Girolamo  among  the  blessed.  This  Pope,  in 
truth,  meant  what  he  said ;  for  he  much  preferred  having  his 
enemy  among  the  blessed  in  heaven,  than  that  he  should  be 
alive  and  working  against  him  on  earth."* 

"  On  the  subject,"  continues  Hafe,  "  of  his  prophetic  power, 
it  may  be  remarked,  that  even  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament might  have  appeared  ambiguous  to  those  who  questioned 
them  with  a  bad  intention,  and  that  Savonarola  even  proved 
himself  a  prophet  in  his  providing  against  the  weakness  of  the 
flesh,  by  exhorting  his  auditors  frequently  from  the  pulpit  not 
to  believe  him,  if  ever  he  were  to  speak  in  contradiction  to  that 
which  at  any  other  time  he  had  declared  to  be  a  divine  com- 
mandment. Concerning  his  prophecies,  Pico  considers  them 
most  worthy  of  belief,  and  is  disposed  to  regard  the  impassioned 
impromptus  that  occur  in  Savonarola's  sermons  as  divine  inspi- 
rations. He  also  believes  the  miraculous  story  of  his  appari- 
tion having  been  seen  resplendent  in  the  dusk,  with  a  dove 
with  gold  and  silver  feathers  sitting  on  his  shoulder,  who 
appeared  to  whisper  something  in  his  ear.  Pico  has  given 
his  authority  for  this  anecdote.  He  had  requested  brother 
Silvestre  to  mention  to  him  if  he  could  state  something  super- 
natural in  confirmation  of   Savonarola's  sanctity,  who  then 

*  Hafe's  Neue  Proplieten. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


related  to  him  the  above  imitation  of  the  legend  of  Gregory  the 
Great :  he  professed  to  have  seen  more  than  once  this  vision  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  under  the  form  of  a  dove.  But  brother  Sil- 
vestre  was  a  sickly  visionary.  Of  miraculous  cures^  Pico  relates 
even  the  most  trivial."  * 


Hafe's  Nene  Propheten. 


324 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  TEACHING  AND  PREACHING  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

"  Pray  G-od  that  it  may  be  permitted  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
unbelievers. 

*'  But  we  commend  our  bark  to  God,  that  he  may  come  to  its  aid,  if  it 
should  strike  on  rocks." 

Sermon  of  Sav.  Lent,  1495. 

There  must  have  been  extraordinary  power  in  the  preaching 
of  Savonarola.  For  eight  years  the  enthusiasm  inspired  by 
his  pulpit  eloquence  continued  unabated  and  undiminished  in 
Florence.  His  audiences  were  frequently  moved  by  it  to  tears 
— the  hardest  hearts  were  softened  by  it.  The  literate  and  the 
unlearned  were  alike  affected  by  his  preaching,  and  among  the 
vast  numbers  of  conversions  effected  by  it,  were  many  of  the 
first  scholars  and  artists  of  Italy. 

"  The  new  style  of  preaching,"  which  gave  such  offence  to 
the  enemies  of  the  father,  to  the  Franciscans  of  Florence,  to  the 
Medici,  and  to  the  coui't  of  Rome,  was  one  which  consisted  in 
the  application  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  all  spii'itual  wants 
and  disorders  of  the  time :  an  impassioned  eloquence  of  the 
highest  order  of  oratory,  unprepared,  unpremeditated,  abound- 
ing in  poetic  imagery,  and  producing,  wdthout  any  apparent 
effort,  the  most  striking  effects  on  the  imaginations  and  under- 
standing of  his  hearers. 

Savonarola  had  departed  from  the  old  routine  practice  of  the 
Italian  pulpit,  the  constant  preaching  of  the  panegyrics  of  saints. 
He  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  people  of  Florence,  in  a  language 
that  showed  he  was  filled  with  its  spirit — that  a  mission  had  been 
given  to  him  to  labour  to  save  souls — that  he  was  faithful  to 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


325 


it ;  and  that  with  all  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Christy  with  all  his 
sanctity  and  terrible  energy  in  reprehending  vice,  he  was  a 
man  full  of  compassion  and  affectionate  kindness  for  his  fellow- 
men,  sympathising  with  all  their  sufferings  and  misfortunes,  and 
dealing  with  their  miseries  as  a  father  would  with  those  of  his 
own  children. 

Mr.  Roscoe  says  that  the  Divine  Word  from  the  lips  of 
Savonarola  descended  not  amongst  the  audience  like  the  dews 
of  heaven :  it  was  the  piercing  hail,  the  destroying  sword, 
the  herald  of  destruction."  "  But  how  different,"  says  Dr. 
O'Connor,  are  the  accounts  of  all  the  coeval  writers,  who 
unanimously  state  that  his  eloquence  was  wonderful."*  "  In 
sacris  concionibus  admirabili  facundia  valuit,"  says  Jovius,  in 
his  Elogiae,  c.  xlii.  p.  99.    He  repeats  this  in  his  Life  of  Leo.  X., 

Uomo  di  maravigliosa  eloquenza,"  &c.,  L.  i.  fol.  99,  4to., 
Venetia,  1561.  Bayle  (with  all  his  abuse)  says,  "  C'est  un 
fait  constant  qu'il  se  distingua  d'une  facon  extraordinaire  par 
I'austerite  de  sa  vie,  et  par  la  fervour  eloquente  avec  la  quelle 
il  prechoit  centre  les  mauvaises  mceurs." 

The  style,  manner,  and  matter  of  Savonarola's  preaching 
were  apostolic.    He  spoke  in  the  pulpit  like  one  having  authority. 

If  we  read  the  following  four  verses  from  the  inspired  writ- 
ings, and  bear  them  in  mind  when  we  are  turning  our  atten- 
tion to  the  succeeding  extracts  from  Savonarola's  sermons,  we 
must  be  reminded  of  the  authoritative  tone  and  confidence  of 
the  great  Florentine  preacher. 

"  Speak  to  Zorobadel,  the  son  of  Salathiel,  the  governor  of 
Juda,  and  to  Jesus,  the  son  of  Josedec,  the  high  priest,  and  to 
the  rest  of  the  people,  saying  : 

"  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw  this  house  in  its  first  glory  ? 
and  how  do  you  see  it  now  ?  is  it  not,  in  comparison  to  that,  as 
nothing  in  your  eyes  ? . . . . 

And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  a  second  time  to  Aggeus, 
saying,  Speak  to  Zorobadel,  the  governor  of  Juda,  saying : 

"  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  will  take  thee,  O 
*  Columbanus,  No.  vii.  Eer.  C.  O.  Connor,  P.D. 


326 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Zorobadel,  the  son  of  Salathiel,  my  servant,  saitli  the  Lord,  and 
will  make  thee  as  a  signet,  for  I  have  chosen  thee,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts."— Aggens  ii.  21,  22,  24. 

Eio, inhis  admirable  work,"  La  Poesie  enl'Ai't,"  thus  speaks 
of  the  preaching  of  Savonarola  : 

"  His  first  sermons  (in  Florence,  after  he  was  appointed  prior) 
were  a  series  of  discourses,  expounding,  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
excite  alarm,  certain  passages  in  the  Apocalypse,  from  which 
he  deduced,  with  the  tone  and  authority  of  a  prophet,  the  ap- 
proach of  a  great  crisis  for  the  chiuxh  of  God,  and  unheard-of 
tribulations  for  the  people,  who  had  not  sought  in  penance  a 
shelter  from  his  wrath.  The  invasion  of  the  French  in  Italy, 
and  the  occupation  of  Florence  by  a  foreign  kmg,  have  verified 
the  predictions  which  specially  concerned  the  Florentines,  and 
afibrded  to  Savonarola  an  opportunity  to  appear  as  their  libe- 
rator. Gratitude  and  veneration  for  one  who  ax^peared  to  them 
the  envoy  of  God,  mingled  with  the  enthusiasm  already  excited 
for  the  preacher;  and  the  effect  of  all  these  united  sentiments 
was  so  powerful,  and  so  contagious  with  all  classes  of  the  people, 
that  in  reading  of  those  times,  one  believes  himself  carried  back 
to  the  most  glorious  ages  of  the  primitive  church.  In  order  to 
have  their  share  of  that  miraculous  manna  which  fell  so  abun- 
dantly from  heaven,  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  villages 
and  hamlets  left  theii'  dwellings,  and  the  rustic  mountaineers 
descended  the  sides  of  the  Apennines  to  dii'ect  their  steps  to 
Florence,  whither  they  were  hurried  in  the  time  of  pilgrimage 
every  morning,  when  the  gates  were  open,  at  the  da^Ti  of  day, 
and  where  they  were  received  with  brotherly  charity  (by  those 
of  the  citizens  who  were  followers  of  Fra  Girolamo). 

"  The  duties  of  Christian  hospitality  were  performed ;  the 
strangers  were  accosted  in  the  streets  as  brothers,  even  before 
their  names  were  known,  and  there  was  one  of  those  pious 
citizens  who  received  into  his  house  even  as  many  as  forty  of 
them  at  a  time. 

"  TVTien  we  reflect  that  that  enthusiasm  was  maintained  for 
some  successive  years,  that  Fra  Girolamo  found  it  necessary  to 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


327 


preach  separately  to  men,  women,  and  children,  from  the  im- 
possibility of  admitting  them  all  into  the  cathedral,  that  this 
unheard-of  success  was  obtained  in  the  midst  of  cries  of  anger 
from  the  faction  of  the  tepidi,  the  lukewarm,  who  denounced 
him  daily  at  the  court  of  Rome,  and  openly  threatened  him 
with  the  scaffold,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  discover  what  in  Savonarola 
most  clamis  our  admiration — whether  it  be  his  inexhaustible 
fertility  as  an  evangelical  orator,  or  the  ease  with  which  he 
lifted  up  his  soul  above  the  region  of  popular  tumult,  or  his 
truly  supernatural  confidence  in  assistance  from  a  source  that 
could  not  fail  him.*" 

In  speaking  of  his  sermons.  Dr.  Hafe  says :  "  Savonarola  has 
left  behind  him  numerous  writings,  relating  j)rincipally  to  the 
occurrences  and  difficulties  of  his  office ;  fi-om  the  most  trifling 
of  these  compositions  it  is  easy  to  recognise  the  operations  of  a 
great  genius,  especially  in  those  not  destined  for  publication, 
even  in  the  most  trivial  sentences  of  his  sermons  and  letters. 
These  are  written  partly  in  Latin,  a  language  which  never  be- 
came quite  extinct  in  Italy,  partly  in  the  common  language  of 
the  ]Deople,  and  the  remamder  in  the  pure  Italian  of  Dante  and 
Petrarch. 

"  Of  the  sermons  he  himself  only  prepared  a  selection  for 
printing,  the  rest  were  transcribed  and  printed  by  his  admirers. 
He  was  not  without  participating  in  the  advantages  of  a  learned 
education ;  for  his  order  from  the  time  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas 
was  renowned  for  learning.  He  divested  himself,  however,  in 
his  sermons  of  scholastic  formula  and  legendary  illusions,  not 
uninfluenced  at  the  same  time  by  the  civilized  tone  of  Florence, 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  formal,  world-pleasing  manner  of 
preaching  of  his  cotemporaries,  who  enriched  themselves  from 
Cicero  and  Virgil,  Dante  and  Petrarch.  His  sermons  were 
di'awn  from  the  pure  fountain  of  the  Scriptures,  and  from  the 
human  heart;  he  also  boldly  grasped  whatever  was  adapted 
from  worldly  life,  without  on  that  account  avoiding  elaborate 
and  extensive  allegories.  He  has  in  this  way  edified  his  audi- 
tors during  a  whole  Lent,  with  an  account  of  the  mysteries  of 
*  Eio,  La  Poesie  en  I'Art. 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  building  of  Noah's  ark.  *  ^Yhen  I  preached,'  he  says,  *  of 
the  subtle  teachings  of  human  wisdom,  I  remarked  impatience 
depicted  on  the  countenances  not  merely  of  the  uneducated,  but 
even  more  particularly  on  those  of  the  most  cultivated  auditors  ; 
but  when  I  enlarged  on  the  majesty  of  Holy  Writ,  while  I 
either  explained^  its  various  meanings,  or  related  its  narratives, 
all  eyes  were  turned  towards  me  with  admiring  attention,  fixed 
as  those  of  statues.' 

"  Though  he  compared  the  preachers  of  his  time  to  the  singers 
and  musical  performers  who  gave  expression  to  all  kinds  of 
mournful  sounds  before  the  house  of  the  chief  of  the  Synagogue, 
whose  daughter  had  died,  without  being  able  to  restore  life  to 
the  dead  body,  yet  he  fully  comprehended  what  the  voice, 
vivified  by  the  power  of  genius  and  the  overpowering  pressure 
of  inspired  conviction,  was  capable  of  performing ;  for,  said  he, 
*  Although  there  is  an  immense  preponderance  of  those  to  whom 
my  teachings  and  prophecies  are  a  mockery,  in  proportion  to 
the  believers  in  them,  yet  in  Florence  itself  the  proportion  is 
reversed ;  yes,  among  my  auditors  there  is  scarcely  one  who 
does  not  believe  in  me. '  "* 

By  the  concluding  passages  of  one  of  those  sermons  of  Savo- 
narola, we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  insufficiency  of  language 
to  express  the  meaning  of  that  divine  love  which  is  infused  into 
the  heart,  by  concentrating  all  its  thoughts  in  God,  in  spiritual 
contemplative  prayer : 

"  Soul,  what  art  thou  doing  ?  Heart,  what  art  thou  thinking 
on  ?  Tongue,  why  hast  thou  become  silent  ?  TVTiere  now  are 
my  elevated  conceptions  ?  Where  are  my  sweet  contempla- 
tions ?  Where  are  my  words  ?  I  feel  lost — I  have  wandered — 
I  have  wholly  failed.  I  would  declare  my  thoughts,  and  have 
not  strength ;  I  would  speak,  and  have  no  voice ;  I  would 
express  my  ideas,  but  my  mind  obeys  me  not.  Oh,  ungrateful 
heart !  Oh,  disobedient  mind !  Why  dost  thou  not  fulfil  my 
desire?  Open  thine  eyes,  and  look  what  a  sad  image  is  this 
day  placed  before  thee.  "What  heart  is  not  afraid ;  what  mind 
is  not  confounded ;  what  cruel  man  becomes  not  pitiful ;  what 
*  Neue  Propheten,  p.  305. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


3^9 


eye  can  refrain  from  tears  ?  Oh,  pity  !  oh,  charity  !  oh,  infinite 
love  !  I  have  grievously  sinned,  and  thou,  Jesus,  wert  the  suf- 
ferer. I  have  been  thine  enemy,  and  thou,  Jesus,  for  my  sake 
wert  nailed  to  the  cross." 

The  earliest  sermon  of  Savonarola  which  has  reached  oiu' 
times,  is  one  of  a  series  of  discourses  which  he  preached  in 
Brescia,  in  1484,  on  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  in 
which  he  first  announced  the  calamities  that  menaced  Italy. 
In  this  sermon,  after  reproving  the  vices  of  the  people,  he  as- 
sailed those  of  the  clergy,  and  especially  the  dignitaries  of  the 
Church  of  Home.  "  Popes,"  he  says,  "  have  attained,  through 
the  most  shameful  simony  and  subtlety,  the  highest  priestly  dig- 
nities, and  even  then,  when  seated  in  the  holy  chaii-,  surrender 
themselves  to  a  shamefully  voluptuous  life  and  an  insatiable 
avarice.  The  cardinals  and  bishops  follow  theu'  example.  No 
discipline,  no  fear  of  God  is  in  them.  Many  believe  in  no  God. 
The  chastity  of  the  cloister  is  slain,  and  they  who  should  serve 
God  with  holy  zeal  have  become  cold  or  lukewarm.  The  princes 
openly  exercise  tyranny.  Their  subjects  encoui'age  them  in 
theu*  evil  propensities,  their  robberies,  theu'  adidteries,  their 
sacrileges.  But,  after  the  corrupted  human  race  has  abused 
for  so  many  centuries  the  long-sufifering  of  God,  then  at  last 
the  justice  of  God  appears,  demanding  that  the  rulers  of  the 
people,  who  with  base  examples  corrupt  all  the  rest,  should  be 
brought  to  hea\*y  punishment,  and  that  the  people  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  now  dwelling  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  should  be 
made  partakers  of  the  light."* 

About  1490  or  1491  Savonarola  preached  a  series  of  sermons, 
nineteen  in  number,  in  the  Duomo  of  Florence,  on  the  First 
Epistle  of  St.  John;  the  most  spiritual  and  admirable  for  doc- 
trine and  unction,  perhaps,  of  all  the  discourses  of  Savonarola. 

And  in  1493,  in  Advent,  he  preached  twenty-five  sermons  on 
the  Psalm  "  Quam  Bonus  Israel  Deus,"  &c.,  in  the  church  of 
St.  Maria  del  Fiore  in  the  same  city,  and  of  the  same  character, 
as  to  excellence  of  doctrine  and  of  Christian  eloquence,  as  the 
former  series. 

*  Ap.  Eng.  Biojsj.  of  Sav. 


330 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Both  these  collections  were  re-published  in  Florence,  in  1846, 
in  1  vol.  8vo.,  the  first  of  an  intended  series  of  his  works.  The 
volume  has  been  suppressed,  and  the  work  discontinued.  From 
a  copy  in  my  possession,  the  following  extracts  are  taken  from 
the  first  series  of  sermons  preached  in  the  Duomo  from  the  text 
of  St.  John. 

"  Ecce  magi  ah  oriente,'^  Sfc. — Matt.  ii. 

Behold  the  Lord  Jesus  !  He  is  not  to-day  an  infant  in  the 
manger,  but  great  in  majesty  in  heaven.  He  has  taught;  He 
has  done  miracles ;  He  has  been  crucified,  and  has  risen  from  the 
dead.  He  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  ;  He  has  sent 
His  Holy  Spirit  into  the  world ;  He  has  sent  the  Apostles ;  He 
has  subjugated  the  nations,  and  his  Yicar  has  accepted  the  em- 
pire of  E-ome ;  and  behold,  now  are  all  things  prepared ;  and  he 
has  sent  his  servants  forth,  saying.  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my 
banquet,  my  bullock,  and  the  fatted  animals  are  killed,  and  all 
things  are  prepared,  come  to  the  wedding  feast.  Behold,  the 
doors  of  heaven  are  opened,  and  the  paths  have  been  trod  of  old ; 
and  the  apostles  have  walked  in  them,  and  the  confessors,  and 
the  holy  virgins,  and  all  the  fathers.  Come  then  to  the  eternal 
espousals ! 

"  But  you.  Christian  born,  and  nurtured  among  Catholics,  who 
have  been  baptized  and  nourished  with  the  gospel,  fortified  with 
many  sacraments,  and  strengthened  in  the  faith  with  many  ser- 
mons ;  now,  when  every  idolatry  is  destroyed,  when  light  is 
now  shed  over  the  word,  and  the  dark  clouds  scattered,  that  you, 
in  the  midst  (of  the  influences)  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  sur- 
rounded by  brightness  of  the  eternal  light,  how  is  it  I  say,  that 
you  do  not  come  to  adore  Jesus,  with  a  great  faith,  full  of  fervour  ? 

You  have  not  to  come  from  the  east  to  adore  him,  yet  it  is  a 
trouble  to  you  to  come  to  him  from  a  little  distance.  You  can- 
not leave  your  riches,  you  cannot  endure  the  toil  (of  seeking  him), 
you  are  fearful  of  danger.  But  you  have  not  to  go  Jerusalem 
to  seek  him.  Now  have  we  the  kingdom  of  heaven  everywhere ; 
but  you  have  grown  indolent,  and  all  fatigue  is  disagreeable  to 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


331 


you.  You  are  ashamed  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  Chi'ist,  who 
now  reigns  m  heaven. 

"  You  do  not  esteem  it  a  great  matter  to  serve  Him — quite  the 
contrary ;  and  your  works  show  that  you  are  not  a  Christian. 
You  have  already  broken  youi*  baptismal  vows  ;  you  have  trodden 
the  blood  of  Chi'ist  under  foot ;  you  are  a  rebel  to  his  law  ;  and 
yoiu'  promises  (of  allegiance  to  it)  serve  for  nothing. 

"  How  have  you  renounced  the  de^dl  and  his  pomps,  you,  who 
every  day  do  his  works  !  you  do  not  attend  to  the  laws  of 
Christ,  but  to  the  literature  of  the  Gentiles.  Behold  the  Magi 
have  abandoned  paganism  and  come  to  Christ,  and  you,  having 
abandoned  Christ,  run  to  paganism.  You  have  left  the  manna 
and  the  bread  of  angels,  and  you  have  sought  to  satiate  yoiu' 
appetite  with  the  food  that  is  fit  for  swine.  Every  day  avarice 
augments,  and  the  vortex  of  usury  is  enlarged.  Luxury  has 
contaminated  everything ;  pride  ascends  even  to  the  clouds  ; 
blasphemies  pierce  the  ears  of  heaven,  and  scoffing  takes  place 
in  the  very  face  of  God.  You  (who  act  thus)  are  of  the  devil, 
who  is  your  father,  and  you  seek  to  do  the  will  of  your  father. 
Behold  those  who  are  worse  than  the  Jews,  and  yet  to  us  belong 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  which  speak  against  them ....  Many  are 
the  blind  who  say  our  times  are  more  felicitous  than  the  past 
ages,  but  I  think  if  the  Holy  Scriptiu'es  are  true,  our  lives  are 
not  only  not  like  those  of  our  fathers  of  former  times,  but  they 
are  at  variance  with  them ....  Cast  your  eyes  on  Rome,  which 
is  the  chief  city  of  the  world,  and  lower  your  regards  to  all  her 
members,  and  lo  !  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  no  sanity  is  there. 

*'We  are  in  the  midst  of  Christians,  we  converse  T^^ith  Christians, 
but  they  are  not  Christians,  who  are  so  only  in  name  ;  far  better 
would  it  be  in  the  midst  of  pagans  ....  For  now  men  have  be- 
come lovers  of  themselves ;  covetous,  haughty,  proud,  profane, 
disobedient  to  father  and  mother,  ungrateful,  given  to  ribaldry, 
without  love,  without  peace,  censorious,  incontinent,  spiteful, 
without  benignity,  treacherous  persons,  deceivers,  puffed  up. 


332 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


lovers  of  voluptuousness  more  than  of  God,  who  have  the  form 
of  righteousness y  but  who  deny  the  value  of  it.^'* 

On  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the  time. 

Exposition  of  the  psabn  '^Quam  Bonus  Israel  Deus,^^  ^c, 

"  There  are  questions  which  are  of  no  utility  to  an  audience, 
but  which  rather  are  productive  of  ridicule  and  contention. 
The  good  teacher  of  the  people  should  always  aim  at  utility,  and  fly 
from  unprofitable  disputations ;  but  now  it  is  altogether  the  reverse. 
Those  who  write  and  preach,  propose  only  questions  and  sub- 
tleties, and  curious  speculations,  which  gratify  a  little  the  ear 
of  the  hearers,  but  to  the  sick  soul  do  no  good ;  do  not  move  it 
to  contrition,  do  not  enlighten  it  on  matters  necessary  to  salva- 
tion, do  not  heal  the  wounds  inflicted  by  sin,  do  not  resuscitate 
it  from  death.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  doctors  of  the  church, 
and  the  preachers  of  our  times,  are  like  the  musicians  and  the 
singers  who  were  in  the  house  of  the  Master  of  the  Synagogue, 
whose  daughter  was  lying  dead,  who  sung  and  played  plaintive, 
mournful  airs,  and  caused  lugubrious  sounds  to  be  heard,  in 
order  to  incite  people  more  to  express  lamentation,  but  they  did 
not  resuscitate  the  dead  girl.  Thus  are  the  doctors  and  preachers 
of  our  times.  They  are  continually  in  the  presence  of  souls 
without  life,  and  they  imagine  they  can  resuscitate  them  alone 
with  their  questions  and  subtleties,  and  beautiful  similitudes  and 
their  authorities ; — Aristotle,  Vii'gil,  Ovid  and  others,  in  the 
excellent  strains  of  Dante  and  Petrarca,  and  they  have  no  success. 
Oh,  what  lugubrious  death-songs  do  they  make,  and  yet  not 
only  the  dead  are  not  resuscitated,  but  very  often  the  living  soul 
is  slain.  But  our  Saviour  entering  the  house  of  the  Master  of 
the  Synagogue,  and  seeing  those  musical  performers  and  the 
tumultuous  crowd,  immediately  he  sent  them  forth,  and  with 
his  disciples  resuscitated  the  dead  

"  But  not  like  those  (fathers  of  the  church  of  yore)  are  the 
modern  doctors  and  theologians,  who  have  great  genius,  and 
are  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  '  videns  Dominum.^  They  ought  to 

*  Sermon  the  I7th  of  Savonarola,  on  Ist  Epist.  of  St.  John,  ap.  Prediche 
di  Era  Gir.  Savonarola,  8vo.  Fir.  1845,  tome  unico,  p.  167,  et  seq. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


333 


know  and  to  fear  God,  and  yet  they  have  the  mtellect  obscure,  and 
full  of  falsity  ;  and  therefore  it  is  written,  Israel  autem  mi  non 
intellexit.  And  why  have  they  not  heard  me,  says  God,  nor 
known  me  ?  But  they  have  been  the  ruin  of  my  people,  because 
they  did  not  know  how  to  teach  the  way  of  truth,  but  rather 
they  praised  their  flocks,  and  said.  Oh  my  people,  how  much 
good  have  I  not  done  for  you !  and  to  what  an  extent  are  you 
devout  ?  You  have  many  relics,  many  hospitals,  many  monas- 
teries ;  you  make  many  processions,  and  many  feasts.  Your 
people  then  have  to  return  thanks  to  God.  I  have  never  found 
a  city  so  very  well  ordered  in  matters  appertaining  to  the  divine 
worship,  so  given  to  charity  elsewhere.  And  thus,  alas  !  do 
they  go  about  praising  and  deceiving  the  people.  Populi  mens 
qui  te  heatum  dicunt  ipsi  te  decipiunt.  They  do  not  teach  you 
how  to  live,  how  you  ought  to  suffer  trials  and  crosses  with 
patience ;  they  do  not  take  away  the  doubts  that  sometimes 
spring  up  in  your  minds,  respecting  the  providence  of  God, 
when  they  see  the  good  suffer  sorrows,  and  the  wicked  exalted, 
because  they  do  not  find  in  their  books,  devoid  of  spiritual  in- 
fluences, nor  in  theii'  science  or  their  philosophy,  the  determina- 
tion and  resolution  of  questions  and  difficulties  of  this  kind.".  .  * 

In  the  15th  sermon  on  the  psabn"  Quam  Bonus  Israel  Deus," 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  parables  of  Savonarola  is  to 
be  found,  in  which  the  imagery,  for  its  sublimity,  is  hardly  ex- 
ceeded by  any  similar  poetic  picture  of  Dante.  Veri  autem 
adoratores  adorahant  in  spiritu  et  veritate  " 

"  Considering,  most  beloved  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  felicity  of 
the  Saints  who  have  preceded  us,  and  bewailing  the  sight  of  the 
dissipation  of  every  Christian  principle,  and  of  men  being  led 
away  from  the  old  paths  of  our  fathers,  behold  there  appeared 
before  my  eyes  a  beautiful  woman,  of  a  venerable  and  a  gracious 
aspect. 

"And  I  said  to  her,  '^Tio  are  you,  who  thus  unexpectedly 
appear  before  me  ? '  And  she  answered,  '  Ego  mater  pulchrce 
dilectionis,  timoris,  agnitionis  et  Sanctce  spei.^  Then  I  took  confi- 
*  Sermon  the  7tli  of  Sav.  on  the  Psalm    Quam  bonus." — lb.  pp.  271,  273. 


334 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


dence,  and  said,  '  Tell  me,  O  Madonna,  (the  incarnate  wisdom, 
sapienzia  incarnatOy)  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  the  Christian 
people  no  longer  can  endure  the  burden  of  the  mild  law  of 
Christ,  the  light  and  easy  yoke  of  charity  and  love,  as  the  saints 
of  old  did  ? '  '  Hear  the  reason,'  she  replied ;  '  Quia  puer  est  et 
non  hahet  vires.  The  Christian  people  to-day  may  be  likened 
to  a  child  which  has  not  strength  to  bear  without  repining  the 
smallest  burden.'  '  Then,'  said  I,  ^  how  am  I  to  do,  that  I  may 
have  sufficient  force  to  bear  it,  and  that  it  may  seem  light  to 
me  ? '  She  answered,  ^  I  will  teach  you — Pone  me  ut  signacu- 
lum  super  cor  tuum,  et  ut  sigillum  super  brachium  tuum.  This 
will  be  the  great  strength  of  a  people.' 

"  And  when  she  thus  spoke  to  me,  I  saw  suddenly  approach 
me  Death,  armed  Avith  his  scythe ;  and  the  sight  of  him  caused 
me  great  terror.  And,  with  daring  boldness,  he  said,  *  I  am 
stronger  than  that  sign  (you  were  told  to  place  on  your  heart, 
and  as  a  seal  on  your  arm),  for  no  human  being  ever  has  been 
able  to  resist  my  power,  or  offer  any  resistance  to  it.  With  this 
scythe  I  have  cut  down  all  on  earth  who  came  before  me,  popes, 
emperors,  and  kings,  and  no  one  has  overcome  me,  so  be  on 
your  guard  that  you  have  not  been  deluded  with  mere  words.' 

"  I  felt  somewhat  astounded,  amazed  as  it  were,  at  these 
words ;  but  the  lady  (she  the  mother  of  fair  love)  said  to  me, 
'  Fortis  est  ut  mors  dilectio/  and  instantly  Death  departed. 

No  sooner  were  the  words  spoken,  than  Satan,  in  form  and 
stature  of  stupendous  and  appalling  size  and  aspect,  stood  before 
me  and  said,  '  I  am  the  strongest  of  all  powers ;  for  of  me  it  is 
written,  JVon  est  potestas  in  terra  quoe  ei  comparetur.  So  suffer 
not  yourself  to  be  deceived  by  others.  I  have  caused  many 
saints  to  fall,  and,  among  the  rest,  your  first  father  Adam,  who 
was  more  perfect  and  of  greater  virtue  than  all  the  others.' 

"  Speedily  that  lady,  most  worthy  of  veneration,  encouragingly 
said  to  me,  ^  Fear  him  not — Nam  dura  sicut  infer nus  cBmulatio.^ 

Then  came  a  third  apparition,  a  body  of  fire  like  unto  a 
great  furnace,  and  it  appeared  as  if  it  was  there,  to  burn  me. 
And  I  heard  a  great  voice  issue  out  of  that  furnace  and  fire. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


335 


amidst  the  Rames,  ssLjing,  '  JSgo  for tissima  consumens  omnia.  I 
am  most  potent,  and  I  consume  all  things.  I  have  burned 
cities  and  castles  in  great  numbers  ;  I  have  consumed  multitudes 
of  men,  which  (ravages)  if  you  only  knew,  you  would  be  less 
confident  in  the  power  of  this  protectress.' 

"  I  stood  rapt  in  wonder,  and  I  said,  '  TVhat  does  all  this 
mean  V  Then  did  the  lady  take  me  by  the  arm  and  by  the  hand, 
and,  smiling,  turning  towards  the  body  of  fire,  she  said,  ^  Lam- 
pades  ejus  ut  lampades  ignis  atque  jiammorum.^  These  words 
having  been  spoken,  I  perceived  a  great  stir  and  a  sound  of 
rushing  waters,  as  of  a  vast  impetuous  river  when  the 
streams  come  down  in  rapid  torrents  from  the  mountains,  and 
I  heard  a  voice  from  the  midst  of  the  waters,  which  said  to  me, 
'  We  have  overwhelmed  cities  and  brought  down  mountains, 
and  we  have  no  dread  of  armies,  and  therefore  you  are  deceived 
if  you  think  that  a  woman's  aid  can  serve  to  liberate  you  from 
our  hands.' 

"  '  Oh,  mother  and  queen ! '  I  exclaimed,  '^answer  for  me ;'  and 
instantly,  before  she  could  respond,  I  heard  a  loud  tumultuous 
noise  and  great  booming  sounds,  such  as  those  which  we  hear 
when  the  sea  is  lashed  by  tempests ;  and  there  came  forth  a  most 
terrible  voice,  and  spoke  thus  to  me  :  ^  I  am  the  sea  which  has 
swallowed  up  numberless  ships  and  submerged  innumerable 
people,  and  once  overspread  even  the  wide  world,  and  no  one 
can  stand  against  the  power  of  the  Devil ;  and  yet  you  confide 
in  the  vain  words  of  a  woman.'  Then  encouragingly  ^did  this 
lady  speak  to  me,  and,  directing  her  words  against  the  sea  and 
against  the  rivers,  she  said,  '  Aquce  multce  non  potuerunt  extin- 
guere  charitatem,  neque  fiumina  ohruent  illum.^  At  these  words 
I  was  much  reassured. 

"  And  then^  behold,  the  world  appeared  before  me  with  all 
the  precious  and  desirable  things,  and  all  the  pleasures  that 
could  be  imagined  here  below.  In  one  place  there  seemed  to 
me  songs  and  most  sweet  sounds  of  music ;  in  another,  children 
exquisitely  beautiful ;  elsewhere,  tables  most  sumptuously  laid 
out  with  a  variety  of  viands  and  wines  ;   here,  apartments. 


336 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


magnificently  adorned ;  there,  were  seen  royal  sceptres,  imperial 
crowns,  and  papal  mitres.  At  the  sight  of  these  things  I  felt 
myself  somewhat  encouraged  and  drawn  forcibly  towards  them, 
and  chiefly  when  I  heard  a  voice  uttering  these  words,  '  Hac 
omnia  tihi  dabo  si  cadtns  adoraveris  me;  and  another,  which 
said,  ^  Omnia  traho  ad  me  ipsum.' 

'^^This  lady  (the  mother  of  fair  love),  fearing  that  I  might  yield 
to  the  temptation  of  such  delights,  said  to  me,  "Be  resolute,!  have 
better  things  to  offer  you ;  JVam  si  dedent  homo  omnem  sub- 
stanstiam  domus  sues  per  dilectionem  quasi  nihil  despiciet  earn.' 
Thus  it  is,  my  brethren,  this  love  and  this  charity  (which  I  have 
to  propose  to  you)  are  great  gifts,  and  far  more  precious  than 
all  earthly  and  material  goods,  and  nothing  can  prevail  against 
them,  as  you  shall  see.  For  the  due  understanding  of  this  parable, 
questo  parabola,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  it  is  in  the  intel- 
lectual part,  as  our  experience  shews  (that  such  impressions  are 
made),  when  one  understands  anything,  and  it  occasions  in  the 
intellect  of  the  person  a  certain  impression  of  the  similitude  of 
the  thing  understood,  and  in  a  like  manner,  in  the  imagination 
remains  the  similitude  of  the  thing  imagined.  .  . . 

"In  the  love  then  of  Jesus  Christ  is  that  impression  or  simili- 
tude (which  has  been  referred  to),  and  not  only  in  the  intellect, 
but  in  the  will  or  desire,  which  if  it  be  naturally  affected,  pro- 
duces much  sensible  emotion,  but  if  supernaturally  by  grace, 
oh  then  the  soul  is  effectually  moved  by  it ! 

"For  the  supernatural  light  which  impresses  Christ  in  the 
understanding,  vehemently  draws  to  it  the  will  or  desire,  for  it 
shews  the  Saviour  to  the  understanding,  by  some  medium  of 
ineffable  suavity,  which  the  natural  light  cannot  present  it  in 
(to  the  intellect).  And  the  more  the  desire  is  thus  acted  on,  the 
more  is  it  animated  by  this  supernatural  charity."* 

It  cannot  fail  to  strike  every  reader  of  the  works  of  Ascetic 

writers,  how  the  denunciation  of  universal  iniquity  becomes  a 

ruling  passion,  how  a  conviction   of  impending  judgments 

seems   to   get   possession    of  the   minds   of    moralists  and 

*  Sermon  of  Savonarola  on  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  14th  of  the 
series  on  the  Psalm"  Quam  Bonus ''•^Ihidi.  p.  421,  etseq. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


the  evils  of  their  times  so  entirely  absorb  their  attention,  that 
they  generalise  calamities,  and  are  apt  to  become  forgetful  of 
many  exceptions,  to  the  rnle  of  prevailing  degeneracy  and 
corruption. 

In  the  spirit  of  Jeremiah,  their  lamentations  are  poured  forth 
continuously;  but  without  derogating  from  the  sanctity  or  doubting 
the  sincerity  of  Gildas,  or  Fra  Girolamo,  it  may  be  permitted 
to  doubt  if  all  religion  had  utterly  perished  in  England,  in 
the  days  of  Gildas ;  if  all  its  ministers,  Avith  the  exception  of 
the  mourner,"  had  become  faithless  and  unjirofitable  servants 
of  Christ,  and  if  the  same  lamentable  results  had  taken  place  in 
Italy,  some  centuries  later,  in  the  days  of  Savonarola,  though  it 
is  very  certain  at  both  epochs,  in  both  countries,  the  calamities 
of  the  Church  were  numerous  and  terrible. 

But  in  judging  of  the  events  recorded  in  history,  we  have  to 
consider  not  only  the  fair  intentions  of  the  writer  towards  truth, 
but  the  style  of  his  composition,  and  his  mode  of  viewing  par- 
ticular subjects  in  which  he  takes  a  deep  interest,  and  the 
medium  through  which  he  looks  at  them. 

This  observation  may  apply  to  the  following  extract  from  the 
23rd  sermon  of  the  series  of  expositions  of  the  psalm  Quam 
Sonus,  wherein  he  descants  on  "  the  destruction  of  the  Chris- 
tian people,  by  the  example  of  bad  rulers  of  the  Church,"  and 
the  decay  of  spirituality  in  the  service  of  religion. 

"  Now  there  is  one  thing  only,  in  which  great  delight  is 
taken  in  the  temple  of  religion.  The  great  anxiety  is,  that  it 
should  be  all  painted  and  gilded ;  thus,  our  churches  have  ex- 
terior things,  many  fine  ceremonies  in  the  solemnization  of 
ecclesiastical  offices,  with  magnificent  adornments  for  the  altars 
and  hangings  for  the  walls,  candelabra  of  gold  and  silver,  so 
many  costly  chalices,  and  ciboriums.  You  behold  there  those 
great  prelates  with  fine  mitres,  adorned  with  gold  and  precious 
gems,  on  their  heads,  with  crosiers  of  silver.  You  behold  them 
with  brocaded  vestments  at  the  altar,  singing  our  beautiful  ves- 
pers and  our  high  masses,  adagio,  with  so  many  imposing  cere- 
monies, organs  and  numerous  singers,  that  your  senses  are 

VOL.   I.  z 


338 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


astounded ;  and  they  seem  to  you  men  of  great  gravity  and  sanc- 
timony, and  you  do  not  believe  they  can  err,  but  that  which  they 
say  and  do,  is  to  be  observed  as  the  precepts  of  the  gospel ;  be- 
hold to  what  a  pass  the  modern  church  is  come  !* 

"  Men  nurture  themselves  on  these  trivialities,  and  recreate 
themselves  with  these  ceremonies,  and  they  say  the  church  of 
Jesus  Christ  never  flourished  so  much,  and  that  divine  worship 
was  never  so  well  performed  as  at  the  present  time ;  as  a  great 
prelate  once  said,  that  the  church  was  never  held  in  such  honour, 
nor  were  their  prelates  ever  in  such  estimation,  and  the  first  pre- 
lates of  the  church  were  only  prelatuzzi,  in  comparison  with  the 
bishops  of  our  days. 

"  But  Asaph  (of  the  Psalms),  how  does  he  feel  at  hearing  these 
words  ?  He  whispers  in  my  ear  and  says,  ^  It  is  true  the  first  pre- 
lates were  only  jprelatuzzi,  because  they  were  humble  and  poor, 
and  they  had  not  so  many  fat  bishoprics,  and  so  many  rich  glebe 
possessions,  as  our  modern  bishops.  They  had  not  so  many  mitres 
of  gold,  moreover,  nor  so  many  chalices,  and  even  the  few  which 
they  possessed,  they  disposed  of  for  the  necessities  of  the  poor. 
Our  prelates,  to  possess  chalices,  take  the  substance  of  the  poor, 
without  which  they  cannot  live.' 

"  But  do  you  comprehend  what  I  wish  to  say  to  you  ? 

"  In  the  primitive  church,  the  chalices  were  of  wood  and  the  pre- 
lates were  of  gold  ;  to-day,  the  prelates  are  of  wood,  and  the  chalices 
are  o  f  gold. 

"  It  was  said  once  to  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  by  a  great  pre- 
late, and  perhaps  it  might  be  said  of  all  who  entertain  similar 
opinions,  that  he  exhibited  a  large  vessel,  and  perhaps  more 
than  one,  full  of  ducats,  and  said,  ^  Master  Thomas,  look  here, 
the  church  can  no  longer  say  as  St.  Peter  said,  Argentum  et  aurum 
non  estmihi.^  St.  Thomas,  in  reply,  said,  ^Neither  can  the  church 
say  now  that  which  follows  immediately,  and  was  said  by  the 

*  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Savonarola's  "  Modern  Church"  was 
the  church  of  the  year  1492,  that  had  the  calamity  of  having  Alexander  the 
Sixth  for  its  ruler. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


339 


Apostle — In  nomine  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  Nazareni  surge 
et  amhula.^ 

"  They  who  did  these  things  were  then  only  prelatuzzi,  as  far 
as  temporalities  go,  but  they  were  great  prelates,  that  is  to  say, 
of  great  virtue  and  sanctity,  great  authority  ;  they  were  greatly 
reverenced  by  the  people ;  whether  on  account  of  their  virtues,  or 
of  the  miracles  they  performed  

"  If  you  go  to  those  prelati  cerimoniosi  (of  later  times),  they 
give  you  the  best  mild  words  you  ever  heard ;  if  you  condole 
with  them  on  the  present  state  of  the  church,  that  it  is  bad, 
speedily  they  say,  *  Father,  you  speak  the  truth,  it  will  be  im- 
possible any  longer  to  live,  if  God  does  not  repair  the  evil  the 
faith  is  suffering.'  But  internally  they  are  full  of  malice,  and 
they  speak  another  language,  and  they  say,  'Let  us  remain  at  rest, 
all  days  ore  feasts  of  the  Lord  on  earth ;'  as  if  they  wished  to  say, 
'  Let  us  make  the  feasts  and  solemnities  of  God,  festivals  and 
functions  of  the  devil ;  let  us  introduce  them,'  they  say,  *with  our 
authority,  with  an  example,  so  that  the  true  feasts  and  solemni- 
ties of  God  shall  cease,  and  the  festivals  of  Satan  shall  be 
honoured.'  And  they  say  one  to  another,  'What  think  you  of  this 
our  faith  ]  what  opinion  have  you  of  it  V  Another  replies,  *  You 
appear  to  me  a  fool.  That  which  has  been  said  (of  calamities 
in  the  church)  is  a  dream,  a  thing  spoken  of  by  women  and  of 

friars,  e  uno  sogno,  e  cosa  da  femminucce,  e  da  frati  che 

fai  tu  adunque  Signore  ?  perche  dormi  tu  ?  '  Quare  abdormis 
Domine  ?  exurge,  et  ne  repellas  in  finem.'  ....  Lord,  do  you 
not  see  our  tribulations  ?  Have  you  become  unmindful  of  your 
church  ?  Do  you  love  it  no  more  ?  Is  it  no  longer  dear  to  you  ? 
It  is  still  your  spouse  !  Do  you  not  recognise  it  ?  It  is  the 
same  for  which  you  came  down  from  heaven,  and  took  up  your 
abode  in  the  womb  of  Mary ;  for  which  you  took  human  flesh, 
for  which  you  suffered  all  manner  of  opprobrium,  for  which 
you  were  pleased  to  shed  your  blood  on  the  cross.  Therefore, 
since  it  has  cost  you  so  much,  O  Lord,  we  beseech  of  you  that 
you  come  speedily  to  liberate  it  "* 


*  Prediclie  e  Sermoni  di  Sav.  pp.  570,  et  seq.  Fir.  1845. 

Z  2 


340 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Fra  Girolamo  was  accustomed  to  repeat  his  reprehensions  of 
prevailing  vices,  and  his  inculcations  of  important  truths,  over 
and  over  in  his  sermons,  and  frequently  in  the  same  powerful 
language.  He  seemed  to  have  an  idea  that  it  was  not  sufficient 
to  enunciate  great  and  important  truths,  but  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  familiarize  not  only  the  understanding  with  these  topics, 
but  the  ears  with  the  very  sound  of  their  enunciation. 

In  one  of  his  sermons,  referring  to  the  mission  given  to  him, 
and  the  duties  it  imposed  upon  him,  he  speaks  of  the  missionary 
of  truth  as  "  The  hammer  of  the  Lord,"  sent  to  beat  down 
sin — to  strike  on  the  anvil  of  the  sinful  heart — to  give  stroke 
after  stroke  till  the  Lord's  work  was  done,  and  there  was  no 
more  need  for  the  hammer. 

His  labours  in  the  pulpit  were  unceasing.  No  sooner  was 
one  series  of  sermons  (m  a  particular  subject,  book,  or  letter  of 
the  sacred  Scriptures  concluded  than  another  commenced.  The 
labours  in  the  Duomo  have  no  sooner  ended,  than  they  begin 
in  the  Reparata.  "  The  hammer  of  the  Lord  is  again  striking 
on  the  anvil  of  iniquity :  blow  after  blow  falls  in  quick  succes- 
sion. The  same  sounds  are  heard  over  and  over  again.  '  Peni- 
tentiam  agite,  agite  penitentiam  ' — do  penance  !  oh,  do  penance  ! 
now  is  the  acceptable  time ;  do  not  defer  it  longer,  thinking 
that  the  Lord  will  wait  for  you,  and  call  you  again  to  him. 

Hearken  to  my  words,  not  as  if  they  were  merely  mine,  but 
as  proceeding  from  God,  I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  speak 
them  to  you,  '  Agite  Penitentiam,'  come  and  see  how  good  the 
Lord  is  !  how  merciful  he  is  !  ...  . 

"  Oh,  ye  rich  !  oh,  ye  poor  !  do  penance  !  You  who  are  rich^ 
give  alms  to  the  poor  !  You  who  (are  in  poverty  and  suffering) 
fear  God,  act  well,  and  have  no  dread  on  account  of  your  tri- 
bulations !  .  .  . . 

"  Oh,  priests,  hear  my  words  !  Oh_,  pastors  and  prelates  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  leave  the  benefices  which  you  cannot  justly 
hold  !  Abandon  your  pomp,  your  banquets,  and  your  costly 
entertainments  !  Abandon,  I  counsel  you,  your  vicious  courses, 
for  the  time  is  come,  I  say,  to  do  penance  for  them  !  .  .  .  . 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


341 


"  Oh,  monks,  abandon  all  superfluities  of  apparel,  and  of  pro- 
perty belonging  to  your  monasteries  and  their  endowments. 
Betake  yourselves  to  simplicity  of  life,  and  labour  for  it  with 
your  hands,  as  did  the  monks  of  old,  your  fathers  and  our  pre- 
decessors. Otherwise,  your  failing  to  do  this,  it  will  be  done 
for  you  by  Christ,  with  a  strong  hand.  Oh,  monks,  abandon  at 
once  your  evil  courses — leave  off  your  simony,  when  you  re- 
ceive those  who  come  into  your  monasteries  to  remain  there. 

"  See  that  with  all  your  iniquities  our  work  endures,  thanks  to 
Him  by  whose  power  it  progresses.  It  is  Christ  who  defends 
our  work.  I  said  to  my  Lord,  '  I  abandon  everything  to  you. 
It  is  your  work.  I  am  but  the  instrument  in  your  hands.'  And 
he  responded  to  me,  '  Leave  me  to  act ;  I  will  deal  with  them  as 
with  the  Jews,  who  thought  to  have  overthrown  my  work  be- 
cause they  had  me  put  to  death  on  the  cross,  and  nevertheless  that 
act  was  the  means  which  I  employed  to  cause  my  name  to  be 
known  throughout  the  world.' 

"Oh,  ye  merchants  !  abandon  your  usury,  make  restitution  for 
the  gains  illicitly  obtained,  and  the  wrongs  done  to  others, 
otherwise  you  will  lose  all  that  you  possess  

"  The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness  says  to  you,  '  Oh, 
Italy,  on  account  of  your  sins,  adversity  will  come  on  you  ! 
Oh,  all  ye  cities  of  Italy,  the  time  is  coming  for  the  punishment 
of  your  sins !  Oh,  Italy,  on  account  of  your  luxury,  your  avarice, 
your  pride,  your  ambition,  your  rapine  and  injustice,  many 
afflictions  will  befall  you,  many  scourges  will  come  on  you !' 
A  voice  in  the  wilderness  crying  out,  thus  speaks  to  you,  &c., 
Agite  Penitentiam  !  Agite  Penitentiam  !"* 

In  a  letter  from  Machiavelli,  dated  the  8th  of  March,  1497, 
the  writer,  then  at  Florence,  gives  an  account  of  two  of  the  ser- 
mons of  Savonarola,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  spiritual  man 
and  his  discourses  as  might  be  expected  of  the  worldly  man, 
astute  politician,  and  diplomatist,  namely,  disparagingly  and 
sarcastically.  Machiavelli's  sneers  at  spiritual  things  did  not, 
however,  eventually  even  satisfy  himself  that  his  reason  had 
*  Sormou  preached  by  Savonarola  in  Florence,  1st  Nov.  1794, 


S42 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


approved  the  opinions  he  expressed  in  his  letter.  In  some  of 
his  later  works^  and  in  one  of  his  best  poems,  he  has  spoken  of 
Savonarola  with  respect  and  even  admiration. 

Bayle  has  made  a  collection  of  all  the  slanders  of  any  mark 
and  note  which  have  been  heaped  on  Fra  Girolamo,  and  has 
dignified  his  labour  with  the  title  of  a  critical  examination  into 
the  predictions  of  the  friar. 

lie  observes,  that  the  Florentines,  counting  on  Savonarola's 
alleged  prediction  of  the  return  of  Charles  the  Eighth,  wasted 
their  means  and  exceedingly  impoverished  themselves  by  reason 
of  the  expense  they  were  at,  from  an  earnest  desire  to  recover 
Pisa,  and  the  other  places  which  they  had  delivered  to  the  king 
of  France,  among  which  places  Pisa  was  then  in  the  hands  of 
the  Venetians. 

"  This  may  induce  us,"  says  Bayle,  "  to  believe  that  Savona- 
rola foretold  the  return  of  Charles  the  Eighth  in  a  precise  and 
absolute  manner ;  for  if  he  had  only  foretold  it  as  a  thing  pro- 
bable, and  grounded  himself  on  this,  viz.  that  God  required  and 
threatened  to  punish  the  king  if  it  was  not  executed,  he  would 
not  have  inspired  the  Florentines  with  so  much  confidence. 

"  It  is  then  very  likely,  that  he  promised  to  them  absolutely, 
as  a  certain  fact,  the  second  expedition  of  Charles  the  Eighth ; 
but  that  in  addressing  himself  to  that  prince,  he  did  not  hold 
the  same  language,  but  only  gave  him  to  understand,  that  it 
was  the  will  of  God  he  should  return  into  Italy,  and,  in  case  of 
failure,  denounced  against  him  the  indignation  and  the  severe 
judgments  of  his  Creator.  He  found  no  better  way  than  this, 
to  verify  the  proj)hecies  which  he  gave  out  at  Florence.  Philip 
de  Comines,  who  was  better  acquainted  with  affairs  of  state 
than  with  the  intrigues  of  prediction-makers,  did  not  distinguish 
these  two  springs,  or  this  duplicity  of  language  ;  he  confounded 
the  one  with  the  other,  and  supposes  that  the  monk  added  an  if 
in  his  sermons,  as  he  did  in  his  letters  ;  which  is  contrary  to 
all  likelihood.  It  is  proper  to  observe,  that  if  this  prophet 
had  been  very  sure  in  the  matter,  he  would  not  have  denounced 
these  terrible  judgments  of  God  to  Charier-  the  Eighth ;  for  in 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


343 


so  doing,  he  believed  it  possible  for  that  monarch  not  to  make 
the  second  expedition.  How  then  durst  he  foretel  it,  and  say 
that  God  had  revealed  it  to  him  ?  When  God  reveals  that  such 
a  thing  will  happen,  is  it  in  the  power  of  man  to  hinder  it  from 
coming  to  pass  ?  Can  they  choose  any  measures  that  will  pre- 
vent it  ?  Is  it  necessary  to  threaten  them  with  some  misfortune 
in  case  they  should  make  it  miscarry?  Let  us  conclude  that, 
the  threatenings  used  with  Charles  the  Eighth,  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  revelation  touching  his  return  into  Italy,  are 
things  which  can  never  be  reconciled  by  any  wise  man.  If  you 
should  answer,  that  these  threatenings  were  to  serve  as  the 
means  to  bring  about  the  event,  and  that  therefore  they  were  no 
sign  of  Savonarola's  uncertainty,  I  will  deny  the  fact ;  for 
Charles  the  Eighth  did  not  return  into  Italy,  and  consequently 
the  threatenings  of  that  monk  were  not  one  of  the  means  which 
God  had  fore-ordained  to  that  end.  Turn  yourself  which  way 
you  will,  you  can  never  disprove  his  being  a  false  prophet  in 
this  point.  He  puts  me  in  mind  of  the  Drabicius's  and  Knot- 
terus's  of  our  days,  people  that  begun  by  wishing  earnestly  for 
the  ruin  of  the  emperor,  and  who  proceeded  by  foretelling  it, 
afterwards  by  looking  everywhere  round  for  a  prince  able  to 
procure  it ;  and  last  of  all,  by  signifying  to  that  prince  that  he 
was  predestinated  to  that  great  work,  and  that  if  he  did  not  set 
about  it,  God  would  punish  him  severely.  There  is  sometimes 
more  of  malice  than  enthusiasm  in  this  proceeding,  a  war  is  only 
aimed  at ;  for,  as  a  man  very  well  skilled  in  these  artifices  said, 
it  is  certain  that  prophecies,  whether  supposed  or  true,  have 
often  inspired  the  persons  for  whom  they  were  made,  with  the 
design  of  undertaking  the  things  that  were  promised  to  them.  .  . 

"  I  shall  make  another  reflection  on  the  narrative  of  Philip 
de  Comines.  This  author  is  too  ready  to  help  Savonarola  out 
with  the  accomplishments  of  his  predictions.  He  verifies  the 
threatenings  of  that  monk  in  the  death  of  the  dauphin,  and  in 
tiiat  of  Charles  the  Eighth.  They  were  loose  threatenings,  and 
did  not  much  expose  him  ;  for  that  prince  might  meet  with  vex- 
ations from  a  hundred  quarters,  and  more  easily  than  persons 


su 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  a  private  condition ;  so  that  one  risked  nothing  at  all  in 
threatening  him  with  some  misfortune.  A  prophet  has  nothing 
to  fear  when  he  keeps  to  such  generalities.  He  may  even  save 
himself  by  a  back  door,  in  case  the  princes  whom  he  threatens 
should  fall  into  no  affliction :  he  may  say,  that  such  long  pro- 
sperity is  a  judgment  from  God,  that  it  hinders  them  from 
minding  their  salvation,  as  they  would  have  done  in  adversity. 
Comines  is  too  charitable  and  good  natured ;  he  might  have 
very  well  excused  himself  from  making  the  applications.  This 
fault  has  produced  others  ;  there  are  writers  who  have  very 
falsely  stated  they  had  his  authority  for  saying  that  Savonarola 
prophesied  that  the  king  of  France  would  not  long  survive  the 
Dauphin.  Spizelius  among  the  number.  "  Neque  inficias  tamen 
ire  Cominseus  potuit  Savonarolam  multa  vere  predixisse,et  quibus 
nemo  mortalium  potuisset  admonere.  Nam  et  ilegi  inquit,  fore 
prsedixit  ut  extincto  filio  ipse  quoque  non  diu  superesset." 

"  Sleidan  is  perhaps  the  cause  of  the  error  which  I  have  just 
taken  notice  of ;  for  thus  he  has  translated  the  end  of  the  passage 
of  Philip  de  Comines.  Nam  et  Kegi  prsedixit  fore  ut  extincto 
filio,  ipse  quoque  non  diu  superesset  atque  has  illius  ad  regem 
literas,  ipse  legi." 

Nothing  could  be  more  unfair  than  this  translation  ;  it  does 
not  at  all  answer  to  the  words  of  the  original :  Et  touchant  le 
Koy  et  les  maux  qu'il  dit  luy  devoir  advenir,  luy  est  advenu 
ce  que  vous  voiez,  qui  feut  premier  la  mort  de  son  fils ;  puis  la 
sienne,  et  j'ay  veu  des  lettres  qu'il  escrivoit  au  dit  signeiu*. 

The  translation  has  so  confounded  things,  that  it  directly  and 
formally  ascribes  to  the  proj)het  what  is  no  more  than  a  pure 
comment  of  the  historian.  Besides,  it  affirms  that  the  historian 
had  seen  the  letters  which  contained  that  pretended  prediction : 
but  Comines  only  says  that  he  had  seen  some  letters  from  Savo- 
narola to  the  king.  To  make  a  faithful  translation,  it  should 
have  been  expressed  thus  :  Et  quidem  quoad  Regem  mala  ipsi 
contigerunt  quae  is  eventura  dixerat,  quod  ipsimet  cernitis, 
nempe  primo  obitus  filii,  ac  deinde  ipsius  Regis.  Nonnullas 
vidi  epistolas  supradicto  Principi  ab  eo  scriptas.     This  sim- 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


345 


plicity  without  elegance  is  much  better  than  a  fine  Latin  style, 
which  corrupts  the  sense  of  the  original. 

"Here  follows  a  third  reflection.  The  event  has  proved  that 
Charles  the  Eighth  was  not  chosen  by  God  to  reform  the  church 
by  the  sword,  and  to  drive  the  tyrants  out  of  Italy.  He  no 
ways  reformed  the  church :  historians  mark  his  expedition  as 
one  of  the  eras  of  the  greatest  calamities  of  Italy ;  and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  no  advantage  accrued  from  it  to  that  part  of  the  world. 
What  else  can  be  concluded  from  this,  but  that  the  monk  was 
deceived  in  his  pretended  revelations  ?  He  did  not  see  farther 
than  another  into  the  decrees  of  God ;  but  he  had  the  confidence 
to  boast  that  he  knew  them. 

"  Let  it  not  be  alleged  that  if  Charles  the  Eighth  had  reformed 
the  Church  by  his  sword,  and  caused  his  soldiers  to  oberve  an 
exact  discipline,  Savonarola's  predictions  would  have  had  their 
full  accomplishment.  These  are  idle  evasions.  When  God 
predestinates  to  the  end,  he  likewise  predestinates  to  the  means  : 
so  that  if  the  means  of  restoring  to  the  church  her  primitive 
form,  and  to  Italy  her  liberty,  had  depended  on  the  sword  of 
Charles  the  Eighth,  and  on  the  good  discipline  of  his  troops, 
that  prince  would  have  been  predestinated  to  these  means,  and 
if  so,  he  would  have  put  them  in  execution,  for  nothing  can 
hinder  the  decrees  of  God.  It  is  then  false  that  Providence  had 
pitched  upon  him  for  this  work ;  and  consequently,  Savonarola, 
who  affirmed  it,  ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  false  prophet  in 
this  respect. 

"  I  shall  not  repeat  what  has  been  said  elsewhere  in  answer  to 
the  evasions  and  subterfuges  of  those  who,  after  not  succeeding 
in  their  predictions,  lay  the  fault  to  the  sins  of  men.  If  these 
sins  were  to  hinder  the  event,  there  was  no  decree  in  heaven 
concerning  the  existence  of  that  thing  :  for  which  reason  every 
man  who  foretold  that  it  would  come  to  pass,  was  mistaken  ;  and 
if  he  had  been  truly  inspired,  he  would  have  known  the  real 
obstacles  that  would  happen,  and  not  the  pretended  existence 
of  what  was  not  to  happen. 

"  I  do  not  know  what  authority  Varillas  had  for  saying  that 
when  there  was  a  dearth  at  Florence,  it  did  no  service  to  Savo- 


346 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


narola  that  lie  had  foretold  it ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  Flo- 
rentmes  were  so  much  the  more  offended  at  his  not  having 
applied  a  proper  remedy.  They  would  not  have  been  altogether 
in  the  wrong,  for  he  governed  the  whole  city ;  and  if  he  was 
obliged  as  a  prophet  to  foretel  the  barrenness  of  the  earth,  as 
director  of  the  affairs  of  state,  he  was  obliged  to  provide  sup- 
plies of  corn  ;  otherwise  his  prediction  was  to  no  purpose. 
.  "  I  must  not  omit  that  his  conversation  with  Philip  de  Comines 
has  been  ill  related  by  Varillas,  who  has  not  only  tacked  to  it 
extravagant  additions  and  enlargements,  but  likewise  an  into- 
lerable falsity,  viz.  that  Savonarola  affirmed  that  Charles  the 
Eighth  would  not  return  into  Italy.  .  .  . 

"  Philip  de  Comines  serves  as  a  witness  to  those  who  censure 

Savonarola.     This  will  appear  from  a  passage  of    Gabriel 

Naude.*  ^  Since  all  the  praises  which  have  hitherto  been 
bestowed  upon  that  person  are  to  be  ascribed  either  to  the. 
affection  of  his  friends  and  followers,  or  to  the  artifice  and  sub- 
tlety of  heretics,  who  would  gladly  make  him  more  zealous  than 
St.  Paul,  more  learned  than  St.  Augustine,  and  more  eloquent 
than  St.  Chrysostom,  because  they  appropriate  him  to  them- 
selves ;  I  reckon  that  in  order  to  judge  of  him  with  more  reason 
and  equity,  we  may  in  the  first  place  say  of  the  predictions 
which  brought  him  into  such  vogue  and  esteem,  that  so  far  were 
they  from  being  occasioned  by  a  divine  enthusiasm,  like  those 
of  the  prophets,  and  of  many  other  saints  and  favourites  of  God, 
that,  on  the  contrary^  they  have  been  almost  every  one  false,  as 
appears  in  his  having  affirmed  that  Charles  the  Eighth  would 
come  a  second  time  into  Italy,  that  the  person  who  should  grasp 
at  the  dominion  of  Florence  would  come  to  a  miserable  end, 
that  John  Picus  would  recover  of  the  illness  of  which  he  died 
two  days  after,  and  in  many  more  of  his  prophecies,  still  more 
vain,  which  are  amply  deduced  and  told  in  the  book  that  John 
Poggius  wrote  uj)on  the  falsity  of  them  :  and  that  if  any  of  them 
proved  true,  it  must  be  owned  that  this  happened  either  by 
chance,  or  because  he  had  private  information  given  him  ai 
what  was  to  be  done  by  a  great  number  of  friends  that  he  had 
*  Apologie  des  Grandes  Homnics  Acfusecs  dc  Magic,  pp.  455  ef  scq. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


347 


in  the  council  of  the  Florentines,  and  in  that  of  the  king  of 
France.  Lastly,  as  to  what  concerns  the  rest  of  his  actions, 
we  may  truly  judge  by  these  that  he  was  a  very  great  politician, 
dignified  sometimes  with  the  most  honourable  employments, 
and  endowed  with  such  a  ready  and  persuasive  eloquence,  that 
he  may  justly  be  compared  to  those  ancient  orators  who  had  no 
less  dominion  and  influence  upon  popidar  and  democratical 
states,  than  the  winds  have  upon  the  sea ;  keeping  them  at 
pleasure  in  the  calm  of  peace,  or  in  the  storms  of  war,  making 
them  roll  sometimes  one  way  and  sometimes  another,  turning 
them  upside  down,  and,  in  short,  managing  them  at  pleasure, 
and  to  the  tune  of  theu-  discourses.  Savonarola  may  boast  of 
having  done  this  for  above  the  space  of  ten  years  at  Florence, 
although  he  likewise  made  use  of  his  revelations,  and  of  his 
counterfeit  and  dissembled  piety  to  keep  up  liis  credit  and 
reputation  so  long,  knowing,  from  the  examples  of  Arius  and 
Mahomet,  that  the  res]3ect  of  religion  has  an  extreme  influence 
U]3on  our  minds ;  and  that  when  once  a  man  has  got  the  fame 
of  li\T.ng  holily,  he  makes  the  people  believe  what  he  pleases, 
especially  if  he  be  endowed  with  a  graceful  delivery  and  an  un- 
common eloquence.*  Naude  concludes,  that  it  was  easy  for  Savo- 
narola to  bear  rule  at  Florence ;  ^  quando,'  as  Jovius,  in  speak- 
ing of  him,  has  very  well  observed,  'nihil  validius  esset  ad  per- 
suadendmn,  specie  ipsa  pietatis,  in  qua  etiani  tuendee  libertatis 
studium  emineret.'  .... 

"  Since  there  is  not  a  more  powerful  instrmnent  of  persuasion 
than  a  show  of  piety,  in  which  also  a  great  zeal  for  the  support 
of  liberty  is  conspicuous. 

"Take  notice,"  says  Bayle,  "if  you  please,  that  he,  Xaud^, 
might  have  found  in  Philip  de  Comines  another  proof  of  Savona- 
rola's illusions,  and  do  not  forget  what  he  observes,  touching  the 
information  which  that  prophet  co-uld  receive  from  the  court  of 
France,  and  the  council  of  the  Florentines.  This  was  no  bad 
method  of  foretelling.  It  has  been  said,  that  there  were  con- 
fessors, who  revealed  to  him  the  secrets  of  their  penitents,  and 
*  Apol.  de  Grandes  lioinmes  Accuses  de  ]Magia. 


548 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


that  he  owned  it  in  prison.  Another  good  way  of  making  it 
thought  that  he  had  revelations  from  above."* 

Bayle  then  proceeds  to  the  account  of  Burchard  in  his  diary, 
of  the  alleged  confessions  made  by  Savonarola  under  torture, 
and  after  its  infliction,  as  unobjectionable  evidence? 

But  he  has  not  one  word  of  reprehension  for  the  mode  of  pro- 
curing the  alleged  confession,  nor  one  syllable  of  comment  on 
the  terms  of  Burchard,  which  conclude  his  circumstantial  account 
of  Savonarola's  confession  of  a  long  career  of  imposture  and 
hypocrisy,  "  as  it  is  affirmed.'^  All  the  critical  acumen  of 
Bayle  departs  from  him,  when  the  career  of  a  devout  monk, 
firmly  believing  in  Christianity,  and  in  the  tenets  of  his  church, 
comes  under  consideration. 

As  I  give  this  account  of  Burchard,  with  other  portions  of  his 
journal  relative  to  the  ordeal,  and  the  condemnation  and  execu- 
tion of  Savonarola,  elsewhere,  I  omit  Bayle's  reference  to  this 
particular  account  of  Burchard. 

Let  us  take  it  for  granted,  that  Savonarola's  revelations  were 
statements  only  of  strong  impressions  made  on  his  imagination ; 
that  his  visions  were  mere  dreams ;  that  his  raptures  were  results  of 
concentrated  feelings  of  devotion  and  aspirations  of  a  mind  pro- 
foundly contemplative  ;  that  his  prophetic  power  was  an  exalted 
poetic  influence  ;  his  predictions  inspirations  only  of  genius  of 
the  highest  order.  It  does  not  follow  that  he  was  an  impostor, 
a  fanatic,  or  a  fool. 

Byron  speaks  of  the  seemingly  prophetic  power  of  Dante. 
Mariotti  observes  of  the  author  of  the  Divina  Commedia,  "  The 
notion  that  his  strains  would  go  down  to  posterity  as  a  second 
Apocalypse,  seems  to  lurk  in  every  one  of  his  verses.  His  own 
images  worked  upon  his  brain,  till  they  became  inspired  truth 
in  his  own  eyes.  The  long  contem23lation  of  his  subject,  had 
led  to  an  actual  apotheosis  of  his  own  mind.  He  had  soared  so 
far  upward,  that  the  more  ethereal  substance  of  his  sjjirit  never 
found  its  way  back  again.  The  most  earnest  of  all  poetic  minds, 
he  saw  and  touched  what  other  poets  only  could  invent.  His 
*  Bajle's  Crit.  Diet.  vol.  v,  p.  63. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


349 


contact  with  divine  things  was  closer  than  human  nature  could 
attain,  without  great  spirituality.  His  insight  into  the  sublimest 
matters  was  an  intuitive  perception."*  In  those  glimpses  of  tran- 
scendent truths,  which  on  divers  occasions  seemed  to  have  been 
accorded  to  Savonarola,  it  is  in  vain  to  look  for  accompanying 
evidences  of  imposture  in  his  demeanour,  deportment,  or  conduct 
in  his  cloister,  or  in  conversation  with  man. 

In  fine,  by  one  test  alone  the  character  of  the  Writings  and 
Sermons  of  Savonarola  may  be  distinguished — an  all-pervading 
spirit  of  piety  towards  God,  of  compassion  tovv'ards  mankind, 
united  with  a  profound  conviction  of  the  depths  of  the  misery 
into  which  human  nature  has  fallen,  and  the  height  of  the  ex- 
cellence to  which  it  is  capable  of  being  elevated  by  the  grace  of 
God.  In  every  work  of  Savonarola  these  great  sentiments  are 
found  embodied,  and  are  always  remarkable  for  the  piety  which 
pervades  them.  In  the  writings  of  other  moralists  and  re- 
formers, who  have  dealt  with  ecclesiastical  abuses,  traces  of  such 
sentiments  may  be  found  scattered  through  different  disquisi- 
tions, but  seldom  in  so  connected  a  form,  and  so  wholly  free 
from  contradictions. 

The  opinions  of  some  Protestant  historians  and  polemical  writers 
of  Savonarola  being  a  declared  enemy  or  impugner  of  the  doc- 
trines of  his  church,  such  as  Bayle,  Wolfius,  Beza,  Yerheiden, 
Du  Plessis  Mornai,  are  disposed  of  in  a  remarkable  pasaage  of 
an  eminent  Dominican,Coeffeteau,  in  reference  to  this  subject. 

"  He  that  desires  to  see  Savonarola's  doctrine  defended 
against  those  who  accused  him  of  heresy,  let  him  read  the 
learned  apology  which  Thomas  Neri,  a  Florentine  monk  of  his 
order,  wrote  for  him ;  and  particularly  as  to  what  concerns  the 
article  of  justification,  which  Du  Plessis  docs  most  of  all  insist 
upon,  let  him  read  the  answer  to  the  first  objection,  and  he  will 
know  that  never  any  man  spoke  more  like  a  Catholic  than  he, 
nor  in  a  manner  more  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  "  .  .  .  .  "  Such  reason  is  there  to  believe  that  he  died  a 

*  Mariotti,  ap.  The  Great  Cities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  by  T.  A.  Buckley, 
B.A.  p.  157.  12mo.  London,  1853. 


350 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


catholic,  and  here  follows  the  account  which  his  great  friend  the 
learned  Prince  of  Mirandola  gives  of  the  matter. 

^'  Savonarola/'  says  he^  "  having  notice  given  him  of  his 
being  condemned  to  die,  called  immediately  for  a  priest  to  whom 
he  might  confess  his  sins,  and  desired  to  receive  the  most  holy 
communion,  which  being  brought  to  him,  he  begged  earnestly 
that  they  would  allow  him  to  take  and  hold  the  sacrament 
between  his  hands ;  and  this  being  granted  to  him,  he  began  to 
s^y,  with  great  cheerfulness  and  devotion,  that  he  knew  and 
was  assured  that  therein  was  the  great  and  true  God,  the  foun- 
tain of  supreme  goodness,  and  the  maker  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  of  all  creatures  :  that  he  knew  for  certam  that  therein  also 
was  present  the  most  holy,  indivisible,  and  inseparable  Trinity, 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  &c.  Do  you  think, 
Mr.  du  Plessis,  that  a  Lutheran  or  Calvinist  would  have  died  in 
this  manner,  and  made  such  a  confession  of  faith  ?  Let  your 
Beza  therefore  take  him  from  among  the  idols  of  your  party : 
let  not  Luther  call  upon  him  any  more,  as  a  voucher  for  his  opi- 
nions, and  as  for  you,  do  not  persist  in  making  him  a  heretic 
contrary  to  his  own  confession.  Certain  it  is,  that  if  he  had 
been  such,  neither  Picus  Mu'andola,  nor  Marsilius  Ficinus, 
nor  Neri,  nor  so  many  other  famous  men,  who  have  always  lived 
in  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  Pome,  would  have  taken 
it  into  their  heads  to  celebrate  his  praise,  even  after  his  death. 
But  with  what  face  can  you  reckon  among  the  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists  a  monk  who  lived  continually  in  his  cloister,  strictly 
obser\ing  his  vows,  and  so  earnestly  exhorting  his  brethren  to 
do  the  like,  that  he  appeared  to  be  superstitious  in  his  way  of 
life  ?  With  what  face  can  you  reckon  among  the  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists  a  monk  who  constantly  celebrated  the  holy  sacrifice 
of  the  mass,  and  who  has  even  written  books  to  explain  the  mys- 
teries of  it,  and  to  teach  us  how  we  must  partake  of  the  fruit  which 
God  communicates  to  us  therein  ?  How  can  people  place  in  the 
list  of  Lutherans  or  Calvinists,  a  man  that  always  believed  in 
the  seven  sacraments  of  the  church,  alvrays  invoked  the  saints, 
and  always  prayed  for  the  dead  whom  he  believed  to  be  in  purga- 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


351 


tory  ?  Let  any  one  take  the  pains  to  read  Savonarola's  books, 
and  if  he  does  not  find  there  all  that  I  have  been  saying  of  him, 
I  am  willing  to  pass  for  a  calumniator.  What  if  he  had  some 
particular  opinions  ?  We  do  not  call  people  heretics  who  only 
err,  but  such  as  join  obstinacy  to  error.  To  conclude,  it  was 
not  for  having  groaned  under  the  heavy  load  of  abuses  after  a 
reformation,  that  he  was  burnt :  but  his  greatest  crime  was  a 
state  crime,  inasmuch  as  he  preached  in  a  Kepublic  that  was 
divided  into  factions,  the  most  powerful  of  which,  being  opposed 
by  him,  put  him  to  death  as  a  seditious  person."* 

Savonarola  has  been  given  up  by  several  Eoman  Catholic 
writers  as  a  reformer  who  had  abandoned  the  tenets  of  his 
church.    But  Mr.  Macaulay  is  not  of  their  opinion. 

"  There  was  among  the  Italians,"  says  Macaulay,  "  both  much 
piety  and  much  impiety  ;  but,  Avith  very  few  exceptions,  neither 
the  piety  nor  the  impiety  took  the  turn  of  Protestantism.  The 
religious  Italians  desired  a  reform  of  morals  and  discipline,  but 
not  a  reform  of  doctrine,  and  least  of  all,  a  schism.  The  irre- 
ligious Italians  simply  disbelieved  Christianity,  without  hating 
it.  They  looked  at  it  as  artists,  or  as  statesmen ;  and,  so 
looking  at  it,  they  liked  it  better  in  the  established  form  than 
in  any  other.  It  was  to  them  what  the  old  Pagan  worship  was 
to  Trajan  and  Pliny.  Neither  the  spirit  of  Savonarola  nor  the 
spirit  of  Machiavelli  had  any  thing  in  common  with  the  spirit 
of  the  religious  or  political  Protestants  of  the  North."t 

In  an  American  periodical  devoted  to  Roman  Catholic  litera- 
ture and  polemics,  conducted  with  great  ability,  Brownson's  Quar- 
terly Review  for  April,  1852,  there  is  an  article  on  Paganism 
in  Education,  p.  228,  referring  to  Savonarola  in  a  way  utterly  in- 
consistent with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  writings,  and  of  his 
life  and  labours,  and  unworthy  of  the  high  character  of  the  editor 
of  that  journal.  The  editor,  criticising,  in  his  customary  shrewd 
but  very  dogmatic  style,  the  opinions  of  the  Abbe  Gaume  on  his 
work  "  Le  ver  rongeur  des  societes  Modernes  ou  de  Paganisme, 

*  Coeffeteau,  Eeponse  au  Mystere  d'lniquite,  p.  1217. 
t  Macaulay,  Ed.  Kev.  on  Eanke's  Lives  of  the  Popes. 


352 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


dans  I'Education/'  where  the  evil  of  placing  works  of  pagan 
literature,  with  all  licentiousness  and  heathenish  sensuality,  in 
the  hands  of  Christian  youth  for  educational  purposes,  are  very 
forcibly  pointed  out,  observes  : — 

"  All  these  theorizings  as  to  the  causes  of  past  calamities,  and 
all  these  specifics  for  the  cure  of  prevailing  evils,  are  ever  to 
be  received  with  suspicion.  They  all  j)roceed  on  the  assumption 
that  these  calamities  might  have  been  prevented,  and  that  these 
evils  might  have  been  removed  by  human  foresight,  wisdom, 
and  strength  ;  and  hence  it  is,  that  these  authors  soon  forget  the 
supernatural  agency  of  heaven,  because  proud  in  their  own 
conceit,  impatient  of  instruction,  and,  like  Savonarola,  like  the 
ill-fated  Lamennais,  like  the  brilliant  Abbat^  Gioberti,  end  in 
losing  their  faith  and  their  virtue,  and  in  calling  down  the 
anathemas  of  the  church,  and  of  all  good  men." 

Savonarola,  according  to  this  polemical  journalist,  ended  in 
losing  the  faith,  and  in  calling  down,  on  his  defection  from  it  and 
from  virtue,  the  anathemas  of  the  Church  and  of  all  good  men. 

Mr.  Brownson  has  stated,  that  Savonarola  had  proved  false  to 
his  religion,  lost  the  faith,  and  deservedly  incurred  the  male- 
dictions of  mankind. 

Mr.  Brownson  in  this  statement,  has  failed  in  nearly  all  the 
obligations,  that  a  Christian  writer  lies  under,  to  truth,  justice, 
and  charity. 

Fra  Girolamo  never  wrote  a  line  in  which  one  iota  of  doctrine 
can  be  found  opposed  to  any  one  article  of  Roman  Catholic 
faith,  or  at  variance  with  any  Christian  principle. 

The  life  of  Savonarola,  from  the  cradle  to  the  stake,  was  one 
in  which  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  his  Church  have  not  been  able 
to  discover  a  single  stain,  or  a  single  crime  that  has  left  a  stigma 
on  his  faith  and  morals.  No  anathemas  have  ever  been  pronounced 
by  any  council  of  the  Church,  or  by  the  speaking  organ  of  its  au- 
thoritative decisions,  on  any  specific  articles  of  belief  propounded 
by  Savonarola,  nor  have  any  of  them  formally  and  ofiicially  been 
pronounced  to  be  heretical.  No  maledictions  have  ever  been  pro- 
nounced on  Savonarola's  life  or  labours  by  any  good  man,  who 
■^-as  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


353 


■  Anathemas  have  been  pronounced  by  Alexander  the  Sixth  on 
Savonarola,  as  a  slanderer  of  the  rulers  of  the  church  ;  as  a  dis- 
turber of  the  public  peace ;  as  a  visionary ,  mistaking  illusions  of  the 
imagination  for  revelations  from  on  high ;  but  even  by  that  un- 
happy Pontiff,  no  formal  sentence  of  condemnation  has  been 
pronounced  on  any  article  of  belief,  contrary  to  Catholic  doctrine, 
contained  in  any  writings  of  Savonarola,  specially  pointed  out, 
and  duly  inquired  into,  according  to  the  canons  of  the  church. 

But  no  inquirer  after  truth,  who  has  to  travel  through  the 
times  of  which  we  treat,  can  with  justice  to  his  pursuit  place 
that  unhappy  Pontiff,  Alexander  the  Sixth,  in  the  category  of 
good  men.  It  may  suit  the  pages  of  Mr.  Brownson's  po- 
lemical periodical,  to  exercise  the  minds  of  rhetorists  in  logical 
tilts  and  tournaments,  in  assertions  that  are  advanced  with  won- 
derful effrontery,  as  if  apparently  put  forth  for  an  intellectual 
recreation,  to  fight  vnth.  other  assertions  of  his  own,  like  those 
respecting  Savonarola,  in  a  former  number  of  the  same  periodical, 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  last  animadversions  on  that  illus- 
trious Dominican,  in  the  Review  for  April,  1852.  Credibility 
may  be  startled  by  such  assertions  ;  credulity  may  be  worked 
on  by  them ;  but  the  cause  of  religion  is  not  benefited  by  those 
escapades  of  criticism,  on  subjects  which  are  very  closely  con- 
nected with  sacred  interests. 

In  Mr.  Brownson's  notice  of  I'Histoire  des  Souveraines  Pon- 
tifes  Romains,"  by  the  Chevalier  Artaud  de  Montor,  in  his 
Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1852,  page  279,  we  find  the  following 
passage.  "  Several  correspondents,  some  of  them  highly  es- 
teemed friends,  and  most  worthy  clergymen,  and  some  of  them 
liberal  Protestants,  or  liberal  Catholics,  have  taken  exception  to 
our  statement,  that  ^  We  have  yet  to  see  full  evidence  that  any 
Pope,  after  he  became  Pope,  was  a  very  bad  man,'  and  have 
referred  to  the  concessions  to  the  contrary,  of  certain  Catholic 
historians. 

"  The  concessions  we  are  referred  to,  we  were  well  aware  of, 
and  we  protested  against  them,  as  unwarranted  by  the  facts  in 
the  case.     Wc  expressly  asserted  that  they  were  uncalled  for, 

VOL.  I.  A  A 


354 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


and  that  they  constitute  the  only  real  embarrassment  of  the 
Catholic  in  his  controversies  with  the  enemies  of  the  Church. 
We  therefore  refused  to  accept  them  as  authority,  and  conse- 
quently there  was  no  use  in  citing  them  against  us.  Their  justice 
was  the  point  our  correspondents  should  have  proved.  Our 
readers  are  requested  to  bear  in  mind  that  we  did  not  say  that 
we  had  seen  no  evidence,  but  that  we  had  yet  to  see  full  evi- 
dence, that  is  conclusive  evidence.  Nor  did  we  pretend  that 
every  Pope  had  been  a  good  man  :  we  simply  said,  that  *  we 
had  yet  to  see  full  evidence  that  any  Pope,  after  he  became  Pope, 
was  a  very  bad  man.'  Here  is  a  point  which  our  corres- 
pondents appear  to  have  overlooked,  and  yet  it  is  a  point  of 
some  importance.  A  man  may  not  be  very  good,  may  not  be  a 
saint,  and  yet  may  not  be  very  bad,  that  is,  very  wicked." 

Mr.  Brownson  further  goes  on  to  state  his  great  satisfaction  at 
finding  his  opinions  on  this  subject  sustained  byArtaudde  Men- 
tor, who  observes^  in  his  work  on  the  Lives  of  the  Popes,  "  that 
there  were  many  Popes,  according  to  human  modes  of  judging, 
who  committed  mistakes,  and,  through  weakness  or  love  of  peace, 
yielded  too  much  to  the  tyranny  and  rapacity  of  temporal  sove- 
reigns, but  none  who  were  governed  by  an  unjust  ambition,  or 
who  were  grasping  and  oppressive." 

What  amount  of  testimony  might  afford  "  the  full  evidence  " 
requu'ed  by  Mr.  Brownson  to  convince  him  that  Alexander  VI. 
was  a  bad  Pontiff  after  he  had  been  elevated  to  the  Papal  throne, 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive. 

The  evidence  of  Platina,  Guicciardini,  Tiraboschi,  Machi- 
avelli,  Denina,  Nardi,  Corio,  is  sufficiently  conclusive  on  this 
point. 

There  is  a  sin,  which  is  said  to  be  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
many  of  the  most  illustrious  fathers  of  the  Church  and  modern 
theologians  of  the  highest  repute  are  of  opinion  that  great  trans- 
gression is  the  sin  of  simony. 

All  the  ecclesiastical  and  secular  historians  at  the  time  of 
Alexander  VI.,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  accuse  that  Pontiff 
of  making  holy  things  and  sacred  offices  vendible  and  pur- 
chaseable  articles  of  merchandize,  marketable  commodities,  from 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


355 


which  a  revenue  was  derived,  that  was  lavished  by  his  son  in 
scandalous  debaucheries  and  sanguinary  warfare. 

That  crime  of  simony,  which  Alexander  VI.  stood  convicted 
of  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  church  in  his  own  time,  Savonarola 
denounced,  and  the  whole  tenor  of  his  sermons  and  his  writings, 
from  the  time  that  unworthy  Pontiff  made  a  purchase  of  the 
highest  dignity  of  the  church,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  a  special 
mission  had  been  delegated  to  that  friar  from  on  high,  and  the 
main  object  of  it  was  to  denounce  the  disorders  of  the  court  of 
Eome,  the  relaxation  of  the  discipline  of  the  church,  and  in  all  its 
religious  orders,  evils  that  were  mainly  occasioned  by  that  sin  of 
simony,  of  which  Alexander  VI.  was  notoriously  guilty  from  the 
date  of  his  elevation  to  the  Pontifical  dignity,  to  that  part  of 
his  career,  at  which  the  denunciation  of  the  crime  of  corruption, 
and  the  heart-cry  of  Savonarola  for  the  renovation  of  the  church, 
brought  that  great  soldier  of  the  cross  to  the  stake. 

Mr.  Brownson  has  declared,  that  Savonarola,  like  Lamennais, 
had  fallen  away  from  the  faith. 

But  in  which  of  the  works  of  Savonarola  has  this  recently 
converted  Unitarian  gentleman  found  full  evidence  of  the  fact," 
that  Savonarola  had  ever  propounded  an  opinion  at  variance 
with,  or  hostile  to,  any  particle  of  Catholic  faith  ?  Alas  !  alas  ! 
poor  Lamennais  has  propounded  numerous  opinions  at  variance 
with,  and  hostile  to,  not  Catholicism  alone,  but  every  form  of 
belief  on  which  Christianity  of  any  sect  can  stand.  The  works 
of  Lamennais,  his  "  Esquise  d'une  Philosophic,"  are  unfor- 
tunately but  too  easily  to  be  found,  no  doubt,  in  the  United 
States  as  in  all  European  countries  ;  but  the  works  of  Savo- 
narola are  not  so  easily  procurable  in  America.  Even  in  the 
best  libraries  of  Europe,  those  works  are  of  such  exceeding 
rarity,  that  it  is  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  only  with  the 
most  patient  research,  they  are  to  be  met  with. 

It  may  be  very  questionable  if  any  of  the  original  works  of 
Savonarola  ever  came  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Brownson  in  the 
United  States.  And  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  that  if  that 
gentleman  ever  visited  Europe  before  his  conversion,  that  the 

A  A  2 


356 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


works  of  Savonarola  were  not  those  which  would  have  been 
sought  for  by  him,  at  least  with  anything  more  than  mere  lite- 
rary curiosity. 

Savonarola's  memory  has  suffered  injustice  at  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Brownson.  The  memory  of  a  man  of  great  piety,  of  a  great  zeal 
for  the  honour  and  glory  of  God,  and  the  true  interests  of 
pure  religion,  has  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  Roman  Ca- 
tholic criticism  ;  truth  has  a  controversy  with  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Brownson  and  a  full  reparation  to  demand  and  to  expect  from  it. 

Bzovius,the  learned  Dominican,  in  his  work  entitled  "  Pontifex 
Homanus,"  sive  Commentarius  de  prestantia  officio  auctoritate 
et  summorum  Pontificum,"*  in  proof  of  the  doctrine  of  the  pri- 
macy of  St.  Peter,  and  of  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  cites  the  opinions  of  a  vast  number  of  ecclesiastical 
writers,  the  most  celebrated  of  their  several  ages ;  and  amongst 
them,  of  Savonarola.  One  of  the  passages  he  cites  of  the  latter 
is  from  the  fourth  book  of  the  ^VTriumphus  Crucis,"  which, 
literally  rendered  in  our  language,  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Roman  Church  is  the  head  and  mistress  of  all  churches. 
All  faithful  Christians  should  be  .  united  .  to  the  one  Roman 
Pontiff,  as  to  its  one  head.  "Who  departs  from  unity  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Roman  Church,  he  without  doubt  departs  from 
Christ.  All  heretics  who  depart  from  that  one  Roman  Church, 
are  not  Christians,  nor  is  it  lawful  they  should  call  themselves 
falsely  by  that  name.  All,  in  matters  of  faith,  should  submit 
difficulties  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  without  whom  neither  dis- 
puted questions  touching  faith  can  be  decided,  nor  incipient 
heresies  be  suppressed.  That  doctrine  is  true  which  has  the 
consent  of  the  fathers,  but  all  other  doctrine  dissenting  from  that 
is  false.  All  heretics  deem  it  lawful  with  all  their  strength  to 
combat  the  Roman  church  :  nevertheless  victorious  still  it  stands, 
and  will  remain,  but  sects  of  heretics,  and  opinions  that  are 
fallacious,  come  to  nothing,  and  shall  be  made  of  no  effect ;  but 
that  truth  which  is  founded  in  the  church,  is  posted  on  a  firm 
rdck,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

*  Pontifex  Romanus  Commentarius,  Rev.  P.  Tr.  M.  Bzovii  Or.  Predic. 
Pol.  Colon.  1619. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


85T 


The  passage  in  the  original  Latin  I  have  thought  it  desirable  to 
give  in  the  Appendix,  not  from  Bzovius,  but  from  the  quarto  edi- 
tion of  Savonarola's  own  work,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no 
cavilling,  either  with  the  citation  in  this  place  of  Bzovius,  or 
the  translation  of  this  remarkable  passage. 

Without  anticipating  matters  in  the  history  of  Savonarola, 
such  conclusive  evidence  as  this,  of  his  fidelity  to  his  church, 
may  surely  be  made  use  of  even  incidentally  here,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  with  what  bad  faith  writers  have  acted, 
who  have  claimed  Savonarola  for  a  disciple  of  Wycliffe, 
or  Lollard,  Huss,  or  Jerome  of  Prague ;  and  with  what  gross 
ignorance  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  dealt  with  the  doctrines 
of  Savonarola,  and  with  what  effrontery  and  uncharitableness 
they  have  condemned  the  writings  of  a  man  whom  very  few 
of  them  have  ever  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  or  of 
knowing,  except  at  the  hands  of  his  opponents,  and  in  their 
works. 

Savonarola  never  spoke  with  greater  freedom  of  the  evils 
that  prevailed  in  the  Court  of  Rome,  and  the  government  of 
the  Church,  while  Alexander  held  the  reins,  than  the  great  St. 
Bernard  spoke  to  the  popes  themselves,  of  the  evils  which  beset 
both  in  his  times.  In  the  "  Book  of  Considerations,"  addressing 
his  exhortations  to  Pope  Eugenius,  he  says :  "  Where  shall  I  begin  ? 
I  will  begin  with  your  worldly  affairs,  because  it  is  with  regard 
to  this  that  I  participate  most  deeply  in  your  grief,  if  indeed 
it  be  a  grief  to  you,  and  if  not,  then  is  my  sorrow  only  the 
greater,  since  the  disease  is  even  the  more  perilous  for  him  by 
whom  the  sickness  is  not  felt.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  suspect  you 
of  this  ....  yet  trust  not  too  far  to  this  present  sensation,  for 
nothing  is  so  firmly  fixed  in  the  soul,  but  that,  through  neglect 
and  the  lapse  of  time,  its  virtue  may  be  lost.  We  are  inca- 
pable of  a  continued  and  passionate  sorrow,  the  burden  appears 
at  first  intolerable  ;  time  and  habit  familiarize  us  with  it,  so  that 
we  begin  to  think  it  less  oppressive ;  we  soon  become  insen- 
sible to  its  weight,  and  in  the  end  we  find  it  agreeable,  and 
thus  a  violent  and  present  sorrow  speedily  ends  either  in  re- 
covery or  in  insensibility.  ... 


358  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 

"  Did  Paul  make  himself  the  servant  of  men,  for  the  purpose 
of  ministering  to  their  covetousness  ?  Or  did  the  ambitious,  the 
covetous,  the  sacrilegious,  the'unclean,  and  such  like  monsters 
of  men,  come  flocking  to  Paul  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  to 
solicit  or  to  retain  ecclesiastical  preferments  through  his  apos- 
tolical authority  ?  Nay,  those  men,  to  whom  '  to  live  was 
Christ,  and  to  die  was  gain,'  made  themselves  servants  unto  men, 
that  they  might  win  men  to  Christ,  and  not  that  they  might 
increase  the  gains  of  covetousness.  Presume  not  then  to  al- 
lege the  wise  diligence,  and  the  free  and  beautiful  love  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  as  a  ground  of  justification  for  slavish  life. 
How  much  more  suitable  would  it  be  to  your  apostolic  cha- 
racter, how  much  safer  for  your  conscience,  how  much  more 
profitable  for  the  church  of  God,  if  you  would  rather  listen  to 
Him  when  he  says,  '  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  be  not 
ye,  therefore,  the  servants  of  men.'*  What  can  be  at  once 
more  slavish  and  more  unseeming  a  pope,  than  to  be  employed, 
not  only  every  day,  but  every  hour  in  such  matters,  and  for 
such  men  ?  And  when  then  comes  the  hour  of  prayer  ?  When  do 
we  provide  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  or  the  edification  of 
the  dhurch  ?  When  do  we  discourse  upon  the  law  ?  The  laws,  in- 
deed, resound  daily  in  your  palace,  but  they  are  the  laws  of  Jus- 
tinian, and  not  the  laws  of  God.  And  should  this  be  so  ?  It  is  for 
you  to  look  to  it.  Verily,  the  law  of  the  Lord  ^  is  a  law  concern- 
ing the  soul but  here  exist  what  are  not  so  properly  laws,  as  a 
crop  of  disputations  and  cavillings,  subverting  the  right.  Tell  me 
then,  how  can  you,  a  '  shepherd  and  bishop  of  souls,'  allow  that 
law  to  be  silent,  while  those  laws  are  always  to  be  heard? 
Paul,  when  he  draws  the  character  of  a  bishop,  saith  that  ^  he 
who  serveth  God  may  not  entangle  himself  with  the  affairs  of 
this  life  !'.... 

And  yet  I  trow  there  is  not  one  of  these  men  (debating  ques- 
tions of  earthly  possessions)  that  can  show  an  Apostle  who 
ever  set  up  for  a  judge  between  men,  to  decide  matters  apper- 
taining to  boundaries,  and  the  division  of  estates. f  I  find,  in- 
deed, that  the  Apostles  submitted  to  be  judged,  but  I  find  not 

♦  1  Cor.  vii.  23.  t  2  Tim.  ii.  4. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


359 


that  they  were  in  any  case  judges  themselves.  In  the  day  of  retri- 
bution they  shall  indeed  sit  as  judges,  but  not  in  this  world. 
It  seemeth  to  me,  that  he  who  fears  lest  his  refusal  to  judge 
such  matters  should  prejudice  the  authority  of  the  Apostles  and 
their  successors,  cannot  yet  have  attained  to  a  right  standard  of 
estimating  things ;  since  they  judge  not  such  matters,  because 
to  them  is  committed  the  judgment  of  far  higher  matters  ;  your 
power  applies  to  moral,  not  eartlily  possessions ;  which  power  and 
authority  appears  to  you  to  be  the  greater,  that  of  forgiving  sins, 
or  that  of  dividing  goods  ?  And  since  kings  and  princes  are 
set  to  judge  earthly  things,  why  should  you  invade  their  pro- 
vince ?    Why  put  your  sickle  into  another  man's  harvest  ?"* 

Before  the  time  of  Savonarola,  and  subsequently  to  it,  the 
evils  above  referred  to  were  deplored  and  reprobated,  not  only 
with  impunity,  but  with  advantage  to  the  character  for  sanctity 
or  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  of  those  who  cried  out 
for  the  renovation  of  it. 

"  The  territory  of  the  Lord  (said  Leo  the  Tenth,  in  1514) 
required  to  be  ploughed  up  from  bottom  to  top,  to  make  it 
produce  new  fruits. "f 

"  Nostra  firma  intentio  et  dispositio,  universalem  reforma- 
tionem  tanquam  utilem  et  necessariam:  ad  Domini  agri  pur- 
gationem  et  culturam  omnino  prosequi  et  perficere."J 

*  Life  of  St.  Bernard  by  Dr.  Augustus  Neander,  pp.  292-3. 

t  Hist,  de  Luther,  par  M.  Audin,  1. 1,  p.  182.  %  lb.  Lessio  7ma.  Con.  Lat. 


360 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

REFORMATION  OF  MANNERS.  REVIVAL  OF  RELIGION.  RELIGIOUS 

PROCESSIONS.  AUTO-DA-FE    OF    VANITIES,    AND  LICENTIOUS 

BOOKS  AND  OBJECTS  OF  ART.  THE  "  LAUDE  "  AND  SPIRITUAL 

SONGS  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

"  There  is  a  divine  enthusiasm  in  genius  and  poetry,  which,  when  roused 
and  set  in  motion,  communicates  the  impulse  to  others,  when  it  receives 
its  fulness  from  above,  and  diflPases  to  all  around  the  light  imparted  from 
heaven." — Prodi  Comment. 

*'  II  cantar,  che  nell'  anima  si  sente  ; 
II  pill  ne  sente  I'alma,  il  men  I'orecchio." 

The  w^onderful  fruits  of  the  preaching  of  Savonarola  signally 
manifested  themselves  in  the  course  of  the  years  1495  and  1496. 
A  complete  revolution  was  effected  in  the  manners  and  morals 
of  the  people  of  Florence.  High  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  young 
and  old,  gave  edifHong  proofs  of  the  wonderful  power  of  the 
reforming  friar  of  San  Marco.  Every  Sabbath  and  festival  day, the 
church  was  thronged,  as  it  usually  was  on  Easter  Sunday,,  not 
with  persons  merely  coming  to  hear  mass,  but  -with  devout  com- 
municants. It  was  astonishing  the  numbers  that  frequented  the 
sacraments ;  the  confessionals  were  surrounded  daily  by  peni- 
tents. "  The  most  surprising  change  had  taken  place  (in  modes 
of  life),  that  had  ever  occui'red  in  the  memory  of  man."* 

The  amount  of  the  restitution  of  money  that  had  been  wrong- 
fully acquired,  was  enormous.  Vast  sums  of  money  were  ad- 
vanced by  opulent  people,  to  send  to  foreign  countries  for 
grain,  of  wliich  there  was  a  dearth  at  this  period,  and  the 
supply  thus  obtained  was  disposed  of  at  a  moderate  price  to 
the  poor.  Money  was  also  lent  to  a  very  large  extent  to  the 
*  Burlamacchi,  p.  549. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


361 


industrious  poor  by  the  rich,  free  of  interest,  which  had  never 
been  done  previously,  except  on  a  very  scale,  by  some  charitable 
persons. 

Among  the  converts  gained  over,  either  from  infidelity  or 
sinful  lives,  by  the  preaching  of  Fra  Girolamo,  Burlamacchi 
enumerates  the  celebrated  John  Pico  de  Mirandola ;  Domenico 
Beneviene,  the  biographer  of  the  Father ;  his  brother  Girolamo, 
well  versed  in  philosophy  and  scholastic  learning;  Georgio  Be- 
nigno,  a  renowned  Franciscan  theologian,  subsequently  a  prelate ; 
Uleviere,  a  canon  of  the  Duomo,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of 
the  time ;  Fra  Zanobi  Acciajoli,  a  famous  classical  scholar;  Georgio 
Vespucci,  the  preceptor  of  Zanobi,  not  much  less  celebrated  for 
knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin ;  Thomaso  Seratico,  a  distinguished 
orator;  Pulinari  of  Yiterbo,  an  eminent  physician  and  alch>Tnist, 
and  many  others  of  the  first  scholars  and  artists  of  those  times. 

People  came  to  the  churches  of  the  Duomo  and  San  Marco 
three  and  four  hom's  before  the  time  appointed  for  the  sermons, 
in  order  to  procure  a  place,  so  great  was  the  difficulty  of  gettmg 
even  room  to  stand,  when  Fra  Girolamo  preached.  The  reciting 
of  the  divine  office,  even  by  the  laity,  became  by  no  means  un- 
common. But  the  most  remarkable  change  that  was  apparent 
in  the  manners  of  the  people,  in  their  recreations  and  amuse- 
ments, was  the  abandonment  of  demoralizing  practices,  of  de- 
bauchery of  all  kinds,  of  profane  songs  of  a  licentious  character, 
which  the  lower  orders  of  the  people  es2:)ecially  were  greatly  ad- 
dicted to  ;  and  the  growth  of  a  new  taste  and  passion  for  spiritual 
hymns  and  sacred  poetry,  that  had  succeeded  that  depraved 
taste. 

In  1496,  the  efiects  of  Savonarola's  labours  were  especially 
manifested  in  the  edifying  beha^dour  of  the  children  of  both 
sexes,  in  all  festivals  and  occasions  of  devotional  solemnities  in 
the  churches  and  the  public  processions,  wliich  at  this  period 
began  to  be  of  frequent  occui'rence  in  Florence. 

Particular  attention  was  paid  to  the  recreation  intended  for 
them,  spiritual  songs  were  expressly  composed  for  them.  In  the 
church,  on  certain  festivals,  an  elevated  platform  was  constructed 


86$ 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


for  them,  with  several  rows  of  seats,  like  those  in  a  gaUery, 
extending  backwards  to  the  wall,  and  rising  to  a  considerable 
height. 

The  reform "  which  had  reached  the  youth  of  Florence, 
assumed  a  systematic  shape  and  character.  The  young  reformed 
were  called  "  Children  of  Christ/'  and  "  disciples  of  Fra  Giro- 
lamo."  They  frequently  approached  the  sacraments,  and  regu- 
larly attended  devotional  exercises.  They  carefully  observed 
the  commandments  of  God  and  of  the  church ;  they  sedulously 
avoided  theatrical  spectacles  and  balls,  masquerades,  and  public 
sports  ;  they  were  simple  in  their  clothing  ;  vanities  of  society, 
and  superfluities  of  any  kind,  they  were  taught  to  look  on  with 
contempt.  The  children  who  were  associated  in  this  confrater- 
nity were  nearly  all  either  of  noble  origin,  or  of  respectable 
parentage.  They  went  in  procession  through  the  streets  on 
numerous  occasions,  attended  by  proper  caretakers ;  rebuking 
other  children,  and  young  women  especially,  going  about  with 
too  much  freedom  in  costly  apparel,  and  bedizened  with  rich 
ornaments ;  saying  to  them,  on  the  part  of  Christ,  "  The  King  of 
our  city,  and  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  require  of  you  to  aban- 
don those  vanities,  and  come  out  from  amongst  the  evil-minded, 
otherwise  the  judgment  of  sickness  will  fall  upon  you." 

These  little  bands  of  "  Christ's  children,  and  disciples  of  Fra 
Girolamo,"  went  out  from  house  to  house,  begging  the  masters 
and  mistresses  to  give  up  any  articles  of  vanity  in  their  posses- 
sion, pictures  or  ornaments  that  were  not  calculated  to  excite 
pious  sentiments,  cards  and  dice,  masques  and  mummeries  of 
all  kinds,  cosmetics,  false  hair,  books  of  amatory  poetry,  li- 
centious publications,  and  works  of  art.  The  gracious,  mild, 
and  innocent  manner  in  which  such  objects  of  vanity  or  licenti- 
ousness were  sought,  disarmed  all  feelings  of  irritation  and  anger 
which  otherwise  might  have  been  manifested  at  those  pro- 
ceedings. 

But  it  is  quite  evident  that  they  could  hardly  fail  eventually 
to  be  attended  with  results  which,  instead  of  benefiting  religion, 
would  be  likely  to  prove  prejudicial  to  it. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


363 


The  juvenile  confraternity  of  "  The  Reform/'  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  their  guardians  and  spiritual  directors,  pro- 
ceeded on  an  appointed  day  to  the  palace  of  the  Signoria  in 
procession,  in  order  to  obtain  from  the  civil  magistracy  the  con- 
firmation of  the  rules  of  their  confraternity. 

The  spokesmen  of  the  body  addressed  the  Signoria  in  a  suit- 
able discourse,  supplicating  the  confirmation  of  their  rules  with 
this  preamble  :  "  Magnificent  and  exalted  Signori,  and  your 
members  of  council  and  magistrates, — The  omnipotent  God  and 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  ^  King  of  Kings,  Lord  of  Lords,' 
who,  by  his  goodness  and  clemency,  was  pleased  to  become  the 
especial  king  of  our  city,  and  his  ever  virgin  mother  Mary,  its 
queen,  the  year  of  the  liberation  of  this  our  city  from  servitude, 
and  of  its  restoration  to  liberty,  in  order  the  better  to  be  able  to 
reform  manners,  and  for  the  people  to  lead  Christian  lives,  has 
sent  his  prophets,  who,  by  their  holy  preaching,  may  give  light 
and  spirituality  to  our  souls."* 

The  Signoria  returned  a  gracious  answer  to  the  young  con- 
fraternity, giving  them  to  understand  the  matter  would  be  re- 
ferred to  Fra  Girolamo  and  Fra  Domenico  de  Pescia,  for  their 
consideration  and  determination.! 

On  Palm  Sunday  (1496),  a  grand  procession  was  determined 
on  by  Fra  Girolamo,  on  a  scale  of  magnitude  heretofore  never 
attempted  in  Florence. 
*  Burlamacchi,  p.  557. 

t  The  following  are  the  rules  drawn  up  for  the  guidance  of  the  youthful 
order  instituted  by  Savonarola : 

"  Every  youth  who  wishes  to  be  a  son  of  Jesus  Christ  and  a  disciple  of 
Father  Girolamo  and  of  his  doctrine,  must  diligently  observe  the  command- 
ments of  God  and  of  the  holy  Roman  Church,  must  be  constant  at  confes- 
sion and  communion,  fervent  in  solemn  prayer  and  at  preaching  ;  must  not 
be  found  at  public  worldly  spectacles,  such  as  theatres  and  masquerades. 
Their  clothing  should  be  simple,  according  to  the  condition  of  each,  without 
slashings  or  other  vanities.  Tliey  should  cut  their  hair  close  about  their 
ears  ;  avoid  games  and  bad  company  like  serpents ;  never  hear  or  read 
impure  books,  either  in  their  own  language  or  in  Latin  ;  should  shrink  from 
lascivious  poets  as  from  deadly  poison,  and  occupy  themselves  on  festivals 
with  divine  things,  not  going  to  schools  for  fencing,  dancing,  singing,  or 
playing." — Eng.  Biog.  of  Sav. 


364 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


After  the  solemnization  of  high,  mass  at  San  Marco,  and  the 
distributing  of  the  palm  to  the  assembled  multitude  by  FraGiro- 
lamo,  the  children,  in  vast  numbers,  formed  in  procession,  and 
proceeded  to  the  Duomo  to  hear  the  sermon  that  was^to  be 
preached  there.  Again  in  the  afternoon  they  assembled  in  the 
cliui-ch  of  San  Marco,  and  there,  each  having  received  a  red 
cross,  the  procession  was  again  formed,  and  set  out  through  the 
principal  streets  of  the  city  for  the  church  of  San  Giovanni.  A 
tabernacle  was  borne  in  the  procession  with  a  painting  repre- 
senting our  Lord  as  he  entered  Jerusalem,  mounted  on  an  ass, 
and  a  number  of  people  around  it  crying  out,  "  Osanna  filio 
David,"  and  casting  down  their  garments  as  the  tabernacle  was 
carried  on. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  tabernacle,  there  was  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  Virgin,  admirably  executed,  with  a  superb  crown, 
borne  by  angels.  Then  followed  a  great  number  of  beautiful 
children,  representing  angels,  who  from  their  innocence  and 
freshness  might  well  realise  the  idea  of  beings  who  had  re- 
cently issued  from  Paradise.  The  number  of  these  children 
was  8,000,  and  it  was  wonderful  to  observe,  as  they  moved 
along  singing  spiritual  songs,  their  composure,  order,  regularity, 
and  decorum. 

Then  followed  the  friars  of  several  orders,  and  secular  clergy 
and  the  laity  in  large  numbers,  bearing  the  red  cross,  and  the 
palm  in  their  hands. 

Then  came  the  female  children,  clothed  in  white,  with  garlands 
on  their  heads,  and  these  were  followed  by  ladies  of  the  highest 
condition,  as  well  as  devout  women  of  the  humble  classes. 

So  great  was  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  all  classes  on  that 
occasion,  that  men  of  noble  families,  of  grave  character,  of  high 
dignity,  and  great  renown  for  genius  and  learning,  joined  in  that 
procession,  clad  in  white  with  the  red  cross,  and  the  palm  in 
their  hands,  surrounding  the  tabernacle,  and  preceding  it  as 
David  went  before  the  ark — Saltando  e  cantando  e  desprezzando 
ogni  pompa  mondano — while  the  children  kept  constantly  ex- 
claiming, "VivaJesu  Chris  to  He  Nostra      And  on  that  occasion, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


365 


for  the  first  time,  was  sung  the  Lauda,  composed  by  Girolamo 
Benevieni,  beginning  with  the  words  "  Viva  Cristo  in  nostri 
cuori,  viva  Firenza." 

In  this  way,  exulting  in  a  j)erfect  ecstasy  of  spirituality  and 
piety,  in  a  state  of  enthusiasm  bordering  on  delirious  enjoyment, 
and  exultation  of  religious  sentiment  approaching  to  extrava- 
gance, the  procession  moved  on  through  all  the  leading  thorough- 
fares of  the  city,  till  finally  reaching  the  cathedral  church  of 
St.  Maria  del  Fiore,  the  multitude  entered  the  church,  and  re- 
commended themselves  and  their  republic  to  the  divine  mercy, 
and  made  an  offering  there  of  all  the  money  that  had  been  col- 
lected that  day  in  alms  to  the  institution  of  the  Monte  della 
Pieta,  which  Savonarola  had  established  to  save  the  industrious 
poor  of  Florence  from  the  grasping  avarice  of  the  usurers.  The 
children  in  numbers  were  seen  ascending  the  steps  of  the  high 
altar,  depositing  there  the  little  vases  they  bore  filled  with 
money,  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  rings,  jewels,  and  precious 
objects  of  various  kinds.  Vases  too  of  a  large  size  were  to  be 
seen  already  ranged  on.  the  altar,  filled  with  costly  objects  of 
adornment  and  apparel,  and  money  offerings  in  abundance. 

From  the  offerings  of  that  day,  four  "  Monti  della  Pieta  " 
were  established  by  Savonarola,  in  different  parts  of  the  city, 
and  their  establishment  was  the  cause  of  a  cessation  of  the  trade 
of  usury  in  each  district  where  they  were  introduced. 

The  auto  da  fe  of  the  vanities  of  Florence  in  1497,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  carnival,  was  a  corollary  of  the  collections  and 
offerings  of  ornaments  and  precious  objects  borne  in  procession 
on  Palm  Sunday,  in  1496,  and  deposited  in  the  church  of  St. 
Maria  del  Fiore. 

On  the  present  occasion,  however,  the  offerings  were  not 
turned  to  an  useful  account ;  in  the  constantly  augmenting  ex- 
altation of  religious  opinion  which  carried  forward  the  reform  of 
Florence,  it  was  considered  an  act  of  more  heroic  zeal  to  con- 
sume the  holocaust  of  vanity  altogether,  than  to  retain  any  part 
of  it  for  pious  use.* 

*  Burlamacclii,  p.  558. 


366 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


When  the  people  of  Florence,  at  Savonarola's  solicitation,  gave 
up,  in  such  vast  quantities,  books  and  pictures  prejudicial  to 
morality,  and  various  objects  of  luxury  that  were  deemed  incen- 
tives to  voluptuousness,  one  of  Fra  Girolamo's  cotemporaries 
said — "  The  people  of  Florence,  in  their  love  of  Christ,  have 
turned  fools." 

Savonarola  replied  to  this  remark  :  "  Such  folly  is  the  height 
of  wisdom."  * 

"  He  had  a  large  platform  erected,"  says  Burlamacchi,  in  the 
Piazza  de  Signori,  with  a  kind  of  pagoda,  of  a  pyramidal  form, 
fitted  up  with  shelves  or  steps ;  on  these  were  deposited  all  the 
objects  of  vanity,  and  of  licentiousness,  which  had  been  collected 
by  the  children  in  the  city.  In  the  centre  were  placed  various 
combustible  materials.  On  one  of  the  lower  shelves  were  placed 
tapestries  with  indecent  figures.  On  another,  portraits  of  females 
and  nude  figures,  and  other  representations  that  were  deemed 
objectionable,  though  executed  by  artists  of  great  eminence. 
On  another  shelf  were  placed  cards,  dice,  and  such  like  things 
used  in  gaming.  Then,  on  another  were  laid  various  instruments 
of  music — cymbals,  lutes,  and  guitars.  Then,  on  another  shelf 
were  placed  a  variety  of  female  ornaments,  perfumes,  and  cos- 
metics. The  works  of  licentious  writers,  and  especially  of  poets 
like  Morganti,  occupied  another  shelf.  There  was  an  abundant 
supply  also  of  masques,  false  hair,  theatrical  and  carnival  dresses, 
and  mummeries  of  various  kinds.  But  there  were  objects,  like- 
wise, in  the  collection,  of  vanities  of  great  value  in  ivory  and 
alabaster,  for  which  a  merchant  had  in  vain  offered  twenty  thou- 
sand crowns  to  the  Signori. 

"  Amidst  the  ringing  of  bells,  the  sounds  of  mu^ic,  the  shouts 
of  a  multitude  of  young  people  especially,  exulting  at  the  spec- 
tacle, in  a  state  of  enthusiasm  almost  indescribable_,  the  pyramidal 
pagoda  of  vanities  was  set  on  fire,  and  nothing  was  left  of  them, 
in  a  few  minutes,  but  ashes. 

"  And  in  a  few  months,  another  spectacle  was  seen  in  the  same 

t  Dr.  Karle  Hafe's  Neue  Proplieten,  p.  124.  Drei  Historisch  Politiche 
Kirchenbilder,  12mo.  Leipsic,  1851. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


367 


square,  of  an  auto-da-fe  of  a  human  being — of  Girolamo  Savo- 
narola, the  author  of  the  spectacle  we  have  just  described  ;  and 
while  he  was  hanging  from  a  cross,  and  while  his  body  was 
consuming,  and  when  it  was  reduced  to  ashes,  the  multitude 
were  shouting  in  exultation,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  their  savage 
joy  was  not  less  loud  than  the  mirth  and  gladness  of  the  children 
of  Florence,  when  they  were  consuming  the  vanities  and  relin- 
quished objects  of  a  licentious  character  of  the  same  people." 

"  It  was  a  very  extraordinary  sight,"  says  E-io,  "  for  the  Flo- 
rentines, to  see  that  youth  formerly  so  boisterous,  so  undisciplined, 
so  insubordinate,  submit  to  a  rule  of  life  so  contrary  to  its  cus- 
toms and  to  its  natural  impetuosity,  and  to  have  a  great  desire 
for  pious  exercises,  so  as  not  to  think  of  other  things  during 
seven  consecutive  years.  In  the  paternal  home,  the  rosary  was 
recited,  or  the  office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  read,  according 
to  the  difference  of  the  ages  of  those  reciting  it,  and  they  al- 
together conformed  themselves,  according  to  each  one's  capacity, 
to  the  plan  of  Christian  education  recommended  by  Savonarola. 
Out  of  doors,  they  attended  all  his  sermons,  and  on  the  eve  of 
solemn  festivals  they  went  together  to  make  garlands  of  olive, 
sat  down  upon  the  green  turf,  distributed  in  groups  that  formed 
as  many  choirs,  and  chaunted  hymns  to  the  praise  of  God  or  of 
Mary ;  and  those  who  passed  that  way,  said,  on  returning  from 
witnessing  that  scene,  that  to  look  at  them  appeared  like  a 
glimpse  of  paradise." 

These  hymns,  composed  for  the  most  part  by  sufficiently 
good  poets,  and  some  to  well-known  airs,  were  one  of  the  most 
efficacious  means  employed  by  Savonarola  for  the  project  of  re- 
generation he  had  in  view. 

He  knew  that  the  custom  of  assembling  on  Saturday  night, 
after  nones,  in  the  principal  churches  of  Florence,  to  chaunt  the 
spiritual  canticles  in  alternate  choirs,  before  an  image  of  the 
Madonna,  and  that  usually  ended  in  a  peformance  on  the  organ, 
with  voices  and  the  accompaniments  of  bells,  had  continued, 
without  interruption,  even  to  the  thirteenth  century,  and  had 
acquired  sufficient  importance  to  give  to  its  director  the  name 


368 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRCOM 


of  a  captain  of  Laudesi.  He  knew  that,  during  all  the  time  the 
interdict  of  13T6  lasted,  men,  women,  and  children  thronged 
every  night  to  the  churches,  to  console  themselves  by  those 
hymns  for  the  temporary  suppression  of  worship,  and  he  had 
witnessed  himself  a  company  of  trumpeters  of  old,  organised 
at  the  expense  of  the  state,  to  accompany  the  caroccio  in  time 
of  war,  the  priors  and  holy-standard  bearer  in  time  of  peace. 
This  band  used  to  come  every  Saturday  to  the  old  palace,  to 
play  national  airs  in  honour  of  justice  rendered  to  the  people 
in  the  week  that  had  flown  away.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  growing  reputation  which  the  licentious 
songs  composed  for  the  dances  and  orgies  of  the  carnival  had 
obtained  ;  and  he  reasonably  concluded  from  his  personal  obser- 
vations, combined  with  historic  traditions,  that  music  exercised 
a  great  sway  over  the  minds  of  the  Florentines,  and  that  it 
might  make  some  amends  for  the  mischievous  productions  of 
some  poets.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  extend  his  reform  even 
to  that  branch  of  art. 

Here,  again,  the  difhculty  was  not  to  be  overcome  as  far  as 
regards  the  old  people,  from  whose  memory  it  was  impossible 
to  root  out  all  the  bad  ideas  that  this  had  accumulated  and  set 
a  store  on.  It  was  easier  to  have  to  clean  the  stable  of  Augeas. 
Thus  it  was  entirely  through  infancy  and  youth  the  plan  of  the 
reformer  could  be  effected ;  and,  in  that  limit,  his  triumph  over 
profane  music  was  so  complete,  that  he  celebrated  his  festivities 
exactly  during  the  days  of  the  carnival,  in  the  midst  of  the 
hymns  and  blessings  of  an  immense  majority  of  the  people. 

"  Lorenzo  de  Medici  had  a  partiality,"  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  for 
the  carnival  hymns  which  he  brought  into  vogue  and  em- 
bellished. These  '  Canti  carnescialeschi '  were  printed  in 
Florence,  in  1559.  Their  style  is  generally  burlesque  mytho- 
logy ;  for  example,  representations  of  the  triumphs  of  Bacchus 
and  Ariadne,  drawn  with  great  pomp  through  the  streets.  To 
these  worldly  pleasures  Savonarola  wished  to  oppose  a  holy 
carnival.  Thus  his  adherents,  often  coming  forth  dancing,  from 
Saint  Mark's  church  to  the  market-place,  a  monk  and  a  secular 


OP  SAVONAROLA. 


369 


person  hand  in  hand,  to  the  cry, '  Viva  Christo this  they  called 
without  hesitation,  to  be  mad  for  the  sake  of  Jesus,  and  they 
prided  themselves  rather  on  this  folly."* 

"  In  his  musical  reform  (says  Rio)  he  had  two  principal  objects 
in  view :  in  the  first  place,  to  give  a  fashion  to  singing  at  once 
simple,  expressive,  and  majestic  ; — as,  for  instance,  the  hymns  of 
the  Church,  known  from  time  immemorial  as  the  *  Ave  Maris 
Stella/  or  the  '  Veni  Creator,  which  were  so  highly  appro- 
priate to  the  wants  of  the  time.  Afterwards  he  wished  to  sub- 
stitute appropriate  airs  for  those,  to  which  Lorenzo  di  Medici 
and  his  court  were  accustomed  to  sing  canzone  composed  by  him, 
with  a  purity  of  style  which  was  not  to  be  expected  from  the 
author  of  drinking  and  dancing  songs,  the  cynic  coarseness  of 
which  disfigured  the  collection  of  his  works.  In  order  that  the 
people  might  not  be  unfavourably  disposed  towards  these  new 
compositions,  care  had  been  taken  to  adapt  the  most  popular 
airs,  as  the  air  of  faisan,  that  of  la  cigale,  &c.,  and  this  conde- 
scendence spared  poets  the  trouble  of  forming  choruses  ex- 
pressly for  their  compositions.  Savonarola  prescribed  formally 
neither  words  nor  music ;  but,  by  dint  of  making  them  repeat 
with  their  infantine  voices  the  sweet  melodies  which  were 
breathed  with  the  same  piety  of  the  heart  as  by  their  pious 
ancestors,  he  caused  them  to  be  appreciated  by  the  Florentines 
at  their  just  estimate,  and  that  important  branch  of  Christian 
art  had  its  share  of  the  improvements  introduced  i^ffp  all  the 
others. 

*^  Not  to  acknowledge  Savonarola  as  a  powerfid  logician,  an 
accomplished  orator,  a  profound  theologian,  a  genius  compre- 
hensive and  bold,  a  universal  philosopher,  or,  rather,  the  com- 
petent judge  of  all  philosophy,  would  be  an  injustice  which  his- 
tory and  his  contemporaries  would  not  tolerate. 

"  One  might  imagine  without  doubt  that  it  would  be  more  just 

to  deny  him  the  possession  of  that  rare  gift  of  an  exquisitely 

acute  and  intuitive  perception  of  the  beautiful  in  the  arts  of 

imagination,  which  is  not  always  the  privilege  of  the  greatest 

*  Dr.  Karle  Hafe,  Neuo  Propheten,  p.  324. 
VOL.  I.  B  B 


370 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


genius,  and  which  supposes  a  sensibility  of  soul,  and  a  delicacy 
of  organs,  too  difficult  to  meet  with,  either  the  one  or  the 
other,  in  a  monastic  person  devoted  to  the  mortifications  of  the 
cloister ;  and  yet,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that  both  are 
found  united  in  a  very  high  degree  in  Savonarola. 

"  By  his  entrance  into  monastic  life,  he  imposed  on  himself  the 
obligation  of  sacrificing  everything  that  had  become  an  object 
of  strong  attachment  to  him,  and  that  sacrifice  was  never  so 
afflicting  as  when  it  was  necessary  to  divest  himself  of  some 
images  of  saints,  or  pious  books  ornamented  with  miniatures. 
In  the  model  convent  which  he  proposed  to  found  at  Florence, 
and  which  was  a  Utopia  as  dear  to  his  heart  as  to  his  imagina- 
tion, the  lay  brothers  began  to  occupy  themselves  assiduously 
with  works  of  sculpture  and  painting.  Their  works  were  placed 
near  the  sanctuary,  as  the  fountain  of  the  purest  inspirations, 
vestals  of  Christian  art,  there  to  guard  the  sacred  fire. 

He  knew,  by  his  own  experience,  how  much  the  pencil  of 
truly  Christian  artists  can  aid  the  soul  in  shaking  off  its  languor 
and  facilitating  its  aspirations  toward  God,  for  he  was  often 
seen  on  liis  knees  passing  long  hours  in  prayer  before  a  picture 
of  the  Crucifixion,  in  the  church  of  San  Michele.  We  may 
go  further,  and  affirm,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  his 
theory  of  the  beautiful,  that  is  expressed  in  scattered  fragments 
throughout  his  sermons,  surpasses  in  originality,  as  it  does  in 
profundi^,  all  that  the  writers  of  the  same  age  have  said  upon 
the  subject,  in  following  servilely,  more  or  less,  the  frivolities 
of  Aristotle  or  Quintilian.  Without  dwelling  on  his  ingenious 
disquisitions  on  the  True,  the  Beautiful,  and  the  Good,  con- 
sidered in  their  relations  with  Christian  preaching,  I  "s^tII  con- 
tent myself  with  quoting  one  of  his  most  remarkable  addresses, 
directed  specially  to  artists. 

"  ^  Your  ideas,'  he  said  to  them,  ^  are  stamped  with  the 
grossest  materialism  ....  the  beauty  of  a  composition  is  the  re- 
sult of  proportion  between  its  parts,  or  the  harmony  between  the 
colours ;  but  in  that  which  is  simple,  beauty  consists  in  trans- 
figuration :  that  is,  in  light.    Therefore  it  is  far  beyond  visible 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


371 


objects  that  we  must  look  for  supreme  beauty  in  its  essence .... 
The  more  human  beings  participate  in  and  approach  the  beauty 
of  God,  the  more  beautiful  they  are — the  same  as  the  beauty  of 
the  body  is  in  relation  to  the  beauty  of  the  soul ;  for,  if  you 
take  two  women  in  this  assemblage,  equally  beautiful  in  person, 
she  will  be  the  most  holy  person  who  will  excite  among  the 
spectators  most  admiration,  and  the  palm  will  not  fail  to  be 
given  to  her  even  by  carnal  men.'  * 

"  He  did  not  feel  less  sensibly  the  beauties  of  nature,  and  he 
understood  better  than  most  persons  those  beautiful  words  of 
Saint  Paul — Tarn  multa  genera  linguarum  sunt  in  hoc  mundo  et 
nihil  sine  voce  est. 

"  During  a  short  sojourn  he  made  in  Lombardy,  brother  James 
of  Sicily,  who  had  the  happiness  to  accompany  him  in  all  his 
excursions,  often  yielded  to  the  enthusiasm  by  which  Savonarola 
was  moved  at  the  sight  of  some  imposing  and  varied  scene  that 
might  unfold  itself  to  their  eyes.  They  would  choose  some  soli- 
tary and  charming  spot,  and,  after  they  had  seated  themselves  in 
the  shade  upon  the  green  turf,  they  would  open  a  book  of  psalms 
to  look  for  a  text  applicable  to  all  the  wonders  of  the  valley 
and  the  mountains  which  spoke  to  them  so  eloquently  of  the 
glory  and  majesty  of  God. 

Savonarola  has  left  more  than  one  souvenir  of  that  descrip- 
tion with  the  monks  of  Saint  Dominic  of  Fiesole,  with  whom  he 
had  wandered  more  than  once  over  the  adjacent  hills,  j)ouring 
forth  in  abundance  divine  strains  of  poetry  which  gushed  from 
his  soul,  and  made  those  who  accompanied  him  feel  something 
analogous  to  that  which  had  been  experienced  by  the  two  disci- 
ples at  Emaus,  when  they  asked  each  other  if  they  did  not  feel 
their  hearts  bui*n  within  them  when  He,  by  whom  they  were 
accompanied,  spoke  to  them."*  . .  . 

"  Savonarola  thought  it  of  importance  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
practice  which  in  the  time  of  the  Medici  had  received  so  much 

*  Sermon,  Third  Sunday  of  Lent,  on  the  discourse  of  Jesus  with  tlie 
Samaritan  woman. 

t  La  Poesie  Chretienne,  pp.  321,  et  seq. 

B  B  2 


sn 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


encouragement  from  persons  in  high  station,  of  singing  licen- 
tious songs,  and  devoting  leisure  to  a  species  of  amatory  lite- 
rature, which  the  Florentine  poets  and  scholars  of  that  day 
provided  largely  for  the  depraved  taste  of  the  public. 

"  To  understand  the  nature  of  these  compositions,"  it  is  well 
remarked  by  De  Rians,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the 
political  condition  of  Florence  from  the  year  1490  to  1492, 
when  Lorenzo  governed  the  republic  as  an  absolute  sovereign. 
Amongst  the  means  adopted  by  this  great  and  astute  man  to 
secure  his  power — always  increasing  over  the  Florentine  people 
— he  imagined  a  new  style  of  poetry,  which  he  called  Canti 
Carnascialeschi,  carnival  songs,  in  order  to  give  more  effect  to 
certain  masquerades,  in  which  some  triumph  or  subject  of  art 
was  represented.  To  render  those  orgies  more  attractive  and 
brilliant,  he  spared  no  expense.  The  chariots,  with  the  ca- 
rousers,  went  about  the  city  from  after  dinner  to  two,  and  even 
three  hours  of  the  night,  men  wearing  masks  following  them 
on  horseback,  richly  apparelled,  sometimes  in  bands  exceeding 
three  hundred,  with  equally  large  numbers  of  persons  on  foot, 
with  flames  and  torches,  which  rendered  the  night  as  bright  as 
day.  In  this  order  they  paraded  through  the  city,  with  singers 
and  musicians,  the  vocal  performers  varying  in  numbers,  from 
four  or  five,  to  twelve  or  fifteen,  accompanied  with  trumpets 
and  other  musical  instruments,  singing  canzone  ballads,  ma- 
drigals, and  harzellete,  appropriate  to  the  character  of  each  mas- 
querade, as  for  instance  :  II  tronfo  di  Baccho  e  Arianna,  i  canti 
delle  fanciuUe  e  della  cigale,  della  Foresi,  de  Bericuocolai,  delle 
filatrice  d'oro,  degli  Mogli  giovani  e  de  Mariti  vecchi,  de  Mu- 
latieri,  de  Romiti,  &c. 

"  Those  poetical  effusions  were  adapted  to  all  sorts  of  tastes  of 
the  people  of  Florence,  inordinately  fond  of  pleasure  and  of  fes- 
tivities ;  so  that  the  carnival  songs  (imagined  by  Lorenzo)  gave 
rise  to  a  description  of  composition  which  was  cultivated  by 
the  most  celebrated  literary  men  of  the  succeeding  age. 

"  Such  festivities  and  worldly  poetry,  and  for  the  most  part  in- 
decent and  immoral,  contrasted  singularly  with  the  religious 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


373 


and  political  opinions  of  Fra  Girolamo  and  his  numerous  fol- 
lowers, who  urged  on  the  Holy  See  the  necessity  of  the  eccle- 
siastical reform,  and  desired  the  establishment  of  popular  govern- 
ment."* 

With  the  idea  of  putting  an  end  to  this  mode  of  corrupting 
public  morals,  Savonarola  conceived  the  plan  of  substituting  for 
the  carnival-poetico-mithologico-burlesque  lyric  compositions 
of  Lorenzo's  introduction,  a  certain  santo  carnasciale,  a  carnival 
sacred  poetry  for  popular  canzone,  united  and  sanctified  with 
religious  observances,  public  ceremonial  functions,  prayers,  and 
processions,  and  other  mystic  canticles,  either  expressly  com- 
posed or  brought  into  use  by  him  

In  the  course  of  the  first  santo  carnasciale  even  the  dance 
was  not  despised  by  Savonarola,  considering  it  as  a  mystic  re- 
creation, when  used  in  the  way  of  which  we  have  an  account 
in  the  poetry  of  the  Beato  Jacopone  da  Forli,  cant.  viii.  lib.  7. 

*'  "Nol  mi  pensai  giamai 
Di  danzar  alia  danza 
Ma  la  sua  inn  amor ata 
Jesu,  lo  me  ne  fare." 

Of  these  strange  lines,  and  a  few  others  not  easily  rendered 
into  English,  the  following  attempt  at  a  translation  may  give 
some  slight  idea : 

I  never  thought  to  mingle  in  the  dance, 

But  when  my  soul's  beloved  meets  me  there, 

Then  in  my  gladness  in  the  mystic  dance 

I  move,  and  all  my  joys  in  Christ  are  crown'd. 

A  friend  of  Fra  Girolamo,  Girolamo  Beneviene,  fell  into  some 
extravagances  endeavouring  to  supply  suitable  lyrics  for  the 
santo  carnasciale. 

Thus  sung  the  enthusiastic  Piagnone  Beneviene  : 

"  Non  fu  mai  piu  bel  sallazzo 
Pui  giocondo  ne  maggiore, 
Che  per  zelo  e  per  amore, 
Di  J esu,  di  venir  pazzo, 

*  De  Eian's  Poesie  di  Savonarola,  12mo.  Fir-  1847. 


571 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Ogniin  grido  com'  io  grido 
Sempre  pazzo,  pazzo,  pazzo." 

"  Solace  there  neyer  was  sweeter  here, 

Greater  enjoyment  or  more  delight, 
Than  from  zeal  for  Christ  and  love  sincere, 

To  men,  to  seem  to  be  fools  downright. 
Ev  ry  one  cries  in  the  transports,  '  Hist ! 

Ever  a  fool,  let  me  be  for  Christ.* " 

Another  of  these  canzone  of  the  sacred  carnival,  still  more 
strange  and  singular,  the  strains  of  a  muse  worshipped  by  an 
enthusiast,  bordering  on  fanaticism,  runs  thus: 

I. 

"  Io  vo  darti  anima  mia, 
Un  remedio  sol,  che  vale 
Quant'  ogni'  altro  a  ciascmi  male^ 
Que  si  chiama  la  pazzia. 

II. 

To  tre  once  almen  di  speme 
Tre  di  fede  e  sei  d'amore 
Due  di  pianto  e  poni  insieme, 
Tutto  al  fuoco  del  timore. 

III. 

Fa  di  boUir  tre  ore, 
Premi  in  fine  e  aggiunge  tanto 
D'umiltade,  e  dolor  quanto 
Basta  a  far  questa  pazzia." 

These  last  stanzas  I  have  found  it  hardly  possible  to  translate 
into  intelligible  English. 

I, 

I  will  prescribe  for  thee,  my  soul, 

A  remedy  that's  far  above 
All  cures  which  people  do  extol ; 

'Tis  called  the  foolishness  of  Christ. 

II. 

Thi'ee  ounces  take  of  hope,  three  more 

Then  take  of  faith,  of  love  twice  three. 
Five  of  compunction,  mix  them  o'er 

The  fire  of  holy  fear  of  God. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


376 


III. 

Boil  the  ingredients  well,  then  strain, 

And  add  enough  of  tears,  in  fine 
And  humble  thoughts,  and  call  it  then 

Madness  or  folly,  that's  divine. 

But  the  Laude  of  Sayonarola  are  of  a  very  different  descrip- 
tion of  spii'itual  poetry  from  these  lyrical  extravaganze,  as  the 
translations  of  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable  pieces  will  plainly 
show. 

Savonarola's  "Lauda,  al  Crocifisso/'  composed  for  singing  with 
music,  for  three  voices,  is  one  of  those  spiiitual  airs  or  canticles 
which  were  much  in  vogue  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  and  in  a  less  degree  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Those 
laude  used  to  be  sung,  not  only  in  churches  and  convents,  and 
especially  in  the  Chuixh  of  Saint  Maria  del  Fiore,  but  by  the 
laity  also,  on  Saturdays  particularly,  after  the  office  of  the  nona, 
by  men,  women,  and  children  :  five  or  six  of  those  laude  would 
be  sung  by  different  singers  alternately.  In  the  churches  the 
laude  usually  finished  with  the  Ave  Maria.  Un  Capitano  de 
LaudesCy  says  Burlamacclii,  or  leader  of  the  singers  of  the  laude, 
usually  regulated  the  choruses.  The  importance  of  these  laude 
as  devotional  exercises  was  manifested  in  1376,  when  the  Pope 
placed  the  city  of  Florence  under  an  interdict,  and  the  people 
being  deprived  of  the  sacraments  and  ceremonies  of  their  reli- 
gion, had  recourse  to  the  only  means  left  them  of  worshipping 
God  by  private  prayer  and  public  assemblies ;  for  the  purpose 
of  singing  laude  and  the  capitano  de  laudesi  on  those  occasions, 
in  some  sort  affected  the  character  of  ecclesiastics,  so  far  as  per- 
forming their  functions  Avith  due  solemnity.  Savonarola  found 
the  laude  in  desuetude  in  his  time.  He  judged  that  its  re- 
establishment  would  be  useful  to  religion,  and  would  tend  to 
divert  the  minds  of  the  public  from  the  sensual  and  profane 
songs,  combming  licentiousness  and  paganism  in  poetry,  volup- 
tuousness clothed  in  classical  attire,  which  in  the  latter  times  of 
Lorenzo  de  Medici  was  so  much  the  fashion. 

The  following  specimens  of  those  laude  of  Savonai'ola,  in 


376 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


English  verse,  will  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  those 
compositions. 

For  the  English  versions  of  the  "  Ode  to  the  Cross "  and 
"  Jesus  to  the  Soul/'  I  am  indebted  to  a  lady  of  poetic  genius  of 
the  highest  order,  whose  spiiit-stirring  compositions  under  the 
signature  of  Speranza,  are  not  surpassed  by  any  similar  lyrics 
of  oui*  times. 

HYMN  TO  THE  CEOSS, 


Jesus,  refage  of  the  weary, 

Object  of  the  spirit's  love, 
Fountain  in  life's  desert  dreary, 

Saviour  from  the  world  above  : 

(Eefeain.) 
Gracious  and  great  thy  love  divine, 
Manifold  ever  thy  mercies  shine, 
Happy  the  soul  that  may  blend  with  thine. 

II. 

Oh,  how  oft  thine  eyes,  offended, 
Gaz'd  upon  the  sinner's  fall, 

Yet  Thou  on  the  cross  extended, 
Bore  the  penalty  of  all ! 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 
III. 

For  our  human  sake  enduring 

Tortures  infinite  in  pain, 
By  thy  death  our  Hfe  assuring. 

Conquerors,  through  Thee  we  reign ! 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 


StiLl  we  passed  the  cross  in  scorn, 
Breathing  no  repentant  vow, 

Though  from  'neath  the  circling  thorn, 
Dropp'd  the  blood-sweat  of  Thy  brow. 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


377 


V. 

Yet  Tliy  sinless  death  hath  bought  us 
Life  eternal,  peace  and  rest  ; 

What  Thy  grace  alone  hath  taught  us, 
Calms  the  sinner's  stormy  heart- 
Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 

VI. 

J esus,  would  my  heart  were  burning 
With  more  vivid  love  for  thee, 

Would  my  eyes  were  ever  turning 
To  Thy  cross  of  agony. 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 

VII. 

Would  that  on  that  cross  suspended, 

I  the  martyr's  palm  might  win, 
When  the  Lord  the  heaven  descended. 
Sinless  suffered  for  my  sin. 
Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c. 

VIII. 

Cup  of  torture  !  may'st  thou  rend  me 
With  thy  fierce  unearthly  dole. 

Welcome  be  the  pangs  that  lend  me 
Strength  to  crush  sin,  in  my  soul. 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &c, 

IX. 

So  in  pain  and  rapture  blending. 
Might  my  fading  eyes  grow  dim. 

While  the  freed  heart  rose,  ascending, 
To  the  circling  seraphim. 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine,  &C; 

X. 

Then  in  glory,  parted  never 
From  the  blessed  Saviour's  side. 

Graven  on  my  heart  for  ever, 
Be  the  cross  and  crucified. 

Gracious  and  great  Thy  love  divine. 

Manifold  ever  Thy  mercies  shine, 

Happy  the  soul  that  may  blend  with  thine ! 


S78 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


JESUS  TO  THE  SOUL. 

Fair  soul,  created  in  the  primal  hour, 

Once  pure  and  grand, 
And  for  whose  sake  I  left  my  throne  and  power 
At  God's  right  hand ; 
By  this  sad  heart  pierced  through  because  I  love  thee, 
Let  love  and  mercy  to  contrition  move  thee. 

Cast  off  the  sin  thy  holy  beauty  veiling, 

Spirit  divine ! 
Yain  against  Thee  the  hosts  of  hell  assailing. 
My  strength  is  thine. 
Drink  from  my  side  the  cup  of  life  immortal, 
And  love  will  lead  thee  back  to  heaven's  portal. 

Quench  in  my  light  the  flame  of  low  desire  ; 

Crush  doubt  and  fear. 
Even  to  my  glory  may  each  soul  aspire 
If  victor  here. 
Die  now  to  earth  with  earthly  vanity. 
And  live  for  evermore  in  heaven  with  me. 

I  for  thy  sake  was  pierced  with  many  sorrows. 

And  bore  the  cross. 
Yet  heeded  not  the  galling  of  the  arrows, 
The  shame  or  loss. 
So  faint  not  thou  whate'er  the  burden  be. 
Bear  with  it  bravely,  even  to  Calvary. 

Still  shall  my  spirit  urge  if  thou  delayest. 

My  hand  sustain. 
My  blood  wash  out  thy  errors  if  thou  strayest. 
Plead  I  in  vain  ? 
An  hour  is  coming  when  the  judgment  loometh, 
Repent,  fair  soul,  ere  yet  that  hour  cometh. 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  pieces  of  the  time  of  the 
revival  of  religion  in  Florence  is  the  canzone^ 

"  Viva,  viva,  in  nostro  core, 
Cristo  Re,  Duce  e  Signore  !  " 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


379 


It  has  been  translated  for  me  with  remarkable  felicity,  and 
exact  conformity  to  the  original,  by  a  gentleman  in  every  true 
sense  of  the  term — spiritually  minded. 

HYMJST. 

\_Canzona  d  Florentine  Composta  Circa  il  1495.] 

Viva,  viva  in  nostro  core 
Cristo  Re,  Duce  e  Signore. 
Dwell  withia  the  heart  adored, 
Christ,  our  gentle  king  and  lord. 

I. 

Oh,  let  each  his  understanding 

Free  from  passion,  and  resign 
Earthly  pleasures  and  affections. 

Let  him  melt  in  love  divine. 
Look  to  Christ,  our  King,  regarding 

All  his  bounties,  old  and  new. 
So  with  fasting  and  repentance, 

Inmost  thoughts  and  heart  renew. 

II. 

If  you  wish  that  J esus  triumph. 

By  his  grace  your  heart  above 
All  its  hatred  and  disdaining. 

Change  to  peaceful,  gentle  love. 
Ev'ry  hateful  feehng  banished. 

Who  of  such  the  peace  can  tell, 
Here  in  heart  and  there  in  heaven, 

Jesus  loves  with  them  to  dwell. 

m. 

Gentle  Jesus,  O  how  blessed 

He  who  flies  this  world  for  Thee, 
His  the  breast  whose  state  is  ever 

Calm,  serene,  and  spirit  free. 
Oh,  how  oft  alone  I  marvel  { 

That  by  merest  dross  enticed, 
Men  should  lose  that  priceless  treasure, 

Joy  and  glory  which  is  Christ. 


380 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


IV. 

Rome,  arise  then,  oh,  benign  one ! 

'Gainst  the  world-wide  Pharaoh's  might, 
Casting  down  the  old  red  dragon, 

Blanch  our  stains  to  swanlike  white. 
Rouse,  even  now,  the  royal  lion. 

With  the  tribe  of  Judah's  might. 
Where  the  wrath  of  God  has  fallen, 

Horror  reigns  and  pains  the  sight. 

V. 

Blessed  be  the  virgin  mother. 

Blessed  J esus  Christ  our  love, 
Blessed  Lord  and  faithful  pastor 

Of  the  sacred  folds  above. 
Who  for  those  who  sat  in  sighing, 

Caused  the  light  to  break,  e'en  thus, 
Let  the  brightness,  living,  dying, 

Of  his  glory  beam  on  us. 

In  the  following  version  of  one  of  the  most  popular  hymns  of 
Savonarola,  I  have  endeavoured  to  give  the  meaning  of  the 
original,  scarcely  hoping,  however,  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  tender  piety  that  breathes  in  every  line  of  it : — 

"  Ad  Virginem  Mariam 
Funde  preces  in  coelis." 
[-4  'Hymn  composed  in  the  time  of  the  great  plague  in  Florence.'] 

Oh,  star  of  Galilee, 
Shining  o'er  this  earth's  dark  sea. 
Shed  thy  glorious  Hght  on  me, 
Maria,  Stella  Maris  ! 

Queen  of  clemency  and  love. 
Be  my  advocate  above. 
And  thro'  Christ  all  sin  remove, 
Maria,  SteUa  Maris ! 

When  the  angel  caUed  thee  blessed. 
And  with,  transports  filled  thy  breast, 
'T  was  thy  Lord  became  thy  guest, 
Maria,  Stella  Maris ! 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


381 


Earth's  purest  creature  thou  ! 
lu  the  heaveus  exulting  now, 
With  the  halo  round  thy  brow, 

Maria,  Stella  Maris  ! 

Beauty  beams  in  every  trace 
Of  the  Virgin  Mother's  face, 
Full  of  glory  and  of  grace, 

Maria,  Stella  Mari  . 

A  beacon  to  the  just, 

To  the  sinner  hope  and  trust, 

J oy  of  the  angel  host, 

Maria,  Stella  Maris  ! 

Ever  glorified !  thy  throne 
Is  where  thy  blessed  Son 
Doth  reign — through  him  alone, 
Maria,  Stella  Maris  ! 

All  pestilence  shall  cease. 
And  sin  and  strife  decrease. 
And  the  kingdom  come  of  peace, 
Maria,  Stella  Maris ! 


By  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Wm.  Beattie,  "  Amicus  Amicorum  et 
Musarum/'  I  am  enabled  to  place  before  my  readers  an  admira- 
ble English  version  of  the  "  Lauda  di  Santa  Maria  Maddalena," 
which  Savonarola  sent  to  his  sister  Beatrice,  in  a  letter  dated 
the  3rd  of  November,  1496. 

Jesus !  source  of  heavenly  light, 

Fountain  of  celestial  grace  ; 
In  Thee  my  heart  and  hopes  unite, 
I  languish  to  behold  Thy  face ! 
Ever  living,  stiU  forgiving 
All  who  timely  turn  to  Thee  ; 
Here,  before  Thee,  I  implore  Thee, 
In  mercy.  Lord,  remember  me  ! 

Here,  with  Mary,  at  Thy  feet, 
I  bow  before  Thy  mercy-seat. 

iUleluia  ! 


SS2 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Jesus  !  while  I  breathe  Thy  name. 
While  to  Thee  my  spirit  turns  ; 
Kindling  with  seraphic  flame, 
My  heart  with  holy  rapture  burns. 
All  my  sadness  turns  to  gladness, 
"Wealth  and  fame  are  worthless  dross  ; 
How  rapt  the  feeling,  thus  when  kneeling 
Prostrate  at  my  Saviour's  cross. 

With  Mary,  prone  at  Jesu's  feet, 
I  bow  before  Thy  mercy- seat. 

Alleluia ! 

III. 

Tho'  lost  in  sin,  I  know  that  Thou 

Hast  suffer'd  to  redeem  "  the  lost 
And,  list'ning  to  the  sinner's  vow, 

Had  borne  the  cross,  and  paid  the  cost. 
Oh,  thus  I  borrow  joy  for  sorrow. 
Exult  in  faith  and  banish  fear ; 
If  woes  oppress  me,  if  pains  distress  me, 
A  look  to  J esus  dries  my  tear. 

I  feel  that  death  itself  were  sweet, 
That  finds  me  kneeling  at  thy  feet. 

Alleluia ! 

IV. 

Jesus !  when  the  closing  tomb 

Shall  close  my  day  of  sin  and  strife, 
My  soul,  redeemed  by  Thee,  shall  bloom, 
Engrafted  on  the  Tree  of  Life. 

In  those  bright  regions,  seraphic  legions 
Of  saints  in  bliss  and  glory  reign ; 
Where  still  ascending,  but  never  ending, 
They  raise  the  same  triumphant  strain, 
And  kneeling  at  the  Saviour's  feet, 
Thousand,  thousand  tongues  repeat— 
Alleluia !  Alleluia ! 

V. 

J  esus  !  life  of  all  that  live, 

Oh,  hear  my  penitential  prayer, 
My  frailty,  guilt,  and  sin  forgive. 

Thy  cross  my  refuge  in  despair. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


My  soul  to  lighten,  my  course  to  brighten, 

O  send  Thy  spirit  from  above, 

And  while  in  anguish  I  sigh  and  languish. 

Oh,  cheer  me  with  the  voice  of  love, 

While  thus  with  Mary  at  Thy  feet, 
I  bow  before  thy  mercy-seat. 

Alleluia 

Song  of  earth,  in  Mary's  name, 
Soar  to  heaven  on  wings  of  flame  ! 
Saints,  with  golden  lyre  resound 
The  Saviour  crucified  and  crown'd. 

Who  died  the  guilty  to  redeem, 

Jesu  is  the  sinner's  theme. 

Alleluia 


384 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PAGANISM  IN  EDUCATION, 

"  A  certain  ignorance  very  grievous,  wliich  notwithstanding  has  the 
appearance  of  the  greatest  wisdom/' — Plato,  De  Legibus,  lib.  xx. 

"  Ye  fathers !  let  your  children  learn  grammar,  and  keep  able  men  as 
teachers  who  are  accomplished,  and  not  players — pay  them  well,  and  see 
that  the  schools  are  no  holes  and  corners.  All  should  practise  grammar  in 
some  degree,  for  it  wakens  the  mind  and  helps  much.  But  the  poets  should 
thereby  not  destroy  everything  else.  There  should  be  a  law  made  that  no 
bad  poet  should  be  read  in  the  schools,  such  as  Ovid — de  Arte  Amandi, 
TibuUus,  and  Catullus — of  the  same  sort,  Terence  in  many  places.  Yirgil 
and  Cicero  I  would  suffer.  Homer  in  the  Greek,  and  also  some  passages  from 
Augustine's  work  De  Civitate  Dei — or  from  Jerome,  or  something  out  of 
the  Holy  Scripture.  And  where  you  teachers  find  in  those  books  Jupiter, 
Pluto,  and  the  like  named,  say  then — children,  these  are  fables,  and  show 
them  that  Grod  alone  rules  the  world.  So  would  the  children  be  brought 
up  in  wisdom  and  in  truth,  and  God  would  be  with  them." — Sermon  of  Sav. 

Of  the  great  reform  in  sciences,  arts,  and  all  branches  of  public 
education,  attempted  by  Savonarola,  and  his  efforts  to  purify  the 
mind  and  imagination  of  youth  by  prohibiting  all  licentious 
works  of  poetry,  music,  and  painting,  we  have  some  admirable 
observations  in  Rio's  work — "  La  Poesie  Chretienne." 

Let  us,"  says  Rio,  "  as  the  friends  of  art  and  Christian 
poetry,  fix  our  attention  on  a  contest  full  of  life  most  dramatic 
and  imposing,  sustained  by  a  single  monk  against  the  spirit  of 
his  age  in  the  face  of  all  Italy. 

"  His  mission  is  to  re-establish  the  reign  of  Christ  in  the  heart, 
in  the  spirit  and  thoughts  of  the  people,  and  to  extend  the  bene- 
fits of  the  redemption  to  all  the  human  faculties,  and  to  every 
thing  of  their  creation. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


.385 


"  The  enemy  which  he  combats  with  all  the  energy  of  his  soul, 
and  all  the  power  of  his  utterance,  is  the  paganism  of  which  he 
found  the  imprint  everywhere — in  the  arts  as  in  the  manners,  in 
the  opinions  as  in  the  acts,  in  the  cloister  as  in  the  schools  of 
his  day."  * 

In  our  times,  the  same  question  of  "  Paganism  in  Education," 
which  Savonarola  mooted  upwards  of  three  centuries  and  a  half 
ago,  is  again  made  a  subject  of  controversy  on  the  Continent. 

In  a  remarkable  work,  published  lately  in  France — "Le  ver 
rongeur  des  Societes  Modernes,"  par  Mons.  L'Abbe  Gaume — 
we  find  the  views  adopted  of  Savonarola,  respecting  the  evil 
results  of  filling  the  minds  of  children  with  such  ideas  as  many 
of  the  classic  poets  of  antiquity  are  calculated  to  produce  there. 
The  main  points  of  controversy  have  been  fairly  stated  by  an 
eminent  theological  scholar. 

M.  Gaume  imagines  that  very  many  of  the  evils  of  society 
that  have  their  origin  in  the  education  of  youth  may  be  traced 
partly  to  the  Pagan  ideas  that  are  imbibed  in  the  early  study  of 
the  Greek  and  Roman  classics  ;  and  partly,  in  a  negative  way, 
to  the  absence  of  the  early  Christian  sentiments  which  should 
have  been  inculcated  in  their  stead.  It  may  not  be  generally 
knoAvn,  that  the  books  which  we  term  '  classics'  were  not  em- 
ployed for  the  purpose  of  education  previous  to  the  fifteenth 
century — a  knowledge  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  history,  and  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages  having  been  communicated  before 
that  epoch  through  the  medium  of  works  left  by  the  Holy  Fa- 
thers and  other  Christian  writers.  The  *  classics  '  were,  of 
course,  known,  and  thoroughly  understood  too,  during  the  middle 
ages ;  but  nobody  thought  of  putting  them  into  the  hands  of 
youth ;  and  it  was  only  after  the  period  known  as  the  '  Renais- 
sance,' that  they  began  gradually  to  be  employed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  primary  education,  and  to  become  mixed  up  with  the 
general  tastes  of  society.  Thus,  by  degrees,  the  Pagan  ideas, 
which  were  previously  only  known  as  things  that  we  read  of  in 
maturer  years,  became  identified  with  the  dreams  of  youth  and 
*  La  Poesie  Chretierme,  p.  304. 
VOL.  I.  C  C 


386 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


childliood,  and  gave  a  colouring  to  the  man's  thoughts  in  after- 
life. Pagan  theogony  became  better  known  than  the  Christian 
catechism,  and  Pagan  ethics  were  the  best  understood  code  of 
morals.  But  worse,  infinitely  worse  than  all,  immorality  in  its 
most  fascinating  forms  glittered  brilliantly  from  the  Pagan  hea- 
ven, or  flitted  ever  before  the  imagination  in  the  soft  strains  of 
the  Pagan  poets,  while  passion  in  its  more  brutalising  shapes 
offered  itself  stealthily,  but  constantly,  to  the  eyes  of  youth  in 
the  uncas'tigated,  or  imperfectly  castigated  j^jages  of  almost  every 
Pagan  writer. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  Christendom 
were  no  longer  heard  of  in  the  public  schools ;  Christian  senti- 
ments ceased  to  be  mingled  with  secular  duties  ;  vast  and  in- 
valuable opportunities  of  inculcating  the  love  of  Christian  virtues 
in  early  life  were  lost  for  ever  ;  and  in  a  word,  the  ^  Ages  of 
Faith '  vanished  for  ever  from  the  earth.  Here  was  a  fearful 
loss  of  good,  and  a  fearful  gain  of  evil ;  but  where,  now-a-days, 
is  the  remedy  ?  The  Abbe  Gaume  and  a  noble  host  of  the  arch- 
bishops, bishops,  and  priests  of  France,  tell  us  to  go  back  as  far 
as  we  possibly  can  to  the  old  system  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
many  learned  and  able  churchmen,  both  bishops  and  priests  in 
the  same  country,  trace  the  evils  of  society  to  different  sources 
from  those  pointed  out  by  the  Abbe  Gaume." 

In  opposition  to  the  views  of  Mons.  Gaume,  a  CathoKc  the- 
ologian of  Malines  puts  forward  his  opinions  in  a  series  of  pro- 
positions to  the  following  effect : 

First  proposition — From  the  time  of  the  x\postles  to  Gregory 
the  Great  the  ancient  authors  were  studied  as  they  are  at  pre- 
sent ;  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  their  beauty  of  form,  and  the  good 
maxims  and  examples  of  moral  virtues,  both  political  and  pri- 
vate, which  they  contained. 

"  Tertullian,  cited  by  the  Abbe  Gaume  himself,  informs  us 
that  in  his  time  young  Christians  were  sent  to  Pagan  schools  to 
learn  the  '  Belles-lettres  '  in  the  profane  authors,  and  that  the 
only  precaution  taken  was  to  caution  them  against  the  folly  of 
the  m}i:hology  of  the  poets. 


OF   SAVON AKOLA, 


"St.  Basil,  in  his  treatise  on  the  ^  reading  of  Pagan  authors,' 
expressly  says  that  children  were  instructed  in  profane  Kterature 
before  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  put  into  their  hands — '  Externis 
utique  his  prpemitiati,  deinde  sacras  et  arcanas  doctrinas  audiemus 
et  assequemur.'  He  also  explains  the  means  to  be  adopted  in 
order  to  draw  from  them  the  '  useful'  and  '  agreeable.'  But  his 
actions  speak  still  louder  than  his  words  ;  no  one  is  ignorant  of 
the  gratitude  he  always  expressed  towards  Libanius,  for  having 
taught  him  to  appreciate  the  elegance  of  Pagan  literature.  After 
becoming  Bishop  of  Caesarea,  he  sent  his  younger  subjects  to 
his  former  master,  that  they  might  drink  of  the  pretended  poi- 
soned cup. 

"  There  were,  however,  at  that  time.  Christians  who  blamed 
this  kind  of  instruction.  St.  Gregory  of  Xazianzen  undertook 
to  refute  them  in  his  eulogy  of  St.  Basil :  ^  H?ec  profana  eruditio 
quam  plerique  Christiani  pravo  quodam  judicio  ut  insidiosam  et 
periculosam  ac  procul  a  Deo  avertentem  aspernantur,  inter  hu- 
mana  bona  principem  locum  tenet.' 

"  We  regret  the  Abbe  Gaume  should  have  passed  this  testi- 
mony over  in  silence,  but  more  particularly  that  he  should  have 
omitted  to  speak  of  what  took  place  under  Julian  the  Apostate. 
This  prince,  as  every  one  knows,  issued  an  edict  which  com- 
menced thus  :  ^  Real  instruction,  in  our  opinion,  does  not  consist 
in  w^ords,  nor  in  harmonious  or  high-flown  language,  but  in  the 
healthy  disposal  of  a  sensible  mind,  which  has  a  just  apprecia- 
tion of  good  and  e\T.l,  of  what  is  upright  and  what  is  not.  Thus, 
whoever  teacheth  to  his  disciples  what  he  believes  to  be  false,  is 
as  little  entitled  to  be  called  a  learned  as  he  is  an  honest  man. 
That  the  tongue  does  not  accord  with  the  thought  in  small 
things,  always  shows  a  want  of  correctness  to  a  certain  point  ; 
but  to  speak  in  one  way  and  to  think  in  another  on  things  of 
importance — for  a  man  to  teach  what  he  believes  to  be  bad,  to 
praise  authors  he  most  condemns,  and  thus  to  deceive  the  young, 
is  it  not  to  traffic  as  those  do,  who,  without  honour  or  conscience, 
vaunt  their  bad  merchandize  to  find  purchasers  ?'  Several  other 
reflections  of  the  same  kind  follow — the  object  of  which  is  to 

cg2 


388 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


forbid  Christian  masters  henceforth  to  teach,  and  pupils  to  study. 
Homer,  Hesiod,  Demosthenes,  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Isocrates, 
Lysias,  &c.,  and  to  enjoin  them  to  take  for  classic  authors  St. 
MatthcAV  and  St.  Luke,  much  as  is  now  proposed.  It  is  well 
known  what  the  Fathers  thought  of  this,  and  what  they  did  with 
respect  to  it  after  the  death  of  Julian. 

"  In  the  Latin  church,  it  was  not  different.  We  will  confine 
ourselves  to  Saint  Jerome.  Marianus  Victor,  his  biographer, 
relates  of  him,  that  in  his  retreat  at  Bethlehem  he  directed  the 
education  of  some  young  noblemen,  and  that  he  explained  to 
them  the  Pagan  poets,  historians,  and  orators.  This  father  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  same  studies  during  a  great  part  of  his  life. 
Kuffinus,  his  enemy,  found  cause  for  accusation  on  these  grounds. 
But  the  Saint  defended  himself  in  his  famous  letter  to  Magnus, 
the  Roman  orator ;  he  cited  the  example  of  the  prophets  and  of 
Saint  Paul,  and  the  advantage  which  an  immense  number  of  ec- 
clesiastical writers  had  drawn  from  the  ancients.  But  what  was 
the  object  of  these  studies  ?  First,  that  he  might  clothe  his  own 
writings  in  the  elegant  form  peculiar  to  the  great  Pagan  authors 
— *  Quod  ergo  mirum,  si  et  ego  sapientiam  ssecularem  propter 
eloquii  venustatem  et  membrorum  pulchritudinem  de  ancilla 
atque  captiva  Israelitidem  facere  cupio  ? '  Saint  Hilary  of  Poic- 
tiers  omitted  nothing  to  impart  to  his  writings  the  style,  the 
form,  and  the  order  he  admired  in  Quintilian  :  —  '  Hilarius 
meorum  confessor  temporum  et  episcopus  duodecim  Quintiliani 
libros  et  stylo  imitatus  est  et  numero.'  And  did  not  Ruffinus 
himself  exercise  all  his  care  to  imitate  the  historian  Sallust  ? 
'  Qui  forte  propter  amorem  historiarum  Sallustii,  Calphurnius 
cognomento  Lanarius  sit.'  Let  them  not  say,  says  the  Saint, 
that  it  may  be  useful  in  disputes  with  the  Gentiles ;  an  almost 
universal  custom  says  the  contrary  : — '  Quia  omnes  pene  omnium 
libri,  exceptis  his  qui  cum  Epicuro  litteras  non  didicerunt,  eru- 
ditionis  doctrinseque  plenissimus  sunt.' 

"  The  second  reason  alleged  by  the  saint  is,  that  the  writings 
of  the  Pagans  are  full  of  useful  doctrines  :  '  Qui  omnes  in  tantum 
philosophorum  doctrinis  atque  sententiis  suos  refarciunt  libros ; 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


389 


ut  nescias  quid  in  illis  primum  admirari  debens^  eruditionem 
S£ECuli  an  scientiam  scriptuarum.' 

"  The  thii'd  reason  may  be  found  in  the  examples  left  by  the 
Gentiles  themselves : — '  Cur  in  opusculis  nostris  saecularium 
litterarum  interdum  ponamus  exempla.' 

"  Second  proj^osition : — '  During  the  whole  course  of  the 
middle  ages  pure  Latin  was  considered  to  be  that  of  the  Au- 
gustan age ;  which  was  also  considered  as  the  only  classic  age.' 

We  find  the  proof  of  this  in  the  Abbe  Gaume  himself: — 
*  The  programme  of  studies/  says  he,  '  traced  by  Marcianus 
Capella,  remained  unchanged  during  eleven  centuries.  At  ten 
years  commenced  the  studies  according  to  rule  ;  it  was  divided 
into  tsvo  periods,  each  of  five  years.  During  the  first  the  student 
went  through  the  Trivium,  which  comprised  grammar,  dialectics, 
and  rhetoric,  &c.'  Now,  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
under  the  denomination  of  grammar  was  included,  not  only 
grammar  properly  so  called,  but  also  the  Pagan  classic  authors, 
particularly  the  poets." 

The  third  proposition  is  substantially  included  in  the  others. 

"  Foui-th  proposition : — '  The  church  has  never  discovered 
that  the  history  of  antiquity  reduced  itself  to  spoKation,  war, 
slavery,  divorce,  materialism,  and  communism  ;  on  the  contrary, 
she  has  condemned  the  Jansenists,  who  maintained  that  the  Pa- 
gans had  no  natural  moral  virtues.' 

She  has  never  effaced  from  the  eighth  chapter  of  Maccabees 
the  magnificent  eulogy  that  is  there  paid  to  the  Romans ;  it  is 
even  inserted  in  the  ecclesiastical  office.^ 

"  Fifth  proposition  : — '  The  fathers  have  condemned  those 
masters  who,  under  the  pretext  of  teaching  their  pupils  new 
words,  placed  licentious  passages  under  their  eyes  :  this  rule  has 
been  observed  since  the  Renaisance  in  all  religious  schools,  and 
war  has  always  been  carried  on  by  the  pontiffs,  the  councils,  and 
by  numerous  writers  against  the  colleges  but  little  mindful  of 
the  respect  due  to  youth.  It  is  in  this  sense  many  passages  of 
the  fathers  and  other  religious  writers  ought  to  be  understood. 
We  cannot  at  all  see  that  Father  Posse vin,  contending  against 


390 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


those  colleges  in  Avhich  Terence  was  taught,  should  be  invoked 
against  the  plan  of  studies  promulgated  by  Saint  Ignatius  of 
Loyola,  who  goes  yet  further,  and  forbids  the  professors  even  of 
his  colleges  to  study  that  author.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  banner  of  reform  had  only  then  been  raised  sixteen  years.' 

"  Sixth  proposition  : — ^  The  fathers  condemned  the  academic 
style  in  preachers.  Since  the  '  Renaisance,'  precepts  on  pulpit 
eloquence  have  continued  to  distinguish  the  two  kinds.'  " 

Cardinal  Donnet,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  in  a  very  recent 
communication  to  the  Univers,  commenting  strongly  and  severely 
on  the  opinions  put  forward  in  that  journal  on  the  controversy 
above  referred  to,  says  : — 

"  For  three  centuries  corrected  copies  of  the  authors — the 
historians  and  poets  of  Rome  and  Athens — have  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  children  in  Catholic  colleges ;  and  the  Popes,  wit- 
nesses of  this  usage,  have  not  only  tolerated  it,  and  continue  to 
tolerate  it  at  this  moment  while  we  write,  but  they  have  per- 
mitted and  even  encouraged  it.  We  have  e^ddence  of  this  in 
tlie  editions  of  the  classics  published  at  Rome,  TNath  the  authority 
of  the  Masters  of  the  Sacred  Palace.  We  may  add,  that  we  are 
indebted  to  Clement  XL  for  a  corrected  edition  of  the  Meta- 
morphoses of  Ovid,  printed  in  Rome  in  1704,  by  Father  Jou- 
vency,  who  dedicated  it  to  Charles  Albany,  nephew  of  the 
Pontiff,  and  at  that  time  a  pupil  of  the  Roman  College  in  which 
Clement  XL  had  studied  Virgil,  and  Horace,  and  Cicero.  We 
might  appeal  to  other  testimony  by  referring  you,  Sir,  to  the 
works  of  Innocent  III.,  of  Saint  Columbanus,  of  Honorius  I., 
of  Saint  Branlius,  archbishop  of  Saragossa ;  of  the  venerable 
Bede,  of  Paul  the  deacon,  of  Saint  Eugenius,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo ;  of  Saint  Livinus,  of  Saint  Fortunatus,  of  Saint  Boniface  of 
Alaim,  of  Saint  Peter  Damien,  and  in  fine,  of  Saint  Jerome, 
whom  you  so  often  appeal  to,  and  who  cites  for  you  fifty  classic 
writers  whose  works  are  so  full  of  erudition,  '  that  we  know  not 
whether  more  to  admire  in  them  the  profane  science  or  the 
science  of  the  Scriptures.'  " 

To  all  these  arguments,  the  Abbe  Gaumc  replies  in  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


391 


Univers : — "  That  it  is  very  possible  and  practicable  to  make 
good  scholars  who  shall  be  good  Christians,  but  that  it  is  more 
easy  to  effect  this  object  by  the  presence  than  by  the  absence  of 
Christian  sentiments,  truths,  and  precepts,  in  the  first  elements 
of  education  for  the  youthful  mind. 

"  That  the  Pagan  principles  that  pervade  the  poetry  of  Greece 
and  Rome  it  is  better  should  remain  ignored,  than  that  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ  and  the  science  of  the  Saints  should  not  be  more 
firmly  impressed  on  the  mind  of  youth  than  all  other  knowledge. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  the  former  should  be  ignored,  because 
the  latter  is  first  taught  and  most  chiefly  studied." 

Now  let  us  see  what  Savonarola's  views  were  on  this  subject. 

"  It  was  deemed  necessary  by  Savonarola/'  says  Rio,  in  his 
admirable  work  on  Christian  Art,  "  that  nothing  less  than  the 
Divine  aid  was  requisite  for  purifpng  everything  that  paganism 
had  defiled :  for  not  a  single  branch  of  the  arts  or  sciences,  not 
a  single  faculty  of  the  human  understanding  had  escaped  that 
contagion. 

"  By  reason  of  prostrating  themselves  before  that  ancient 
idol,  they  at  length  became  disgusted  at  the  ignominy  of  the 
cross  ;  and  Burlamacchi  tells  us,  that  Savonarola  found  Florence 
full  of  people  of  rank,  talented,  ingenious,  and  abounding  with 
human  wisdom,  who  had  not  only  lost  their  faith,  but  even 
ridiculed  those  who  preserved  it,  and  still  more  so  those  who 
defended  it. 

"  It  was  thus  with  artists  of  the  first  order,  who  plainly 
avowed  that  they  had  never  possessed  it,  and  among  those  who 
were  most  cautious  in  avoiding  scandal,  the  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity was  generally  confined  to  the  external  practices  of  reli- 
gion. The  masters  to  whom  the  public  education  was  entrusted 
imparted  generally  instruction  that  conveyed  poison  to  the 
minds  of  youth,  systematically  turning  their  admiration  towards 
the  fables  of  Grecian  mythology,  or  towards  the  heroes  of 
ancient  republics,  and  did  not  suffer  them  even  to  suspect  that 
Christianity  had  also  its  heroes,  which  surpassed  them  all.  Still 
more,  they  chose  amongst  profane  works  those  Avhich  had  a 


S92 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


more  particularly  corrupting  influence  at  once  over  the  mind 
and  morals  of  youths.  And,  notwithstanding  all  that  cotem- 
porary  historians  have  said  of  the  corruption  of  that  age,  it  is 
yet  surprising  to  find  among  the  books  of  which  Savonarola 
openly  demanded  the  suppression,  in  the  schools,  the  works  of 
Tibullus  and  Catullus,  so  licentious  in  their  nature,  and  even 
O^-id's  '  Art  of  Love,'  which,  however,  may  pass  as  an  edifS^ing 
work  in  comparison  to  another  collection  of  poems,  of  which 
the  title  alone  reveals  all  its  infamy,  and  against  which  the 
sainted  preacher  formally  demanded  an  edict  of  proscription. 
Behold  to  what  extent  the  wickedness  of  the  classical  instruc- 
tors, and  the  fatal  blindness  of  the  people  had  proceeded ! 

"  That  system  of  profane  education  was  continued  in  another 
form  in  the  higher  branches  of  instruction  in  the  colleges  and 
cloisters,  without  excepting  those  of  the  Dominicans,  although 
the  study  of  school  philosophy  was  forbidden  by  the  rules  of 
Saint  Dominic,  except  in  case  of  dispensation.  The  logic  of 
Aristotle,  loaded  with  novel  subtleties,  subjected  the  science  of 
theology  itself  to  its  diy  and  coldly-systematic  disputes :  that 
is  to  say,  the  very  science  which,  by  its  nature,  is  most  inde- 
pendent of  that  description  of  trammels ;  and  the  authority  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  was  not  fully  recognised,  except  in  as 
much  as  it  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  in  accordance  ^-ith  that 
of  the  peripatetic  philosophy.  What  do  I  say  ?  The  study  of 
holy  books,  and,  above  all,  of  the  Old  Testament,  was  so  shame- 
fully neglected,  that  it  was  asked  Avith  naivete,  by  the  few  who 
occupied  themselves  with  such  reading,  w^hat  benefit  could  they 
derive  from  the  knowledge  of  events  passed  and  accomplished 
so  many  ages  ago  ?  A  question  so  grossly  absurd,  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  think  of  it,  if  it  had  not  been  addressed  to 
Savonarola  himself  during  his  noviciate,  by  a  religious  brother, 
otherwise  highly  exemplary,  and  animated  with  the  best  dispo- 
sitions. 

"  Pulpit  oratory  itself  had  degenerated  into  purely  scholastic 
argumentation,  and  preachers  of  repute,  making  an  undigested 
farrago  of  the  Gospel  and  of  school  logic  with  their  heads 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


393 


crammed  with  all  the  subtleties  of  the  schools^  cast  this  dry 
dust  of  scholastic  divinity  into  the  eyes  of  their  hearers^  with- 
out at  all  caring  for  the  things  of  God  and  of  the  faith. 

The  poor  in  spirit  were  fortunate  indeed  when  Savonarola 
appeared  with  an  abundance  and  a  happy  selection  of  Scriptural 
citations.  It  was  in  those  simple  soids  that  the  echoes  of  Divine 
truths  reverberated^  like  the  claps  in  quick  succession  of  a  new 
thunder,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  same  heavenly  lightning  had 
touched  their  hearts  and  purified  his  lips. 

"  It  was  not  in  his  own  name  that  he  warned  the  people  of 
near  and  terrible  chastisements,  and  that  he  sought  to  cast  out 
of  science  and  the  arts  the  demon  of  paganism  by  which  they 
were  possessed ;  it  was  in  the  name  of  the  prophets,  who  had 
cried  out,  woe  to  whomsoever  may  bend  his  knee  before  idols. 

"  Amos  was  his  type  of  that  rude  and  energetic  simplicity 
with  which  inspiration  itself  seems  to  take  a  pleasure  to  con- 
found the  science  of  the  sages  ;  and  the  prophecies  of  the  pastor 
of  Thecu6,  by  the  apt  application  which  Savonarola  knew  well 
how  to  make  of  them,  appeared  to  have  mainly  in  view  the 
intellectual  idolatry  into  which  Florence  was  then  plunged. 

"When  speaking  of  the  irremissible  crime  of  the  people  of 
Israel,  the  prophet  re2:)roaches  them  with  having  drank  in  the 
cup  of  reprobates — vinum  damnatorum  hiberunt — in  his  inter- 
pretation of  the  passage  he  declares  to  the  Florentines  that 
accursed  drink  is  no  other  than  the  paganism,  with  all  its  old 
associations,  its  licentiousness,  and  its  profane  ceremonies. 

"  Those  who  swear  '  by  the  sin  of  Samaria,'  qui  jurant  in 
delicto  SamaricB,  are,  on  the  one  hand,  the  youth  of  Florence, 
whom  pride  encourages  to  run  after  logic  and  philosophy ;  and, 
on  the  other,  the  jn-ofcssors  of  theology,  who  knew  not  how  to 
study  except  illusory  subtleties,  which  furnish  never-ending 
materials  for  scholastic  controversies.  Those  also  who  cry  out 
— Live  the  ways  of  Beerschehah  ! — vivit  via  Bersahe  ! — are  the 
learned,  who  make  for  themselves  an  idol  of  science,  and  who 
do  not  wish  to  ascend  to  the  original  source  of  truth,  except  by* 
the  lights  of  their  reason.    The  proliibition  made  by  Isaac  to 


394 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


his  son  Jacob,  to  take  a  wife  from  among  tlie  daughters  of  Canaan, 
was  a  prophetic  caution  to  Christians  to  forbear  seeking  truth  in 
books  of  philosophy.  Among  the  seven  plagues  of  Egypt,  there 
were  at  least  three  to  which  the  imagination  of  Savonarola  found 
reason  to  lend  an  analogous  meaning.  The  Jews,  who  became 
tired  of  manna  in  the  desert,  and  sighed  for  the  flesh  of  Egypt, 
were  the  type  of  Christians  who,  ha\dng  in  their  possession  the 
word  of  God  itself,  neglected  it,  that  they  might  give  them- 
selves up  to  profane  studies.  The  narrative  of  the  miraculous 
draught  of  fishes,  when  the  Apostle  Peter  complained  that  he 
laboured  all  night  in  vain  with  his  companions,  that  complaint, 
he  said,  applied  to  the  unfruitfulness  of  modern  preaching — he 
meant  to  say,  that,  by  reason  of  preaching  rhetoric  and  philo- 
sophy, the  light  of  the  faith  was  darkened,  and  a  fearful  night 
succeeded,  during  which  the  fishermen  were  casting  their  nets 
in  vain ;  that  is  to  say,  without  saving  souls." 

In  the  midst  of  a  vast  multitude  of  sermons,  the  spirit  of 
God  had  ceased  to  enliven  pulpit  eloquence,  and  the  preachers 
had  become  more  estranged  than  ever  from  the  science  of  the 
faith.  With  that  fixed  determination,  and  that  fervoui*  of  zeal, 
which  belonged  to  Savonarola,  we  can  comprehend  with  what 
enthusiastic  and  pathetic  earnestness  at  the  same  time  he  recom- 
mended to  his  hearers  the  reading  of  the  sacred  witings,  or 
that  he  told  them  of  the  consolations  he  had  derived  himself 
from  the  same  source. 

"  Believe,"  he  would  say  to  them,  "  O  believe  in  the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  Gospel,  and  wisdom  of  Christ,  who  has  left  you 
his  express  word,  so  that  it  can  be  independent  of  all  the  science 
of  the  age.  It  is  said  that  logic  and  philosophy  can  strengthen 
the  mind  in  the  faith,  as  if  the  brightness  of  a  superior  luminary 
had  need  of  being  established  by  one  of  inferior  power.  Re- 
collect that  pliilosophy  of  the  council  of  Xice,  where  the  most 
learned  bishops  wished  in  vain  to  comdnce  by  syllogisms,  and 
who  afterwards  allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded  by  a  simple 
iDeliever,  having  addressed  to  the  chief  ones  of  them  these  re- 
markable words  :  vobis  pro  verbis  verba  dedi.  I  have  given  you 
words  for  words  ....  Go  unto  all  the  schools  of  Florence,  you 


OF  SAVOXAllOLA. 


395 


will  find  the  professors  paid  to  tcacli  logic  and  philosophy  ; 
you  will  there  discover  masters  for  cTcry  science  and  every  art ; 
but  not  a  single  one  charged  with  instruction  in  the  sacred 

Scriptures  Do  you  not  perceive,  O  blinded  professor, 

that  in  attempting  to  ground  the  faith  upon  profane  sciences^ 
you  lower  and  degrade  it,  instead  of  elevating  and  doing  it 
honour  ?  You  remember  the  history  of  David  going  to  fight 
the  giant  Goliah ;  do  like  him :  cast  away  this  burthensome 
armour  of  yours — of  logic  and  philosophy,  and  arm  yourself 
with  a  lively  and  simple  faith,  according  to  the  example  of  the 
Apostles  and  martyrs.*  ....  What  ineffable  sweetness  does  not 
a  Christian  soul  find  in  the  reading  of  the  sacred  Scripture  ! 
The  man  fatigued  after  the  long  pilgrimage  of  life,  sometimes  sits 
down  and  rests  himself  upon  his  journey,  that  he  may  refresh 
and  strengthen  himself  with  that  viaticum;  and  he  then  enjoys, 
as  it  were,  the  presence  of  Christ,  his  well-beloved,  and  he  re- 
lieves himself  by  the  tears  of  afifection  which  the  sight  of  the 
mercies  of  God  causes  him  to  shed.f  .  .  .  .  O  Florence,  do  all 
against  me  that  you  will.  I  have  ascended  the  pulpit  this  day 
to  tell  you  that  you  cannot  destroy  my  work,  because  it  is  the 
work  of  Christ.  Whether  I  live  or  die,  the  seed  which  I  have 
cast  into  the  hearts  of  the  people  will  not  the  less  produce  its 
fruit.  If  my  enemies  are  powerful  enough  to  hunt  me  from 
these  walls,  I  will  not  be  afflicted  on  that  account,  for  I  will 
find  some  spot  or  other  in  a  wilderness,  where  I  can  take  refuge 
with  my  Bible,  and  enjoy  a  rest  that  it  will  not  be  in  the  power 
of  thy  citizens  to  disturb. "+ 

For  certain  superficially  philosophical  minds  all  this  is  as  a 
momentary  struggle  between  an  ignorant  and  fanatical  monk 
on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other,  a  human  intelligence,  of  which 
nothing  could  stop  the  progress. 

Nevertheless,  this  monk  was  as  versed  as  the  most  learned 
of  his  adversaries,  in  the  profane  studies  which  he  did  not  wish 

*  Sermon  on  Monday  after  the  third  Sunday  in  Lent, 
t  Idem,  Tuesday  after  fourth  Sunday  in  Lent. 
X  Idem,  Tuesdaj'-  after  the  third  Sunday  in  Lent. 


396 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


utterly  to  destroy^  but  to  make  them  subordinate  to  Chiistian 
studies.  He  knew  as  well  as  they  did,  the  annals  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  but  he  did  not  find  them  either  more  glorious,  or  more 
instructive,  than  those  of  nations  that  had  appeared  since  upon 
the  stage  of  the  world,  displa^ang  there  the  banner  of  the  Cross. 

"  In  antiquity  itself,  "  says  Rio,  "  he  refused  pre-eminence  to 
those  who,  like  Livy  and  Thucydides,  had  only  written  a  history 
of  the  past ;  and  he  claimed  it  for  the  Jewish  historians,  the 
only  ones  that  had  combined  in  the  same  book  a  recital  of  the 
past  events,  with  a  figurative  history  of  the  future. 

"  It  must  be  owned  that  there  was  something  sublime  and 
deeply  Christian-like  in  this  repugnance  for  that  which  exists 
no  more,  and  is  no  more  to  be. 

The  instinct  of  perpetuity  is  inseparable  from  that  of  unmor- 
tality,  and  the  latter  has  been  so  much  developed  by  Chris- 
tianity, that  the  point  of  view  is  completely  changed  in  historical 
studies,  for  those  who  are  arrived  at  the  fullness  of  that  intel- 
lectual development.  It  is  this  instinct  that  we  can  remark  in 
the  unfinished  essays  on  universal  history,  attempted  by  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  earlier  periods  of  the  middle  ages  :  it 
is  this  that  we  can  behold  in  every  character  of  perfection  and 
unity  in  the  incomparable  discourse  of  Bossuet ;  and  it  is  this 
that  we  can  find  the  germ  of,  in  so  many  of  the  passages  in  the 
sermons  of  Savonarola. 

"  In  order  to  damp  the  enthusiasm  of  the  learned,  who  had 
always  their  attention  fijced  upon  classical  antiquity,  he  shows 
them  in  the  East  the  miserable  remnant  of  the  Greek  race,  eaten 
up  by  a  spiritual  leprosy,  which  its  schism  had  rendered  in- 
curable, and  alike  unable  to  shake  ofi"  the  yoke  of  barbarism  or 
of  error ;  in  the  West,  far  from  seeking  to  turn  away  the  eyes 
of  his  hearers  from  a  spectacle  of  Roman  splendour,  he  delights, 
on  the  contrary,  to  unroll  to  them  an  imposing  picture  of  its 
grandeur  and  its  triumphs,  but  it  was  for  the  purpose  of 
making  more  obvious  and  striking  afterwards,  the  conquest  of 
the  eternal  city  by  Christ,  who  had  laid  all  those  triumphs 
at  the  feet  of  a  humble  fisherman.    And  then  it  seemed  as  if 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


397 


he  was  about  to  chaunt  the  triumph  of  the  cross,  paraphrasing  the 
words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  (as  he  did  in  his  sermons  on 
Tuesday  after  the  second  Sunday  of  Lent)  :  Civitatem  sublimem 
humiliabit,  conculcabit  earn  pes  pauperis,  gressus  egenorum.  The 
proud  city  shall  be  humbled  ;  it  shall  be  trodden  under  the  foot 
of  the  poor,  and  by  the  tread  of  those  who  are  needy.  In  laying 
down  a  most  Christian  plan  for  pubKc  education,  he  did  not  count 
upon  the  generation  who  had  lived  in  the  habit  of  regarding 
the  discovery  of  a  Greek  or  Latin  manuscript  as  one  of  the 
choicest  blessings  of  heaven.  It  was  necessary  to  wait  until 
all  the  learned  old  men,  of  whom  Savonarola  had  complained 
that  he  had  found  their  hearts  as  hard  as  stone,  had  gone  down, 
one  after  the  other,  into  the  grave  ;  and  to  prepare,  by  institu- 
tions worthy  of  a  Christian  people,  for  the  coming  of  a  new 
generation,  upon  which  he  most  earnestly  invoked  the  blessings 
of  God. 

"  One  could  make  a  most  precious  collection  of  saintly  things  of 
all  the  touching  discourses  addressed  by  him  to  the  children  who 
formed  a  part  of  his  hearers. 

"  The  sympathy  of  the  preacher  was  ever  most  excited  when  he 
spoke  to  that  dear  and  innocent  portion  of  his  flock.  He  called 
on  them  to  manifest  one  day  the  fruit  of  his  labour,  and  to  keep 
a  watch  over  the  future  destinies  of  their  country.*  But,  in  the 
meantime,  he  prepared  for  that  splendid  future  by  laying  at  their 
door  all  the  grand  truths  of  the  faith,  and  by  j)romoting  salutary 
reforms  in  domestic  education.  He  told  mothers  that  they  failed 
in  the  most  sacred  of  their  duties,  by  imposing  the  care  of  nour- 
ishing their  infant  children  on  hired  nurses,  who  transmitted  to 
them  their  own  vices,  and  corrupted  them  even  in  the  cradle. 
He  told  fathers  that  they  were  bound  to  give  their  sons,  even 
under  age,  a  degree  of  instruction,  without  which  their  natural 
dispositions  could  not  be  developed  at  a  later  period,  and  it  was, 
above  all,  in  that  elementary  instruction  in  which  the  study  of 
the  dead  languages  is  comprised,  that  Savonarola  wished  to  give 
a  basis  and  a  tendency,  which  should  be  in  perfect  harmony 
*  Sermon,  third  Sunday  in  Lent. 


398 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


with  the  aim  of  Christian  societies.  Too  full  of  knowledge,  to 
have  thought  of  forbidding  the  use  of  the  great  works  which  the 
ancients  have  left  as  so  many  illuminated  tracks  of  theii'  journev 
through  the  ancient  world,  he  willingly  admitted  them  as  helps 
to  modern  civilization,  and  as  instruments  for  the  cultivation  of 
imagination  and  taste  ;  but  the  privilege  of  adapting  such  foreign 
decorations  to  the  uses  of  our  learning,  ought  not  to  prevent  the 
foundation  and  completion  of  the  edifice  of  education  being  ex- 
clusively of  a  Christian  character. 

"  He  approved  very  much  of  the  professors  of  Florence  setting 
their  pupils  to  learn  the  genius  of  Homer,  Virgil,  and  Cicero, 
without  suffering  the  translations  of  these  works  to  interpose  as 
(i^rk  bodies  between  those  great  luminaries  and  the  eyes  of  their 
pupils.  But,  as  in  the  point  of  view  from  which  he  judged  the 
genius  of  certain  Fathers  of  the  church,  it  appeared  to  him  that 
some  of  them  had  more  profound  knowledge  and  elevation  of 
views,  and  counterbalanced  at  least  by  that  advantage  for  infe- 
riority of  style  or  form  ;  he  demanded  that  the  best  works  of  St. 
Jerome  and  St.  Augustin,  and  particularly  the  book  of  the  city 
of  God,  should  be  admitted  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  profane 
authors,  in  order,  said  he,  '  that  youth  shall  not  receive  a  lesson 
in  paganism  without  receiving  at  the  same  time  a  lesson  in  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  there  shall  he  a  simultaneous  instruction  in  elo- 
quence and  truth.''  * 

"  It  was  through  the  same  motive  that  he  wished  to  sanctify  the 
memory  of  children,  by  impressing,  at  the  most  tender  period  of 
their  age,  the  history  of  saints  and  martyrs  who  had  honoured 
the  church  by  virtues,  otherwise  as  heroic  as  those  of  the  great 
heroes  of  Plutarch, "f 

*  Sermon,  Tuesday  after  the  third  Sunday  of  Lent. 

t  La  Poesie  Chretienne,  par  A.  F.  Rio,  pp.  310,  et  seq.  Svo.  Par.  1836. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


399 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  OBLIGATIONS  OF  CHRISTIAN  ART  TO  SAVONAROLA. 

Of  the  pagan  scholars  and  philosophers  of  his  own  times,  TuUy  said, 
'  Delirant  plerumque  scriptores  in  libris  suis,'  their  lives  being  opposite  to 
their  words.  They  commended  poverty  to  others,  and  were  most  covetous 
themselves,  extolled  love  and  peace,  and  yet  persecuted  one  another  with 
virulent  hate  and  mahce.  They  could  give  precepts  for  verse  and  prose, 
but  not  a  man  of  them  (as  Seneca  tells  them  home)  could  moderate  his 
affections.  Their  music  did  show  us  Jlabiles  modos,  Sfc.  how  to  rise  and 
fall ;  but  they  could  not  so  contain  themselves,  as  in  adversity  not  to  make 
a  lamentable  tone.  They  wiU  measure  ground  by  geometry,  set  down 
limits,  divide  and  subdivide,  but  cannot  yet  prescribe  quantum  homini  satis, 
or  keep  within  compass  of  reason  and  discretion.  They  can  square  circles, 
but  understand  not  the  state  of  their  own  souls — describe  right  lines  and 
crooked,  &c.,  but  know  not  what  is  right  in  this  life — quid  invitd  rectum  sit, 
ignorant.'' — Buetox's  Anatomy  of  ^lelanclioly . 

Monsieur  Carlier^  of  the  Societe  Royale  des  Antiquaires  de 
France,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  a  copy  of  the  engraving  of  the 
medallion  of  Savonarola,  which  exists  in  the  "  Academic  des  In- 
scriptions" of  Paris,  and  which  is  prefixed  to  this  volume,  has 
written  an  admirable  article,  entitled  "Esthetique  de  Savonarola," 
published  in  the  "  Annales  Archeologiques"  of  Xovember,  1847. 
In  this  paper,  Monsieur  Carlier  considers  the  life  and  character 
of  Savonarola  chiefly  in  relation  to  his  efforts  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Christian  art.  In  his  opinion,  art  is  as  varied  as  the 
thought  of  man  ;  it  may  be  devoted  to  objects  not  of  a  rehgious 
nature,  but,  when  so  devoted,  it  is  not  true  to  its  high  destiny^ 
and  it  loses  in  power  and  in  nature.  Beyond  the  ciixle  of  reli- 
gious ideas,  which  are  connected  with  all  that  is  noble  in  man's 
aspii'ations,  we  have  to  do  only  with  individual,  local,  or  tran- 
sitory ideas.    It  is  the  destiny,  and  the  duty,  and  the  glory  of 


400 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


art  to  devote  itself  to  the  illustration  of  religious  ideas  :  all 
other  ideas  are  limited  by  time  and  space.  Take  away  religion 
from  an  ancient  monument,  and  you  have  only  the  carcass  of 
some  architectural  celebrity  of  old.  The  Pantheon  in  Paris  was 
instinct  with  life,  and  the  holy  influence  of  the  poetry  of  faith 
when  the  shrine  of  the  poor  peasant  girl  of  sainted  memory 
brought  humble  piety  to  that  Christian  temple,  and  countless 
pilgrims  to  its  altars  ;  but  what  has  it  become  since  it  has  been 
converted  into  a  place  of  deposit  for  the  ashes  of  the  great  men 
of  the  world  ? — a  vast  sepulchre,  without  anything  sacred  in  its 
aspect  or  destination.  When  the  Cross  does  not  crown  the 
cenotajDh,  nothing  is  left  but  a  pagan  tomb. 

The  school  of  mysticism  and  idealism  manifests  a  reaction 
against  the  school  of  materialism  and  naturalism.  The  former 
was  for  a  short  time  triumphant  in  Florence,  while  Fra  Angelico, 
of  Fi^sole,  and  Benozzo  Gozzoli  communicated  to  their  pencil  the 
holy  influences  of  spirituality,  derived  from  the  ecstasies  of  con- 
templative prayer.  But  Christian  art  soon  declined  under  in- 
fluences of  a  diflerent  sort.  Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  Florence  sunk  under  the  despotism  of  Mammon  inte- 
rests. The  Banking  people  of  Florence  literally  governed  the 
government ;  and  wherever  money  obtains  the  mastery  over  mind 
in  a  republic,  the  handmaids  of  Liberty  must  be  gained  over  to  its 
cause,  and,  being  corrupted,  they  become  degraded  and  debased. 
Literature  and  art  are  wanted  on  the  side  of  Mammon,  to  give  a 
sort  of  prestige  to  its  power ;  and,  in  ranging  themselves  there, 
they  lose  their  spirituality,  and  become  sensual  as  well  as  servile 
and  sordid.  Gold  is  more  fatal  to  them  than  iron ;  the  iron 
wounds  only  the  body,  but  the  weapon  that  is  made  of  gold 
penetrates  to  the  very  soul ;  and  this  power  of  corruption  is  the 
peril  that  the  Gospel  tells  us  is  chiefly  to  be  feared. 

The  riches  and  the  profane  learning  of  the  Medici  had  a  mis- 
chievous influence  on  art  in  Florence.  The  Medici  are  errone- 
ously said  to  have  revived  the  taste  for  all  that  is  admirable  in 
Pagan  antiquity,  that  prevailed  in  their  time.  That  statement 
is  unfounded.    The  monuments  of  antiquity,  long  before  they 


OF   SAVON  A  HOT, A. 


401 


immerged  from  obscurity  into  opulence  and  splendour,  had  ad- 
mirers, protectors,  and  preservers,  at  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Christian  Chuch.  Wherever  the  Christian  sanctuary  existed. 
Pagan  art  and  literature  found  a  generous  hospitality  and  a  sure 
asylum. 

*^  The  fathers  (says  Mons.  Carlier)  were  on  familiar  terms  with 
the  poets  and  philosophers  of  antiquity.  We  find  ample  evidence 
of  the  fact  in  the  writings  of  Jerome,  Augustine,  Ambrose,  and 
many  others.  St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  the  Angel  of  the  Schools, 
condescended  to  walk  sometimes  in  the  academic  groves  of  the 
old  philosophers,  leaning  even  on  the  arm  of  Aristotle,  or  talking 
with  amenity  to  Plato,  and  among  laymen,  in  later  times,  who  had 
gone  to  the  infernal  regions  in  search  of  deep  philosophy,  and  who 
had  turned  to  a  poor  account  their  wisdom  in  this  world,  had  not 
Dante  for  his  guide,  his  friend  of  Mantua — the  poet  Virgil.  By 
the  Medici  antiquity  was  exphitee,  only  on  the  side  of  sensuality. 
Their  love  for  Pagan  art  was  not  a  classic  taste,  but  a  voluptuous 
passion.  In  literature,  Ovid,  Catullus,  and  Tibullus,  were  in 
greater  favour  with  them  than  Homer,  Cicero,  or  Caesar.  Their 
celebrated  garden  at  Florence  became  the  sanctuary  of  a  nude 
naturalisme  in  art.  Developments  in  form,  that  manifested  phy- 
sical perfection,  and  realized  all  the  ideas  of  prurient  paganism, 
in  statues  of  divinities  who  presided  of  old  over  the  orgies  of 
unbridled  licentiousness  and  vice ; — these  largely  attracted  admi- 
ration, and  found  a  species  of  worship  in  obsequious  eulogistic 
criticism,  and  poetry,  and  even  philosophic  contemplation. 

"  But  while  Politian  was  reciting  Platonic  verses  in  the  shade 
beneath  the  trellised  arches,  in  the  garden  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
surrounded  by  paganism  in  art,  and  in  the  tastes  and  feelings  of 
his  auditory,  the  friends  and  followers  of  Lorenzo,  Savonarola 
was  in  the  pulpit  of  San  Marco,  crying  out  with  a  strong  voice 
and  a  stout  heart  against  paganism  in  religion,  manners,  art,  and 
education.  We  find  scattered  through  the  sermons  and  tracts  of 
Savonarola  a  mass  of  observation  of  the  highest  value,  on  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  great  reform  in  art  and  literature.  His  idea  of  the 
divine  mission  of  art  and  literature  was  based  on  his  theory  of 

VOL.  I.  D  D 


402 


THE  LIFE  AND  MATITYRDOM 


the  nature  and  perfections  of  the  Deity,  founded  on  that  which 
St.  Thomas  of  Aquinas  had  reduced  into  a  formula,  in  *  the  sum' 
of  all  theology. 

"  The  grand  proposition  which  pervades  this  theory,  variously 
expressed  in  his  different  compositions,  is,  that  God  is  the  first 
cause ;  and  that  Eternity  and  Unity  are  the  most  manifest  indi- 
cations of  Omnipotence. 

"  Then  it  follows,  he  declares,  that  as  every  thing  comes  from 
God,  so  every  thing  is  for  Him,  in  the  visible  and  the  invisible  world. 
God  has  created  the  universe  for  the  contemplation  of  his  powers 
and  perfections.  The  beatitude  of  heaven  is  in  contemplation. 
The  infinite  perfectiong  of  God  appear  in  creation  as  traces  of 
power  on  the  face  of  the  heavens,  and  in  the  harmony,  of  all  the 
spheres. 

"  The  divine  principle  of  Order,  which  governs  suns  and  stars 
innumerable,  and  determines  the  form  and  force  of  every  atom 
in  the  universe,  afibrds  humanity  a  glimpse  of  the  divine  wisdom. 

"  The  Providence  which  watches  over  the  herbs  of  the  fields, 
and  the  insects  that  subsist  there,  makes  known  His  good- 
ness. But  God,  for  a  special  manifestation  of  that  goodness, 
created  man  in  his  own  image.  That  is  to  say,  the  soul  of  man, 
in  its  spiritual  nature,  is  an  image  of  the  Deity.  The  spiritual 
effluence,  with  the  divine  image  in  it,  has  been  committed  to  our 
care — and  freedom  of  will  is  given  us  for  the  charge  of  it,  in 
order  that  it  may  return  of  itself  to  its  Author,  after  having  vo- 
luntarily yielded  a  due  homage  here  to  its  Creator. 

"  That  image,  being  deformed  by  original  sin,  the  injury  to  it 
was  repaired  by  grace,  and  brought  to  a  state  fitted  one  day  to 
be  completely  restored  by  the  beatific  vision.  God  became  man, 
that  we  might  easily  recover  that  resemblance  to  him  which  had 
been  lost ;  so  far  as  our  finite  faculties  will  permit,  we  are  to 
endeavour  to  form  to  ourselves  an  idea  in  this  life  of  the  blessed 
Trinity  which  is  to  be  realised  in  the  next. 

"  The  form  of  a  society  in  this  theory  of  Savonarola,  is  the  law 
which  constitutes  and  governs  it.  The  form  of  man,  in  the  same 
sense,  is  the  reasoning  soul,  which  controls  thought  and  com- 


OF  SAVONAIJOI.A. 


bines  matter.  The  form  of  a  work  of  art  is,  therefore,  the  idea 
of  the  artist. 

"  The  form  of  art  itself  is  the  faith  which  it  inspires. 

"  In  fine,  the  form  of  Christian  art — is  God — is  J esus  Christ,  as 
knoAvn  to  us  by  the  Gospel  and  the  Church. 

Savonarola  proposed  to  himself,  in  art,  a  beau  ideal  divine  and 
infinite — the  type  of  which  is  Jesus  Christ,  his  God-head  and 
humanity  combined — which  is  ^  the  form  of  regenerated  hu- 
manity.' 

"  Then  comes  the  strongest  resemblance  in  an  image  that  he 
can  conceive  to  that  Divine  Saviour — the  likeness  of  the  blessed 
Virgin.    How  is  it  manifested,  and  how  is  it  to  be  expressed  ? 

"  By  purity  pre-eminently  chaste  and  immaculate,  that,  like  the 
face  of  a  brilliant  mirror  exquisitely  polished,  causes  every  breath 
that  approaches  it  to  vanish  from  its  surface,  as  if  it  was  driven 
ofif  by  some  wonderfully  active  repelling  influence. 

The  purest  of  created  beings  should  therefore  be  accounted 
the  queen  of  art,  of  which  she  should  even  be  the  inspiration  and 
the  model.  The  beauty  of  the  soul  it  should  be  the  task  and 
the  glory  of  the  painter  and  the  sculptor  to  express  in  all  their 
efforts  to  personify  sanctity  and  Christian  heroism.  To  promote 
religious  feelings  should  be  the  object  of  all  art. 

"  Christian  art  is  not  to  be  exercised  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
adorning  churches,  but  with  the  view  of  promoting  a  great 
patriotic  and  humanizing  purpose,  to  make  the  inhabitants  of 
the  state  or  city  we  abide  in,  a  Christian  people,  in  order  to 
render  them  happy  in  this  world,  and  triumphant  in  the  next. 

"  The  great  element  of  patriotism,  in  Savonarola's  opinion,  is 
religion. 

"  One  of  the  great  means,  as  he  thought,  of  rendering  religion 
pure,  the  state  secure,  and  the  people  far  removed  from  sen- 
suality and  discontent,  was  to  Christianize  art  and  humanize  men 
by  it. 

"  Savonarola  wanted  art  for  the  people.    Art  was  intended  by 
God,  he  considered,  to  teach  them,  and  to  afford  them  pleasure."* 
*  Carlier,  ^sthetiques  de  Savonarola. 

D  P  2 


404 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


"  Therefore,  in  all  his  reforms,  unlike  others  calling  themselves 
reformers,  he  never  proscribed  art ;  but  he  denounced  the  licen- 
tiousness of  it.  He  demanded  even  artistic  enjoyments  and 
spectacles  for  the  people,  magnificent  religious  festivals  and  pro- 
cessions. 

"  He  believed  that  the  working  classes  on  festival  days,  their  only 
days  of  rest  from  labour,  required  relaxation  and  innocent  recrea- 
tion, and  that  God's  honour  was  more  promoted  by  their  happi- 
ness than  by  the  monopoly  of  all  privileges  on  the  part  of  the 
rich  and  powerful,  and  the  pretence  that  industry,  morality,  or 
authority  were  hui't  by  the  innocent  enjoyment  of  the  industrious 
and  moral  poor. 

*^  Savonarola  thought  that  art  was  a  want  of  the  people  calcu- 
lated to  make  them  happy — that  it  was  intended  by  God  they 
should  be  so  :  that  it  was  good  for  them,  and  for  the  state, 
that  they  should  have  their  recreations  and  enjoyments  as  well 
as  the  rich ;  that  they  should  share  in  intellectual  refining  agen- 
cies ;  that  they  should  exult  in  the  triumphs  of  Christian  art ; 
that  they  should  sing  joyfully  too  of  their  sure  hopes  in  Christ, 
and  their  glory  in  his  government  over  them  and  their  republic. 

"  Drunkenness,  and  sensuality,  and  profanity  were  overcome  by 
Savonarola,  and  the  triumph  endured  for  some  years  during  his 
life — nay,  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  after  his  death,  the  traces 
of  it  were  to  be  witnessed  in  Florence. 

"  Is  it  no  exaggeration  in  sentiment  or  in  language  to  say  that 
humanity  owes  more  to  the  memory  of  the  poor  friar  of  Ferrara, 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  than  to  the  merits  of  all  the  military 
heroes  of  Europe  put  together,  who  have  flourished  during  the 
last  400  years  ? 

"  From  the  scattered  germs  of  great  thoughts  throughout  the 
works  of  Savonarola,  we  learn  that  the  aim  and  end  of  man's 
life  is,  to  seek  to  recover  or  retain  a  resemblance  to  that  divine 
original.  Man's  spirit  then  is  to  aspire  to  a  similitude  with 
Divine  Truth  in  the  person  of  the  Father,  with  the  beautiful 
from  all  eternity,  which  is  manifested  in  the  Son,  with  the  good 
supremely  beneficent  which  proceeds  from  the  Divine  Truth  and 
the  eternal  beauty,  and  is  embodied  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


405 


"  The  Trinity  has  a  correspondence  with  the  trinity  of  man's 
spirit,  intelligence,  and  will,  which  should  combine  all  its  powers 
to  meditate  on  God,  to  reproduce  and  retain  the  image  of  his 
truth,  beauty,  and  goodness  in  our  minds." 

Such  is  the  theory  which  we  find  dispersed  through  the 
sermons  and  the  treatises  of  Savonarola  in  this  necessarily  brief 
but  faithful  resume  of  his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  art  in  rela- 
tion to  religion. 

Florence,  says  Dr.  Hafe,  at  the  time  of  Fra  Girolamo's  first 
appearance  in  the  pulpit  of  St.  Mark's,  was  Pagan  in  its  tastes, 
its  arts,  its  manners,  and  its  morals.  To  reform  the  latter,  the 
great  Dominican  deemed  it  necessary  to  labour  to  effect  a  re- 
formation in  the  former.  "  Arts,"  said  Savonarola,  "  hence- 
forth must  be  handmaids  of  piety  and  freedom."* 

Two  writers  eminently  qualified  to  treat  of  the  subject  of 
Art  in  its  relations  with  Religion,  have  entered  fully  into  the 
labours  of  Savonarola  for  its  restoration  and  purification,  and 
the  proscription  of  the  Paganism  that  prevailed  in  it  in  his  time, 
in  the  adornment  of  Italian  churches. 

One  of  these  works,  entitled  "  La  Poesie  en  I'Art,"  written 
by  Monsieur  Pio,  well  deserves  to  be  translated  into  English. 
The  other,  "Vite  Delle  Pittori  Scultori  e  Architetti  DelP 
Ordine  de  San  Domenico,"  by  Padre  Marchese,  of  the  same 
order,  has  been  admirably  translated  by  the  Reverend  Charles 
Meehan. 

As  the  work  of  Pio  is  least  known  to  English  readers,  though 
of  equal  merit  with  the  other,  I  refer  to  it  chiefly,  for  the  ac- 
•  count  of  Savonarola's  labours  for  Art  in  its  relations  with  Religion. 
At  the  onset  of  this  undertaking,  we  are  told  by  Rio : — 

"  The  evil  caused  by  the  many  abuses  which  had  crept  into 
public  education  was  aggravated  and  reproduced  in  a  form 
still  more  dangerous,  by  artists  devoted  to  all  the  profane  inspi- 
rations that  proceeded  from  their  patrons  and  others. 

"  Monuments  of  pagan  art  having  become  the  object  of  a  sort 
of  worship  in  the  gardens  of  the  Medici,  had  insensibly  altered 
*  Neue  Proplioten,  p.  324. 


406 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  notions  of  the  beautiful  such  as  Christian  painters  and  sculp- 
tors had  conceived  at  that  time. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  naturalism,  encouraged  by  the  increased 
corruption  of  morals,  had  openly  taken  possession  of  the  holy 
places,  and  the  profanation  committed  by  Lippus,  the  monk, 
renewed  iself  every  day ;  that  is  to  say,  that  instead  of  the  Ma- 
donna, the  Magdalen,  and  even  Saint  John,  there  were  altar- 
pieces  put  up  with  portraits  of  young  girls,  in  most  cases  too 
well  known,  around  which  people  often  crowded  without  any 
respect  for  the  holy  sacrifice, — a  turbulent  concourse  of  the 
inquisitive  and  profane. 

"  In  these  sorts  of  representations  everything  was  calculated 
to  deprave  the  imagination  of  the  beholders  :  attractive  naked 
figures  were  exhibited  without  any  regard  to  decency,  and  not 
only  did  they  disregard  the  traditional  costume  of  the  Virgin 
and  of  holy  women,  but  traits  and  attire  were  given  to  them 
which  made  them  resemble  courtezans. 

"  That  was  the  reproach  that  Savonarola  addressed  to  artists, 
with  a  tone  of  the  strongest  indignation,  asking  them  by  what 
right  they  came  to  parade  the  fruit  of  their  own  vanity  in  the 
churches  ?  and  never  thinking  that  he  had  urged  on  them 
sufficiently,  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  should  be  represented  clad 
simply  and  modestly  like  a  poor  girl,  and  that  the  heavenly 
beauty  of  her  countenance  should  be,  as  it  were,  the  reflection 
of  the  sanctity  of  her  soul — that  beauty  which  made  Saint 
Thomas  say, '  that  no  man  had  ever  regarded  it  with  eyes  of 
concupiscence.'  It  appears  that  this  sort  of  licentiousness  had 
already  caused  many  ravages,  since  Savonarola  affirms  that,  if 
artists  had  known  as  he  did,  all  the  scandal  which  was  given  to 
innocent  minds,  they  would  have  had  a  horror  of  their  own  work. 

"  Nevertheless,  their  pencils  were  still  more  licentious  when 
they  worked  at  the  decoration  of  palaces  or  particular  houses. 
It  was  there  that  paganism  ran  a  free  course,  and  made  thoughts 
enter  into  the  minds  of  children  by  the  eyes,  which  elsewhere 
entered  by  the  ears.  The  Madonnas  which  they  placed  in  Ora- 
tories, instead  of  edifying  the  family  that  had  assembled  to  pray, 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


407 


produced  often  a  contrary  effect ;  and  if  a  pious  citizen,  in  his 
paternal  solicitude,  expressed  his  disgust  at  lascivious  images, 
and  asked  for  the  representation  of  a  Virgin  whose  look,  age, 
and  character,  should  be  a  preservative  from  all  impure  thoughts, 
then  the  perverse  artist  has  been  known  to  paint  the  same  figure 
for  him  with  a  flowing  beard.* 

"  The  sacrifice  of  all  nakedness  which  shocked  modesty  in  its 
most  sacred  asylum,  that  is  to  say,  even  under  the  eyes  of 
mothers,  was  the  first  pledge  that  Savonarola  exacted  from  pa- 
rents converted  by  his  teaching,  opposing  to  their  remissness  in 
a  matter  of  such  importance  the  severity  of  Aristotle,  who,  with 
only  the  lights  of  pagan  philosophy,  had  been  enlightened 
enough  to  note  inhis/>o/icj/,  the  danger  which  arose  from  placing 
improper  representations  before  the  eyes  of  children. 

"  But  to  what  purpose  would  the  destruction  of  profane 
monuments  be,  if  the  principle  which  gave  them  birth  was  not 
attacked  in  its  very  root,  and  if  the  imagination  was  not  finally 
freed  from  the  anti-Christian  influence  it  exercised  over  the 
mind?  To  attempt  such  a  work,  one  of  the  most  difficult  of 
which  there  is  mention  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind,  nothing 
less  than  the  genius  of  Savonarola,  and  his  firm  belief  in  the 
divinity  of  his  mission,  was  necessary.  Without  recurring  to  the 
long  processes  of  the  analytical  method  of  reasoning,  it  was  seen 
by  him,  that  the  decline  of  the  fine  arts  was  principally  attri- 
butable to  the  decline  of  religion  among  Christians,  and  the  con- 
clusion was  drawn,  that  the  regeneration  of  the  one  necessarily 
conduced  to  that  of  the  others.  His  aim  was  to  inculcate,  in  the 
most  forcible  manner  he  could,  on  his  hearers  the  necessity  of 
interior  worship  in  its  relation  to  the  wants  of  the  soul,  and  to 
explain  to  the  people  the  lofty  meaning  of  the  ceremonies  prac- 
tised in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  sublime  part  that  art  was 
called  on  to  play  in  it,  in  putting  forward  its  true  meaning  in  all 
its  clearness,  whether  allegorical  or  mystical,  of  so  many  customs 
and  institutions,  suitably  comprehensible  to  the  most  simple 
understandings.  He  opened  to  artists  a  mine  as  pure  as  it  was 
*  The  artist  referred  to  was^  named  Nunziata. 


408 


THE  LIFE  A^D  MARTYRDOM 


prolific,  which  theii*  predecessors  were  far  from  exhausting.  But 
upon  this  point  the  aged  did  not  show  themselves  less  obstinately 
fixed  in  their  ideas  than  on  that  part  of  profane  literature,  and 
their  example  was  almost  generally  followed  by  those  who  came 
immediately  after  them. 

"  It  was,  then,  only  with  the  generations  ]3laced  between  what 
is  properly  called  childhood  and  adolescence,  that  Savonarola 
placed  his  hopes  for  the  future — ^liopes  which  he  cherished  eight 
years  consecutively,  with  a  fondness  without  a  parallel,  and 
which  supported  him  often  in  trials  the  most  severe,  which  the 
implacable  hatred  of  his  enemies  exposed  him  to. 

"  To  prepare  and  insure  the  triumph  of  art,  poetry,  and  Chris- 
tian faith  for  a  new  era,  which  should  open  gloriously  with  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  in  Florence,  above  all  other  places,  by 
reason  of  its  spiritual  riches — this  was  the  object  that  Savonarola 
proposed  to  himself,  when  impregnating  the  heart  and  imagi- 
nation of  youth  with  that  exquisite  odour  of  tender  and  infan- 
tile piety,  the  sweetness  of  which  prolonged  itself  far  into  after- 
life. 

"  His  success  so  far  exceeded  his  expectations,  that  he  himself 
thought  he  could  not  attribute  it  to  any  cause  but  the  mira- 
culous intervention  of  the  Divine  mercy,  and  he  was  never  more 
moved  than  in  the  effusion  of  his  acknowledgment  of  the  author 
of  that  benefit. 

"  We  see  by  many  passages  in  his  sermons,  that  the  innocence 
of  early  childhood  seemed  to  inspire  him  with  I  know  not  what 
exalted  sentiment,  that  resembled  adoration.  He  says,  that  a 
child  who  is  preserved  without  sin,  after  he  has  arrived  at 
the  age  of  reason  and  the  exercise  of  free-will,  has  acquired  a 
purity  of  heart  and  soul  so  great,  that  the  angels  of  heaven 
often  come  to  commune  with  him.  With  such  feelings  was  it, 
that  by  that  dear  portion  of  his  auditory,  he  caused  prayers  to 
be  addressed  to  God,  to  obtain  for  him  strength  on  one  occasion, 
when  he  felt  himself  quite  exhausted,  and  on  another,  when  he 
desired  that  there  might  be  virtuous  magistrates  chosen  for 
Florence,  when  they  proceeded  to  the  new  elections."* 
*  Eio,  Poesie  Cliretienue,  pp.  324.  et  seq. 


OF  SAVONAKOLA. 


409 


"  We  need  not  wonder,"  continues  Rio,  "  then,  ->eous^^"o 
artists  and  poets  among  the  most  devoted  partizans  oi  t}^'^. 
narola ;  for  it  was  in  their  ranks  that  he  might  be  expectt  rola, 
excite  the  most  lively  sympathy,  not  only  because  his  eloquence^ 
emitted  sparks  of  intelligence  that  communicated  with  the  fire 
of  their  souls,  but  still  more,  because  he  made  them  reascend  to 
the  elevated  position  they  had  occupied,  and  from  which  they 
had  been  insensibly  descending.  I  do  not  think  that  there 
has  ever  been  a  hero  in  history  whose  name  has  been  trans- 
mitted to  posterity  with  a  more  imposing  association  of  illus- 
trious men  of  every  class,  and  we  can  hardly  persuade  ourselves 
that  it  is  a  question  of  the  influence  of  a  simple  monk,  when 
we  enumerate  philosophers,  poets,  and  artists  of  every  descrip- 
tion, architects,  sculptors,  painters,  and  engravers,  who  offered 
themselves  almost  wholly  to  him  with  enthusiasm,  to  be,  each 
one  in  his  own  particular  way,  the  docile  instruments  of  his 
grand  social  reform. 

"  At  their  head  was  placed  the  famous  John  Pico  of  Miran- 
dola,  that  man  of  universal  knowledge,  who  had  long  before 
encompassed  and  encouraged  so  many  wonderful  things  when 
he  met  with  Savonarola,  but  who  remained  stupified  at  the  new 
prodigy  the  first  time  he  listened  to  that  extraordinary  man. 
As  he  was  the  friend  of  Lorenzo  di  Medici,  his  admiration  will 
not  be  suspected,  and  this  circumstance  imparts  equally  great 
weight  to  the  testimony  of  Angelo  Politian,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
predilection  for  profane  literature,  the  object  of  Savonarola's 
invectives,  could  not  forbear  from  representing  him  as  a  man 
truly  remarkable  for  his  sanctity,  as  well  as  for  his  science — as 
one  who  preached  a  heavenly  doctrine  with  rare  eloquence. 

"  The  canon,  Beneviene,  a  Platonic  poet,  very  closely  allied 
with  the  court  and  the  literary  tastes  of  the  Medici,  did  not  the 
less  boldly  publish,  at  the  time  when  the  storm  began  to  gather 
over  the  head  of  the  preacher,  a  most  energetic  defence  of  his 
doctrines  and  his  prophecies. 

"But  of  all  classes  of  citizens  to  which  he  was  indebted  for 
the  greatest  number  of  champions  devotedly  attached  to  his 


410 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTY IIDOM 


cau°  J.  artists  assuredly  furnislied  most.  Among  those  he 
-apon  t^^Q^  Qj^iy  firiends,  but  apostles  and  martyrs.  One  portion 
to  the  glory  of  dying  with  him — the  other,  regarding 
^:he  light  of  art  extinguished  when  he  died,  -wished,  in  the 
excess  of  their  grief,  to  clothe  their  genius  >vith  eternal  mourn- 
ing. All  persevered  in  their  enthusiasm  even  to  the  end ;  thus 
honouring  theii*  profession  and  the  human  race  by  a  fidelity 
which  the  triumph  of  their  enemies  rendered  difficult  and  even 
dangerous. 

"  In  survejdng  the  different  branches  of  art,  from  the  lowest 
step  even  to  the  highest  summit,  we  discover  that  Savonarola 
not  only  had  made  conquests  all  through,  but  even  that  he  had 
triumphed  over  the  most  distinguished  artists.  The  most 
finished  works  of  the  first  celebrated  engraver  on  stone — gravel- 
en  pierre — which  was  produced  in  Italy,  is  a  bust  of  Savonarola, 
which  is  yet  to  be  seen  in  Florence.* 

"  The  most  worthy  successors  of  Masso  Finiguerra,  the  inven- 
tor of  engraving,  toAvards  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
were  Baldini  and  Botticelli ;  the  first  of  whom  never  disgraced 
his  art  by  a  licentious  or  j)i'ofane  work,  and  the  second,  otherwise 
celebrated  as  a  painter  and  commentator  of  Dante,  engraved 
the  triumph  of  the  faith  of  Savonarola,  with  a  perfection  he  had 
never  approached  in  his  other  works,  and  he  pushed  his  enthu- 
siasm for  his  hero  so  far,  that  at  his  death  he  renounced  for  ever 
his  profession,  firmly  resolved  rather  to  die  of  want  than  to  use 
his  pencil  more. 

Lorenzo  di  Credi,  without  signalising  himself  by  any  such 
extreme  resolve,  brought  (in  the  memory  of  Savonarola)  the 
tribute  of  a  talent  pure,  and  exclusively  nourished  by  religious 
inspirations,  and  his  name  is  by  so  much  more  precious  among 
those  of  the  reformers,  as  he  represented  the  lively  and  original 
school  of  Andre  Verocchio,  to  which  Leonardo  di  Yinci  already 
belonged. 

"  There  was  in  the  convent  of  Saint  Marc  a  miniature  painter 
named  JFra  Benedetto,  heir  of  the  traditions  which  the  blessed 

*  The  sculptor  was  Griovamii  della  Condole,   ^^ide  Title  Page. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


411 


Angelo  of  Ficsolc  had  left :  he  was  the  most  courageous  and 
devoted  of  all.  On  the  day  that  the  Tepidi  party  besieged  the 
church,  demanding  Avith  shouts  of  rage  the  death  of  Savonarola, 
Era  Benedetto  armed  himself  from  head  to  foot  to  defend  liim, 
and  desisted  only  from  the  defence  when  his  master  told  him 
that  monks  had  no  right  to  have  recourse  to  any  but  spiritual 
weapons  ;  and,  at  the  moment  that  the  assailants,  after  pene- 
trating into  the  cloister,  carried  away  their  victim  before  the 
judges,  who  had  their  sentence  of  death  all  prepared  previously, 
it  was  necessary  for  Savonarola  to  use,  for  the  last  time  of  all, 
his  authority  as  prior,  in  order  to  prevent  this  generous  monk 
from  coming  to  die  along  with  him. 

"  Baccio  della  Porta  was  also  on  that  day  in  the  convent  of  St. 
Marc,  with  five  hundred  citizens  who  had  come  from  without,  to 
lend  their  strong  hand  against  the  aggressors.  He  had  been  an 
assiduous  hearer  of  Savonarola's  sermons,  and  no  artist  had 
entered  more  completely  than  he  did  into  the  views  of  Fra 
Girolamo  respecting  the  Reform  in  Ai't.  Thus  his  discourage- 
ment was  extreme,  when  he  saw  that  extraordinary  movement 
terminate  by  the  ignominious  end  of  him  who  gave  it  birth. 
Neither  art  nor  glory  having  henceforth  any  charms  for  him, 
his  imagination  oppressed  and  all  its  freshness  faded,  he  buried 
his  talents  in  the  convent  of  Prato,  where  he  took  the  religious 
habit  in  1500,  and  it  is  on  that  account  he  is  better  known  in 
history  by  the  name  of  Fra  Bartolomeo. 

"  Luca  della  Pobbia,  inventor  of  a  new  process  for  preserving 
bas-reliefs  in  all  their  freshness,  founded  in  his  ovm  family  a 
mystical  school  of  art,  original  and  so  fruitful,  that  we  may  say 
it  filled  Tuscany  with  his  works.  His  two  brothers,  Augustin 
and  Octavian,  were  his  first  pupils,  but  they  did  him  much  less 
credit  than  his  nephew,  Andre  della  Robbia,  who,  in  figures  of 
angels,  the  Virgin,  and  saints,  seemed  always  inspired  by  the 
tastes  and  traditions  ombriennes,  and  this  it  was  that  rendered 
him  more  accessible  than  any  other  Florentine  sculptor  to  the 
impressions  which  Savonarola  sought  to  produce  in  all  Christian 
artists.    His  success  in  the  house  of  Andre  was  immense  :  two 


412 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


of  his  sons  embraced  a  religious  life  in  the  convent  of  San 
Marco,  where  they  received  the  habit  of  the  order  from  the 
hands  of  the  prior  himself,  and  the  three  others,  remaining  in 
their  father's  studio,  assisted  him  to  execute  the  profile  on  me- 
dallions of  the  monk  whom  they  considered  a  new  prophet. 

"  The  stranger  who  goes  over  the  streets  of  Florence  to  admire 
monuments  of  every  kind,  stops  to  observe,  among  all  the  others, 
a  palace  of  grandiose  architecture,  the  entablature  of  which, 
also  remarkable  for  its  grandeur,  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of 
the  greatest  wonders  of  the  fine  arts  in  the  world.  That  curious 
building  is  the  palace  of  Strozzi,  and  the  man  who  decorated 
the  top  of  that  splendid  crown  was  the  architect  Cronaca,  the 
bosom  friend  of  the  monk  Savonarola,  whose  doctrines  and 
destiny  took  such  possession  of  his  mind,  that,  in  his  old  days, 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  speak  on  any  other  subject;  on 
which  account  it  was,  that  Vasari  said  a  sort  of  madness  had 
seized  upon  his  brain. 

A  multitude  of  conversions  not  less  remarkable  took  place  in 
the  other  classes  of  the  citizens.  Among  military  men,  we  may 
remark  the  name  of  Maro  Salviati,  who,  in  the  day  of  danger, 
went  to  the  side  of  Savonarola,  in  defiance  of  the  angry  looks 
of  his  most  infuriated  enemies,  and  who,  in  the  public  square, 
dared  to  mark  out  a  line  with  his  lance,  which  he  forbade  the 
furious  populace  to  pass. 

"  Among  the  nobility  of  Florence  there  were  traits  of  devotion 
no  less  chivalrous,  among  others  the  conduct  of  the  brave  and 
pious  A^alori,  who  at  the  moment  that  he  called  the  people  to 
arms  to  defend  him  whom  he  always  called  the  Pastor  of  Flo- 
rencCy  was  basely  assassinated  by  the  vile  agents  of  the  faction, 
and  his  wife  and  child  were  murdered  also."* 

Padre  Marchese,  o'v\Tiing  his  obligations  to  the  work  of  Rio, 
makes  the  following  just  observations  on  the  same  subject : 

"  None  but  those  who  have  perijsed  the  chronicles  of  the 
Convent  of  St.  Marco,  could  beKeve  what  numbers  of  the  Flo- 
rentine nobility  hastened  to  enrol  themselves  imder  the  banner 
*  La  Poesie  Cliretienuc,  par  Kio,  pp.  331.  et  seq. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


413 


of  St.  Dominic,  in  order  to  be  near  to  this  wonderful  man.  But 
that  which  exceeds  all  powers  of  imagination  is  the  influence 
which  he  exercised  over  the  Florentine  artists.  Vasari  compares 
it  to  a  delirium,  so  great  was  his  power  over  their  hearts  and 
souls  ;  for  they  not  only  adopted  all  his  ideas  of  what  should  be 
the  moral  tendency  of  art,  but  also  declared  themselves  ready  to 
suffer  any  amount  of  toil,  and  to  confront  the  rage  of  a  brutal 
faction,  sooner  than  abandon  him  in  the  tremendous  struggle 
that  he  maintained  for  his  country  and  her  arts.  Some  of  them 
paid  dearly  for  their  devotion,  for  they  either  fell  beneath  the 
assassin's  stiletto  or  were  driven  into  exile.  Others,  when  the 
terrible  tragedy  was  ended,  abandoned  the  cultivation  of  these 
arts,  which  formed  their  delight  during  the  life-time  of  Fra  Gi- 
rolamo.  The  history  of  these  facts  is  given  by  men  who  were 
not  the  partisans  of  Savonarola,  but  by  the  creature  of  the  Me- 
dici, Giorgio  Yasari,  who  confesses  himself  unable  to  account 
for  that  mighty  influence  which  Fra  Girolamo  exercised  over  the 
most  distinguished  geniuses  of  his  times. 

"  The  artists  who  adopted  Savonarola's  ideas  were  by  far  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  the  Florentine  school  in  all  the 
branches  of  design  ;  and  there  is  not  one  who  will  not  admit  the 
great  excellence  of  Giovanni  delle  Corniole,  as  an  engraver  on 
stone  ;  of  Baldini  and  Sandro  Botticelli,  in  copper-plate  engrav- 
ing ;  of  Cronaca,  in  architecture ;  of  the  Bobbia  family,  in  all 
the  branches  of  the  plastic  art ;  of  Baccio  da  Monte  Lupo,  in 
sculpture  ;  of  Baccio  della  Porta  and  Lorenzo  di  Credi,  in  paint- 
ing ;  and  of  Bettuccio  and  Eustachio,  of  Florence,  in  miniaturing. 
And  the  very  same  motive  that  induced  many  of  the  Florentine 
nobility  to  retire  from  the  world,  and  pass  their  days  with  that 
singular  man,  impelled  many  an  artist  to  ask  the  habit  at  his 
hands.  Elsewhere  we  shall  see  what  numbers  were  invested  by 
him  in  the  convent  of  St.  Marco,  and  in  that  of  Fiesole. 

"  Surrounded  by  such  a  galaxy  of  artists  and  literati,  Savona- 
rola began  to  unfold  his  ideas  to  both.  His  object  was  to  con- 
vert the  literary  man  from  infidelity,  and  to  impress  him  with 
the  proper  notions  of  Christianity.    As  to  the  artists,  the  scope 


414 


THE  IJFE  AND  MAKTYllDOM 


of  all  his  reasonings  was  to  rescue  the  imitative  arts  from  that 
immoral  tendency,  which  was  so  much  encouraged  by  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  times  ;  for  they  not  only  delighted  in  depicting 
the  nude,  and  representing  foulest  abominations,  but  treated  with 
contempt  the  very  subjects  suggested  by  religion  itself.  Nothing 
was  then  more  common  than  to  select  women  of  depraved  life  as 
originals  for  portraits  of  the  Madonna  and  other  Saints ;  nor 
need  we  say  that  such  practices  brought  dishonour  on  religion 
and  scandalised  the  faithful.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  abuses  of 
this  sort  were  still  more  flagrant  in  the  following  century,  in  the 
days  of  Giulio  Romano,  Tiziano,  and  Coreggio,  but  the  far-seeing- 
eye  of  the  Ferrarese  clearly  beheld  the  debasement  which  should 
inevitably  prevail,  if  he  did  not  warn  the  cultivators  of  art  of  the 
ignominy  with  which  they  would  cover  themselves,  and  of  the 
direful  evils  that  would  befal  their  country,  if  they  devoted  their 
genius  to  propagate  such  foul  contamination.  Alas  !  they  knew 
not  that  corruption  always  precedes  the  loss  of  liberty ;  and  they 
took  little  heed  of  that  maxim  which  we  read  in  Tacitus — that 
the  easiest  way  to  conquer  and  enslave  a  people  is  to  debauch  it. 
Was  it  not  thus  that  the  Romans  subjugated  Britain,  Gaul,  and 
Germany  ?  It  was  against  men  of  this  class  that  Savonarola 
thundered  from  the  pulpit,  and  he  also  predicted  the  tremendous 
evils  which  they  were  likely  to  bring  on  his  country.  It  may  be 
that  the  future  was  revealed  to  him,  and  that  he  beheld  the  Im- 
perialists besieging  Florence.  Who  knows  but  that  he  saw  in 
prophetic  vision  the  last  struggle  of  the  Republic,  which,  despite 
of  valour  and  chivalry,  lapsed  once  more  into  the  power  of  the 
Medicean  tyrants  !  Knowing  the  power  which  the  imitative  arts 
exercised  over  that  imaginative  people,  and  that  they  might  be 
made  instrumental  in  the  social  reform,  he  set  about  developing 
his  ideas  of  them,  by  going  back  to  the  general  principles  of 
aesthetics,  and  giving  a  new  definition  of  the  beautiful.  This, 
he  maintained,  should  not  be  understood  to  be  a  mere  pleasing 
of  the  senses,  but  the  senses  should  be  the  media  for  conveying 
it  to  the  heart  and  soul,  and  enamouring  it  of  virtue.  He  never 
would  separate  his  ideal  of  the  beautiful  from  that  of  truth  and 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


415 


decorum.  Perhaps  it  may  be  better  to  hear  himself — '  In  what 
does  beauty  consist?  In  colouring?  no — In  form?  no — but 
beauty  is  a  form  that  results  from  the  proportion  and  corres- 
pondency of  all  the  members  and  colours ;  and  from  this  pro- 
portion there  results  a  quality  which  philosophers  term  beauty. 
This  is  true  in  compound  entities,  but  in  simple  ones  their  beauty 
is  the  light.  Behold  the  sun ;  its  beauty  consists  in  possessing 
light :  behold  the  blessed  spirits,  the  beauty  of  whom  is  light : 
behold  God,  who,  because  he  is  most  lucid,  is  beauty  itself.  The 
beauty  of  every  creature  is  the  more  perfect,  the  more  closely  it 
is  assimilated  to  the  beauty  of  God ;  and  the  body  is  beautiful 
in  proportion  to  the  beauty  of  the  soul.  Suppose  two  women 
whose  bodies  are  equally  beautiful — fancy  one  of  them  to  be  of 
holy  life,  and  the  other  immoral ;  you  will  find  that  the  holy 
woman  will  be  more  loved  by  every  one  than  the  mcked 
w^oman,  and  that  all  eyes  w^U  be  turned  on  her.  I  now  speak 
of  carnal  men. — Suppose  a  holy  man,  w^hose  body  is  deformed, 
you  will  find  that  every  one  respects  him,  and,  although  de- 
formed, his  sanctity  seems  to  be  reflected  in  his  countenance. 
Now  fancy  what  must  have  been  the  beauty  of  the  Virgin,  who 
possessed  such  sanctity — sanctity  that  shone  from  all  her  features. 
Imagine  how  beautiful  was  Christ,  who  was  God  and  Man  ! ' 
Every  one  must  perceive  that  the  Angelico  realised  all  these 
theories  ;  for  no  painter  ever  excelled  him  in  giving  to  his  images 
the  beauty  of  an  immortal  soul.  Having  given  these  general  no- 
tions of  the  Beautiful,  Savonarola  proceeds  to  denounce  the  li- 
centiousness of  artists,  who  made  painting  subservient  to  the  lusts 
of  the  great,  instead  of  an  eloquent  language  for  inculcating 
virtue  and  morality  ;  and,  to  overwhelm  them  with  shame,  he 
quotes  a  Gentile  aiithor.  '  Aristotle,'  he  exclaims,  ^  who  was  a 
Pagan,  tells  us  that  ^ve  should  not  tolerate  indecent  pictures, 
lest  children,  seeing  them,  be  corrupted ;  but  what  shall  I  say 
of  you.  Christian  painters,  who  produce  these  nude  figures  ?  I  tell 
you  to  do  so  no  more. — You,  who  have  such  paintings  in  your 
houses,  should  destroy  them,  for  you  would  thus  be  doing  a  w^ork 
pleasing  to  God  and  the  Holy  Virgin.'    Directing  his  discourse 


416 


THE   LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


to  those  vrh.0  selected  as  models  for  portraits  of  tlie  saints,  women 
whose  profligacy  was  well  known  to  every  one,  after  quoting 
the  passage  in  Amos  (c.  v.) — '  But  you  carried  a  tabernacle  for 
your  ^loloch,  and  the  image  of  your  idols,' — he  pronounces  the 
following  invective  :  '  You  have  dedicated  my  temple  and  my 
churches  to  your  god,  Moloch.  See  how  they  act  in  Florence ! 
"V\Tien  Florentine  mothers  have  married  their  daughters,  they 
deck  them  out  for  show,  till  they  look  like  npnphs  ;  and  they 
lead  them  forthwith  to  Santa  Liberata  (the  cathedral).  These  are 
your  idols  that  you  have  placed  in  my  temple.  The  images  of 
your  gods  are  the  images  and  the  likenesses  of  the  figures  that 
you  cause  to  be  painted  in  the  churches ;  and  the  young  men 
say  to  this  and  that  maiden, '  This  is  Magdalene ;  that  beyond  there 
is  St.  John :'  because  you  paint  figures  in  the  church  which  re- 
semble this  woman  or  that.  All  this  is  sinful,  and  a  contempt  of 
God.  You  painters  act  wrongly  ;  and  if  you  knew  the  scandal 
that  results,  as  I  know  it,  you  would  not  paint  such  things.  You 
introduce  worldly  vanities  into  the  church.  Do  you  believe  that 
the  Blessed  Virgin  was  dressed  as  you  represent  her  ?  I  tell 
you  that  she  was  modestly  dressed,  and  so  veiled  that  one  could 
scarcely  see  her  face  ;  and  St.  Elizabeth  was  also  modest  and 
simple  in  her  attire.  You  would  do  well  if  you  would  cancel 
these  indecent  pictures.  You  represent  the  Virgin  Mary  decked 
out  like  a  harlot.  Oh,  how  is  God's  worship  debased  ! '  It  is 
easy  to  conjecture  what  effect  such  discourses  as  these  had  on 
the  minds  of  the  Florentine  artists,  many  of  whom  swore  to  Sa- 
vonarola that  they  would  never  again  degrade  the  art  of  painting 
or  sculpture.  Kot  content  with  this,  Baccio  della  Porta  (called  in 
religion  Fra  Bartolomeo),  Lorenzo  di  Credi,  and  others,  laid  at 
the  Father's  feet  all  their  designs  in  the  rwde,  together  with  their 
other  works  which  outraged  decency."* 

*  Lives  of  the  most  eminent  Painters,  Sculptors,  and  Architects,  of  tlie 
order  of  Saint  Dominick,  translated  from  the  Italian  of  Father  Vincent 
Marchese,  by  Eeverend  Charles  Meehan,  vol.  i.  pp.  323  to  329,  8vo.  Ihih. 
1852. 


OF  S A VOX A KOLA. 


417 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ANIMOSITY  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  SIXTH  AGAINST 

SAVONAROLA.  EFFORTS    TO  GAIN  HIM  OVER  TO    THE  VIEV^^S 

OF  ALEXANDER. — SECRET  INTRIGUES  AGAINST  HIM.  IN- 
TERCEPTED CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  CHRISTIAN  PRINCES, 
URGING  ON   THEM  THE   NECESSITY  OF   CALLING   A  GENERAL 

COUNCIL  FOR  THE  RENOVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  PROHIBITION 

TO  PREACH.  CITATION  TO  ROME.  EXCOMMUNICATION.  1496 

TO  1498. 

"  Percutiam  pastorem  et  dispergentur  ores  gregis." — S.  Matt 

Many  dogs  liave  encompassed  me  about,  tlie  assembly  of  the  wicked 
have  enclosed  me,  they  evilly  -wrest  my  words,  and  say,  I  have  scandalously 
attacked  the  papal  authority  ;  but  many  thousands  among  my  hearers  will 
testify  to  what  I  have  said  ;  and  among  my  numerous  pubHshed  writings 
and  sermons,  my  words  lie  before  the  eyes  of  all." — Sermon  of  Savonarola. 

The  first  citation  of  the  Pope,  addressed  to  Savonarola,  was 
dated  the  21st  of  July,  1495.  In  the  terms  of  this  mandate 
there  is  no  harshness  to  complain  of,  no  asperity  of  language,  or 
apparent  unkindly  or  hostile  feelings  exhibited.  The  proba- 
bility is,  that  no  feelings  of  that  kind  were  then  entertained  by^ 
the  Pope  towards  the  friar. 

The  letters  of  Fra  Girolamo  to  the  French  sovereign,  urging 
the  assembling  of  a  general  council,  had  not  been  then  inter- 
cepted and  sent  to  Rome. 

In  the  citation  we  read :  that  "  his  holiness  had,  with  joy  and 
gratitude  to  God,  received  information  that  Savonarola  had,  with 
other  labourers,  shown  himself  very  active  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord.  Nor  did  he  doubt  but  that  he  advantageously  em- 
ployed the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit  for  the  salvation  of  the 
common  people.    But  it  had  at  the  same  time  been  reported, 

VOL.  I.  E  E 


418 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


that  he  foretold  future  events,  and  this  not  by  naturally  acquired 
knowledge,  but  by  means  of  Divine  revelation  ;  hence  he  de- 
sired, as  it  belonged  to  his  pastoral  office,  to  speak  with  him  on 
the  subject,  in  order,  if  it  was  of  God,  to  be  better  acquainted 
with  him ;  and  commanded  him  therefore,  by  the  power  of  holy 
obedience,  to  come  as  soon  as  might  be  to  Rome,  where  he  would 
receive  him  with  paternal  love." 

Savonarola,  when  he  received  this  mandate,  it  is  stated  by 
Burlamacchi,  was  confined  to  his  convent,  attended  by  his  phy- 
sician. It  is  very  possible  he  may  have  expected  the  citation, 
for  he  was  kept,  by  some  secret  agency  there  is  no  doubt,  well 
informed  of  all  important  movements  in  the  court  of  Rome. 
This  is  not  expressly  stated  by  any  of  his  biographers,  but  the 
fact  is  quite  evident,  from  the  allusions  he  makes  to  the  life  of 
Alexander,  in  his  letters  to  the  sovereigns  of  France,  Spain, 
Germany,  and  Hungary,  and  in  his  sermons  and  his  other 
writings  also. 

In  one  of  his  discourses  at  this  time,  disclaiming  all  intention 
of  disobedience  to  the  Church,  and  of  disrespect  for  its  legi- 
timate authority,  he  asks,  "  TVTiat  is  to  be  done?"  and  he  answers 
in  the  same  breath,  "  Write  to  Rome,  that  the  Pope  can  help  the 
Church.  Let  him  even  by  his  good  example  admonish  her  of  the 
evils  that  beset  her.  If  the  Pope  enquire — what  says  that  man  of 
my  life  ?  answer  nothing  !  If  he  asks  further — knows  he  of  it  ? 
answer — truly,  he  does  right  well !  Tell  him  that  he  should  so 
influence  men  by  his  example  and  precept,  that  they  may  be 
converted.  If  that  be  impossible,  there  is  no  safety  left ;  that 
is  all  we  have  to  say  to  the  Pope." 

Savonarola  replied  to  the  citation  in  terms  of  submissiveness 
and  conciliation,  declaring  his  fidelity  to  the  Church  and  see  of 
Peter,  and  complaining  of  those  inimical  to  him,  who  had  misled 
his  holiness  in  regard  to  his  labours  in  the  pulpit,  and  pleading 
illness  for  his  inability  to  proceed  to  Rome. 

To  a  later  communication  on  the  same  subject,  but  more 
strongly  animadverting  on  his  writings  and  sermons,  he  replied, 
in  terms  of  unqualified  submission:  — 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


419 


"  Dignetur  Sanctitas  vestrae  mihi  communicare  quod  ex 
omnibus  quae  dixi  et  scripsi  sit  revocandum,  et  ego  et  libentis- 
sime  faciam,  nam  hac  vice  et  semper  sunt  dixi  et  etiam  scripsi 
me  ipsum  et  omnia  mea  dicta  subjicio  correctioni."* 

It  was  generally  reported,  that  this  citation  was  also  accom- 
panied by  a  formal  prohibition  to  preach  in  public.  But  no  such 
prohibition  came,  as  Rians  states,  before  the  end  of  the  same 
year  1495,  not  the  middle  of  the  new  year,  as  Mr.  Heraut 
mentions. 

The  first  use  Fra  Girolamo  made  of  restored  health,  after  re- 
ceiving the  first  citation,  was  to  preach  at  San  Marco,  and  to  dis- 
abuse the  public  with  respect  to  this  report,  and  to  make  some 
very  significant  observations  as  to  the  obligations  which  lay  on 
himself  and  the  duties  which  the  office  of  a  true  Pope  imposed 
on  him,  in  the  event  of  misrepresentations  being  still  made  at 
Rome  against  him  by  his  enemies,  for  preaching  the  gospel  to 
his  people. 

A  little  later,  a  brief  arrived  from  Rome,  prohibiting  Fra 
Girolamo  from  preaching  publicly  in  Florence  without  assigning 
any  specific  reasons  for  the  prohibition,  but  general  complaints 
of  novelty  of  style  and  dissensions  occasioned  by  it.  Savonarola 
suspended  his  labours  in  the  pulpit.  But  the  Government  ap- 
pealed to  the  pontiff,  and  solicited  the  suppression  of  the  brief, 
through  their  diplomatic  agent  at  the  court  of  Rome,  pleading  the 
mischief  done  to  the  interests  of  religion,  order,  and  morality,  by 
the  cessation  of  the  missionary  labours  of  Fra  Girolamo  ;  the  pro- 
hibition was  conditionally  withdrawn.  License  was  accorded  to 
Fra  Girolamo  to  preach  the  ensuing  Lent  of  1496,  in  Florence. 
The  date  of  this  license  is  the  28th  January,  1496.t 

He  resumed  his  labours  with  an  amount  of  vigour  in  his  de- 
nunciations against  ecclesiastical  abuses,  such  as  he  never  before 
displayed. 

The  conditional  license  to  preach,  after  some  months  was  with- 
drawn. 

*  Savon.  Epist.  ad.  Alex.  Ap.  Opus.  Del.  Heg.  Degli.  Stati.  cum.  vi.  Vit. 
Sav.  AnoD.  Pisa,  12mo.  1818. 

t  Lettere  Inedite  di  Sav.  et  Arch.  Hist.  Ital. 

K  E  2 


450 


THE   LIFE   AND   MAP.!  YK DOM 


"  The  Pope/'  says  Nardi,  "  was  not  originally  hostile  to  the 
friar,  moreover  he  was  favourably  disposed  to  that  form  of 
government  of  all,  '  Governo  universale/  which  had  been  in- 
troduced by  the  friar."*  But,  alas  !  no  redeeming  trait  are  we 
to  find  in  this  preference  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  for  a  popular 
form  of  government.  Nardi  adds,  "  the  Pope  thought  he  had 
more  to  fear  from  a  government  consolidated  in  its  power, 
like  that  of  the  Medici,  it  being  vested  in  the  hands  of  a  few, 
than  from  one  administered  by  many." 

Fra  Girolamo  received  a  second  citation  in  1496,  which,  Nardi 
says,  was  accompanied  with  a  menace  of  excommunication  in  the 
event  of  a  refusal  to  obey  it,  or  failing  so  to  do ;  and  menaces 
were  also  addressed  to  the  government,  of  excommunication,  and 
an  interdict,  in  the  event  of  their  failing  to  oblige  the  friar  to 
proceed  to  Rome, 

A^Tien  the  brief  Avas  obtained  from  the  Pope,  prohibiting  Savo- 
narola from  preaching  in  Florence,  and  directing  him  to  preach 
in  Lucca  during  the  ensuing  Lent,  before  abandoning  the  pulpit 
in  Florence,  and  that  city  altogether,  as  he  purposed  doing  on 
receiving  the  Pope's  first  brief,  we  are  informed  by  Nardi,  in  a 
sermon  which  he  intended  for  his  last  discourse  in  Florence,  he 
announced  his  intention  of  quitting  Florence,  in  conformity 
with  the  wishes  of  his  superiors,  and  he  took  his  leave  of  the 
congregation  in  words  of  an  impressive  and  affecting  character. 

It  would  appear  that  Savonarola  must  have  received  some 
notification  of  the  first  citation  some  months  previously  to  July, 
1495,  for  he  preached  a  very  remarkable  sermon  on  the  17th  of 
February,  1495,  from  which  the  folloA\T.ng  passages  are  taken  : — 

I  see  people  are  desirous  of  knowing  why  I  have  refrained 
for  some  time  from  preaching,  and  suspended  my  labours. 
Numbers  of  persons  say  they  know  the  cause  well ;  an  excom- 
munication has  been  fukninated,  and  I  am  silenced.  Were 
such  the  case,  which  cannot  be  shewn  to  be  so,  it  may  be  re- 
membered that  I  said  in  this  place,  if  it  came  it  would  be  of  no 
avail,  and  the  fabricators  of  falsehoods  would  not  be  served  by  it. 
*  Nardi,  Hist.  Fior.  t.  l.p.  31. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


421 


"  You  shall  hear  in  a  parable  of  a  citizen  who  had  a  large 
vineyard,  which  under  the  care  of  his  son  produced  much  fruit. 
Some  robbers  in  the  vicinity  determined  on  ravaging  this  vine- 
yard. But  the  son  who  took  care  of  it  kept  them  at  bay,  and 
preserved  the  possession ;  so  they  wrote  to  his  father^  who  was 
afar  off,  and  said,  ^  Your  son  is  given  to  riot  and  debauchery,  and 
he  is  bringing  ruin  on  your  posterity.' 

"  And  they  sent  people  of  supposed  worth  and  reputation  to 
confirm  these  statements.  The  father,who  lived  afar  off,  and  could 
have  no  personal  knowledge  of  his  son's  doings,  gave  credit  to 
the  false  reports,  and  sent  word  to  that  son  to  come  to  him:  but 
the  son  perceiving  clearly  the  di'ift  of  that  report,  and  that  the 
\ineyard  must  go  to  ruin  if  he  abandoned  it,  obeyed  not  the 
order,  but  wrote  to  his  father  that  he  had  been  wrongfully  ac- 
cused by  slanderers.  I  ask  you  now,  did  that  son  seem  to  you 
to  have  done  well  or  ill,  or  to  have  fulfilled  or  not  the  inten- 
tions of  his  father  ?  .  .  . 

"  You  who  write  so  many  lies  to  Rome,  what  will  you  write 
next  ?  That  I  have  said  the  Pope  shall  not  be  obeyed,  and  that 
I  will  not  obey  him  ?  Ah  !  were  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  here, 
and  saw  the  fruits  of  your  devices,  truly  he  would  set  small 
value  on  your  writings,  and  more  especially  if  you  wxre  known 
to  him. 

"  "When  we  want  to  speak  with  God  we  speak  with  the  heart, 
for  God  is  a  spirit,  and  dwells  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  and 
sees  all  our  thoughts  and  inclinations.  And  when  our  tongue 
speaks  with  God,  the  conceptions  of  the  heart  and  inward 
breathings  of  the  soul  are  put  into  the  form,  and  endowed  with 
the  power  of  speech." 

There  is  something  more  touching  than  can  be  well  expressed 
in  the  admission  of  the  difiiculties  and  troubles  which  are  begin- 
ning now  to  surround  and  overpower  him.  "  I  am  come  to  a 
deep  sea,  and  now  long  for  the  haven  once  more,  and  I  look 
all  around  me  for  it,  and  I  see  no  possibility  of  returning.  I  will 
say  to  thee,  as  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  said,  '  Lord,  thou  hast  per- 
suaded me,  and  I  have  let  myself  be  persuaded.    Thou  hast 


422 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


been  too  strong  for  me,  and  thou  liast  conquered.  But  I,  on  the 
contrary,  have  become  a  mockery — I  am  scoffed  by  every  one.'  * 

"  Now,  Lord,  that  thou  knowest  I  am  at  the  mercy  of  this  deep 
sea — thy  will  be  done.  But  I  pray  God  for  this  one  boon,  that 
the  thought  of  death  may  always  with  me  be  associated  with  a  firm 
hope  and  a  constant  thinking  of  the  Lord.  If  thou  givest  me  the 
living  knowledge  of  the  glory  prepared  for  thy  elect,  I  will  fear 
no  danger  on  the  waves  of  this  world,  but  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
troubles  that  beset  me,  I  will  be  firm  and  joyful.  Now,  Lord,  I 
am  contented  with  the  path  thou  hast  persuaded  me  to  go,  for  it 
is  full  of  sweetness  and  holiness.  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast 
thought  me  worthy  to  make  me  an  arrow  in  thy  quiver,  and  to 
make  me  in  sufferings  and  troubles  like  unto  thee." 

On  the  Tuesday  following  Easter  Sunday,  1495,  preaching  on 
the  book  of  Amos,  Savonarola,  in  that  mysterious  manner  in 
which  he  was  wont  to  allude  to  approaching  events  of  grave 
importance  to  him,  or  to  his  cause,  foreshown  or  foreseen, 
plainly  gave  his  congregation  to  understand — a  struggle  was 
impending  with  the  court  of  Rome,  in  which  his  cause  would  be 
victorious. 

"  Have  I  not  told  you  that  I  had  come  to  combat  and  to 
conquer  ?  Till  now,  the  victory  has  been  always  ours,  and  so 
will  it  be  hereafter.  Our  enemies  invent  a  thousand  fables, 
and  one  has  even  written  of  me  that  I  had  fled,  carrying  away 
with  me  much  money.  But  I  am  here  still.  I  hold  my  posi- 
tion fearlessly,  like  a  good  soldier.  For  at  every  sacrifice  I  de- 
sire to  conquer,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  my  life  for  you." 

From  the  month  of  July  to  the  latter  part  of  October,  1496, 
Fra  Girolamo  had  abstained  from  preaching  in  Florence. 

Again,  however,  at  the  instance  of  the  authorities,  and  at  the 
solicitation  of  vast  numbers  of  respectable  citizens,  who  repre- 
sented to  him  the  relapsed  state  of  a  great  number  of  the 
converts  that  had  been  made  by  his  previous  labours,  and  the 
disorders  that  began  to  prevail  in  the  city,  he  resumed  his 
mission. 

*  Jer.  XX  7. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


His  preaching  against  the  scandals  given  to  religion  by  the 
conduct  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
Court  of  Kome,  became  now  more  vehement  than  ever. 

Another  citation  was  addressed  to  him,  about  the  middle  of 
October,  1496,  repeating  the  former  complaints  against  his  new 
style  of  preaching,  denouncing  vices,  predicting  future  evils, 
and  maintaining  that  his  knowledge  came  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  "  He  should  have  considered  that  such  doc- 
trines were  adapted  to  a  very  different  state  of  temporal  cir- 
cumstances, and  that  they  led  to  dissensions  even  in  places 
where  perfect  peace  reigned.  Consequently,  he  was  invited  to 
Rome,  for  mature  consideration  of  many  points  on  which  he 
had  to  justify  himself,  the  onus  of  which  justification  lay  upon 
him.  His  Holiness  had  learned  with  joy,  from  his  letters,  that,  as 
became  a  good  Christian,  he  submitted  himself  in  all  things  to 
the  usages  of  the  Roman  Church.  In  order,  therefore,  that  so 
serious  a  matter  might  be  properly  dealt  with.  His  Holiness 
had  determined  once  more  to  address  him,  and  command  him, 
on  the  penalty  of  holy  obedience,  to  abstain  henceforth,  pub- 
licly and  privately,  from  all  preaching,  till  he  could  seriously, 
conveniently,  and  becomingly  appear  in  Rome  ;  on  doing  which, 
the  contents  of  the  accompanying  Brief,  with  all  its  clauses, 
should  be  again  withdrawn." 

The  Brief  was  addressed  to  the  prior,  and  all  the  brethren  of 
the  Convent  of  San  Marco,  and  the  tone  of  it  was  altogether 
different  from  that  of  the  communication  to  Fra  Girolamo.  It 
charged  him  with  blasphemy,  rebellious  language,  craftiness, 
and  destructive  doctrines. 

"  His  Holiness  has  understood,  that  a  certain  Hieronymus 
Savonarola,  lately  of  Ferrara,  had  found  pleasure  in  destructive 
doctrines,  and,  from  the  altered  circumstances  of  Italy,  had  wan- 
dered so  far,  that  he,  without  all  ecclesiastical  confirmation,  and 
against  all  canonical  ordinances,  publicly  gave  forth  that  he 
was  sent  from  God,  and  had  communication  with  Him — yea, 
had  published  the  blasphemous  declaration,  that  Chi'ist  and  God 
themselves  erred,  if  he  spake  untruth.    By  long  indulgence  the 


4U 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Pope  had  hoped  he  would  have  been  induced  to  repent,  and 
would  have  retracted  his  rebellious  words,  even  would  have  shown 
himself  humbled  and  dependent,  for  that  through  craftiness  he 
had  compassed  the  separation  of  his  cloister  from  the  Lombard 
superiors.  But  all  hope  has  been  disappointed,  since  not  only  has 
he  disobeyed  the  written  summons  to  appear  in  Rome,  but  has 
daily  given  great  offence,  both  by  speech  and  writing.  For  which 
cause,  henceforth  the  general  vicar  of  the  Lombard  congregation 
of  his  Order  was  authorized  to  inquire  into  and  decide  the 
matter.  But  Savonarola  was  meanwhile  to  withdraw  himself 
from  preaching.  Moreover,  the  remaining  brethren  of  the 
cloister  of  San  Marco,  at  Florence,  were  admonished  to  incor- 
porate themselves  again  with  the  Lombard  congregation.  The 
fathers  Domenico  da  Pescia,  Thomas  Bussino,  and  Silvester  of 
Florence,  on  the  other  hand,  should  leave  the  cloister,  and  be- 
take themselves  to  Bologna,  on  pain  of  the  guilt  of  disobedience, 
and  the  penalty  of  excommunication." 

The  difference  in  the  tone  and  style  of  the  two  communica- 
tions, was  intelligible  enough  to  any  one  knowing  the  duplicity 
and  faithlessness  that  characterized  every  act  of  Alexander. 

The  misfortune  of  Savonarola  was,  that  he  had  to  do,  with  a 
superior  in  whom  he  could  put  no  trust. 

So  great  was  the  perfidy  of  this  man,  that  he  was  utterly  in- 
sensible to  the  shame  of  being  distrusted  by  every  one  he  had 
to  do  with.  The  record  of  his  acts,  daily  written  down  by 
a  witness  of  them,  by  one  having  an  official  cognizance  of  them, 
will  show  that  no  obligations  of  religion,  honour,  or  humanity, 
were  considered  binding  on  him ;  that  human  life  was  not  in- 
violable in  his  sight,  when  a  man  was  in  his  power  who  was 
obnoxious  to  him  or  his  son. 

When  Savonarola  broke  his  long  silence,  and  ascended  the 
pulpit  in  the  Lent  of  1496,  he  took  for  his  text  the  words — 
"  Etenim  opportet  obedire  Deo  magis  quam  hominihus.'^^  He  thus 
alluded  to  the  prohibition  to  preach,  and  his  determination  in 
regard  to  it :  "  On  all  occasions,  when  it  can  be  obviously  seen 
that  the  commands  of  superiors  are  contrary  to  the  command- 
ments of  God,  and  especially  to  the  precepts  of  charity,  none 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


425 


should  obey  in  such  a  case,  because  it  is  written,  '  AVe  must 
rather  obey  God  than  man.'  It  happens,  however,  that,  when  it 
is  not  evident,  but  doubtful,  that  the  commands  of  superiors  are 
contrary  to  the  divine  commandments,  I  believe,  in  this  case,  we 
ought  to  follow  the  opinions  of  superiors.  AVe  all,  then,  have  the 
commandments  of  God  enjoining  brotherly  love,  that  every  one 
should  care  for  the  salvation  of  his  brother's  soul,"  &c. 

About  the  same  time,  he  preached  a  very  remarkable  sermon, 
denouncing  the  disorders  that  existed  among  all  classes,  even 
the  highest  in  the  state  and  in  the  church,  and  the  discourse 
was  taken  down,  by  some  person  present,  with  great  exactness, 
and  transmitted  to  the  Pope  Alexander  the  Sixth.  His  Holiness 
sent  for  a  certain  prelate  of  the  Dominican  order,  a  man  of  great 
learning,  put  the  sermon  in  his  hands,  and  told  him  to  answer  the 
complaints  that  were  set  forth  in  it,  and  to  refute  his  assertions. 

The  prelate  replied :  "  Holy  father,  I  will  do  it ;  but  I  am 
in  need  of  the  arms  that  are  necessary  to  ansAver  this  friar,  and 
to  overcome  his  arguments." 

The  pope  asked,  What  arms  did  he  requii'e  ?"  The  bishop 
answered :  "  This  friar  says  it  is  forbidden  to  be  licentious,  and 
to  commit  the  crime  of  simony.  And  he  speaks  the  truth.  AMiat 
can  I  say  to  this  ?"  But,"  rejoined  the  pope,  "  what  has  he 
to  do  with  these  things  ?"  The  bishop  then  said  to  his  Holi- 
ness :  "  Bestow  preferment  on  him,  and  make  him  your  friend ; 
honour  him  with  a  red  hat,  in  order  that  he  may  leave  off  pro- 
phesying, and  that  people  may  then  ridicule  what  he  said  be- 
fore ?"  This  counsel  pleased  the  pope,  and  he  conferred  imme- 
diately with  the  head  of  the  order  (in  Rome),  and  sent  to  Flo- 
rence Master  Lodovico  da  Ferrara,  an  excellent  person,  master 
of  the  sacred  palace,  with  an  order,  that  first  he  should  dispute 
with  Fra  Girolamo,  and  then,  if  he  could  not  vanquish  him  (in 
argument),  to  offer  him,  on  the  part  of  his  Holiness,  the  car- 
dinal's hat,  provided  he  abstained  from  prophesying.  And  so 
it  was  done,  for  the  said  Father  Lodovico  came  directly  to  Flo- 
rence, and  straight  went  to  hear  a  sermon  of  Fra  Girolamo.  There 
it  pleased  God  that  he  should  be  recognised  by  a  Florentine 


426 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


merchant,  who  had  known  him  in  Rome,  in  his  spiritual  capa- 
city. The  merchant  immediately  acquainted  Fra  Girolamo  with 
the  fact  of  having  seen  the  master  of  the  sacred  palace  of  his 
Holiness  at  his  sermon.  On  learning  this,  Fra  Girolamo  sent  to 
invite  Father  Lodovico  to  his  convent ;  there  he  received  him 
with  great  benignity,  and  they  entered  into  discussions  which 
lasted  three  days. 

The  master  of  the  sacred  palace,  finding  he  could  not  prevail 
in  argument,  said  to  him  at  length :  "  It  has  pleased  his  Holi- 
ness, having  been  informed  of  your  virtue  and  wdsdom,  to  de- 
sire to  elevate  you  to  the  dignity  of  the  office  of  a  cardinal,  pro- 
vided you  proceed  no  further  with  revelations  of  future  events." 
To  which  Fra  Girolamo  replied  :  "  The  Lord  save  me  from  it ! 
the  Lord  save  me  from  it! — (^Dio  me  ne  guardi!  Dio  me  ne 
guardi !) — That  I  should  resign  the  legation  and  the  embassy 
of  my  Lord  !  But  come  to-morrow  to  the  sermon,  and  I  shall 
answer  in  the  face  of  all."* 

We  hear  nothing  of  the  reply,  or  the  amazement  of  the  master 
of  the  sacred  palace  at  the  refusal  of  such  an  offer.  But  we 
are  told,  the  next  day,  that  Fra  Girolamo  mounted  the  pulpit 
with  some  vehemence,  that  denoted  his  spirit  was  moved,  and 
the  exaltation  of  it  was  apparently  due  to  some  divine  impulse. 
He  made  a  brief  summary  of  the  evils  he  had  denounced,  of  the 
judgments  he  had  predicted  in  his  previous  sermons,  and,  when 
he  had  finished  the  rapid  sketch,  he  pronounced  those  solemn 
words  in  allusion  to  the  proffered  dignity  of  cardinal :  "  /  wish 
no  other  red  hat  than  that  of  the  martgr^s  blood-stained  crown.^* 
— "  lo  non  voglio  altro  capello  rosso  che  quello  del  martirio  ru- 
bricate del  proprio  sangue."t 

The  master  of  the  sacred  palace  returned  to  Rome,  and  related 
all  that  he  had  seen  in  San  Marco,  and  heard  in  its  pulpit,  to 
the  pontiff. 

Very  unintelligible,  no  doubt,  was  the  conduct  of  this  myste- 
rious friar  to  his  holiness.    But  a  very  dangerous  monk,  no 
doubt,  was  he  in  the  estimation  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  and 
*  Burlamaccbi,  p.  551.  t  Tbid. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


427 


one  whom  it  would  be  necessary  to  extinguish  altogether,  since 
he  would  not  be  distinguished  by  him. 

Old  Burton,  in  his  "  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  says,  it  was 
a  true  saying  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  "  that  it  was  letter  to  of- 
fend a  mighty  monarch  than  to  give  umbrage  to  a  mendicant  monk.''* 
Whether  Alexander  said  this  or  not,  it  may  be  doubtful,  but 
that  he  acted  on  the  thought  that  this  man's  holiness  of  life  and 
doctrine,  and  his  heroic  courage  in  denouncing  treason  against 
the  Church  of  Christ,  were  to  him  a  terrible  reproach,  there  can 
be  very  little  doubt. 

Savonarola,  at  this  juncture,  was  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice, 
and  the  ground  was  slipping  away  from  under  his  feet.  It  re- 
quii-ed  no  great  effort  of  malice,  or  fortuitous  impulse  of  any 
kind,  to  cast  him  do^\Ti. 

The  following  is  a  remarkable  passage  in  the  Brief  of  the 
pope,  again  prohibiting  the  preaching  of  the  father,  and,  de  novo, 
calling  on  him  to  present  himself  before  his  Holiness  : — 

"  But,  as  we  now  learn  from  the  mouth  of  some  of  our  bro- 
thers, the  cardinals  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  and  by  your 
letters,  that  you  are  willing  to  submit  yourself  and  all  your 
writings  to  the  judgment  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  which  it 
is  the  duty  of  all  good  Christians,  and  of  all  in  religion,  to  do, 
we  have  had  great  consolation,  and  we  have  wished  to  persuade 
ourselves  that  all  that  you  have  set  forth  up  to  this  time  in 
your  preachings  has  not  been  suggested  by  a  bad  spirit,  but 
rather  has  been  in  simplicity  and  zeal,  to  profit  the  vineyard  of 
the  Lord,  though  experience  has  demonstrated  the  contrary; 
but  that  we  may  not  be  negligent  in  that  which  in  no  way 
ought  to  be  neglected,  we  have  desii'ed  to  write  to  you  anew, 
and  replying  to  your  letters — (these  letters,  anterior  to  the  reply 
of  Savonarola  to  the  Brief,  no  longer  exist) — we  command  you 
in  virtue  of  holy  obedience,  that  henceforward  you  abstain  from 
preaching,  either  in  public  or  in  private,  in  order  that  they  may 
not  allege  that  you  can,  while  ceasing  to  preach  in  public, 
hold  secret  assemblies  :  and  you  will  attend  to  that  until  you 
can  present  yourself  before  us,  without  needing  to  be  escorted. 


428 


THE  LTFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


as  we  hear  that  it  is  necessary  to  do,  for  the  safety  of  your  per- 
son. We  would  see  you  very  willingly,  and  embrace  you  ten- 
derly, until  we  can  at  leisure  and  with  maturity  decide  upon 
your  way  of  living  for  the  future,  or,  if  we  may  judge  it  right, 
until  they  have  substituted  in  your  place  a  man  of  probity  and 
capacity.  If  you  do  this,  as  we  expect  you  will,  we  revoke  all 
former  briefs,  and  all  that  they  contain,  in  order  that,  with 
all  security,  you  may  give  yourself  up  to  the  duties  of  your  con- 
science.   Given  at  Rome,  St.  Peter's,  the  IGth  October,  1496."* 

Various  conspiracies,  concocted  in  Milan  in  the  latter  part  of 
1496,  having  for  their  object  the  assassination  of  the  Father,  we 
are  told  by  Burlamacchi,  were  attempted  to  be  carried  into  effect 
in  Florence,  and  were  defeated  only  by  the  vigilance  of  the 
government.  At  length,  it  was  found  necessary  to  station  a 
guard  at  the  Convent  of  San  Marco,  for  the  protection  of  the 
Prior.  Things  came  to  such  a  pass,  that  the  Father  never  left 
the  Convent  at  this  period  except  to  go  to  the  Duomo  to  preach, 
and  then  always  attended  with  his  own  community  in  procession, 
and  a  large  company  of  armed  citizens  for  his  protection.  An 
attempt  was,  however,  made  in  the  Convent  itself  to  take  away 
his  life  by  poison. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1496,  after  he  had  suspended  preach- 
ing for  some  time,  he  ascended  the  pulpit : — "  Behold  the 
motives  (said  he)  which  have  induced  me  to  reappear  in  this 
place.  It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  prove  the  invalidity  of  all 
the  arguments  which  have  been  brought  against  me.  But  to 
the  argument  I  adduce  for  my  appearance  here,  there  is  no 
answer.  I  act,  in  coming  here,  in  obedience  to  authority.  To 
whom  ?  To  the  Signoria  ! — you  wish  not  to  believe  me,  because, 
as  you  say,  I  am  not  obliged  to  obey  them.  Pardon  me,  I  pray 
you ;  you  have  come  here  by  the  persuasion  of  people,  and  yet 
you  imagine  I  should  never  allow  myself  to  be  persuaded  by 
any  one.  It  is  then,  you  say,  to  obey  your  prelates,  your  supe- 
riors !  But  nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  directed  me  by  my 
superiors.  Know,  then,  that  I  have  ascended  the  pulpit  to  obey 
*  TTist.  Carle  fie  Savonarola,  p.  2G8. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


429 


Ilini  who  is  the  prelate  of  all  prelates — the  Supreme  Pontiff  of 
all  popes — and  who  makes  known  to  me  what  is  contrary  to  His 
will,  and  in  nature  opposed  to  it.  It  w^ould  be  much  more 
willingly  that  I  would  repose,  but  I  cannot  do  otherwise  than  I 
do,  because  I  must  obey ;  and  it  is  not  as  formerly,  when  I  de- 
rived honour  and  glory  from  so  doing,  for  now,  things  and  times 
are  turning  to  tribulation  Know,  then,  that  these  com- 
mandments are  grave,  because  he  who  obeys  them  not,  must  bear 
the  penalty ;  and  still,  my  obedience  is  not  a  light  matter,  since, 
as  you  see,  it  brings  hatred  on  me,  reproaches,  mortal  perils,  and 

invectives  w^hich  come  on  me  from  all  quarters  And  to 

retract  my  former  words  ?  Believe  it  not.  I  am  indeed  come 
here  to  repeat  those  words  to  you, — '  That  he  who  confides  in 
his  own  strength,  and  not  in  God,  is  a  proud  man,  and  the  pride 
of  man  is  a  great  weakness."' 

In  the  midst  of  the  tempest  of  opposition  that  is  now  setting 
in  from  all  quarters  against  him,  he  tells  his  congregation  of  his 
troubles  and  his  trust : — 

"  But  I  turn  to  God,"  he  says,  "  and  I  say  to  Him :  ^  Thou 
hast  put  me  in  opposition  with  all  people.  If  I  reveal  future 
events,  every  one  accounts  me  a  fool.  If  I  speak  of  other  things, 
every  one  contradicts  me.  But  the  more  are  the  contradictions 
I  meet  with,  the  more  I  submit  myself  to  the  will  of  God  in  my 

regard.'  A  few  words  more,  and  I  am  done  :  O  Florence  ! 

be  of  good  courage  in  the  time  of  tribulation.  That  is  the  first 
thing  I  have  to  say  to  you.  Have  confidence,  have  sure  con- 
fidence then  in  your  God,  and  believe  that  He  is  the  only  one 
who  can  enable  you  to  surmount  your  tribulations." 

The  last  prohibition  to  preach,  and  also  to  officiate  clerically 
in  any  manner,  came  from  Rome,  at  the  close  of  October,  1496.* 

"  The  12th  of  May,  1497,  "  says  Burlamacchi,  "  the  Pope 
directed  a  brief  to  the  Franciscan  Friars  of  San  Salvatore,  in 
Florence,  commanding  them,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  at 
the  ensuing  festival  publicly  to  pronounce  and  to  declare  ex- 
communicated Fra  Girolamo,  for  having  refused  obedience  to 
*  De  Eians,  Sommario,  p.  30. 


430 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  monitions  and  Apostolic  commandments.  The  excommu- 
nication was  to  extend  to  all  who  abetted  him,  spoke  with  him, 
or  attended  his  sermons."* 

While  the  menaced  excommunication  was  daily  expected  in 
Florence,  Savonarola  referred  to  that  expectation,  and  the  pro- 
bability of  its  realization,  in  the  pulpit : 

They  write  to  Rome,  the  friar  says  he  does  not  fear  excom- 
munication; I  speak  of  that  which  they  desire.  Do  not  believe 
that  any  excommunication  has  been  yet  fulminated  against  me. 
But  they  press  for  it,  so  that  it  may  happen  they  will  ultimately 
prevail.  ^  Ipsi  maledicent  me  et  tu  me  benedices.'  Lord,  your 
benediction  will  suffice  for  me.  O,  Italy,  is  it  possible  that  you 
do  not  blush  to  make  so  great  a  war  on  a  poor  friar  !" 

We  learn  from  the  editor  of  the  Lettere  Inedite,  that  in  the 
month  of  May,  1497,  notice  of  a  forthcoming  brief  of  excommu- 
nication had  been  received  in  Florence,  and  that  it  was  on  the 
22nd  of  June  following,  the  excommunication  was  published  in 
Florence. 

In  the  interval  between  the  notice  and  the  publication,  Fra 
Girolamo,  we  are  told  by  Padre  Marchese,  on  the  22nd  of  May, 
1497,  wrote  a  letter  to  Alexander,  which  is  the  first  of  his  to  the 
Pontiff  in  the  collection  of  "  Lettere  Inedite,"  and  which  the 
editor  styles  Carta  dolentissima, 

Nardi  says  the  sentence  of  excommunication  specified  three 
crimes  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

The  first,  that  being  cited  to  Rome,  he  had  disobeyed  the 
order. 

The  second,  that  he  preached  heretical  and  perverse  doctrines. 

The  third,  that  he  had  refused  to  accede  to  the  union  of  his 
convents  with  the  others  of  Tuscany.f 

Alexander  selected  the  enemies  of  Fra  Girolamo  to  promulgate 
the  excommunication  :  he  sent  the  brief  to  the  Franciscans,  from 
which  the  following  extract  is  taken  : 

"  Since  the  pope  had  often  heard  by  clerical  men  of  spiritual 

*  Burlamacchi,  torn.  v.  p.  535. 
t  Storee  Fiorentine,  lib.  ii. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


431 


and  worldly  standing,  that  Savonarola  was  spreading  destructive 
doctrines,  he  had  ho])ed  in  the  beginning  that  he  would  turn 
back  from  his  error.  Moreover,  that  he  had  not  appeared  when 
summoned,  to  justify  himself  from  the  accusations  made  against 
him  ;  and  had  also  not  refrained  from  preaching,  as  he  had  been 
ordered.  All  this  had  been  borne  with  great  leniency,  out  of 
regard  to  the  excuse  alleged,  and  in  the  constant  hope  that  he 
would  return  to  obedience.  But  when  he  continued  in  his  per- 
verseness,  the  reincorporation  of  the  cloisters  of  San  Marco  with 
the  Lombard  congregation  was  demanded,  which  likewise  he 
would  not  obey.  In  order,  therefore,  to  perform  what  was  owing 
to  the  welfare  of  the  souls  committed  to  him,  according  to  his 
duty  as  a  shepherd,  he  commanded  him,  under  threatening  of 
the  like  punishment,  to  announce  openly  in  all  churches  the  ex- 
communication of  Savonarola,  and  to  attend  to  the  strict  observ- 
ance of  the  same,  and  to  give  to  the  papal  commissary  thereto 
commissioned  all  required  support." 

The  16th  October,  1497,  Alexander  wrote  to  Savonarola  com- 
plaining of  his  continued  agitation,  but  declaring  at  the  same 
time  that  he  was  prepared  to  suspend  the  censures  provided 
Fra  Girolamo  abstained  from  preaching,  and  came  to  Rome  to 
answer  for  his  conduct. 

The  second  letter  of  Savonarola  to  the  Pope  in  the  collection 
of  Letttre  Inedite,  is  dated  the  29th  of  October,  1497.  In  this 
letter  he  complains  bitterly  of  a  papal  brief  to  the  prior  of  San 
Marco,  dated  the  16th  of  October,  1497,  annulling  the  reform 
introduced  by  him  in  the  Dominican  congregation  of  Tuscany, 
and  reducing  the  San  Marco  and  the  other  houses  to  the  autho- 
rity of  the  provincial  of  Lombardy. 

The  Signoria  caused  two  communications  to  be  made  to  the 
Pontiff  by  their  diplomatic  agents  in  Rome,  in  reference  to  the 
menaced  interdict  and  excommunication  of  Fra  Girolamo  ;  one  of 
these  is  dated  the  22nd  May,  1497,  the  other  the  8th  July,  the 
same  year. 

Mansi,  the  erudite  continuator  and  editor  of  the  "  Miscel- 
lanea of  Balluzius,"  by  whom  the  biography  of  Savonarola  was 


432 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


introduced  into  that  work,  appends  to  tlie  performance  a  col- 
lection of  letters  of  Savonarola,  two  of  which  are  addressed 
to  Sovereigns,  urging  on  them  the  assembling  of  a  general 
council.  These  last-mentioned  letters,  he  says,  were  intercepted 
by  the  Duke  of  Milan — "  Mei  servatus  codex  in  Bihliothecce 
Collegii.^^  (Lucensis.) 

In  one  of  them,  addressedto  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  the 
writer  states  that  "  he  had  written,  by  God's  command,  on  the 
same  subject  to  the  kings  of  France,  Spain,  England,  and  Hun- 
gary, in  order  that  they  might  combine  together  and  provide  for 
the  common  safety  

"Under  heaven,"  he  adds,  "  there  cannot  be  a  greater  sin  than 
to  pervert  the  true  worship  of  God,  and  to  turn  it  to  the  dishonour 
of  the  Divine  Majesty :  which  crying  sin  to  leave  unpunished, 
and  affect  not  to  see  it,  and  what  was  urgently  required 
(for  a  remedy),  was  no  other  than  to  give  sin  a  sanction,  and 
a  support  to  the  enormous  vices  of  men.  For  at  present,  in 
the  Church  of  God,  we  see  a  state  of  things  in  w^hich,  from 
head  to  foot,  there  is  no  soundness,  but  an  abominable  aggra- 
vation of  all  vices,  you  standing  by  quietly,  and  even  bowing 
down  to  the  great  iniquity  which  usurps  the  seat  of  Peter,  and 
which,  without  shame,  runs  into  all  disorders  ;  and  it  is  now 
long  the  Church  is  without  a  true  pastor.  I  testify,  in  verbo 
domini,  this  Alexander  the  Sixth  is  not  a  Pontiff,  and  cannot  be  re- 
cognised as  such.  For,  putting  apart  his  wicked  crime  of  simony, 
by  means  of  which  he  bought  the  Papal  throne,  and  every  day 
makes  larger  sale  of  ecclesiastical  benefices,  and  by  other 
manifest  vices,  I  affirm,  amongst  other  things,  that  he  is  not  a 
Christian,  and  does  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  God,  which 
surpasses  every  species  of  infidelity.  And  before  all  the  world^ 
in  opportune  time  and  place,  I  will  discover  his  other  occult 
vices,  as  my  God  has  commanded  me  to  do." 

And,  finally,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  and  in  terms  of 
earnestness  and  zeal  for  the  honour  of  religion  that  it  is  difiicult  to 
believe,  nay,  almost  impossible  to  imagine,  feigned,  he  calls  on  the 
Emperor  "  to  have  at  heart  the  desire  and  the  design  to  purify 


OF  SAYONATtOLA. 


the  Church,  and  to  liberate  it  from  such  astounding  and  con- 
taminating pollution."  * 

The  other  letter,  on  the  same  subject,  is  addressed  to  the 
Queen  of  Spain,  pretty  much  in  the  same  terms,  but  still  more 
strongly,  if  possible,  pointing  out  the  appalling  fact,  "  that, 
instead  of  religion,  sanctity,  and  clemency  reigning  in  the 
Church,  pride,  avarice,  luxury,  and  every  species  of  perversity 
had  then  got  possession  of  its  rule."  f 

Previously  to  the  time  when  Lodo^dco  Sforza  sent  to  his  bro- 
ther. Cardinal  Ascanio,  in  Rome,  the  intercepted  letter  of  Fra 
Girolamo,  addressed  to  the  King  of  France,  urging  on  that  sove- 
reign to  call  a  general  council  for  remedying  the  calamities  of 
the  Church  occasioned  by  the  scandalous  life  of  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  and  the  simony  by  means  of  which  he  had  intruded  him- 
self into  the  See  of  Rome,  the  Pope  had  no  particular  animosity 
towards  Savonarola.  He  had  simply  lent  himself,  readily  and 
naturally,  to  the  enemies  of  a  Friar  who  was  a  holy  and  a 
virtuous  man,  who  reproved  impiety  and  vice  with  freedom  and 
effect.  But  things  took  a  new  turn  when  that  Cardinal,  Asca- 
nio, the  same  prelate -prince  who  had  the  chief  hand  in  arranging 
the  terms  of  the  sale  of  the  church  and  the  purchase  of  the 
tiara,  between  the  sellers  in  the  Conclave  and  the  purchaser, 
Roderigo  Borgia,  who  was  the  candidate  for  the  vacant  Apos- 
tolic See,  in  1492,  presented  that  letter  to  his  protege,  then 
seated  in  the  Chair  of  Peter,  in  1497. 

Lodovico  Sforza,  duke  of  Milan,  had  married  his  sister  to 
Giovanni  de  Pietro  Francesco  de  Medici,  the  pretender  to  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  banished  Pietro  de  Medici,  in  the 
hope  of  establishing  his  own  power  in  Tuscany. 

The  secret  adherents  of  this  pretender  and  the  agents  of  the 
Duke  of  Milan,  in  Florence,  had  even  conspired  to  assassinate 
the  Father  .^i 

Lodovico,  who  took  every  opportunity  of  inflicting  injury  on 
Fra  Girolamo,  had  at  length  the  means  afforded  him,  by  one  of 
his  agents,  of  doing  a  signal  mischief  to  the  Fra  Girolamo.  Thi» 
*  Burlama colli,  p.  504.      f  Ibid.  Appendix,  p.  581,     I  Ibid.  p.  551 
TOL.  I.  F  F 


434 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


agent  had  intercepted  a  letter  of  Fra  Girolamo,  one  of  several 
communications  which  he  had  addressed  to  the  different  sove- 
reigns of  Christendom,  setting  forth  the  terrihle  evils  and  cala- 
mities with  which  the  church  was  afflicted,  and  stating  that,  heing 
virtually  without  a  chief  or  head  worthy  of  heing  its  ruler,  or 
being  even  called  a  Christian,  a  council  should  be  called,  and  all 
Christian  princes  should  assist  in  the  convocation  of  it. 

Alexander's  pontificate  commenced  in  August,  1492.  Savo- 
narola, in  a  sermon  on  Amos,  the  Tuesday  after  Easter  Sun- 
day, 1497,  preached  to  an  immense  multitude,  and  reminded 
his  congre^c  tion  of  words  he  had  addressed  to  them  long 
previously:  "You  should  remember  that  I  told  you,  five 
years  ago,  that  we  should  have  to  fight  against  a  double  power, 
against  a  double  wisdom,  and  a  double  malice  :  and  my  brethren 
are  witnesses,  as  well  as  my  auditory  of  that  time,  that  I  an- 
nounced it  often.  Those  words  are  now  verified.  Write  to 
Home  that  it  is  five  years  since  this  monk  announced  publicly 
that  a  time  would  come  when  he  would  have  to  fight  against  a 
double  power,  that  is  to  say,  against  secular  princes,  and  pre- 
lates, who  are  ecclesiastical  princes  :  and  against  a  double  wisdom 
— against  the  wisdom  of  theologians,  and  the  craftiness  of  worldly 
men :  and  also  against  a  double  malice,  that  is  to  say,  against 
lukewarm  people — tepidi — who  are  open  adversaries,  and  like- 
wise against  some  of  them  who  are  secret  enemies,  and  that  the 
words  which  you  heard,  long  before  that  war  commenced,  are 
now  accomplished.  .  .  .  You  should  then  believe  that  other  things 
announced  by  us  will  in  due  time  be  likewise  accomplished.  .  .  . 
For  thus  I  confirmed  your  faith,  when  I  predicted  to  you  that 
this  war  should  be  a  cruel  one,  that  it  should  be  waged  with  the 
weapons  of  excommunications,  by  force  of  arms,  and  by  all  pos- 
sible means  of  opposition.*' 

Sforza  being  a  most  bitter  enemy  of  the  father,  on  account  of 
his*  having  predicted  that  the  duke's  fortunes  would  decline,  and 
that  he  would  die  in  a  prison  (which  eventually  happened  as  it 
had  been  foretold),  no  sooner  was  apprised  of  this  letter  being 
intercepted,  and  had  gained  possession  of  it,  than  he  sent  it  to 
Rome  to  his  brother,  Cardinal  Ascanio,  to  be  delivered  to  the 


OF  SAVONAROT.A. 


435 


pope.  This  act  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  death  of  Sa- 
vonarola. 

The  cardinal,  handing  Alexander  the  letter,  said :  "  We  put 
the  tiara  on  your  head,  in  order  that  you  might  defend  the 
church,  but  dangerous  times  are  coming,  and  with  mischiefs  in 
their  train,  -which  you  will  not  be  able  to  oppose,  and  you  will 
lose  the  tiara,  and  we  our  hats."*  The  pope,  having  read  the 
letter,  became  enraged  and  exasperated  against  the  audacious 
friar  of  San  Marco.  A  deadly  hatred  of  him,"  we  are  told 
by  Burlamacchi,  "  was  generated  in  the  mind  of  the  PontiiF, 
which  nothing  could  appease  or  quiet  to  the  last  hour  of  the  life 
of  Savonarola."t 

Pietro  Delfino,  Bishop  of  Padua,  in  a  letter  of  his,  dated  11th 
April,  1498,  says  :  "  The  frauds  of  that  friar  of  Ferrara  (Savona- 
rola) are  at  length  discovered.  Excommunicated  this  year  by  the 
Pope  (this  is  a  mistake),  and  prohibited  by  the  general  of  his 
order  from  preaching,  from  celebrating,  or  speaking  of  the  Pope 
even,  it  appeared  that  he  no  longer  had  any  fear  either  of  God 
or  man."J  The  general,  we  are  told,  was  a  most  mild  man.  The 
vices  of  Alexander,  in  his  opinion,  should  have  been  mildly 
dealt  with,  or  not  touched  on  at  all.  How  would  St.  Bernard 
have  fared  were  he  living  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century 
in  Florence,  and  a  member  of  the  Dominican  order,  subject  to 
this  mild  general  ? 

Alexander  the  Sixth  having  fulminated  his  excommunication 
against  Savonarola,  the  same  was  speedily  published  in  Florence 
in  all  due  form.  Nearly  all  the  clergy  secular  and  regular  in 
the  city  (with  the  exception  of  the  members  of  the  Dominican 
Order  of  San  Marco),  many  with  lighted  torches  in  their  hands, 
were  congregated  in  the  Church  of  the  Duomo,  the  scene  of  so 
many  former  triumphs  of  sacred  eloquence,  of  sanctity,  and  of 
sound  doctrine,  when  Savonarola  proclaimed  the  truths  of  the 

*  Monsieur  Carle,  in  his  biography  of  Savonarola,  says  the  words  used 
by  the  cardinal  were  the  following  : — "  We  had  much  trouble  to  put  the 
tiara  on  your  head — if  you  do  not  take  care,  this  monk  will  take  it  from 
you." 

t  Burlamacchi,  p.  551.  X         Miscell.  torn.  iv.  p.  552. 


436 


THE  LIFE  A^D  MARTYRDOM 


gospel  and  expounded  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  writings  of 
the  fathers  from  that  pulpit,  to  hear  that  famous  preacher  repro- 
bated, condemned,  and  anathematized  as  a  rebel  and  a  traitor 
to  the  authority  of  that  church  of  which  Alexander  Borgia,  for 
its  great  calamity,  was  then  the  PontiiF. 

The  excommunication  being  read  and  published  with  all  pro 
per  solemnity  with  sound  of  bell,  and  duly  recorded  sentence  of 
spiritual  death  and  suspension  from  all  clerical  functions,  the 
four  great  torches,  borne  by  certain  dignitaries  of  the  church, 
were  quenched,  and  Savonarola  remained  a  silenced  anathema- 
tized friar,  scorned  by  his  brethren  of  other  orders,  scowled  on 
by  the  secular  clergy,  and,  in  the  sight  of  the  Borgias,  a  son  of 
perdition,  a  sower  of  sedition,  and  a  heretic. 

The  father  bore  the  ignominy  of  the  late  ceremonial  in  the 
Duomo  with  becoming  meekness  and  resignation.  He  was  ad- 
vised to  solicit  the  Pope  to  remove  the  excommunication,  and 
acknowledge  the  errors  imputed  to  him — but  this  he  refused  to 
do.  In  a  public  sermon,  wherein  he  referred  to  the  excommu- 
nication, he  had  declared,  with  more  energy  of  language  perhaps 
than  became  the  preacher,  or  "v^'as  well  suited  for  the  place  where 
it  was  uttered,  that  he  would  never  crave  Alexander  for  its  re- 
moval, or  retract  the  doctrines  he  had  taught. 

At  this  period,  Burlamacchi  states  (but  on  what  authority  he 
does  not  mention)  that  the  Cardinal  of  Sienna,  subsequently  Pope 
Pius  the  Third,  wrote  a  letter  from  Rome  to  the  father,  making 
a  tender  of  his  good  offices  with  the  Pope  on  certain  conditions, 
more  or  less  important,  for  the  removal  of  the  excommunica- 
tion, and  undertaking  to  have  that  object  effected  "  I'assolutione 
impetrata  dal  Papa — si  fussero  pagati  5000  scudi  a  suo  credi- 
tore  en  Fii-enza."  * 

Savonarola  declined  the  services  of  the  cardinal  and  the  pur- 
chase of  them.  He  had  preached  the  truth,  he  said,  in  reply  to 
his  eminence,  and  he  would  stand  by  it,  though  the  earth  should 
open  beneath  his  feet  and  the  sky  should  fall  on  his  devoted  head. 

He  addressed  a  long  letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  Pope,  which 
will  be  found  elsewliere. 

*  Burlamacchi,  p.  5o.3. 


OF  f^AVOJ^AUOLA. 


The  last  letter  of  Savonarola  to  Alexander,  given  by  Burla- 
macchi,  and  also  referred  to  in  the  "  Lettere  Inedite,"  is  dated 
the  13th  March,  1498. 

This  final  communication  was  likewise  a  remonstrance  against 
the  anathema  and  a  solemn  warning  to  the  Pontiff.  It  was  in 
the  following  terms. 

"  Most  holy  father, — It  being  the  office  of  a  Christian,  and 
for  the  honour  of  God  and  the  faith  of  the  Lord,  to  defend  rec- 
titude of  life  and  principles  ....  (Original  imperfect)  seeing  by 
the  bad  example  of  many  pastors,  the  flock  of  Christ  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  being  led  away  from  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  I  have 
preached  the  faith,  revealing  future  judgments,  as  it  were  in- 
spired by  God,  on  account  of  which  things  I  suffer  many  per- 
secutions from  impious  men.  At  least,  from  your  holiness,  I 
did  not  expect  so  much  persecution,  but  rather  deserved  sup- 
port and  encouragement ;  but  you  have  done  the  contrary  by  me. 
Notwithstanding  having  read  and  heard  so  manifestly  and  openly 
my  explanations  and  the  truth  of  my  predications,  you,  holy 
father,  have  lent  and  opened  your  ears  to  all  the  impiotts  and 
the  enemies  of  the  holy  cross,  who  do  not  cease  to  battle  with 
me ;  drawing  away  from  me  all  aid  which,  as  a  Christian,  not 
only  you  ought  to  lend  me,  but  by  your  office  which  it  was  ob- 
ligatory on  you  to  extend  to  me,  and  giving  to  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing  faculties  and  privileges  freely.  But  the  Lord  makes 
his  election  of  the  weak  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the 
strong  lions  of  perverse  men,  and  is  prepared  to  hear  me  in 
defence  of  this  truth  for  which  I  have  suffisred  so  much.  And 
all  those  who  have  impeded  the  work  of  God  will  repent  of 
having  done  so,  because,  in  these  things,  we  do  not  seek  our  own 
glory,  nor  that  of  men,  but  only  that  of  God,  and  now  with  the 
strongest  desire  we  wait  for  death.  And  thou,  most  holy  father, 
do  not  defer  providing  for  the  health  of  your  own  soul.  Vale. 
The  unprofitable  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  Girolamo  Savonarola  of 
Ferrara — Manu  propria."* 

Savonarola  was  not  sent  in  this  world  to  expend  his  energies 
in  vain  repinings  and  unavailing  complaints,  or  to  eat  and 
*  Burlamacclii.  p.  55 i,  lorn.  i.  ap  Miscell.  Balir/-ii. 


438 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


drink  and  to  sleep  away  his  life  in  quiet  and  tranquillity.  Again 
he  pours  forth  his  exhortations,  denunciations  and  defence  of  his 
doctrines  in  the  pulpit :  "  Lord,  my  God,  they  say  that  I  am  a 
seducer,  and  that  I  deceive  the  people ;  you  know  that  I  have 
not  committed  this  crime,  but  that  it  was  you  who  caused  me 
to  come  to  Florence,  by  saying  to  me  :  £Jxite  de  terra  tua  et  de 
cognatione  tua  et  de  domo  patris  tut,  et  veni  in  terram  quam 
monstravero  tihi ;  and  it  was  by  your  inspiration,  and  not  of 
my  own  will,  that  I  came  to  Florence ;  and  I  am  content  that 
the  glorious  Virgin  Mary  deigns  to  be  a  witness  of  all  that  I 
say,  as  also  the  blessed  spirits,  all  the  patriarchs,  the  prophets, 
the  apostles,  the  martyrs,  the  confessors,  the  virgins ;  that 
they  are  witnesses  to  my  soul  if  I  do  not  speak  the  truth,  and  if 
I  have  foretold  the  scourges  of  Italy,  the  renovation  of  the  church 
and  the  promises  made  to  the  city  of  Florence ;  and  if  I  have 
announced  all  those  things  by  my  own  inspiration  or  from  your 
illumination,  and  by  your  command ;  and  if  I  have  preached  in 
the  new  government  of  Florence  of  my  own  good  or  bad  will, 

or  in  order  to  obey  you  To-day  I  protest  that  whosoever 

contradicts  these  things,  contradicts  you  and  not  me ;  per- 
secutes you  and  not  me,  and  seeks  his  own  ruin,  for  which 
I  am  in  no  way  answerable,  since  I  have  so  often  warned  them ; 
and  for  all  that,  I  ask  no  o  her  recompense  but  Thee  alone,  but 
I  beseech  you  that  you  will  assist  in  your  own  work,  and  that 
you  will  defend  the  innocent.  I  seek  not  for  vengeance,  I  do 
not  desire  it;  but  you  see.  Lord,  what  a  multitude  of  devils  have 
broken  loose  from  hell,  and  by  their  efforts  excite  the  wicked  to 

extinguish  your  light  I  have  said  to  you,  that  we  had  to 

combat  here  with  double  power,  "vvith  increased  malice  and  double 
craftiness,  and  they  do  not  only  fight  with  words,  but  by  their 
actions ;  it  is  not  a  war  with  the  air,  but  it  will  be  made  with 
the  sword,  excommunications  and  torments ;  it  will  be  a  per- 
secution which  will  make  martyrs,  and  God  wills  that  I  should 

be  the  first  Write  this  every  where,  that  the  brother  whom 

they  call  a  heretic  says  that  here  there  will  not  be  peace  

But  write  still  more,  and  say  that  it  is  not  the  brother  who  thinks 
that,  but  God,  and  that  Rome  in  particular  will  be  overwhelmed 


OF  SAVONAKOI.A. 


439 


with  so  many  plagues,  that  woe  be  unto  those  who  will  be  there.  . . 
And  afterwards  God  will  renew  his  church.  Write  again,  that 
Florence  will  receive  the  accomplishment  of  all  the  promises 
that  have  been  made  to  her,  and  that  Pisa  will  be  taken  under 
the  Florentine  dominion,  but  not  immediately,  on  account  of  your 
ambition  and  your  discords.  Brother,  thou  say  est  that  thou 
oughtest  not  to  preach  this  morning,  and  why  ?  Because  thou 
mayest  be  an  occasion  of  scandal ;  and  I  reply  that  my  manner 
of  preaching  has  never  been  an  occasion  of  scandal,  and  I  trust  in 
Christ  Jesus  that  it  will  never  be  so.  Believe  then  that  if  I  thought 
it  would  be  better  for  me  not  to  preach,  I  would  not  preach ; 
but  I  know  well  that  it  would  be  worse  if  there  was  no  preach- 
ing here  this  morning,  and  I  am  therefore  obliged  to  act  thus."* 

He  now  begins  to  justify  disobedience  to  the  supreme  spiritual 
authority,  on  the  ground  of  the  invalidity  of  the  authority,  and 
the  unlawfulness  of  the  commands  issued  by  that  invalid  authority. 

"  Brother,  thou  weakenest  the  ecclesiastical  discipline.  I 
answer  you  that  it  is  not  true,  and  that  I  will  remain  subject  to 
the  ecclesiastical  power,  and  I  submit  myself,  I,  and  all  that  I 
have,  to  the  correction  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  to 
the  ecclesiastical  power.  Here  I  defend  the  ecclesiastical  power, 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  thou  shouldst  know  that  the  ecclesiastical  power  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  would  have  those  who  govern  to  live 
well,  to  defend  the  good,  and  not  to  lend  its  help  to  the  wicked 
or  favour  them ;  I  also  extol  its  greatness,  I  exalt  it :  yes,  I 
would  have  ecclesiastical  power  maintained  ;  but  I  would  have 
you  to  understand  it  well.  O  brethren  !  the  Pope  can  do  all 
things ;  but  how  do  you  understand  these  words  that  the  Pope 
can  do  all  things  ?  He  cannot,  however,  abolish  baptism,  nor 
even  confession  :  and  even  though  he  should  say  to  any  one  who 
might  desire  it,  ^  I  will  not  allow  you  to  get  yourself  baptized,* 
that  person  would  not  be  bound  to  obey  him.  The  Pope  then 
cannot  do  all  things,  but  only  what  is  in  accordance  with  the 
law,  and  those  things  which  are  good  and  just."  f 

♦  Sermon  Savon.  Hist.  Carle.,  p.  277.         t  Ibid,  p  .  290. 


440 


THE   LIFE  A^D   MARTY  11  DOM 


He  tells  liis  congregation,  on  another  day,  he  has  examined 
himself  carefully,  to  see  if  he  was  labouring  under  delusion  or 
error.  "  But,  I  said,  perhaps  thou  hast  erred  in  the  matter  of 
faith ;  yet  on  this  side  also  I  found  my  path  holy,  pure,  and 
blameless,  since  I  have  always  believed,  and  do  believe  all  things 
that  the  holy  Roman  Church  believes, — have  always  submitted 
myself  to  her,  and  do  even  now  submit  myself  to  her.  More- 
over, I  thought  whether  I  had  erred  in  something  that  I  had 
prophesied ;  but  in  this  also  I  found  no  error,  because  I  had 
foretold,  in  word  and  writing,  only  what  was  given  to  me  by  Him 
who  erreth  not.  Therefore  I  go  further  to  ascertain  whether 
my  desires  be  free  from  vanity,  pride,  and  covetousness,  or 
whether  I  preached  any  thing  from  such  motives  ;  and,  through 
the  grace  of  the  Lord,  I  have  found  that  I  have  preached  for 
his  honour  and  the  welfare  of  souls." 

On  the  18th  February,  1498,  about  three  months  before  his 
death,  he  again  referred  to  the  subject  of  the  excommunication. 
He  had  been  advised  to  solicit  the  Pope  for  absolution,  but  he 
had  not  done  so  yet.  "  In  other  matters,  I  know  I  have  fallen 
into  error,  being  a  frail,  sinful  mortal.  But  not  in  this.  For  I 
have  preached  the  gospel  and  its  truth,  and  in  proof  of  my 
fidelity  to  it,  my  life  has  been  in  accordance  with  the  Holy 
Scripture  and  with  reason.  The  result  of  that  preaching  has 
been  to  bring  good  order  and  morality  into  the  city,  and  to  prove 
that  my  object  was  to  promote  the  interests  of  its  people,  tem- 
poral and  eternal.  The  authority  which  would  prevent  me 
preaching,  hinders  me  from  doing  good,  and  aids  (others)  to  do 
evil.  And  for  this  reason  I  hold,  the  excommunication  is  not  to 
be  regarded."  ...  "  It  is  absurd  to  say  the  Pope  cannot  err. 
There  have  been  several  bad  Popes  who  have  fallen  into  error. 
If  it  were  true  that  the  Pontiffs  could  not  commit  any  error, 
we  should  have  to  do  in  aU  things  like  unto  them  to  be  saved. 
But  then  people  say  the  Popes  can  err  as  men,  but  not  as  Popes  ; 
but  I  say  the  Pope  can  err  even  in  decision  and  judgment  made 
by  him.  Many  decisions  of  past  Popes  have  been  contradicted 
by  their  successors.    But  if  the  Pope,  as  such,  errs,  he  is  not 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


441 


Pontift",  but  mere  man,  who  can  be  deceived  and  led  into  error. 
A  Christian,  as  such,  cannot  sin.  But  if  I  sin,  I  do  not  so,  as  a 
Christian,  but  as  a  man.  In  fact,  the  Pope  can  err  in  two  ways^ 
either  from  error  of  judgment  or  wickedness  of  heart.  But  it 
is  for  God  to  judge  this  matter,  and  for  us  to  presume  that  his 
holiness  has  been  misled  and  deceived.  So  in  this  affair  of  mine  I 
will  prove  that  the  Pope  has  been  deceived  by  false  information." 

John  Francis  Picus  Mirandola  wrote  a  small  work  against  the 
sentence  of  excommunication  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  on  Savo- 
narola, and  in  defence  of  his  innocence,  which  treatise  must  not 
be  confounded  with  his  life  of  Savonarola.  This  treatise  is  entitled, 

Opusculum  de  Sententiae  excommunicationis  injusta,  J.  F.  P. 
Mirandulge,  pro  Hieronymo  Savonarolse  viri  prophetse  innocentia. 
In  quarto,  Parvo  Wurttembergse,  1521  (43  pages)."*  It  is 
dedicated  to  the  illustrious  Hercules  d'Este. 

Mirandola  sets  out  with  declaring  that  the  infallibility  of 
the  Pope  extends  only  to  the  decisions  of  the  Pontiff  in  his 
council,  formally  declared  in  fundamental  matters  of  faith. 
He  cites  Pope  Innocent  the  Third  for  the  opinion,  that  while 
"  the  justice  of  God  is  grounded  on  truth,  which  does  not 
deceive  nor  can  be  deceived,  the  judgment  of  the  Church 
founds  itself  on  human  opinion,  which  often  deceives  and  is 
deceived.  Fie  presses  not  only  Popes  into  the  service  of  his 
opinions,  but  some  of  the  most  renowned  theologians.  He  thus 
makes  Gerson  defend  his  doctrine  of  invalidity  of  an  unjust  ex- 
communication, from  his  treatise  "  De  Excommunicationihus  et 
irregularitatibus."  "  In  many  cases,"  says  he,  "  it  is  no  con- 
tempt of  a  decree,  if  one  even  disobeys  the  commands  of  the 
Pope,  presuming  that  he  is  using  his  power  in  a  shameful  and 
scandalous  manner,  for  destruction,  and  not  for  edification,  seeing 
that  the  Apostle  says,  that  power  is  given  to  us  to  rejDair,  and 
not  to  destroy.  Who  doubts  that  one  must  withstand  the  Pope 
in  all  such  cases  as  come  under  observation,  and  say  to  him, 
Wliat  doest  thou  ?  Also,  it  is  nowise  to  show  contempt  for  the 
decree,  to  challenge  worldly  help  against  an  unjust  excommui- 
*  In  BibHo.  Trin.  Coll.  Dub. 


U2 


THE  LIFE  AM)  MARTYRDOM 


cation,  for  that  is  not  right,  but  force ;  and,  according  to  the 
natural  law,  we  repel  force  with  force,  that  is  a  right  every  man 
possesses.  In  general,  opposition  against  every  undue  demand 
of  the  kind  is  only  to  be  praised,  if  one  carefully  avoid  every 
scandal  which  can  be  given  to  the  less  informed,  but  these  are 
sufficiently  informed,  and  yet  scandalize  themselves ;  hence  are 
they  to  be  looked  on  as  Pharisees,  and  not  as  children  of  God. 
Albeit,  we  must,  in  behalf  of  the  accused,  do  every  thing  in 
order,  if  he  is  wickedly  advised,  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Pope ; 
but  if  mildness  and  humility  have  availed  nothing,  then  we 
must  take  on  manly  and  valiant  ingenuousness.  In  these  cases, 
patience  is  an  ass's  patience,  and  fear,  a  hare's  fear." 

In  the  defence  of  Savonarola  by  Paulinus  Barnardinus,  against 
the  alleged  unjust  excommunication  fulminated  by  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  inserted  in  the  Appendix  of  the  1st  vol.  of  Baluzius' 
Miscellanea,  page  593,  it  is  maintained,  that  Fra  Girolamo 
could  not  be  deemed  heretical,  because  no  one  doctrine  of  his 
had  ever  been  formally  examined  or  validly  condemned.  He 
could  not  be  accounted  schismatical,  because  he  never  denied 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  Pope,  or  refused  to  recognize  his 
office  of  supreme  ruler  of  the  Universal  Church. 

Because,  in  his  latest  discourse,  he  declared  liis  recognition  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pontiffs,  but  asserted  the  excommunication 
was  extorted  by  the  evil  courses  of  his  malignant  enemies.  He 
could  not,  therefore,  be  accounted  a  schismatic,  but,  at  the 
most,  as  pertinacious  or  insubordinate. 

Because,  the  sentence  of  excommimication  set  forth  things 
that  were  manifestly  erroneous  and  mendacious. 

Because,  it  was  obtained  by  purchase  on  false  statements  by 
wicked  people. 

Because,  it  was  false  to  assert,  that  to  preach  reformation  of 
morals  and  renovation  of  religion,  and  to  say  that  the  latter  was 
required,  or  to  predict  scourges  for  a  sinful  people,  or  a  disor- 
dered state  and  scandalized  Church,  was  an  act  worthy  of  ex- 
communication. 

Because,  theologians,  and  especially  Thomas  of  Aquinas,  held. 


OF   SAVO^AROLA.  443 

that  on  account  of  danger  to  the  faith,  or  peril  to  morals,  delin- 
quent or  erring  prelates  might  be  publicly  reproved  and  cor- 
rected, as  Peter  had  been  reproved  by  Paul. 

Because,  if  the  question  be  asked,  if  Savonarola  ceased  to 
preach,  would  the  faith  have  been  endangered,  and  would  morals 
have  suffered  ? 

It  must  be  answered,  that  by  his  preaching,  the  faith  had 
been  marvellously  strengthened  in  Florence,  and  had  been  no 
less  signally  improved.  And  by  its  cessation  for  eight  months 
after  the  Pope's  prohibition  to  preach,  it  was  the  opinion  of  the 
magistrates  of  Florence,  that  religion  and  morals  had  grievously 
suffered. 

Because,  the  prohibition  was  obtained  from  the  Pope,  not  on 
account  of  any  heresy  or  error  of  doctrine,  but  by  godless  people, 
enemies  of  truth,  and  of  the  friaxwho  preached  it,  by  bad  means 
for  a  bad  end. 

Finally,  because  it  was  decreed  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  that  no 
excommunication  should  take  place  without  the  sanction  of  a  synod. 

And,  because  contumacy  is  accounted  a  just  cause  of  excom- 
munication, but  he  is  not  contumacious  who  offers  to  defend  an 
impugned  dogma  or  doctrine,  and  asks  to  be  heard,  and  is  not 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  justifying  himself. 

Now  it  must  be  observed,  in  reference  to  the  last  paragraph, 
that  it  is  not  true  that  no  such  opportunity  had  been  given  to  Fra 
Girolamo. 

He  received  two  citations,  calling  on  him  to  present  himself  in 
Rome,  to  answer  the  complaints  made  against  his  new  mode  of 
preaching. 

He  pleaded  illness  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  one.  He  gave 
no  direct  answer  to  the  second,  but  only  a  vague  assurance  of 
respect  for  the  Holy  See.  In  all  probability,  he  had  the  fate  of 
John  Huss  very  strongly  impressed  on  his  imagination  at  this 
period.  The  arguments  of  Pico  and  Paulinus  may  suffice  for 
Protestants,  to  enable  them  Avith  facility  to  come  to  a  satisfactory 
conclusion  as  to  the  course  taken  by  Savonarola,  inasmuch  as 
their  judgment  in  this  matter  is  free  from  many  embarrassing 


444 


THE   LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


considerations  wliich.  Catholics,  in  dealing  Trith  it,  have  to  take 
into  account. 

But  these  arguments  will  not  satisfy  Catholics  in  general, 
that  Savonarola  was  justified  in  resisting  the  papal  authority, 
because  the  measures  complained  of  were  severe,  extorted,  or 
apparently  unjust,  and  grounded  on  erroneous  information. 
These  arguments  were  set  up  in  the  case  of  the  Jansenists  by 
their  supporters,  and  they  were  unsuccessfully  urged. 

But  Savonarola  did  not  rest  his  defence  wholly  or  mainly  on  such 
arguments.  He  had  recourse  to  them,  it  is  true,  in  several  of  his 
writings,  as  minor  objections  to  the  validity  both  of  the  prohibi- 
tion to  25i*each,  and  the  excommunication  for  preaching.  But 
Savonarola's  main  argument  in  defence  of  his  resistance  of  the 
authority  of  Alexander  the  Sixth  was,  that  the  true  Pope  was 
not  manifest — the  true  successor  of  St.  Peter  was  not  evident, 
or  existent  in  one,  who  had  attained  the  tiara  by  simony,  and 
whose  whole  life  was  contrary  to  religion  and  a  scandal  to  his 
high  office. 

In  Savonarola's  letters  to  the  sovereigns  of  S^^ain  and  Ger- 
many, urging  on  them  the  necessity  of  calling  a  general  council, 
he  explicitly  declares,  that  he  was  prepared  to  show,  "  con  ra- 
gioni  certissimi  e  con  segni  sopra  naturali,"  that  the  Church 
was  without  a  cliief  ruler,  and  without  a  pastor  in  those  times, 
^'  since  Alexander  the  Sixth  was  not  a  Pontiff,  nor  even  a  Chris- 
tian." 

It  was  for  these  letters  in  reality,  though  not  ostensibly  so, 
that  Savonarola  was  consigned  to  death. 

Again,  in  his  last  letter  to  Pope  Alexander  the  Sixth,  dated 
13th  ^larch,  1498,  he  expresses  nearly  the  same  sentiments. 

It  is  very  easy  to  say  Savonarola  should  have  obeyed  the 
citation.  But  if  Savonarola  had  good  reason  to  fear  for  his  life 
in  the  event  of  obeying  it — if  he  had  a  thorough  conviction  on 
his  mind  that  no  guarantees  of  Alexander  for  his  security,  no 
safe  conduct  of  his  afforded  the  slightest  hope  of  safety  for  his 
life  or  liberty — was  he  bound  to  peril  liis  existence,  or  called  on 
to  do  more  than  to  submit  whatever  doctrines  of  his  might  have 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


445 


been  called  in  question,  to  the  legitimate  authority  of  his  church, 
and  to  undertake  to  make  any  requisite  Avritten  explanation  of 
his  tenets  or  his  acts,  but  at  a  convenient  distance  from  Csesar 
Borgia  and  his  father  Alexander  ? 

But  although  Savonarola  considered  Alexander's  simony  and 
other  crimes  had  virtually  deprived  the  Church  of  its' sjieaking 
organ  and  supreme  spiritual  head,  he  was  well  aware,  that  it 
was  only  by  the  convocation  of  a  council  that  a  true  Pontiff 
could  be  elected,  and  the  unworthy  one  deposed  and  removed. 

He  never  set  up  any  rival,  or  favoured  the  pretensions  of  any 
antipope.  He  never  denied  the  supremacy  of  the  Holy  See. 
In  his  letter  to  the  Pope  of  the  loth  March,  1498,  we  find  at 
the  end  the  words 

Sanctam  Ecclesiam  Veneror." 

So  far  from  setting  himself  in  opposition  to  the  Pope's  autho- 
rity, when  he  was  prohibited  from  preaching,  he  abstained  for 
eight  months  at  one  period  from  ascending  the  pulpit.  It  was 
only  when  the  reign  of  debaucheiy  recommenced,  and  that  to 
his  silence  the  new  disorders  of  a  people  who  had  been  reclaimed 
from  vice  to  a  wonderful  extent,  were  ascribed,  tornarono  in 
pocchi  giorni  tutte  le  lascivie  mali  costumi,  as  we  are  told  by 
Xardi  (p.  39),  that  he  considered  the  interests  of  Christianity 
were  suffering  great  injury,  and  the  interests  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral of  the  people  of  Florence  were  grievously  hurt  by  this 
impediment  to  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  that  the  impediment  was  raised  by  an  authority 
illegitimately  established. 

Still  it  was  an  authority  :  but  was  it  of  that  kind  which  St. 
Paul  deems  entitled  to  obedience  ? 

St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Komans,  says,  "  Let  every  soul 
be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  for  there  is  no  power  but  from 
God,  and  those  that  are,  are  ordained  of  God. 

"  Therefore,  he  that  resisteth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordi- 
nance of  God ;  and  they  that  resist,  purchase  to  themselves 
damnation. 

"  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  the  good,  but  to  the  evil  doers. 


446 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


Wilt  thou  then  be  not  afraid  of  the  power  ?  Do  that  which  is 
good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  from  the  same. 

"  For  he  is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  But  if  thou 
do  that  which  is  evil,  fear,  for  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain. 
For  he  is  the  minister  of  God,  an  avenger  to  execute  wrath  upon 
him  who  doeth  evil. 

"  Wherefore,  be  subject  of  necessity,  not  only  for  wrath,  but 
also  for  conscience  sake."* 

Elsewhere  he  says  to  the  Hebrews  : — 

"  Obey  your  prelates  and  be  subject  to  them.  For  they 
watch  us,  being  to  render  an  account  of  your  souls  ;  that  they 
may  do  this  with  joy  and  not  with  grief.  For  this  is  not  expe- 
dient for  you."t 

St.  Paul's  idea  of  the  qualities  that  a  bishop  should  possess,  is 
expressed  in  the  following  sentence — For  a  bishop  must  be 
without  crime,  as  the  steward  of  God ;  not  proud,  not  subject  to 
anger,  not  given  to  wine,  no  striker,  nor  greedy  of  filthy  lucre. 
But  given  to  hospitality,  gentle,  sober,  just,  holy,  continent. 
Embracing  that  faithful  word,  which  is  according  to  doctrine, 
that  he  may  be  able  to  exhort  in  sound  doctrine,  and  to  con- 
vince the  gainsayers."^ 

St.  Peter's  sentiments  on  the  same  subject,  differ  only  in 
terms  from  those  of  St.  Paul — "  Feed  the  flock  of  God  which 
is  among  you,  taking  care  of  it,  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly 
according  to  God,  and  not  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  but  voluntarily. 

"  Neither  as  lording  it  over  the  clergy,  but  being  made  a  pat- 
tern of  the  flock  from  the  heart.  "§ 

Whether  my  readers  will  approve  or  reprobate  the  opinions 
of  eminent  Catholic  divines  on  this  subject,  my  duty  is  to  lay 
before  them  not  only  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  but  the  opinions  of 
Catholic  persons  of  high  authority,  on  the  subject  of  the  power 
exercised  by  the  Popes  in  regard  to  excommunication,  and  the 
right  of  questioning  or  resisting  that  power. 

Melchior  Cano,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  divines  who 

*  Romans  xiii.  3,  4,  5.  f  Hebrews  xiii.  17. 

+  Titus  i.  7.  §  1  Tetcr  v.  23. 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


447 


assisted  at  the  council  of  Trent,  a  chief  light  of  the  Spanish 
Church,  explaining  to  the  Catholic  world  the  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  enquires  (lib.  v.  c.  5.  de  loc.  Theol.  Ed. 
Collon),  "  Will  there  not  be  then  (some  person  may  say)  any 
mark  whereby  the  decisions  of  councils  on  matters  of  faith  can 
be  kno>vn  ?  There  will  clearly.  The  lii*st,  and  that  indeed  a 
manifest  one,  is,  if  those  who  assert  the  contrary  be  adjudged 
heretics,  of  which  we  have  examples,  (cap.  Damnamus  de  Summa 
Trinitate  in  6to.  and  Clemen  unic.  de  Summa  Trinitate,  sec.  2.) 
Another  mark  is,  when  the  council,  in  its  decrees,  uses  the  fol- 
lowing form :  If  any  one  will  believe  so  or  so,  let  him  be  ana- 
thema ;  of  which  form  there  are  many  examples  in  the  first 
synod  of  Toledo,  and  in  that  of  Trent.  A  third  is,  if  a  sentence 
of  excommunication  be  passed,  ipso  jure,  against  those  who  con- 
tradict this  decision ;  (an  example  of  this  is  found,  de  Her.  cap. 
cum  Christo)  A  fourth  mark  is  said  to  be  expressly  and  dis- 
tinctly believed  by  the  faithful,  or  to  be  received  by  them  as  a 
dogma  of  the  Catholic  faith  ;  or  if  by  such,  or  similar  words,  any 
thing  is  said  to  be  contrary  to  the  Gospel,  or  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  apostles,  if  it  be  propounded,  I  say,  not  as  an  ojnnion,  hut 
by  a  clear  and  fixed  decree;  for  although  the  opinion  of  Durandus 
be  condemned  (c.  gaudemus  de  divortiis),  yet  he  who,  with  re- 
ference to  it,  used  the  words,  £ut  this  appears  senseless  and  hos- 
tile to  the  fasth  of  Christ,  did  not  wish  to  brand  upon  it  the 
mark  of  heresy  ;  for  the  word  '  appears  '  weakens  the  certainty 
of  the  sentence.  Moreover,  those  things  which,  in  the  decrees 
of  councils  or  popes,  are  introduced  for  the  sake  of  explanation, 
or  to  answer  objections,  or  which  are  noticed  briefly,  and  only 
touched  on,  but  which  are  not  the  chief  subject  on  which  the 
controversy  principally  turned,  these  do  not  concern  the  faith  ; 
that  is,  they  are  not  decrees  of  Catholic  faith. — As  an  illustration, 
let  us  lay  down  an  example,  Avhich  having  occurred  in  one  case 
may  be  applied  to  many  others.  What  is  said  (in  cap.  Firmiter 
de  summa  Trinitate)  of  angels  being  incorporeal,  is  not  a  decree 
of  faith  ;  whereas  since  that  decretal,  many  theologians,  falsely 
indeed,  but  yet  without  incurring  the  mark  of  heresy,  have  as- 


448 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


serted  the  contrary  ;  and  indeed,  when  the  synod  willed  to  ex- 
plain the  meaning  of  the  Catholic  tenet,  '  I  believe  in  God — 
creator  of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible,'  it  added,  '  corporeal 
or  incorporeal which  words,  it  is  plain,  were  introduced  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining,  not  of  defining.  And  as  the  council 
supposed,  what  in  reality  was  true,  angels  to  be  invisible  ;  so, 
in  like  manner,  they  supposed  them  to  be  incorporeal.  But 
this  question  apart,  my  object  is,  (and  in  treating  of  it  I  imagine 
I  am  doing  a  service  to  divines),  to  show  that  not  all  things  which 
are  even  absolutely  and  simply  affirmed  in  councils,  are  decrees  of 
faith  ;  of  which  matter,  I  could  adduce,  if  it  were  necessary, 
many  examples,"  &c  

"  Whatever  is  expressly,"  says  Dr.  Doyle,  "  defined^  declared^ 
and  proposed,  to  all  the  faithful,  with  and  by  the  consent  of  the 
pope,  and  bishops  throughout  the  Church,  whether  assembled 
in  council  or  otherwise,  this  to  us  is  a  decree  or  definition  which 
we  cannot  reject  or  impugn."* 

"  The  general  councils  have,"  observes  the  same  author,  "  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  been  assembled  for  the  adjudication  of 
some  disputes  about  doctrine,  for  the  purification  of  the  morals 
of  the  faithful,  and  for  the  reformation  or  improvement  of  dis- 
cipline. They  have  had  not  only  to  define  whether  certain  doc- 
trines were  or  were  not  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  which  class 
of  decisions  alone  constitutes  articles  of  faith,  but  they  had  a  va- 
riety of  other  matters  to  dispose  of." 

The  distinguished  Koman  Catholic  prelate  of  Ireland  I  have 
just  quoted,  it  will  be  seen,  pushed  the  doctrine  imputed  to 
Savonarola  farther  than  the  Dominican  ever  did  in  any  of  his 
writings. 

A  principal  duty  then,"  says  Dr.  Doyle,  of  all  the  general 
and  national  councils,  especially  during  the  middle  ages,  was  the 
enacting  of  laws,  partly  civil  and  partly  ecclesiastical,  for  the 
regulation  of  the  interests  of  both  Church  and  State ;  some  of 
these  laws  still  continue,  others  have  force  only  in  particular 
Churches  or  States,  whilst  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  them 

*  Rt.  Eev.  Dr.  Doyle's  Es.-*ay  on  Catliolic  Claims,  p.  160.  1826. 


OF  SAVON AllOLA. 


have  been  abrogated  or  gone  into  disuse.  This  should  be  the 
case  from  the  very  nature  of  every  human  law  (such  as  these 
canons  were),  and  which  is  very  properly  defined  by  Gratien, 
as  having  the  following  conditions  essentially  annexed  to  it : — 
Lex  erit  honesta,  justa,  possibilis,  secundum  naturam,  secundum 
patrice  consuetudinem ,  loco  temporique  conveniens,  necessaria,utilis, 
manifesta  quoque — nullo  privato  commodo,  sed  pro  civium  utilitate 
conscripta  (c.  2.  dist.  4). — When  the  laws  of  the  Church  have 
not  these  conditions,  when  they  prescribe  what  is  immoral,  un- 
just, or  impossible,  they  are  void  from  the  beginning.  When 
they  are  not  suited  to  the  natural  dispositions  of  a  people,  or  to 
the  just  usages  of  a  country,  when  they  are  not  adapted  to  the 
times  and  places  for  which  they  are  intended,  when  they  are  not 
necessary  or  useful,  or  if  they  be  enacted  for  the  advantage  of 
individuals,  and  not  of  the  community  at  large,  they  should  not 
be  received  ;  and  if  admitted,  they  cease  to  have  force  when  the 
conditions  which  sanctioned  theu*  introduction  discontinue. 
They  cease  to  bind  when  the  final  cause,  or  chief  object  for 
which  they  were  enacted,  is  no  more  found  to  exist.  They  cease 
when  they  are  repealed  by  a  contrary  usage,  or  when  they  go 
into  disuse,"  &c  * 

One  of  the  most  modern  works  on  canon  law,  of  high  authority 
in  the  Catholic  world,  is  that  of  the  learned  Joannis  Devoti,  arch- 
bishop of  Carthagena,  "  Institutionum  Canonicarum,"  Libri  IV. 

I  find  the  following  statements  made,  and  propositions  laid 
down,  in  various  parts  of  the  text  and  notes  of  the  1st  chapter, 
titulus  xvii. 

There  is  one  end  of  all  ecclesiastical  punishments,  namely, 
of  a  curative  kind ;  that  the  criminal  should  be  reformed,  and 
that  others,  by  the  example  of  his  punishment,  should  be  re- 
strained within  the  bounds  of  duty," 

"  There  is  a  double  power  possessed  by  the  Church  in  award- 
ing punishment — inflicting  pains  which  the  body  suflfers,  and 
imposing  censures  which  afflict  the  mind."t 

*  Rt.  Hev.  Dr.  Doyle's  Essay  on  Catholic  Claims,  p.  101. 
t  I.  Devoti.  Instit.  Canon,  torn,  ii,  pp.  375,  et  seq.    8vo,  3rd  cd.  Gand, 
1836. 

VOL.  I.  G  G 


450 


THE  LIFE  AXD  MARTYRDOM 


"  In  the  beginning  there  was  no  distinction  between  ecclesias- 
tical pains  and  censures  ;  all  the  penalties  of  the  Church  were 
of  a  spiritual  kind,  which  afflicted  the  mind  only,  and  did  not 
extend  to  the  body. 

"  The  kind  of  excommunication  recommended  to  be  practised 
by  St.  Paul,  against  those  whose  lives  and  morals  were  scandal- 
ous, who  were  licentious,  avaricious,  rapacious,  drunken,  serving 
idols,  given  to  detraction,  was  to  shut  them  out  from  communion 
with  the  faithful,  neither  to  eat  nor  to  diink  with  them,  1  ad. 
Corinth,  v.  11.  And  again,  to  the  Komans,  the  faithful  were  to 
hold  no  communion  with  those  who  made  dissensions  in  the  fold, 
or  gave  offence  in  matters  of  doctrine.  And  again  to  the  Thes- 
salonians,  ii.  and  iii.  v.  14,  he  writes  :  "  If  any  one  wdll  not  obey 
our  words  by  letter,  take  note  of  him,  and  do  not  associate  with 
him,  that  he  may  be  confounded."  And  again,  from  the  second 
epistle  of  John,  v.  10,  11 — If  any  one  come  to  you,  and  does 
bring  this  doctrine,  do  not  receive  him  into  your  house,  nor  bid 
him  welcome,  for  he  who  bids  liim  welcome  communicates  with 
his  wicked  works." 

"  The  different  degrees  of  excommunication  are  now  called 
major  and  minor.  Exclusion  for  a  time  from  the  sacraments  and 
from  public  worship,  is  the  ordinary  penalty  of  the  latter.  A 
misprision  of  the  major  excommunication  is  thus  punished  ;  as, 
for  instance,  communicating  with  a  person  so  punished,  or  aiding 
or  conniving  at  his  crime. 

"  The  major  is  that  punishment  of  a  grievous  crime  against  re- 
ligion or  public  morals,  which  casts  the  culprit  out  of  the  church 
society  and  Christian  communion.  This  is  properly  the  penalty 
of  anathema,  which  St.  Paul  denounces  to  any  who  minister  to 
the  faithful  T^dthout  authority.  Gal.  i.  v.  9.  Si  quis  vobis  evan- 
gelizaverit,  prseter  id  quod  acceptis  anathema  sit. 

"  Teachers  of  false  doctrine,  heretics,  schismatics,  rebels  to  au- 
thority, spiritual  or  temporal,  and  traitors  to  their  x^untry,  pro- 
ditores  patrice,  by  the  Synodm  Toletanus,  are  punished  with  this 
anathema." 

The  power  of  a  bishop  to  excommunicate  is  limited  to  the 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


451 


diocess  which  is  subject  to  him.  But  the  Pope's  authority,  ex- 
tending and  being  supreme  over  all  sees  throughout  Christen- 
dom, his  power  to  excommunicate  has  no  limits  as  to  localitv." 
Devoti  would  infer,  that  power  has  hardly  any  limits  at  all,  of  any 
kind.  We  now  come  to  an  exposition  of  the  canons  as  to  limits 
and  legitimacy  of  excommunications,  which  concern  the  sub- 
ject of  Savonarola's  excommunication.  Tit.  xviii.  sect.  xiii.  torn- 
2,  p.  408. 

All  Chi'istians  ought  to  hold,"  says  Devoti,  "  that  excom- 
munications, even  unjust,  which  nevertheless  proceed  from  legitimate 
power,  are  binding  ;  since  it  is  for  subjects  to  obey  the  laws,  which 
for  determined  ends  are  enacted,  nor  is  it  laivful  to  call  in  question 
the  justice  of  them.'^ 

But  this  statement  of  a  decision  that  has  high  ecclesiastical 
authority  for  its  support,  leaves  Savonarola's  main  objection  to 
the  excommunication  by  Alexander  the  Sixth,  still  to  be  dealt 
with  and  removed.  Savonarola  never  contended  seriously  that 
it  was  lawful  for  him,  as  a  Roman  Catholic,  to  call  in  question 
any  formal  judgment  of  the  Church,  embodied  in  an  excommuni- 
cation even  apparently  unjust,  which  emanated  from  legitimate 
authority  But  Savonarola  denied  that  the  authority  from  which 
the  excommunication  came  was  legitimate. 

He  not  only  knew  that  the  Cardinals  of  Rome  (one  of  whom 
was  subsequently  a  Pontiff)  were  taking  effective  measures  for 
getting  a  general  council  called  for  the  deposition  of  Alexander 
the  Sixth,  bvit  he  was  co-operating  with  them  for  that  object 
with  the  principal  sovereigns  of  Europe. 

With  the  knowledge  he  must  have  obtained  from  certain  car- 
dinals in  Rome,  and  others  of  the  Sacred  College,  (in  the  interest 
of  Savonarola,)  who  were  favourable  to  the  views  of  Charles  the 
Eighth  of  France,  with  whom  he  was  in  correspondence  and 
close  concert,  he  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  corrupt  means  by 
which  Alexander  had  reached  the  papal  throne.  He  declared,  in 
several  of  his  sermons  and  tracts,  that  Alexander  had  gained  his 
sacred  office  by  simony.  All  cotemporary  history  of  any  value 
proclaims  the  same  fact.    The  universal  voice  of  history,  as  if 

G  G  2 


452 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


with  one  organ  of  speech,  cries  out  against  his  crimes  and  those 
of  his  nefarious  son.  Humanity,  religion,  nature,  society  itself, 
exclaim  against  the  iniquities  of  the  buyer  and  the  seller  of 
every  thing  sacred  in  his  church,  its  highest  dignities,  its  holiest 
sacraments,  against  the  father  of  the  Borgias,  seated  in  the  chair 
of  Peter,  surrounded  by  the  living  e\ddences  of  his  licentious- 
ness, insensible  to  shame,  heedless  of  scandal,  scorning  even  the 
hypocrisy  of  seeming  to  be  cast  down  for  a  moment,  at  the  aspect 
of  the  Church  so  grievously  disordered,  the  chastity  of  the  clois- 
ter slain,  and  the  purity  of  the  white  stole  so  sadly  sullied. 

There  was  a  facility  in  the  case  of  John  the  Twenty-first,  for 
getting  rid  of  that  Pontiff  at  the  council  of  Constance,  when  his 
multitudinous  crimes  were  arrayed  against  him. 

He  had  entered  into  a  compact  at  his  election,  binding  himself  to 
resign  the  office  of  Pontiff,  if  the  good  of  the  Church  required  it. 

He  had  no  son  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  relatives  of  any  car- 
dinals who  might  be  suspected  of  designing  to  call  a  general 
council. 

He  had  suffered  himself  to  be  entrapped  and  caught  in  the 
meshes  of  the  safe-conduct  violating  sovereign,  Sigismund,  far 
away  from  the  castle  of  San  Angelo. 

Alexander  the  Sixth  was  not  a  likely  man  to  afford  any  facil- 
ities of  this  kind  to  his  cardinals,  or  any  foreign  prince.  He 
had  entered  into  no  compact  with  the  cardinals,  except  to  pur- 
chase their  votes  for  his  election. 

He  had  a  fighting  son,  who  had  been  lately  a  cardinal,  to  de- 
fend him.  He  would  be  a  bold  prince  of  his  court,  or  prelate 
of  his  church,  who  would  propose  to  him  a  general  council. 

The  worthy  cardinal  or  bishop,  who  would  venture  on  such 
a  step,  might  expect  to  be  consigned  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
Caesar  Borgia's  domestic  executioner,  who  attended  on  him  in  pub- 
lic, and  who  accompanied  him  in  all  his  marauding  expeditions. 

Every  one  is  agreed  that  Alexander  ought  to  be  deposed,  and 
that  his  deposition  should  take  place  in  a  general  council. 
Who  was  to  convoke  the  council  ?  AVhat  was  to  be  done  with 
Cpesar  Borgia  while  it  was  holding  ?    Vt^iat  guarantee  was  there 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


453 


in  the  word  or  in  the  oath  of  Alexander,  for  any  (engagement 
that  might  be  entered  into  by  him,  in  that  council,  either  to 
attend  it,  to  maintain  its  authority,  or  to  protect  those  who  were 
supposed  inimical  to  him  in  it  ? 

In  such  an  excejDtional  state  of  things,  who  were  the  proper 
persons  to  take  measures  for  convoking  the  general  council,  in 
the  impossibility  of  getting  Alexander  to  do  it  by  fair  means  ? 

Was  it  the  christian  princes,  or  the  exiled  cardinals,  or  the 
dignitaries  of  the  Churches,  and  superiors  of  the  convents,  in 
various  parts  of  Italy  ? 

Would  Savonarola  have  been  justified  in  using  all  his  efforts 
to  effect  that  object? 

Was  Savonarola,  as  a  Christian  minister,  bound  in  duty  to 
recognize  the  acts  as  lawful  and  valid  of  a  Pontiff  who  had  com- 
mitted acts  of  smiony  of  the  most  scandalous  description,  of  a 
usui'per  who  had  intruded  into  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  and 
scandalized  the  Christian  commonwealth  ? 

The  dissemination  of  heresy  is  accounted  one  of  the  highest 
crimes  against  the  Church  and  society  at  large. 

The  practice  of  simony  is  the  highest  crime  of  all  against 
God  and  religion,  and  the  people  who  profess  it. 

The  Church,  in  the  case  of  heresy  takes  cognizance  of  all 
crhnes  committed  against  its  doctrines,  and  deals  with  them  as 
she  thinks  ^^roper. 

But  in  the  other  case — of  simony — where  the  rulers  of  the 
Church  are  the  offenders  against  God,  religion,  and  the  people 
belonging  to  it,  who  is  to  denounce  publicly  the  crime  and  the 
criminals  ? 

When  is  the  denunciation  to  be  made  ?  How  is  it  to  be  done  ? 
AMiere  is  it  to  be  attempted  ? 

St.  Vincent  of  Ferrers,  and  Savonarola  must  have  thought 
deeply  and  anxiously  on  those  subjects.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say,  whether  they  thought  well  or  ill  in  regard  to  them,  when 
they  answered  these  questions  to  their  own  satisfaction,  when 
they  determined  that  the  denunciation  was  to  be  made,  when  the 
Church  was  crrievouslv  afflicted  bv  the  crimes  of  its  ruler,  with 


454 


THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM 


the  view  of  inciting  those  whose  province  it  might  be,  in  an  ex- 
traordinary emergency,  to  convoke  a  general  council  for  the 
removal  of  the  scandals  which  were  bringing  ruin  on  religion ; 
that  the  proper  platform  for  the  exertions  in  the  cause  of  such 
reform,  of  all  spiritual  men  devoted  to  religion,  was  a  general 
council  of  the  Church. 

In  one  of  his  sermons,  Savonarola  speaks  of  the  necessity  of  a 
general  council,  but  he  asks,  who  is  then  to  call  "  an  assem- 
blage of  the  Church,  comprized  of  all  good  prelates,  abbots,  and 
righteous  ecclesiastics  ?" 

"  The  Church,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  only  represented 
there,  where  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shone.  There  scan- 
dals were  to  be  denounced,  iniquity  to  be  resisted,  dignitaries 
of  the  Church  practising  simony  to  be  removed.  In  that  coun- 
cil, the  bad  ecclesiastics  were  to  be  brought  to  punishment,  the 
good  were  to  be  preferred." 

"  But  he  whose  province  it  would  be,  to  call  the  bad  to  a  severe 
account,  and  to  protect  the  good,  must  be  spotless  and  pure  him- 
self, and,  therefore,  is  it  that  no  council  is  now  to  be  convoked." 

The  power  of  the  Pope,  not  in  his  private  capacity,  but  in  his 
official  one,  aided  by  his  prelates  and  divines  in  consistory  or 
sacred  congregation,  to  examine  and  enquire  into  matters  of 
faith  and  morals,  and  to  condemn  doctrines  held  to  be  erro- 
neous after  due  examination,  cannot  be  called  in  question  by 
Catholics.  No  general  council  is  indispensably  required  for 
this  exercise  of  pontifical  authority. 

In  Bishop  Kenrick's  work  on  the  Primacy,  this  subject  is 
treated  with  much  perspicuity  : — 

"  In  virtue  of  his  office,  the  Pontiff  teaches  with  authority,  and 
directs  his  teaching  to  all  the  children  of  the  Church,  wherever 
they  may  be  found,  pastors  and  people  :  he  pronounces  judg- 
ment on  all,  whose  faith  is  suspected,  to  whatever  rank  they 
may  belong  ;  he  condemns  heresy  wherever  it  may  have  origi- 
nated, or  by  whomsoever  it  may  be  supported ;  he  calls  on  his 
colleagues,  the  bishops,  to  concur  with  him  in  the  condemna- 
tion ;  he  assembles  them  in  council,  to  investigate  and  judge 


OF  SAVONAROLA. 


455 


with  him  the  controversies  that  are  raised,  or  to  concur  by 
their  harmonious  judgment  and  action  in  rooting  out  condemned 
errors  ;  he  confirms  and  promulgates  their  definitions  of  faith,  and 
he  incessantly  guards  the  sacred  deposit  of  divine  doctrine."  * 

Further  on,  the  same  writer  observes  :  "  It  is  the  undoubted 
right  of  the  Pope  to  pronounce  judgment  on  controversies  of 
faith.  All  doctrinal  definitions  already  made  by  general  coun- 
cils, or  by  former  Pontifis,  are  landmarks  which  no  man  can  re- 
move ;  but  as  the  human  mind  may  assail  revelation  in  endless 
varieties  of  form,  there  must  be  always  in  the  church  an  autho- 
rity by  which  error  under  every  new  aspect  may  be  eifectually 
condemned.  Nothing  can  be  added  to  the  faith  originally  de- 
livered to  the  Saints,  but  points  contained  in  the  deposit  of 
revelation  may  be  expressly  declared  and  defined,  when  the  ob- 
scurity that  may  have  existed  as  to  the  fact  of  their  revelation 
has  been  dissipated.  The  assembly  of  a  general  council  is  always 
attended  with  immense  difiiculty,  and  is  oftentimes  utterly  im- 
practicable. The  chief  bishop  is  'the  natural  organ  of  the 
church,'  as  Peter  is  styled  by  St.  Chrysostom  the  mouth  of  the 
Apostles.  In  pronouncing  judgments  he  does  not  give  expres- 
sion to  a  private  opinion,  or  follow  his  own  conjectures,  but  he 
takes  for  his  rule  the  public  and  general  faith,  and  tradition  of 
the  church  as  gathered  from  Scripture,  the  fathers,  the  liturgies 
and  other  documents,  imploring  the  guidance  of  the  Divine  spirit, 
and  using  all  human  means  for  ascertaining  the  fact  of  revelation. 

"  It  has  been  warmly  disputed,  whether  a  solemn  judgment 
thus  pronounced,  wherein  a  doctrine  is  proposed  to  the  church 
generally  as  necessary  to  be  believed  under  -pam  of  anathema,  or 
an  error  is  proscribed  as  opposed  to  faith  with  the  same  sanction, 
may  be  erroneous.  The  personal  fallibility  of  the  Pope  in  his 
private  capacity,  writing  or  speaking,  is  freely  conceded  by 
the  most  ardent  advocates  of  papal  prerogatives.  But  his 
official  infallibility,  ex  cathedra,  is  strongly  affirmed  by  St.  Al- 
phoiisus  de  Ligouri,  and  a  host  of  divines,  in  accordance,  as  I 
believe,  with  ancient  tradition  and  the  general  sentiments  of  the 
church."* 

*  Bishop  Keurick's  Primacy  of  St.  Peter,  p.  269. 


40G  THE  LIFE  AND  MARTYRDOM  OF  SAVONAROLA. 

"  The  assembly  of  the  Fi'ench  clergy  in  1682,  contended  that 
the  Pope's  judgment,"  continues  Bishop  Kenrick,  "  may  admit 
of  amendment,  as  long  as  it  is  not  sustained  by  the  assent  and 
adhesion  of  the  great  body  of  bishops." 

Finally,  it  is  observed  by  Bishop  Kenrick,  that  there  are  limits 
to  the  exercise  of  this  power ;  and  his  observations  so  entirely 
cover  the  whole  question  of  the  condemnation^of  Savonarola  by 
Alexander  the  Sixth,  that  I  cite  the  passages  in  question  in 
italics,  though  not  so  printed  in  the  original :  The  plenitude 
of  pontifical  power  in  all  that  appertains  to  the  government  of  the 
universal  church  is  affirmed  in  the  Florentine  decree.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  certain  that  this  power  must  he  used  for  edification,  not 
for  destruction  :  for  the  interest  of  faith  and  piety — for  the  main- 
tenance of  order  and  unity — in  a  word,  for  the  good  of  the  church. 
It  is  a  government  of  justice^  order,  and  law,  to  he  conducted  not 
arhitrarily  and  cajjriciously ,  but  according  to  established  canons  or 
rules. 

This  is  sound  doctrine,  which  no  Roman  Catholic,  acquainted 
with  his  religion  or  faithful  to  his  church,  will  dispute. 

But  the  questions  must  force  themselves  on  the  mind  of  every 
reader  of  the  life,  and  death,  and  doctrines  of  Savonarola — ^was 
the  power  exercised  by  Alexander  the  Sixth,  in  relation  to  that 
monk,  used  for  edification  ?  AYas  it  used  for  the  interests  of  faith 
and  piety  ?  Was  it  used  for  the  maintenance  of  order  and 
unity?  Was  it  used  for  the  good  of  the  church?  Was  the 
government  that  used  it  then  influenced  by  a  spirit  of  justice, 
order  and  law?  was  it  then  conducted  not  arbitrarily  and  capri- 
ciously, but  according  to  established  canons  and  rules  ? 

If  these  questions  can  be  truly  answered  in  the  affii'mative, 
then  was  the  Dominican  monk,  Girolamo  Savonarola,  righteously 
judged  and  justly  executed.  But  if  they  cannot  be  so  answered, 
then  was  Savonarola's  death  an  iniquitous  proceeding,  and  his 
persecutors  were  enemies  of  justice  and  of  God. 

*  The  Primacy  of  the  ApostoHc  See  Vindicated,  by  Bishop  Kenrick, 
p.  270.  t  Ibid.  p.  271. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTICE    OF  THE  BIOGRAPHIES  OF    SAYONAEOLA    AND    OTHER  WORKS 
WHICH  TREAT  OF  HIS  CAREER. 

A  BRIEF  notice  of  the  principal  biographies  and  historical  works 
which  treat  extensively  of  Savonarola,  will  enable  the  reader  to  form 
a  just  opinion  of  the  authorities  of  which  the  Author  has  availed  him- 
self in  these  volumes,  and  to  enquire  after  such  of  those  works  as  he 
has  not  been  able  to  obtain  or  examine. 

Of  the  works  relating  to  Savonarola  that  are  favourable  to  his  cha- 
racter, and  ample  in  their  details  of  his  career,  the  life  written  in 
Italian  by  Burlamacchi,  a  friar  of  the  Dominican  order,  which  was 
first  published  in  the  appendix  to  the  collection  of  historical  monu- 
ments, entitled  "  Miscellanea  Baluzii,"  and  introduced  there  by  the 
learned  editor,  Mansi,  is  of  most  value. 

The  Dominican  father,  Pacifico  Burlamacchi,  known  in  the  world  as 
Filippo  di  Pietro  Burlamacchi,  was  a  convert  of  Fra  Girolamo's,  a 
secular  person  of  a  noble  family,  and  high  position  in  Lucca. 

Razzi  speaks  of  him  as  having  a  great  veneration  for  Savonarola  ; 
"  un  grand  devoto  del  Padre  Savonarola."  After  the  death  of  Savona- 
rola, in  1498,  he  determined  on  abandoning  worldly  pursuits,  and  in 
1499  he  received  the  Dominican  habit  in  the  convent  of  San  Romano, 
in  Lucca.  He  died  with  a  great  fame  for  sanctity,  the  13th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1519.  He  commenced  the  life  of  Savonarola  in  1499,  and  states 
therein,  that  he  was  present  at  the  execution  of  Savonarola. 

It  was  after  witnessing  the  execution  of  Savonarola  and  his  com- 
panions, that  the  layman,  Filippo  Burlamacchi,  entered  the  religious 
state  in  the  order  of  Saint  Dominick,  under  the  name  of  Fra  Pacifico. 

Burlamacchi  commences  his  biography  with  a  declaration  of  his 
belief,  that  Fra  Girolamo  was  a  prophet  and  a  martyr,  and  that  he 
writes  concerning  that  illustrious  man,  "  the  things  that  he  had  seen 
with  his  own  eyes,  or  heard  from  his  own  lips,  or  that  he  had  heard 
from  other  persons  of  veracity,  or  read  in  official  documents."-)- 

*  La  Vita  del  M.  R.  P.  F.  Girolamo  Savonarola  de  Ferrara  Dell  Ordine  de  S. 
Domenico  Scritta  dal  P.  Pacifico  Burlamacchi  Lucchese.  Apud  Miscellanea  Stephani 
Baluzii.  Edita  Studio  J.  E.  Mansi,  Lucensis  in  4  torn,  Fol.  Lucae,  1791.  —  Tomus 
primus. 

t  Burlamacchi,  torn.  i.  p.  530. 


458 


APPENDIX. 


On  this  work  I  believe  great  reliance  is  to  be  placed,  and  from  it  I 
have  taken  freely  such  details  as  relate  to  matters  of  which  its  author 
could  be  cognizant.  But,  although  I  consider  this  work  the  principal 
store-house  for  information  that  is  favourable  to  Savonarola,  the  reader 
will  find  my  researches  have  not  been  confined  to  his  pages  or  those 
of  the  apologists  and  advocates  of  Savonarola. 

"  There  is  a  supplement,"  says  the  German  writer,  Dr.  Hafe  (the 
author  of  an  elaborate  critical  notice  of  Savonarola's  mission),  "  by 
Timotheo  Bottoni,  to  Burlamacchi's  biography  recording  miracles. 

"  I  am  uncertain  what  portion  of  this  piece  to  attribute  to  Burla- 
macchi  and  what  to  Bottoni,  and  have  only  uncertain  authorities  to 
consult  on  the  subject.  In  a  new  biography  of  Savonarola,  Rudelbach, 
when  speaking  of  both,  separates  Bottoni's  supplement  from  Burla- 
macchi's work,  and  he  remarks  of  the  last-mentioned  performance,  that 
it  was  Jiy^st  published  by  J.  E.  Mansi,  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
new  edition  of  the  'Miscellanea  Baluzii,'  (Lucca,  1761).  It  is  from 
Burlamacchi's  work  with  the  supplement  that  Quetif  has  quoted. 
Everything  Mansi  has  inserted  in  the  first  volume  of  his  new  edition 
of  Baluzii"s,  commencing  at  p.  530,  he  took  from  a  manuscript  belong- 
ing to  the  Dominicans  of  the  monastery  of  Lucca.  But  it  may  be 
from  Bottoni's  supplement  alone,  that  Quetif  has  taken  the  long 
fragments  under  the  name  of  Perusinus  (Bottoni  was  born  at  Perugia), 
and  Mansi  himself  remarks  in  the  introduction,  that  the  work  is  not 
altogether  by  Burlamacchi,  but  apparently  an  abridgment  of  it  by 
Bottoni.  But  this  work  does  not  give  the  impression  of  being  an 
abridgment,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  there  are  some  ad- 
ditions made  to  it  later,  in  that  part  where  Savonarola,  the  night 
before  his  death,  in  return  for  the  disinterested  proofs  of  friendship  of 
his  comforter,  Nicolini,  predicted  to  him  future  events,  saying  that 
Florence  was  to  undergo  great  tribulations  during  the  reign  of  a  Pope 
of  the  name  of  Clement,  (In  quanti  tribulationi  ho  predetto  a  questa 
citta,  voglio  dunque  avvisarti  del  tempo  di  gran  tribulatione.  Sappi 
e  nota  la  fine  bene  che  cio  avvera,  quando  sara  un  papa  Clemente.) 
This  is  evidently  written  by  one  who  had  already  suffered  from  the 
oppression  of  the  imperial  army  under  Clement  VII.  1527,  which  hap- 
pened after  the  death  of  Burlamacchi,  and  I  venture  with  confidence 
to  assert  that  it  will  not  be  found  in  the  original  work." 

Mirandola  John  Francis  Pico,  nephew  of  the  celebrated  scholar  of  uni- 
versal fame,  wrote  the  life  of  Fra  Girolamo.  It  was  first  published  in 
the  collection  of  the  works  of  John  Pico  of  Mirandola,  and  his  own, 
which  appeared  in  1601,  published  in  Basle,  in  folio.  The  title  of  the 
work  is  "  Vita  Rev.Tatr.  F.  Hieron.  Savonarola,  Ord.  Predic.  Authori 
111.  Joan  Franc.  Pico  Mirandola  Concordiae  Principi." 

The  edition  from  which  I  quote,  is  that  of  Paris,  1634,  in  12mo.,  in 
2  vols.    The  "Life"  occupies  211  pages  of  the  first  volume. 

The  rest  of  the  volume  is  taken  ujj  with  the  Compendium  of  Savo- 
narola's Revelations. 


APPENDIX. 


459 


The  second  volume  contains  the  "  Apologia  pro  Savonarola."  His 
Epistles  and  some  of  his  discourses,  and  notes  and  additions  in  refer- 
ence to  the  assault  on  San  Marco,  the  arrest  of  Fra  Girolamo  and  his 
associates,  their  condemnation  and  death,  the  fate  of  his  persecutors, 
and  his  works. 

In  the  second  volume  of  the  Life  of  Savonarola,  by  John  Francis 
Pico  de  Mirandola,  there  is  inserted  a  very  curious  treatise  on  the 
works  of  Savonarola,  composed  by  Fra  Paulino  Bernardino,  O.  S.  D., 
under  the  direction  of  the  Cardinal  of  the  Inquisition,  during  the  Pon- 
tificate of  Paul  the  Fourth. 

Discorso  sopra  la  dottrina  et  opere  del  Rev.  Pad.  Girolamo  Savona- 
rola, O.S.D.,  &c.,  fatto  in  Roma  sotto  il  Pontificado  de  Papa  Paulo  IV., 
alia  presenza  dell  lUustrissimi  et  Reverendissimi  Cardinale  della  Santa 
Inquisitione.  Dal  Reverendo  Padre  Maestro  Fra  Paulino  Bernardino 
da  Luca  del  Medesimo  ordine.    1558.  54  pag. 

In  the  title-page  of  Pico's  work  there  is  a  portrait  of  Savonarola, 
with  this  inscription  :  "  R.  P.  F.  Hier  Savonarola,  Concinator  Pro- 
phetus  Natus  Ferrarise,  21  Sepr.  1452.  Ord.  Predicat.  ingressus, 
26  April,  1475.  Cruce  et  igne  affectus  fortiter  acerbuit  Florentiae,  vigil 
ascentionis  Domini.    23  Maii,  1498,  anno  46." 

"  John  Francis  Pico  de  Mirandola  is  the  first  of  a  wide  circle  of 
celebrated  biographers,"  says  Professor  Hafe,*  "who  have  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  democratic  monk  ;  he  was  Count  of  Mirandola,  and  ne- 
phew to  Giovanni  Pico,  so  famous  in  the  world  of  science,  and  at 
whose  suggestion  Savonarola  established  himself  at  Florence.  The 
younger  Picus  was  already  bound  to  him  by  the  bonds  of  friendship 
for  six  years  (before  he  had  taken  up  his  regular  residence  at  Florence), 
where  he  had  published  a  work  in  defence  of  his  prophecies,  and  an  acute 
exposition  of  the  nullity  of  the  papal  excommunication,  commencing 
with  this,  certainly  true,  but,  for  a  catholic,  hazardous  phrase  in  respect 
to  Papal  authority  :  '  malum  esse  in  terris  jusdicium,  quod  errare  quan- 
doque  non  possit" — for  God  alone  is  infallible. 

"  He  intended,  at  first,  writing  Savonarola's  life  immediately  after 
his  martyrdom,  but  the  numerous  interruptions  of  his  stormy  political 
life  prevented  him  from  bringing  it  to  a  conclusion  till  long  after- 
wards. He  records  the  persevering,  unlimited  admiration  of  many 
individuals  for  Savonarola,  but  he  does  not  express  clearly  his  exact 
views  relative  to  the  Florentine  commonwealth,  nor  the  gradual  de- 
velopment of  the  genius  of  Savonarola." 

The  family  of  John  Francis  Pico  de  Mirandola  was  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  houses  of  Italy.  The  origin  of  the  Dukes  of  Mirandola  and 
Counts  of  Concordia,  in  the  annals  of  Modena,  is  traced  up  to  the 
time  of  Constantine. 

The  life  of  John  Francis,  from  the  time  of  the  death  of  Savonarola, 
was  a  continued  succession  of  struggles  with  enemies,  and  misfortunes 


Dr.  Karlc  Hafc,  Neue  Piophcten,  Notes, 


460 


APPENDIX. 


domestic  and  public.  In  1511,  Muratori  relates  that  his  castle  of 
Mirandola,  strongly  fortified,  was  besieged  by  the  French  troops  and 
the  Italian  allies  of  Bologna,  and,  after  a  long  defence,  it  was  taken 
by  the  enemy.  When  John  Francis  Pico  learned  that  the  town  of  Con- 
cordia had  been  taken,  and  the  garrison  of  three  hundred  men  put  to 
the  sword,  he  was  then  labouring  under  severe  illness. 

He  was  allowed  to  retire  into  Tuscany  with  his  family.  On  his  de- 
parture, the  Countess  Francisca  of  Mirandola,  the  widow  of  his  brother, 
with  Galeotti,  her  son,  were  put  in  possession  of  his  castle.  After 
various  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  expulsions  from  his  territory,  and  re- 
storation to  it,  lawsuits  with  his  nephew,  controversies  with  parties 
who  accused  him  of  having  coined  and  circulated  base  money,  or 
rather  alloyed  certain  gold  pieces  with  an  undue  amount  of  inferior 
metals,  of  having  even  caused  the  artificer  to  be  put  to  death  by  whom 
this  adulteration  had  been  carried  into  effect,  he  w^as  finally  murdered 
by  his  nephew  Galeotti,  in  1533,  along  with  his  son,  Albert  Pico,  a 
young  soldier  of  great  promise  and  distinguished  merit. 

Works  of  Padre  Vtncexzo  M.irchese,  O.S.D.,  which  treat  of 

Savonarola. 

There  will  be  found  in  this  Life  of  Savonarola  a  great  deal  of  very 
important  original  matter,  and  numerous  extracts  from  letters  of  Sa- 
vonarola, which  have  not  appeared  in  any  previous  biography  of  Sa- 
vonarola ;  for  these  I  am  indebted  to  the  laborious  researches  of  the 
Padre  Vincenzo  Marchese,  a  learned  Italian  friar  of  the  Dominican 
Order,  whose  work,  "  Insigni  Pittori  Scultori  e  Architetti  Domenicani," 
is  well  known  to  the  learned  of  all  nations.  In  a  recent  letter  of  Fra 
Vincenzo  (dated  28th  October,  1852),  in  reply  to  some  inquiries  of 
mine  on  the  subject  of  this  work,  he  observes  : 

"  With  respect  to  information  concerning  Savonarola,  a  few  years 
ago  I  published  two  treatises,  important  for  their  matter,  on  this  sub- 
ject. The  first  piece  was  a  poem  in  tcrza  rima,  entitled  'Cedrus  Libani 
osia  vita  di  Fra  Girolamo  Sovonarola  Scritta  da  Fra  Benedetto  da 
Firenze,  I'anno  1510,'  wherein  the  life  and  tragical  death  of  Savona- 
rola are  related.  The  poet  was  a  disciple  of  Savonarola,  and  a  member 
of  the  community  of  San  Marco.  This  poem  is  inserted  in  the  Ap- 
pendix, No.  23,  of  the  great  work,  entitled  '  Archivio  Storico  Italiano,' 
of  w^hich  36  vols.  8vo.  have  already  appeared.  (Firenza,  1846,  Vies- 
seux  Ed.  Despensa  xxxiv). 

"  The  second  treatise  which  I  published  in  the  same  work,  in  the 
Appendix,  No.  25  (Dispensa  xxxvi.  1850),  is  entitled  '  Lettere  ine- 
dite  di  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola  E  Documenti  Concernenti  lo  stesso.' 
(Raccolti  e  ordinati,  Dal  Pad,  Vin.  Marchese,  De  Predicatori).  This 
second  treatise  is  still  more  important  than  the  first,  and  it  furnishes 
official  matter  respecting  the  Florentine  Republic  and  its  ambassador 
at  the  court  of  Rome,  relating  to  the  cause  of  Savonarola.  I  prefixed 
to  it  a  long  preface,  in  which  I  corrected  a  great  part  of  the  errors 


APPEXDIX. 


461 


committed  by  the  numerous  biographers  of  Fra  GIrolamo,  and  re- 
formed the  chronology  of  his  life. 

I  am  of  opinion  that,  without  this  second  treatise  of  mine,  it  will 
be  found  impossible  to  avoid  many  errors  in  treating  of  the  career  of 
this  CTveat  man." 

The  Padre  Marchese  is  perfectly  right  in  his  opinion  :  a  multitude 
of  errors,  with  respect  to  dates  especially,  have  crept  into  the  several 
biographies  of  Savonarola  ;  but,  least  of  all,  it  will  be  found  in  that 
which  I  have  chiefly  relied  on  for  my  details,  and  have  most  frequently 
referred  to  for  information — the  work  of  Burlamacchi.  Without  the 
corrections  of  Padre  Marchese,  and  the  additional  information  con- 
tained in  the  letters  of  Savonarola  heretofore  inedited,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  write  his  life  accurately  and  faithfully. 

The  introduction  to  this  treatise  of  P.  Marchese  occupies  35  pages. 
The  collection  of  letters  of  Savonarola,  and  original  documents,  with 
the  introduction  of  the  editor,  occupies  127  pages. 

The  number  of  Savonarola's  letters  is  14. 

The  number  of  documents,  chiefly  official  letters  of  the  Signoria  to 
their  ambassador  in  Rome,  and  from  the  latter,  respecting  the  censures 
and  proceedings  against  Savonarola,  is  48. 

The  poem  of  the  "  Cedrus  Libani,"  or  versified  life  of  Savonarola, 
is  preceded  by  an  introduction  of  Father  Marchese  of  16  pages.  The 
poem  occupies  33  pages.  It  was  written  in  prison  by  the  author — 
"  in  carcere  compilato  da  Frate  Benedetto  di  Fiorenza." 

This  remarkable  biographical  poem  of  the  Cedrus  Libani,  written  by  Fra 
Benedetto,  a  native  of  Florence,  one  of  the  community  of  San  Marco, 
who  shortly  after  Savonarola's  arrest  was  cast  into  prison  apparently  on 
account  of  his  known  attachment  to  Fra  Girolamo,  and  ardent  zeal  in 
defence  of  his  doctrines,  was  unknown  to,  or  at  least  is  unnoticed  by, 
any  of  the  preceding  biographers  of  Savonarola.  Fra  Benedetto  was 
not  only  a  poet  but  a  musician  and  a  painter,  and  in  the  memoirs  of 
"  Insigni  Pittori  Scultori  e  Architetti  Dominicani,"  he  figures  as  Fra 
Benedetto  Miniatore. 

Benedetto  had  been  in  youth  dissolute  and  irregular  in  his  conduct, 
one  of  the  licentious  Compagnacci  party.  A  sermon  of  Savonarola 
in  1495  efi'ected  such  a  revolution  in  his  tastes  and  inclinations,  that  he 
abandoned  the  world  for  the  cloisters  of  San  Marco,  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year. 

In  the  assault  on  San  Marco,  the  6th  of  April,  1495,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  strenuous  defenders  of  the  Convent,  and  from  the  roof  of 
the  Church,  where  he  had  posted  himself,  he  dealt  great  injury  and 
even  death,  we  are  told  by  Padre  Marchese,  on  the  infuriated  assailants 
— tempesto  terrivelmente  su  gli  Arrahiati  con  rovine  e  uccisione  de 

He  says  himself  in  his  poem  that  he  hurled  stones  from  the  roof 

*  Marchese,  Auvertimento  alia  Poema  Cedncs  Libanus. 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  church  with  such  effect  and  so  continuously,  that  the  enemy 
thought  it  rained  stones — 

"  Che  lapide  paria  del  ciel  piovessi." 

And  in  a  subsequent  verse  he  says  that  Fra  Girolamo  was  not  aware 
of  this,  for  when  he  descended  with  arms  in  his  hands — 

"  Non  sapeva  il  profeta  io  resistisse" — 

he  found  the  Padre  in  prayers  ;  but  when  he  saw  Fra  Benedetto,  he 
turned  to  him  and  reprehended  him  for  using  those  carnal  arms,  and 
said  to  him — 

 "  Figliuolo  ascolta  el  mio  serraone 

Prende  la  croce  a  non  arme  e  cottello." 

Burlamacchi  only  mentions  his  appearing  in  arms  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  attack,  and  Savonarola  reprehending  him  for  having  re- 
course to  any  but  spiritual  arms  :  and  at  a  later  period,  when  Fra 
Girolamo  was  made  prisoner  Fra  Benedetto  desiring  to  accompany 
his  beloved  master  to  prison,  and  the  latter  saiying  to  him,  "  Fra 
Beiiedetto  per  uhbidienza  non  venite.'' 

Not  long  after  the  death  of  the  '-''gran  Maestro,''  Fra  Benedetto  was 
incarcerated  for  inveighing  openly  against  the  enemies  in  general  of 
Savonarolfi,  and  Pope  Alexander  in  particular. 

Whether  he  was  released  and  subsequently  imprisoned  is  not  known, 
but  it  is  clear  from  his  own  account,  in  one  of  his  treatises  entitled 
*'  Fons  Vitae,"  that  he  was  in  confinement  in  1515,  and  from  another, 
was  still  incarcerated  in  1523  ;  suspended  from  his  sacred  functions  and 
condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  on  a  charge  of  homicide,  of 
which  crime  he  acknowledges  that  he  was  unintentionally  guilty, 
having  slain  some  person,  apparently  in  his  own  defence,  when  an 
unjust  attempt  was  made  against  his  liberty — "  Homicida  sum,  Domine, 
eo  modo  quo  scis,  et  propter  homicidium  mancipatus  sum  carceri."  .  .  . 
"  Ecce  Domine  me  quippe  nolente,  accidit  homicidium  et  homicida  sum." 
.  .  .  "  Hoc  dico  quia  contra  jus  captus  fui  ab  inquis  laiciset  a  superiori- 
bus  suspendentibus  me  coram  secularibus  in  torturam :  nec  non  mit- 
tentibus  postea  in  compedibus  et  in  manicis  ferreis  cibo  et  potu  arctis- 
simo  deceptus  eo  modo  quo  Scis  (Domine)." 

All  that  is  certainly  know^n  of  his  imprisonment  is,  that  he  was  in 
confinement  in  1509,  and  continued  to  be  so  in  1523.  Of  his  death, 
or  close  of  his  career,  there  is  no  account  whatever. 

Of  this  work  of  Fra  Benedetto  relating  to  Savonarola,  Marchese, 
the  most  competent  of  all  men  living  to  form  an  opinion  of  its  value, 
says,  "  It  is  indubitably  the  most  original  that  has  come  down  to  us 
respecting  Savonarola." 

The  lives  of  the  most  eminent  Painters,  Sculptors,  and  Architects 
of  the  Dominican  order,  by  the  Father  Marchese  of  the  same  Institute, 
faithfully  translated  from  the  Italian  by  the  Rev.  C.  Meehan,  contains 
much  matter  respecting  Savonarola,  in  his  relations  to  art,  of  great 
interest  and  excellence. 


APPENDIX. 


46S 


Guicciardini,  in  his  "  Istoria  d'ltalia  "  (Ed.  Ven.  4to.  1595),  treats 
largely  and  impartially  of  Savonarola.  He  was  born  in  Florence  in 
1482,  and  died  there  in  1540.  At  the  time  of  the  Friar's  death  he 
was  in  his  seventeenth  year. 

Guicciardini  has  given  in  the  first  three  books  of  his  History  of  Italy 
a  detailed  description  of  military  and  political  movements  from  the 
time  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Medici  and  the  invasion  of  the  French,  to  the 
period  of  the  death  of  Savonarola,  and  including  that  event,  drawn 
from  ancient  sources. 

Bernardino  Corio's  "  Historia  di  Milano,"  (4to.  Ven.  1554),  enters 
very  fully  into  the  history  of  Savonarola's  contest  with  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  and  on  the  subject  of  that  pontiffs  election,  coronation,  and 
pontifical  career,  abounds  in  important  details,'and  most  valuable  matter. 

The  most  accurate  and  authentic  account  of  Savonarola's  career  in 
a  compressed  notice  introduced  into  an  historical  work,  is  that  which 
we  find  in  the  Florentine  history  of  Jacopo  Xardi,  a  citizen  of  Florence, 
whose  admirable  performance  treats  of  the  events  of  the  times  from 
1494  to  the  year  1531  inclusive.  It  is  entitled  "  Le  Historie  Delia 
Citta  de  Firenza."^ 

Nardi  was  a  cotemporary  of  Savonarola  and  a  witness  of  his  ex- 
ecution. 

"  Far  more  copious,  and  more  reliable  than  Guicciardini's  notice,  is 
Nardi's  account  of  Savonarola,"  says  Hafe,  "in  the  second  volume  of  his 
history  of  Florence.  Xardi  belonged  to  the  same  party  of  the  people, 
he  was  exiled  from  his  home  at  the  restoration  of  the  Medici  in  1512. 
But  he  had  a  soul  above  falsehood,  and  gave  an  unimpassioned  judg- 
ment at  a  time  when  other  interests  might  have  interfered  with  it,  yet 
as  one  who  had  stood  beside  Savonarola's  gallows." 

The  notice  of  Savonarola  written  by  Nardi  is  a  striking  contrast  to 
those  biographies  written  by  persons  who  not  having  an  exact  know- 
ledge of  the  occurrences,  treated  them  more  in  the  manner  of  poets 
than  historians. 

He  does  not  deny  the  embarrassing  position  in  which  Florence  was 
placed  by  some  of  his  prophecies,  he  does  not  attempt  to  break  through 
the  mystery  that  envelopes  his  revelations,  while  he  recognizes  those 
revelations  as  facts,  but  he  speaks  with  admiration  of  his  established 
influence,  and  admits  that  never  had  Plorence  been  governed  before  in 
so  christian  a  manner  as  during  the  life-time  of  this  monk,  who  knew 
how  to  awaken  in  the  breasts  of  men  the  natural  love  of  freedom,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  love  of  God  and  of  their  neighbour. 

The  Florentine  Secretary,  in  his  works — "  Tutti  Le  opere  di  Nicolo 
Machiavelli  Citadino  e  Secretario  Fioretino,"  (Ed,  4to.  1550,  place 
published  blank)  in  his  treatise  "II  Principe,"  and  his  Discoursi  sopra 
la  Ima  Deca  de  T.  Livio,  and  also  in  one  of  his  letters,  makes  mention 
of  Savonarola,  and  in  both  places  with  evident  veneration  for  his 
character. 

*  The  edition  I  quote  from  is  the  4to.  published  in  Florence,  1584. 


464 


APPENDIX. 


MachiavelH  was  a  native  of  Florence,  and  a  cotemporavy  of  Savo- 
narola.   He  was  born  in  1469,  and  died  in  1527. 

In  one  of  his  poems,  entitled  Decennale  (see  Appendix  to  the  Opere, 
page  59),  there  is  the  following  beautiful  stanza,  more  indicative  than  any 
of  his  notices  in  prose  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  held  Savonarola. 

*'  Ma  quel  che  a  molti,  molto  pui  non  piacque 
E  vi  fe'  disunir,  f u  quella  s  cola 
Sotto  il  cui  segno  vostra  citta  giacque  : 

10  dico  di  quel  gran  Savonarola 

11  quel  afflato  di  virtu  divina 

Vi  tiene  involto  ocon  le  sue  parole. 
Ma  perche  molti  timean  la  rovina 
Veder  a'  lor  patria  a  poco  a  poco 
Sotto  la  sua  prophetica  dottrina, 
Non  si  trovavo  a  riunirvi  loco, 
Se  non  cresceva,  o  se  non  era  spento 
II  suo  lume  divino  con  maggior  foco." 

"  We  have,  on  the  testimony  of  Machiavelli,"  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  and  in 
the  Compendium  of  the  Revelations, by  Savonarola,  an  authentic  refuta- 
tion of  those  miracles  related  by  the  disciples  of  Savonarola,  at  least, 
up  to  the  year  1496,  for  he  mentions  that  the  evil  one  tried  to  per- 
suade Savonarola  that  it  was  necessary  to  establish  the  belief  in  his 
prophecies  by  miracles,  but  that  he,  instead  of  consenting  to  have  any 
performed  by  such  agency,  appealed  to  the  example  of  Jonas,  who 
only  preached  penance  before  Nineveh,  and  of  John  the  Baptist,  the 
greatest  of  the  Prophets,  of  whom  it  is  written,  that  he  worked  no 
miracles.  But  it  was  not  till  after  his  death  that  Savonarola's  great 
miraculous  powers  began  to  appear,  for  by  far  the  greater  part  of  Pico's 
biography  refers  to  events  after  the  death  of  his  hero ;  it  is  partly  a 
defence  of  him,  and  a  recitation  of  what  had  been  said  of  him  by  his 
friends  and  enemies,  and  partly  a  record  of  the  miraculous  cures 
operated  by  himself  or  his  relics.  He  appeared,  on  Pico's  authority, 
more  than  a  hundred  times  after  his  death,  but  always  to  those  only 
who  had  a  lively  interest  in  him,  occasioned  either  by  a  bad  conscience 
for  having  treated  him  cruelly,  or  to  those  who  were  filled  with  doubts 
about  his  sanctity,  or,  in  fine,  to  those  who  entertained  a  great  affec- 
tion for  him."* 

Philippe  de  Commines,  a  cotemporary  and  acquaintance  of  Savon- 
arola, in  his  Memoires  sur  les  Principaux  faits  et  gestes  de  Louis 
X/.,  et  Charles  VIII.,  Rois  de  France,  (Ed.  Rouen,  1634),  makes 
two  valuable  references  in  his  work  to  Savonarola  ;  the  first,  giving 
an  account  of  an  interview  with  the  Friar,  and  of  his  wonderful 
power  and  influence  as  a  preacher  and  great  moral  reformer  ;  the 
second,  narrating  his  death,  and  commenting  on  his  career  and  cha- 
racter. 

The  work  of  Savonarola's  bosom  friend,  Beneviene,  "  Trattao  de 
Maestro  Domenico  Beneviene,  Prete  Fiorentino  in  defensione  et  pro- 

*  Professor  Hafe's  Neue  Propheten. 


APPENDIX. 


465 


batione  della  Dottrina  et  prophetie  predicate  de  Frate  Hieronymo  da 
Ferrara  (Ed.  4to.  Firenza,  1496),''  it  will  be  seen,  must  have  been  pub- 
lished certainly  more  than  a  year  before  Savonarola's  death.  It  is 
necessary  to  distinguish  between  the  two  brothers,  Domenico  and 
Girolamo  Beneviene,  both  friends  of  Savonarola's,  and  writers  con- 
cerning his  mission  or  his  works. 

Savonarola's  Latin  treatise,  "  De  Simplicitate  vitse  Christianae,"  was 
translated  into  Italian  by  Girolamo  Beneviene.  He  was  the  writer  also 
of  those  singular  spiritual  songs,  "  Non  fu  mai  pui  vel  soUazzo,"  and 
the  "  To  tre  Once  almen  de  Speme,"  which  were  intended  as  substitutes 
for  the  Carneval  songs. 

"  What  has  been  written  (says  Hafe)  by  Domenico  Beneviene,  sur- 
named  Scotti,  on  account  of  his  theological  acuteness  (from  David 
Scotti,  a  Jesuit,  remarkable  for  his  profound  theology),  in  defence  of 
Savonarola's  doctrine  and  prophecies,  even  with  all  its  partialities,  is 
a  document  of  value.  On  the  other  hand,  Catharino  Polito  has  re- 
ported all  the  calumnies  raised  against  Savonarola  by  his  cotemporaries 
and  the  following  generation,  incited  thereto  equally  by  his  hatred  of 
the  Dominican  order  which  he  (Polito)  had  deserted,  and  to  the  Refor- 
mation and  its  promoters,  among  whom  he  places  Savonarola,  and  he 
expresses  a  wish  that  if  not  his  disciples,  at  least  that  all  his  sermons, 
might  be  publicly  burned  in  the  market  place  of  Florence."  * 

The  Master  of  the  Ceremonies  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  subsequently 
elevated  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  has  left  a  diary  devoted  to  the  pre- 
servation of  the  acts  of  Alexander  and  the  affairs  of  his  court,  some 
portions  of  which  have  not  reached  our  times ;  this  journal  has  been 
published  in  Echard's  "Corpus  Historiarum  Medii  ^v."  torn,  ii.,  and 
was  also  separately  edited  by  Leibnitz,  from  which  edition  the  summary 
of  the  diary  has  been  taken,  that  will  be  found  in  the  Second  Volume  (  f 
this  work.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  diary,  an  account  of  Savonarola's 
conduct  in  relation  to  the  ordeal,  his  condemnation  and  death,  are 
recorded  as  they  were  reported  by  Alexander's  agents  at  Florence  to 
his  Holiness. 

"  Alexander's  side  of  the  question,"  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  is  peremp- 
torily defended  by  Burchard,  the  papal  master  of  the  ceremonies,  who 
relates  Savonarola's  hard  fate,  and  communicates  the  agreement  about 
the  proof  by  fire,  certified  by  the  joint  signatures  of  the  parties  to  it. 
According  to  Burchard,  Savonarola  acknowledged  and  with  his  own 
hand  signed  the  acknowledgment,  that  he  had  had  no  divine  revela- 
tions, but  that  he  had  sought  to  terrify  men  by  a  pretended  super- 
natural  knowledge  of  their  hidden  sins,  which  he  had  previously 
learned  by  very  illicit  means." 

Paulus  Jovius,  in  several  of  his  works,  treats  of  Savonarola.  Vita 
Leonis  X.,  Basil  (1567),  Iscrittioni  sotto  le  vere  imagini  de  gli  uo- 
mini  famosi  (Fir.  4to.  1552). 

This  prelate  of  unenviable  notoriety,  says  of  Savonarola  in  the  latter 
*  Hafe,  Neue  Propheten. 

VOL.  I.  II  H 


466 


APPENDIX. 


treatise,  "With  his  furious  manner  of  preaching,  so  unrestrainecUy  and 
blaspheming  the  morals  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  that  he  put  in  doubt 

his  sacred  authority  He  was  hanged  like  a  robber,  in  the  centre 

of  the  square,  and  soon  after  burned.  But  the  minds  of  men  were  va- 
riously affected ;  some,  being  inflamed  with  hatred  against  him,  cried 
out,  that  he  was  justly  executed  ;  others,  with  tears  in  their  eyes, 
piously  collected  his  ashes,  as  the  remains  of  one  unjustly  put  to 
death.  Worthy  of  singular  praise  is  the  work  written  by  him  against 
the  sages,  dilettante,  and  sophists  of  his  age,  '  The  Glorious  Triumph 
of  the  Cross.'  .... 

"  If  his  epitaphs  were  to  be  believed,  one  would  say,  he  deserved 
the  name  of  an  impious  and  holy  man  at  the  same  time."* 

In  Jovius's  "  Elogi  D'Uomini  Illustri  di  guerra  Antichi  et  Moderni 
(Fir.  4to.  1554),"  there  is  a  short  notice  of  the  career  of  Caesar  Borgia, 
which  contains  some  things  not  to  be  met  with  elsewhere,  with  regard 
to  his  personal  appearance  and  his  end. 

Muratori,  in  his  "  Annali  dTtalia,"  (Ed.  12mo.  in  17  tomi.  Nap.  1785), 
in  his  relation  of  affairs  in  1498,  expresses  his  opinion  of  the  character 
of  Savonarola  in  the  most  favourable  terms  on  all  points,  except  in  re- 
fusing obedience  to  the  Pope's  commands,  and  taking  a  part  in  the 
secular  affairs  of  the  Florentine  Republic.  But  even  with  these  errors, 
he  speaks  of  him  as  "a  most  holy  man,"  "of  wonderful  unction  and 
sanctity,"  "a  true  servant  of  God,"  "of  the  purest  morals,"  and 
*'  wholly  devoted  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people. "f 

Muratori  was  born  in  1672,  and  died  in  1750. 

Filippo  de  Nerli  has  written  "  Commentarii  de  fatti  civili  accorsi 
dentro  la  citta  de  Firenze  del  anno  1215,  sino  all  'anno  1537  (Augusta 
1661)/'  which  contains  much  useful  information  on  the  subject  of  Sa- 
vonarola and  his  times. 

But  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  author's  sentiments  on  the 
subject  of  clerical  interference  in  secular  affairs,  lead  him  sometimes 
into  extreme  views,  which  affect  his  judgment,  with  respect  to  the 
motives  of  spiritual  persons  for  interposing  in  matters  regarding  the 
material  interests  of  the  people. 

"  Nerli,  in  his  commentary  on  the  condition  of  Florence,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Hafe,  "  has  certainly  recognised  Savonarola's  moral  and  religious 
importance,  but  with  the  qualifying  feelings  of  an  aristocrat,  who,  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  monarchy,  condemns  the  interference  of  a  monk  in 
the  affairs  of  State  as  uncalled  for,  and  his  democratic  theocracy  as 
unseasonable.  The  known  venal  Giovio  (Jovius)  speaks  with  respect 
of  his  moral  power  and  high  endowments ;  he  knows  that  nothing  has 
so  much  power  to  captivate  men,  as  the  eloquence  of  a  pious,  hon- 
ourable person,  who  advocates  the  cause  of  liberty  ;  which  Savonarola 
was  anxious  to  promote  by  his  political  influence." 

The  "  Apologia  del  Rev.  Pad.  Fra.  Tommasso  Neri,  Fiorentino. 
*  Inscrittioni,  lib.  i.  p.  84.  f  Ann.  d'ltal.  a.d.  1498,  vol.  xiii.  p.  404. 


APPENDIX. 


467 


In  Defeso  del  R.  P.  F.  Gir.  Savonarola  (Flor.  1564),"  is  valuable  for 
many  details  respecting  the  Friar's  connexion  with  political  affairs,  not 
to  be  found  in  other  biographies. 

Natalis  Alexander,  of  the  Dominican  order,  in  his  "  Historia  Eccle- 
siastica"  (fol.  Par.  1714,  p.  175),  devotes  about  a  page  of  his  work  to 
the  vindication  of  Savonarola. 

Turon,  of  the  same  order,  in  his  "  Histoire  des  Hommes  illustres  de 
I'order  de  Saint  Dominique  (4to.  Par.),"  enters  more  largely  into  the 
same  subject  and  with  the  same  views. 

The  valuable  work,  "  Scriptores  ordinis  predicatorum,"  commenced 
by  the  Dominican  father,  Quetif,  and  completed  by  father  Echard  of 
the  same  order  (fol.  Par.  1721),  contains  a  brief  notice  of  the  life  and 
works  of  Fra  Girolamo  of  eight  pages  in  the  first  volume  commencing 
page  885. 

Father  Quetifs  work  of  references  to  the  history  of  Savonarola,  con- 
tains the  life  of  Savonarola,  by  Pico  of  Mirandola,  and  the  compendium 
of  revelations  in  the  first  volume  ;  the  second  contains  the  properly  so- 
called  collection  of  references,  namely,  a  supplement  to  Pico's  biogra- 
phical materials,  and  apologetic  remarks  by  the  editor.  "There  is  a 
large  collection  of  documents,"  observes  Dr.  Hafe,  "  published  along 
with  this  biography,  relating  to  Savonarola's  history,  together  with  re- 
markable passages  from  Nardi,  and  from  the  important  joint  report  by 
Burlamacchi  and  Bottoni ;  in  fine,  he  tells,  in  rather  an  exulting  strain, 
of  the  unfortunate  end  which  all  Savonarola's  enemies  met  with,  for- 
getting that  Savonarola  himself,  and  Pico,  had  perished  equally  mi- 
serably, (the  latter  was  slain  in  a  church,  by  his  nephew,  in  1533). 

Ambrosio  Catharino  Polito  Vescovo  de  Minori,  in  his  "  Discorso 
contra'la  Dottrina  e  la  profezie  di  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola"  (Ed.  12mo. 
Ven.  1548,  page  200),  professes  to  bark  like  a  faithful  dog  against  a 
wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  a  son  of  Balial  in  a  monk's  habit  and  a  cowl, 
and  he  certainly  barks  and  bites  with  a  canine  fury  unparalleled  in 
theological  controversy. 

This  work,  now  rarely  to  be  met  with,  I  found,  after  much  fruitless 
search  in  other  libraries,  in  the  "  Bibiiotheque  Nationale"  in  Paris. 

The  arrogance,  virulence,  and  violent  invective  of  this  worthy  pre- 
late surpass  anything  to  be  met  with  in  any  literary  warfare  I  have 
ever  met  with. 

The  bishop  seldom  reasons,  he  scorns  to  inquire,  and  thinks  it  be- 
neath the  episcopal  dignity  to  investigate  any  disputed  accusation. 

The  meek  prelate  sets  out  with  comparing  himself  to  "  St,  Augus- 
tine, who  wrote  against  divers  heretics,  Arrian,  Manichean,  Pelagian, 
Donatist,  and  various  other  sorts  of  beasts, — e  varie  altri  sorti  di  bestie, 
— which  at  that  time  were  scattered  over  the  church." 

In  the  same  style  of  Christian  mildr.e<s  and  amenity,  he  defends 
himself  from  a  charge  that  has  been  brought  against  him,  of  "  biting 
his  opponents  like  a  dog."  "  But  mark  well,  in  the  first  place,"  he 
observes,  "  those  whom  I  bite — qyclli  che  io  mordo — consider  well 

H  H  2 


468 


APPENDIX. 


■what  are  their  errors  which  I  reprehend.  And  if  those  whom  I  bite 
are  no  longer  men,  but  have  become  beasts, — ma  sono  divenuie  bestie, 
— in  complaining  of  my  bites,  do  they  not  discover  and  demonstrate 
that  they  are  of  the  same  nature — di  quelli  came  midessime 

Having  conclusively  shewn  that  Savonarola  and  his  fellow-sufferers 
were  beasts — and  therefore  their  memories  even,  were  to  be  gnawed  to 
pieces  after  their  death — with  the  same  happy  use  and  applications  of 
his  school  logic,  he  proves,  with  an  amount  of  boldness  bordering  on 
blasphemy,  that  it  is  the  work  of  our  blessed  Saviour  he  is  doing,  in 
biting  dead  men's  characters. 

"  Therefore,  if  the  devil  has  his  dogs  to  bite  people,  why  should  not 
Christ  have  his,  to  bite  the  beasts  r  per  qual  cagione  non  dehhe  Chrisio 
haver  i  suoi  per  mordere  le  bestie  ?  Who  does  not  know  that  heretics  in 
the  Scripture  are  called  beasts  r " 

The  prelate  of  the  Minors,  who  evidently  delights  more  in  his  me- 
taphorical dog's  teeth  than  in  his  crozier,  proceeds  to  mangle  the  repu- 
tation of  Fra  Girolamo  after  this  fashion  :  "  Behold,  then,  this  doctrine 
of  Fra  Girolamo !  I  pronounce  this  doctrine  to  be  presumptuous  and 
insolent,  inquisitive,  erroneous  and  lying,  variable  and  contradictory 
with  itself,  sophistical  and  adulatory,  audacious,  temerarious  and  con- 
tumelious, obstinate  and  contentious,  scandalous  and  pernicious." 

Several  other  adjectives,  equally  alarming  to  pious  ears,  are  poured 
forth  by  the  prelate  of  the  Minors,  which  we  dispense  with  citing. 

The  "  Biblioteca  dell'  Eloquenza  Italiana  par  Fontanini  con  le  anno- 
tazioni  del  Signore  Apostole  Zeno,"  (4to.  Ven.  1753),  extols  the  learn- 
ing and  other  great  qualities  of  this  vituperative  prelate. 

Moreri  states  that  this  prelate  was  born  in  Vienna  about  1482 — was 
a  professor  of  law,  and  took  the  Dominican  habit  in  Florence.  (This 
must  have  been  after  Savonarola's  death.)  He  quarrelled  with  the  Domi- 
nicans, went  to  Rome,  abandoned  his  order,  and  obtained  a  bishopric  of 
another  institute.  He  assisted  at  the  council  of  Trent,  He  wrote  ve- 
hemently against  the  Cardinal  Cajetan,  Domingo  Soto,  and  Luther,  as 
well  as  Savonarola.    He  died  in  1552,  aged  70  years. 

Padre  Martino  Delrio,  a  Jesuit  of  some  celebrity,  in  his  Treatise  on 
Magic,  adopting  all  the  calumnies  of  former  writers  against  Savonarola, 
thus  sj^eaks  of  the  reforming  friar  of  Ferrara  : — 

"  In  my  opinion,  it  is  in  vain  that  some  persons  attempt  to  defend 
the  revelations  of  Girolamo  Savonarola,  which  were  condemned  by  the 
Apostolic  tribunal.  Many  things  were  predicted  by  this  man  in  regard 
to  the  reformation  of  the  church,  the  conversion  of  the  Moors  and  the 
Turks,  and  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Florentines,  which,  he  said,  his 
hearers  would  witness  before  their  death,  adding  that  these  prophecies 
were  immutable  and  absolute  ;  of  which,  notwithstanding,  scarcely  any 
of  the  things  predicted  came  to  pass,  and  the  greater  part,  within  the 
period  of  the  succeeding  hundred  3'ears,  not  only  did  not  occur,  but' 
things  quite  contrary  to  them  happened. 

"  But,  on  account  of  the  enthusiasm  of  his  adherents,  and  the  odium 


APPENDIX. 


469 


in  which  many  held  Alexander  VI.  and  the  house  of  Medici,  it  came 
to  pass  that  some  historians  inconsiderately  undertook  his  defence,  or 
called  in  question  the  justice  of  the  sentence  which  was  fulminated 
against  him.  In  truth,  thus  as  the  event  showed  that  his  prophecies 
were  false,  so  likewise  his  contumacy  towards  the  general  of  his  order, 
and  his  contempt  of  the  excommunication  of  the  Pontiff,  (which  even 
though  it  were  clearly  unjust,  ought  to  have  been  feared),  and  other 
similar  acts,  are  powerful  arguments,  which  prove  his  arrogance,  his 
obstinacy,  and  diabolical  illusion.  Let  us  read  what  Rafael  Volater- 
rano,  who  evidently  wrote  the  truth,  as  well  as  what  Guicciardini, 
although  somewhat  inclined  to  favour  Savonarola,  published  on  this  sub- 
ject. But  those  who  defend  the  judgment  of  the  Apostolic  See  in  this 
case,  do  not  manifest  more  charity  and  prudence  than  those  who  con- 
tend for  the  honour  of  a  particular  person.  Neither  does  this  take 
away  in  any  degree  from  the  reputation  of  the  most  illustrious  Domi- 
nican religion,  which,  as  a  constellation,  shines  in  the  heavens  of  the 
church  militant,  no  more  than  from  the  purity  of  the  choir  of  the  angels 
does  the  faction  of  Luzbel,  nor  from  glory  of  the  Apostolate  the  per- 
fidy of  Judas."  * 

The  war  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  Dominicans  was  raging  fiercely, 
when  Padre  Delrio,  of  the  society  of  Jesus,  found  an  argument  in  the 
life  and  labours  of  Savonarola,  whereon  to  fix  a  charge  of  arrogance^ 
obstinacy,  and  diabolical  illusion  against  a  member  of  the  rival  order  of 
Dominicans. 

Matthew  Flaccius,  in  his  "  Catalogus  Testium  veritatis,"  (Aug. 
1562),  and  Theodore  Beza  in  his  "  Icones,"  (Genev.  4to.  1580)  both 
with  great  earnestness  contend  for  possession  of  Savonarola's  faith  for 
Protestantism,  and  have  their  claims  sifted  by  Bayle,  and  shewn  to 
be  invalid. 

"  Flaccius  praises  him  particularly,  because  he  thinks  the  friar  denied 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  administrated  the  Lord's  Supper  under 
the  two  species.  As  to  the  first,  he  did  not  always  think  so  ;  in  speak- 
ing of  the  chalice  in  two  striking  passages,  (Triumphus  Crucis,  iii.  16, 
ii.  10),  he  mentions  that  he  only  administered  the  sacrament  under  one 
form,  which  is  quite  consistent,  and  agrees  with  the  maxim  of  St. 
Thomas ;  that  the  more  perfect  manner  is  only  meant  for  the  priest- 
hood." f 

John  Poggius,  a  cotemporary  of  Savonarola,  wrote  a  work  which  he 
published  at  Rome,  against  the  friar,  which  Bayle  refers  to  as  afford- 
ing proofs  that  are  adduced  in  a  later  work  of  Vauprivas,  of  Savona- 
rola's guilt  of  innumerable  crimes.  "  John  Poggius,  after  having 
refuted  the  reasons  of  Savonarola,  and  exhorted  him  to  return  to  obe- 
dience to  the  Pope,  proves  him  to  be  an  infidel,  an  infamous  apostate, 
a  seditious  man,  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace  and  happiness,  a 
schismatic,  a  rebel  to  the  supreme  bishop,  and  therefore  justly  ex- 
communicated. "| 

*  Delrio,  Disquisitio  Mag.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  1,  sec.  vi.    f  Dr.  Hafe,  Neue  Propheten. 
%  Bayle,  Art.  Savon,  vol.  v.  p,  61. 


470 


APPENDIX. 


"  A  person  (says  Bayle)  named  John  Poggiiis,  wrote  a  treatise, 
Avhich  was  printed  at  Rome,  containing  thirteen  chapters  in  all,  which, 
addressing  his  speech  to  Savonarola  himself,  after  having  proved  his 
predictions  to  be  false,  particularly,  for  that  having  sent  his  cap  to 
Charles  Strozzi,  when  upon  his  death-bed,  and  foretold  that  he  should 
be  instantly  and  thoroughly  cured  by  putting  it  on,  the  said  Strozzi 
had  no  sooner  touched  it,  but  he  gave  up  the  ghost ;  and,  in  the  like 
manner,  having  sent  it  to  a  goldsmith  called  Cosmo,  and  to  several 
other  sick  persons  for  the  same  purpose,  viz.,  of  a  cure,  foretold  and 
promised,  they  all  of  them  died  in  a  very  small  time  ;  and,  likewise, 
for  that  he  had  publicly  affirmed,  that  John  Picus  of  Mirandola  would 
recover  of  the  illness,  of  which  he  died,  two  days  after  that  prediction. 
I  say,  the  said  John  Poggius,  after  having  confuted  the  reasons  of  Sa- 
vonarola, and  exhorted  him  to  return  under  the  obedience  of  the  Pope, 
proves  him  to  be  an  infidel,  an  infamous  apostate,  a  seditious  man,  a 
disturber  of  the  public  peace  and  happiness,  a  schismatic,  a  rebel  to 
the  supreme  bishop,  and  therefore  justly  excommunicated.  Read  also 
this  other  passage  : — 

"  Quam  ille  multa  de  Ecclesise  reformatione,  de  Turcarum  et  Mau- 
rorum  conversione,  de  Florentinorum  faelicitate,  qute  mox  ad  implenda 
et  astantium  multi  erant  visari  antequam  moreretur  praedixit }  addens 
(in  revelationum  compendio)  illas  absolutas  et  immutabiles  Prophe- 
tias  esse  ?  Attamen  nihil  horum  fere  adhuc  contigit,  pleraque  omnise 
intra  centum  ferme  annos  contraria  contigerunt. 

Martin  del  Rio  reproaches  him  in  these  words,  with  having  fore- 
told absolutely,  and  without  condition,  three  or  four  things  as  immu- 
table and  near  events,  the  reverse  of  which  had  happened  before  the 
revolution  of  a  century.  He  had  foretold  the  conversion  of  the  Moors 
and  Turks,  and  the  felicity  of  Florence,  that  is  to  say,  according  to  the 
principles  of  democracy.  But,  so  far  were  the  Florentines  from  reco- 
vering that  government,  that  they  fell  under  a  monarchical  one. 

"  He  seemed  to  be  so  firmly  persuaded  of  the  certainty  of  his  pre- 
dictions, and  had  so  rivetted  that  persuasion  in  the  monks  of  his  con- 
vent, that  he  and  they  consented  to  verify  by  the  test  of  fire  the  fol- 
lowing positions  : — 

"  1.  The  Church  of  God  wants  reformation. 

"  2.  It  shall  be  scourged. 

"  3.  It  shall  be  renewed. 

"  4.  Florence  shall  be  so  too,  after  having  been  scourged. 
"  5.  There  shall  be  hopes  after  that,  and  the  infidels  shall  be  con- 
verted to  Jesus  Christ. 

"  6.  All  these  things  shall  happen  in  our  days. 

"  7.  The  excommunication  of  Friar  Jerome  is  void,  those  who  pay 
no  regard  to  it  do  not  sin. 

"  He  affirmed,  that  he  had  such  a  distinct  view  of  futurity,  and  was 
so  thoroughly  satisfied  with  the  evidence  of  that  object,  that  it  would 
have  been  as  difficult  for  him  not  to  give  his  assent  thereto,  as  to  deny 


APPENDIX. 


471 


the  first  principles.  It  is  iu  tliis  strain  that  a  person  must  speak,  who 
desires  that  what  he  preaches  up  in  a  prophetical  manner,  should  make 
a  deep  impression  upon  people's  minds  ;  but  the  return  from  this  voy- 
age is  somewhat  dangerous."* 

John  Francis  Buddseus,  in  his  "  Exercitatio  historica  politica  de  Ar- 
tibus  tyrannicis,  Hier.  Sav.  (Jenae.  1690).  Retractatio  dissertationis 
de  Artibus  tyrann.  Hier.  Sav.  in  Parerga,  Hist.  Theol."  (Halae.  1703), 
is  only  surpassed  by  Bayle  in  the  rancour  of  his  animosity  to  Savon- 
arola. He  set  up  the  falsified  process,  in  the  case  of  the  Dominicans, 
against  the  testimonies  of  Guicciardini  and  other  eminent  cotempo- 
rar}'  historians. 

Bayle,  in  his  Critical  Dictionary  (article,  Savonarola),!  has  collected 
with  great  industry  every  unfavourable  notice  that  he  could  find  of  the 
friur,  in  any  work  that  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  dispensing  with  his 
customary  critical  fastidiousness,  in  availing  himself  of  materials  for 
his  notices.  Th^-e  is  nothing  so  manifestly  unfair  and  unjust  in  the 
whole  work  of  Bayle,  as  his  critique  on  Savonarola. 

And  I  am  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  fact,  except  on  the  supposition, 
that  Bayle  had  a  profound  contempt  for  a  man  of  the  most  exalted 
genius  like  Savonarola,  having  a  strong  conviction  of  the  truths  of  the 
Christian  religion. 

Bayle  bemg  a  man  unquestionably  of  great  genius  himself,  was  un- 
willing to  believe  that  any  other  person,  equally  gifted,  could  be  a  true 
Christian,  and,  what  was  worse,  a  Roman  Catholic,  believing  all  the 
doctrines  of  his  church,  and  finding  fault  with  nothing  in  it,  but  its 
abuses. 

"  Bayle  has  collected  together,"  says  Dr.  Hafe,  "  all  the  evidence^ 
which  makes  Savonarola  appear  as  a  false  prophet,  and  concludes  that 
he  only  used  religion  to  gain  his  ow^n  ambitious  ends,  and  was  there- 
fore not  unjustly  condemned.  And  yet,  previous  to  this  article  of  his 
in  the  '  Critical  Dictionary,'  he  gives  an  exposition  of  the  fluctuations 
of  Protestant  judgment  in  respect  to  Savonarola  as  represented  by 
Buddeus,  who,  in  the  ornate  style  of  his  heterogeneous  learning,  be- 
coming only  in  a  school-boy,  and  without  any  real  historical  study, 
denounced  the  friar  as  an  ambitious  demagogue,  but  when  more  ma- 
turely educated  he  refuted  himself."' 

The  learned  Father  Feyjoo,  in  his  "  Teatro  Critico  Universal,  O 
Discursos  varios  et  para  Desengano  de  Errores  Dommunes,";]:  and  also 
in  his  "  Cartas  Euditas  y  Curiosa,"§  assails  the  character  of  Savonarola 
j^nd  his  advocates  in  a  spirit  of  rancorous  hostility,  but  with  an  appa- 

*  Bayle's  Dictionary,  vol.  v.  p.  61. 

t  In  this  instance,  I  have  departed  from  the  course  I  have  followed  throughout  this 
work,  with  very  few  and  unimportant  exceptions,  namely,  quoting  from  the  originals 
of  the  works  I  have  referred  to.  Not  having  Bayle's  work  iu  the  original  at  hand, 
I  have  used  DeslMaizeaux,  2nd  edition,  fol.  Lon.  1738. 

+  Teatro  Critici,  Ito.  Mad.  1778,  vol.  i. ;  Disc.  Imo.  Sec.  iv.  p.  8,  et  vol.  iii :  Prol. 
pol.  Sec.  vi.  10,  1, 
§  Cartas  Euditas  4to.  Mad.  1750,  vol.  iii.  carta  xii.  p.  153. 


412 


APPENDIX. 


rent  critical  acumen  and  coolness  of  judument  that  conceals  the  strong 
prepossessions  and  prejudices  of  a  rationalist  philosophy,  verging  on 
indifferentism  in  matters  of  religious  belief,  which  characterize  in  style 
and  spirit  the  strictures  of  Bayle  on  Fra  Girolamo. 

Barsanti  availed  himself  of  a  diary  of  a  cotemporary  and  most  ardent 
admirer  of  Savonarola,  Lorenzo  Violi,  a  Florentine,  who  was  in  the 
habit  of  attending  the  sermons  of  Fra  Girolamo,  of  taking  with  infinite 
pains  accurate  notes  of  them,  of  making  reports  of  the  same,  and  giving 
them  to  the  press  during  the  life-time  of  Fra  Girolamo,  and  therefore, 
it  is  to  be  presumed,  with  his  correction  of  the  reports.* 

Lorenzo  Viole  says  that  one  Giovanni  Berlingheri  had  the  original 
autograph,  examination,  and  statements  of  Fra  Girolamo  in  his  pos- 
session, and  there  saw  it  in  print,  and  on  comparing  it  with  the  printed 

copies,  he  declared  "  they  differed  as  much  as  day  and  night."  

"  The  truth  was  not  M'ritten  in  these  documents,"  &.c. 

The  "  Venerable  Father  Barsanti"  wrote  the  "  Stqfia  del  Padre  Gi- 
rolamo Savonarola,  O.S.D."  (Livorno  1782),  and  defended  the  memory 
of  the  father  with  great  zeal  and  success.  The  biography  is  inserted 
in  the  "  Memorise  Istoriche  Litterati.*' 

Touron,  in  his  ''Histoire  des  Hommes  Illustre  de  I'Ordre  de  St. 
Dominique,"  (Par.  4to.  1743,  tome  xxiii.  liv.  23)  gives  a  memoir  of  Sa- 
vonarola, extending  to  eighty  pages,  written  in  defence  of  the  doctrines 
and  labours  of  the  renowned  monk  of  his  order,  but  without  any  criti- 
cal acumen  or  research. 

The  Dominican  father,  Guglio  Bartoli,  wrote  the  "  Apologia  del 
Padre  G.  Savonarola,  O.S.D.  Dedicata  al  granduca  Pietro  Leopold©." 
(Firen.  1782.) 

His  views  may  be  comprehended  from  the  following  passage  :  "  We 
do  not  say  behold  a  martyr  and  a  hero  worthy  of  an  Apotheosis  !  but 
behold  a  man  of  pure  and  spotless  faith,  of  a  zeal  innocent  yet  capable 
of  opposing  to  great  evils  great  remedies,  a  man  of  great  genius  and  of 
spotless  morals." 

Mirandola  refers  to  a  work  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  in  any 
library  :  "  liesponsioni  Del  Pad.  P.  da  Fuecchio  dei  ordini  di  Frati 
Minori  (Franciscani)  alii  conclusioni  di  Fra  Leonardi  del  ordini  di  San 
Augustino  Contra  il  Revd.  Padre  Savonarola,"  19  pages. 

Tiraboschi,  in  his  "  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,"  (8vo.  Firen. 
1813),  treats  extensively  of  the  wonderful  eloquence  and  excellent  doc- 
trine of  Savonarola.  He  enters  at  large  into  the  subject  of  Savonarola's 
attendance  at  the  death  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  adopting  Politian's  re- 
lation of  that  scene  as  being  the  most  favourable  to  Lorenzo. 

Mr.  Roscoe,  in  his  "  Life  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  called  the  Magnifi- 
cent," (9th  Ed.  Bohn,  12mo.  1847)  has  taken  a  very  unfavourable  view 
of  the  character  and  conduct  of  Savonarola,  a  matter  to  be  most  deeply 
regretted  by  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  distinguished  literary  at- 
taiunients  and  capabilities  of  that  eminent  author.  The  fact  is,  Mr. 
*  Maichese  Avvcrtimcnto  alia  Pocma  "  Cedrus  Libani." 


ArrKNDix. 


473 


Roscoe  knew  nothing  of  Savonarola  except  through  the  writings  of  the 
partizans  and  adlierents  of  the  Medici. 

He  did  not  deem  it  necessary,  in  treating  of  the  life  of  Lorenzo,  to 
enter  into  the  subject  of  Savonarola's  history,  except  in  the  most  cur- 
sory manner.  Nor  indeed  was  it  necessary  for  the  author  of  Lorenzo's 
biography  to  do  more  ;  but  in  doing  even  so  much,  it  would  have  been 
well  for  Savonarola's  memory  if  Mr.  Roscoe  had  made  himself  ac- 
quainted with  the  writings  of  that  friar  and  the  works  of  his  biographers, 
for  had  he  done  so,  most  assuredly  he  never  would  have  represented  Sa- 
vonarola as  a  wretched  fanatic  and  an  arrant  impostor. 

"  Truth  fears  nothing,"  says  Dr.  O'Connor,  "  so  much  as  the  supine- 
ness  of  those  who  will  not  take  the  trouble  of  minute  examination. 
*  Nonnulli,  taedio  veritatis  investigandae,  cuilibet  opinioni  potius  ignavi 
succumbunt,  quam  exploranda  veritate  pertinaci  diligentia  perseverare 
volunt,'  says  Minutius  Faelix. 

"  Acknowledging  the  superior  abilities  of  Mr.  Roscoe,  of  Liverpool, 
reluctantly  do  I  venture  to  ap:)ly  this  passage  to  his  account  of  the 
exemplary  Dominican,  whose  fate  I  have  described  and  deplore.  For 
Mr.  Roscoe's  talents,  and  for  his  public  and  private  virtues,  I,  in  com- 
mon with  thousands,  entertain  the  most  sincere  respect ;  but  he  will 
allow  me  to  say  that  in  his  account  of  Savonarola  he  has  been  misled 
by  Nardi,  of  whom  Giannotti  complains  to  Yarchi  that  his  commenta- 
ries are  a  heap  of  falsehoods.  Even  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  though  stung 
by  the  opposition  of  Savonarola,  acknowledged  that  he  acted  from  sin- 
cerity of  heart,  and  sent  for  him  to  attend  him  on  his  death  bed."* 

Audin  de  Rians,  a  distinguished  man  of  letters  of  Florence,  pub- 
lished, in  1847,  a  beautiful  edition  in  8vo.  of  the  poems  of  Savonarola, 
a  summary  of  his  life,  his  treatise  on  government,  "  Trattato  circa  il 
regimento  e  goberno  della  citta  di  Firenza,"  collated  and  edited  with 
great  care. 

In  the  admirable  work  of  Massimo  D'Azeglio,  entitled,  Nicolo  de 
Lapi  ovvero,  I  Palleschi  e  I  Piagnone,  (Firenza,  12mo,  1845),  we  find 
some  account  of  the  faithful  friends,  followers  of  Savonarola,  and 
their  fortunes  after  his  death,  especially  of  such  of  them  as  lived  to 
witness  and  to  share  in  the  horrors  of  the  siege  of  Florence,  in  1529 
and  1530. 

The  "  Histoire  de  Savonarola,"'  par  Mons.  Piget  Carle,  Docteur  en 
Theologie  (8vo.  Par.),  is  a  popular  biography,  written  by  an  amiable 
man,  enamoured  of  his  subject,  and  acquainted  only  with  the  writings 
of  the  advocates  of  Fra  Girolamo. 

The  ^sthetique  de  Savonarola,"  par  Mons.  E.  Cartier,  de  la  societe 
Royale  des  Antiquaris,  is  an  admirable  treatise  envisagent  Savonarola 
as  a  reformer  in  art.  It  was  first  published  in  the  "  Annales  Arche- 
ologiques,"  in  1847. 

"  La  Poesie  Chretienne,  dans  I'Art,"  par  Mons.  A.  F.  Rio  (8vo. 
Par.  1836),  contains  a  very  elaborate  notice  of  Savonarola's  efforts 
to  banish  paganism  from  art,  education,  and  religion  that  exists. 
*  Colurabanus,  No. VII.  Rev.  C.  O'Connor,  D.D. 


474 


APPENDIX. 


A  recent  German  work  of  great  merit, — Neue  Propheten — Drei  His- 
torisch — Politiche  Kirchenhilder, — by  Dr.  Karle  Hafe,  Professor  of  the 
University  of  Jena,  (Leipsig,  1851,  12mo.),  among  the  "New  Pro- 
phets" of  whom  it  treats,  has  Savonarola,  and  dedicates  a  large  por- 
tion of  his  work  to  the  examination  of  his  character,  his  writings,  and 
the  proceedings  which  terminated  in  his  death.  This  examination  is 
made  with  remarkable  ability,  with  critical  acumen,  and  accuracy  of 
observation,  that  has  not  been  surpassed  by  Bayle  in  his  notice  of  Sa- 
vonarola, nor  equalled,  perhaps,  by  any  other  writers  who  have  treated 
of  him.  But  Dr.  Hafe,  who  never  lets  his  judgment  be  biassed  by 
prejudices  of  any  kind,  except  those  of  a  Lutheran  Doctor  of  Divinity, 
abandons  all  critical  acumen  when  the  claims  of  the  reformation  to 
Savonarola  are  under  consideration.  Fra  Girolamo  is,  therefore,  with 
Dr.  Hafe,  "  The  last  Prophet  of  the  Reformation."! 

We,  therefore,  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  Savonarola,  the  "  last 
Prophet  of  the  Reformation,"  associated  in  this  Lutheran  doctor's 
work  with  the  first  martyr  of  the  Reformation,  John  Huss. 

Several  other  German  biographies,  and  critical  notices  of  the  life  of 
Savonarola,  have  been  published  within  the  last  fifteen  or  eighteen 
years. 

Batesden  collected  the  principal  works  of  Savonarola,  and  published 
them  at  Leyden,  in  6  vols.  12mo.,  in  1633. 

This  collection  in  part  was  re-published  in  London,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  biography  of  Fra  Girolamo,  by  Mirandola,  in  1681. 

Lastly,  I  have  to  notice  "  The  Life  and  Times  of  Savonarola,"  (8vo. 
Lon.  1843).  This  biography  is  the  only  original  one  of  Savonarola 
that  has  been  given  to  the  English  public  to  the  present  time. 

This  work  required  research.  It  contains  a  large  amount  of  in- 
formation, and  has  been  brought  out  in  an  unpretending  form,  and  at 
a  very  small  price. 

At  the  present  time,  eminent  men  of  letters  are  occupied  with  the 
life  and  labours  of  Savonarola  in  several  parts  of  the  world  :  in  Flo- 
rence, Signore  Pasquale  Vilari ;  in  Alexandria,  in  Piedmont,  Signore 
F.  B.  Aquarone,  Professor  in  the  Collegio  Nazionale  ;  in  Mont  Pel- 
lier,  a  Professor  named  De  Vens  ;  and,  finally,  II  Padre  Marchese,  in 
his  new  work,  entitled,  "  San  Marco  lUustrato,"  and  where,  in  the 
second  book,  the  career  of  Savonarola  occupies  two-thirds  of  \  the 
volume. 


*  Neue  Proplieten,  p.  144. 


No.  11. 


THE  WORKS  OF  SAVONAROLA. 


De  Rians,  in  his  notice  of  the  works  of  Savonarola,  observes  justly, 
that  many  treatises  of  Savonarola  figure  in  the  catalogues  of  booksellers 
with  erroneous  indications  of  their  subjects,  and  still  more  so  of  the 
dates  of  publication,  and  yet  are  found  more  frequently  erroneous  than 
in  all  other  matters,  in  the  dates  of  composition,  for  which  the  dates  of 
publication  are  frequently  set  down.  Moreover,  in  almost  all  the  pub- 
lished lists  of  Savonarola's  writings,  fragments  of  his  treatises,  bearing 
on  particular  subjects,  are  inserted  as  complete  treatises,  so  that  the 
same  pieces  are  often  found  repeated  in  catalogues.  As  far  as  De 
Rians'  catalogue  goes,  it  is  the  most  correct  that  ever  has  appeared, 
but  it  is  not  made  so  much  for  ordinary  literary  purposes  as  for  the 
use  of  adepts  in  bibliography. 

Moreover,  it  rejects  all  editions  but  original  ones,  printed  in  Flo- 
rence, which  have  come  to  his  knowledge,  and  consequently  his  cata- 
logue is  very  incomplete  ;  as  many  pieces,  letters,  tracts,  and  the  shorter 
of  Savonarola's  compositions,  are  only  to  be  found  in  the  two  principal 
biographies  by  Mirandola  and  Burlamacchi. 

I  have  spared  no  pains  to  render  the  present  list  as  complete  as  it 
can  be  made.  Without  possessing  the  principal  works  of  Savonarola, 
I  could  not  have  accomplished  this  task.  I  have  not  encumbered  this 
notice  with  a  statement  of  the  different  editions  known  to  exist  of  the 
several  treatises.  I  have  given  the  earliest  edition  of  each  work  that  I 
happen  to  have  met  with,  to  know  of,  or  which  I  have  found  cited  by 
biographers  of  Savonarola,  whose  works  are  esteemed. 

Several  catalogues  of  the  works  of  Savonarola  have  been  given  by 
the  biographers  of  Fra  Girolamo,  by  Cave,  Quetif,  Wharton,  and  De 
Rians.  Most  of  these  authors  have  divided  them  into  numerous  classes. 
Pico  de  Mirandola  into  several,  such  as  ascetic,  dogmatic,  polemical, 
apologetic,  prophetic,  parenetic,  &c.  This  arrangement  serves  only 
to  confuse  inquiry.  The  English  biographer  has  arranged  the  works 
in  their  chronological  order.  De  Rians  has  placed  them  in  the  order  of 
his  examination  of  the  original  editions  and  manuscripts  known  to  him 
in  various  Florentine  libraries. 

After  various  experimental  arrangements,  it  seemed  to  me  the  best 
course  would  be  a  modification  of  the  preceding  methods,  making  a 
division  of  them  into  four  classes  : — 


476 


APPENDIX. 


1.  Miscellancoas  Prose  Treatises  —  Tracts,  Expositions,  Medita- 
tions, Dialogues. 

2.  Epistles. 

3.  Sermons  and  Exhortations. 

4.  Spiritual  Songs  and  Lyrics — Laude. 

[Tb  such  of  the  following  works  of  Savonarola  as  are  in  my  possession,  I 
have  prefixed  an  asterisk. ~\ 

Class  I. — Miscellaneous  Treatises. 
Triumphus  crucis  gloriosus ;  Sive  de  veritate  Fidei  Libri  quatuor  : 
sine  nota  anni  loci  aut  typog.  Ed.  4to.  Lat.  et  Ital.  Trionfo  delle 
Croce.  L'autore  stesso  il  fece  volgare  dopo  averlo  scritto  inlatina, 
in  1495,  1496. 

*  De  Simplicitate  Vitae  Christianee,  Libri  5,  Ven.  12mo.  1532.  Tra- 

dotti  in  volgare  da  Hieronimo  Benevieni. 

*  Expositio  In  Orationem  Dominicam  Quadruplex.  Berthold.  Ascensii, 

16mo.  1510.  Tradotto  in  Volgare — Exposizione  Sopra  il  Pater- 
noster compuesto  in  latino  da  un  suo  amico  ;  Fir.  1494.  Sc.  in 
1494. 

De  divisione  omnium  Scientiarum  Ugolino  Verino  Florentino,  Hier 
Savonarole  Ferrar.  Ord.  Pred.  .  .  .  Necnon  Apologeticus  de  ratione 
Poetice  artis.  Vide  de  Rians  Bibliografia. 
This  work  exists  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  under  the 
title  of  Opus  de  divisiones  ordine  et  utilitate  omnium  scientiarum, 
necnon  poesis  ratione,  Libri  IV.  lib.  iv.  agit  de  re  poetica.  In  black  let- 
ter, without  date  or  name  of  publisher. 

Compendium  Totius  philosophise  tam  naturalis  quam  moralis,  Libris 
XV.  Ven.  8vo.  1542.    Vide  Vit.  Sav.  par  J.  F.  Pico  de  Miran- 
dola,  tom.  i.  page  19. 
Cave  describes  this  work  as  "  Margarita  Philosophise  Sen  rationalis 

et  Moralis  Philosophise  principia  ab  Orontio  Finseo  aucta  et  Castigata ; 

Basle  1535,  4to."    See  note  for  important  matter. 

Compendium  Logicse,  Lib.  primus.  Flor.  4to.  1492;  Lib.  secundus. 
1497. 

*  Eruditorium  Confessorum  Ascensio,  16mo.  1510. 
Dialogus.    De  veritate  Prophetica,  Flor.  4to.  1497. 

 Solatium  Itineris  mei.  Lib.  VII. ;  Gen.  8vo.  1536  ;  Ven.  16mo. 

1537.    In  Italiano,  Ven.  8vo.  1547,  1556. 
The  only  copy  of  this  work  I  have  seen,  I  found  in  the  library  of 
the  Court  of  Cassation,  in  Paris,  in  a  small  vol.  12mo.,  containing  se- 
veral treatises  of  Savonarola.  The  "  SoUatium  Itineris"  is  thus  headed  : 
Dialogus,  Interloquotores  Spiritus  et  Animi. 

Elenchus  Librorum  hujus  Dialogi :  Lib.  1.  De  Deo.  2.  De  veritate 
fidei.  3.  De.Messia  contra  Haebreos.  4.  De  articules  Fidei 
Contra  Philosophos.  5.  De  veritate  Articulorum  Fidei  per  rationes 
probabiles  et  de  convenientia  Sacramentorum.  6.  De  vita  futura, 
de  poenis  malorum  et  gloria  bonorum.   7.  De  vita  Patriae  Cselestis. 


APPENDIX. 


477 


Tractate  Contra  li  Astrologi,  Imo.  Ed. 

 2ndo.  L'Astrologia  Divinatrice  ;  Firenze,  1495,  4to.  (64  pages). 

*  Compendio  di  Revelazioni ;  Firenze,  1495,  4to.  ;  in  Latin,  Com- 
pendium Revelationum  ;  Florent.  Ricorrecta,  the  5th  Sept.  1495 
(106  pages). 

 Delia  Grandezza  della  Amore  de  Jesu  Christo  (18  pages),  in- 
cluded in  an  8vo.  vol.  of  the  writings  of  Savonarola,  in  the  library 
of  the  Earl  of  Charlemont.  No  title  specifying  date  and  place  of 
publication. 

 Contemplationes  sopra  diverse  passione  de  Jesu  infino  alia  croce 

(20  pages),  lb. 

Trattato  della  Revelazione  della  Reformatione  della  Chiesa  ;  Yen.  8vo. 
1536. 

 della  Provocatione  di  Dio  alia  Renovazione  della  Chiesa  ;  Yen. 

4to.  1517. 

 della  Contemplazione   ciro  Jesu  gia  elevato  in  aria  suUa  croce  ; 

Yen.  8vo. 

 Della  Umilta;  Fir.  4to.  1495  ;  Sc.  in  1492. 

 Delia  Orazione  mentale  ;  Fir.  4to  1492  ;  Sc.  in  1492. 

 Dell  'Amore  de  Jesu  Christo  ;  Fir.  4to.  1492  ;  Sc.  in  1492. 

 Secondo  dell  Orazione  ;  Fir.  4to.  1495. 

 Sopra  la  vita  vedovile  ;  Fir.  4to.  1495  ;  Sc.  in  1495. 

 Dell  misterio  della  croce;  Fir.  4to.  1495.    See  note. 

Tractatus  De  vitae  Spirituale  Perfectione,  ad  septem  illius  gradus  a 

S.  Bonaventura  distinctos  ;  Fir.  4to.  1497  ;  Sc.  in  1497. 
Tradotto  in  Yolgare  da  Fileppo  Cinioni ;  Yen.  1538, 
Trattato  Del  Sacramento  de  Misterii  della  messa  e  regola  utile  ;  Fir. 

4to.  1495. 

Tractatus  graduum  ascendendi  ad  perfectionem  vitae  Spiritualis,  1497 
scriptus  ;  Flor.  4to.  1497. 
There  is  a  wood-cut  representing  a  ladder  placed  against  a  cross, 
with  certain  words  between  the  steps,  intended,  I  think,  to  illustrate 
this  tract,  but  bound  up  with  another  in  a  volume  of  Savonarola's  tracts 
in  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

Lamentatio  sponsi  Christi,  Adversus  tepidos  et  pseudo  predicatores 
sive  Exhortatio  ad  Fideles  :  up  precenter  Dominum,  Pro  Renova- 
tione  Eccelsise,  Anno  domino  1497  ;*  Flor.  4to.  1497  ;  Sc.  in  1497. 

Discorso.  Loqui  Prohibeor  et  tacere  non  possum  ;  In  Bib.  Con.  Bou- 
terlin  Fir.  Sc.  in  1497. 

 Del  discreto  e  conveniente  modo  di  far  Orazione,  ai  suoi  Frati  ; 

Firenze,  1497,  4to  ;  Sc.  in  1497. 

 Del  adoperarsi  in  Carita  secondo  la  Divina  Disposizione,  ai  suoi 

Frati ;  Firenze,  1497,  4to. ;  Sc.  in  1497. 

*  Meir,  a  German  critic,  has  discovered  in  a  private  library  in  Florence  of  Count 
Bouteiiin,  a  manuscript  copy  of  Savonarola's  treatise,  "  Loqui  prohibeor  et  tacere 
non  possum/'  not  to  be  found  in  the  collections  of  Quetif,  or  the  biography  of  Bur- 
lamacchi. 


478  APPENDIX. 

*  Meditatio  in  Psalraum  Miserere  mei  Deus,  &c. ;  Yen.  16mo.  1548. 

In  Italiano,  Expositione  sopra  il  psalmo  Misere  mei  Deus,  &c. 

(scritta  quando  era  in  prigione  nel  mese  de  Maggio,  1498)  tradotto 

de  Latino  in  volgare  ad  istanza  di  certe  devoti  donne ;  Fir.  4to. 
*  in  Psalmum  XXX.  In  te  Domine  Speravi,  (J'C.  (scripta  in  carcere 

1498)  ;  Yen.  16mo.  1518. 
Orazione  clie  fece  a  di  de  XXIII.  de  Maggio  1498  (quando  era  in 

carcere  ultima  di  del  ^ita  sua). 

*  Oratio  in  articulo  mortis  (20  lines),  included  in  a  vol.  of  sermons, 

16mo.  1510. 

*  Operetta  moUo  utile  sopra  i  dieci  commandamenti  di  dio  ;  Fir.  4to. 

1495  ;  Sc.  in  1495. — Diricta  alia  madonna  o  vera  Badessa  de 
monasterio  di  murale  in  Firen.  (58  pages.) 

*  Psalmus  Sen  Oratio  devotissimo  "  Diligam  te  Domine,"  &c.  ;  Yen. 

16mo.  1517;  Sc.  in  1495. 

*  Discorso  circa  el  regimento  e  governo  degli  stati  e  specialmente  sopra 

il  governo  della  citta  di  Firenza  ;  Sc.  in  1494  ;  Londra  4to.  1765  ; 
Fir.  1497  ;  Ed.  opt.  8vo.  Flor.  1847,  par  Audin  de  Rians. 

*  Conclusiones  patris  dominici  Hieronymi  per  eum  predicati  :  1.  Ec- 

clesia  Dei  indiget  renovatione.     2.  Flagellabitur,  Renovabitur. 

3.  Florentiam  que  post  flagellam  renovabitur  et  prosperabitur. 

4.  Infideles  Convertentur  ad  Christum  ut  patet  anno  Christo  1534, 
septem  milia  baptisati  in  Granata.  5.  Haec  omnia  erunt  temporibus 
nostris.  6.  Excommunicatio  nuper  facta  contra  vere  cundum 
patrem  Hieronimum  nulla  est.  7.  Non  observantes  eam  non 
peccant. — Finis. 

The  above  follows  the  Oratio  in  Articulo  Mortis,  and  is  contained  in 
the  vol.  of  sermons,  16mo.  1510. — No  printer's  name,  Sec. 
Meditationes  Diversae  in  aliquot  S.  Scripturae  loca ;  MS.  in  Bib.  ;  Mo- 
leni  in  Flor. 

Expositione  sopra  I'Ave  Maria  ;  Fir.  4to.  ;  Yen.  8vo.  1538. 
^  Meditatio  in  Psalmum  Qui  regis  Israel ;  Yen.  16mo.  1518. 
Expositio  T) cQ?i\og\  Italice  ;  Flor.  4to.  1495. 

  Habacuch  prophetae,  MS.  in  Biblioth.  Xanian.  MS.  Lat.  Cod,  C'l. 

No.  28. 

 super  X  Psalmus  ex  Psalmis  graduum,  MS. 

 brevis  in  librum  Esther,  &;c.  ;  Yen.  1536. 

De  perfectione  status  religiosi ;  Italice.  Flor.  4to.  1495;  vide  Cave, 
Precatio  Dominica;  Lug.  Bat.  16mo.  1633. 

 ex  Psalmis  Davidis  Collecta  pro  remissione  peccatorum,  kc. ; 

Lubeng,  12mo.  1621. 
Regala  X.  Orandi  tribulationis  tempore  ;  Italice,  Yen.  Svo.  1533  ;  vide 

Cave  Hist.  Lit. 

 Bene  Yivendi  ad  suos  discipulos  Italice,  Ibidem. 

Regulse  vivendi  Christiane,  in  carcere  scriptse  1498,  Italicae  conscripta? ; 

Regole  del  ben  vivere  Christiano  ;  Fir.  4to.  1498. 
 YII.  Religiosis  omnibus  observandae  ;  Yen.  16mo.  1537  ;  Italice^ 

lb. 


APPENDIX. 


479 


*  Regulao  QuoDdam  Fructuosissimse  ad  omnes  religiosos  attinentes 
vel  Institiitiones  Monastice  Mortalibus  ad  bene  beataque  vivendum. 
Vel  de  Disciplina  et  Perfections  Monasticse  Conversationis ; 
Brixia,  16mo.  1502. 

Class  II. — Epistles  and  Letters. 

Epistola.     Fratribus  San  Marci  Flor.  quando  predicabat  in  Bononiu 

anno  1492,    Vide  Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand. 
 All  Madonna  Magdalena  Contessa  della  Mirandola  le  quale  voleva 

entrare  nel  Monasterio  de  Santa  Clara,     Vide  Vit.  Sav.  par 

Miraud,  torn.  ii. 

  In  Apologeticum  Fratium  Congregationis   S.    Marci  ejusdem 

ordinis.  Vide  Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand.  torn.  ii.  In  lib.  Lord  Charle- 
mont,  20  pages. 

 Ad  Alexandrium  VL  Die  xx.  Maii,  1497.    In  Lib.  Lord.  Char. 

 Ad  Alexandrium  VL  13  Martis,  1498.  Vide  ib. 

 Ejusdem  ad  idem  de  ignis  peviculo  cum  documentls  et  notis,  42 

page.  Vide  ib. 

Lettera.    Al  nobile  et  egregio  viro  Nicolao  Savonarola  patre  optimo  : 

al  padre  Suo  Nicolo  a  de  25  dAprile,  1745.    Ven.  8vo.  1547.  In 

Miscellanea  Baluzii,  Vita  de  Sav. 
 Al  suoi  diletti  figluoli  in  Christo  Yesu  unit!  nel  Convento  de 

San  Marco  di  Fir.    Ven.  4to.  1547.    In  Vit.  Sav.  par.  Mirand. 
Epistola.    Ad  un  Donna  Bolognese  sopra  la  Communione.    Fir.  4to. 

1491. 

Epistoletta.  Ad  uno  duo  familiare  Inc.  Magnifice  vir.  Parlando  de 
suoi  invitazione  a  penitenza.  In  Bib.  Conte.  Bouterlin  Fir. 
In  MS. 

Epistola.  Ad  Alexandrum  Papam  Sextam,  die  21  Junii,  1495.  inedita. 
 Ad  Regem  Christianissimum  Francorum  data  in  S.  Marco  a  di 

26  Maggio,  1490,  Citata  in  Vit.  Sav.  par  Burlamacchi,  inedita.  Vide 

De  Rians. 

 Al  Convento  de  Frati  Predicatori  a  Fiesule  della  Perfezzione 

edella  Tentazione,  Fir.  4to.  1495. 
 Ad  Amicum  deficientem,  cum  notis  de  Censuris,  104  pag.  Vide 

de  Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand. 
 Ad  lUustrissima  Madonna  G.  Caraffa  Moglia  del  Conte  J.  Pico 

Mirandola. 
 Ludovico  Pillori. 

 Ai  suoi  delette  figliuoliin  Christo  uniti  nel  Convento  di  San 

Marco. 

 El  suoi  frata  del  discreto  e  conveniente  modo  di  far'-orazione. 

 El  fratelli  nel  monasterio  di  S.  Vincentio  in  Firenze,  ea  tutti  le 

altre  suore  e  persone  devote.  Data  in  Fir.  17  Oct.  1497  (10  pages). 
 Ad  laudem  de  Jesu  Christo  e  della  sue  amanti  tradocta  del  Philippo 

Leoni.    In  vol.  of  works  of  Sav.  in  library  of  Lord  Charlemont. 


480 


APPENDIX. 


Epistola.  Fatta  a  la  Congregazione  dei  Frati  di  San  Marco  dal  modo 
di  resistere  alle  tentazione  e  de  pervenire  alia  per  fezzione.  Fir. 
1497,  4to. 

  El  Madalena  Contessa  della  Mirandola  della  perfezzione  dell 

stato  Religiose,  Fir.  4to.  1445. 
 Delle  Sorella  del  terzo  ordine  di  San  Domenico,  della  Lezzione 

spirituale.    Fir.  4to.  1497. 

 Alle  frati  suoi,  della  peste  spirituale.    Fir.  4to.  1497. 

 Al  Pad.  Fra  Pietro  di  Beccuto ;  Del  nan  temere  ne  fuggire  la 

Morte.    Fir.  4to.  1497. 
 A  tuttigli  eletti  di  Dio  e  fedeli  Christiani.     Fir.  1497.  4to.  In 

Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand. 
•  A  certe  persone  devote   persequitate  per  la  verita  da  lui  pre- 

dicata.   Fir.  4to.  1497.    (In  Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand.) 
 A  tutti  li  Christiani  h  diletti  di  Dio.  Fir.  4to.  1497.    (In  Vit.  Sav. 

par  Mirand.) 

 Ad  fratrem  quendam  contra   sententiam  Excommunicationis 

Contra  se  nuper  injuste  latam.  (In  Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand.)  Fir. 
4to.  1497. 

 Ad  uno  amico  vaccilante  per  le  persecuzione.   Fir.  4to.  1497.  (In 

Vit.  Sav.  par  Mirand.) 
 Ad  Alexandnim  Sextum  die  20  Mali,  1497. 

 (Lettera)  A  Madonna  Caterinadi  Sforle.  Sc.  in  1497.  (In  append. 

Vit.  Sav.  par  Burlamacchi  ap.  Miscellanea  Baluzii.) 
 (Copia  d'  una  lettera).  Al  Duca  di  Ferrara  Sc.  in  Agosto,  149/. 

(In  app.  Vit.  Sav.  Ibid.) 
 Alia  Signora  Maria  Angela  Sforza  Duchessa  di  Ferrara  Sc.  in 

1497.    (In  app.  Vit.  Sav.  Ibid.) 
 Al  Sig.  Giov.  Fran.  Pic.  della  Mirandola  al  di  8  di  May,  1497. 

(In  app.  Vit.  Sav.  Ibid.) 
 Al  Medesimo  dapoi  chi  fu  ingiustamente  scommunicato.  Sc. 

in  1497. 

 A  due  Giovanni  Ferrarese.  Sc.  in  1497. 

 A.  M.  Bertrando  Ferrarese  Pronotario  Apostolico.    Sc.  in  1497. 

(In  app.  Vit.  Sav.  par  Burlamacchi.) 

Lettera  Al  Serenissimo  Imperatore  Sc.  in  1497.  (In  app.  Vit.  Sav.  par 
Burlamacchi  app.  Miscellanea  Baluzii  ) 

 Al  Re  e  Regina  de  Espana  Sc.  in  1497.  (Ibid.) 

Epistola  Ad  Alexandrum  Papam  Sextum  die  8  Martii,  1498. 

 Lettere  Ineditse  di  Fra  Ger.  Savonarola,  published  by  the  Padre 

Vincenzo  Marchese,  in  the  Archivio  Storico  Italiano.  Appendix 
No.  25,  issue  o6th,  Flor.  1850.  8vo.  containing  the  following- 
valuable  letters  : — 

Lettera  1  A  Ellena  Buonacorsi  (sua  Madre)  written  from  Pavia,  fest. 
of  St.  Paul's  Conv.  1491. 

 2  A  Fra  Domenico  da  Pescia,  written  from  Flor.  10.  March,  1491. 

 3  Ad  Alberto  Savonarola  fsuo  fratelloj,  date  28th  Oct.  1495. 


APPENDIX. 


481 


Lettera  4  Alia  Madre.  Date  5th  Nov.  1495. 

 5  A  Beatrice  Savonarola  sua  sorella.  3rd  Nov.  1496. 

 6  A I  Conte  Galeotto  Pico  della  Mirandola^  no  date. 

 7  Alio  Stesso.    Date  26th  March  1496. 

 8  A  Madonna  Caraffa  e  Madonna  la  sorella  del  Conte  G.  Fran- 
cesco della  Mirandola.    Date  3rd  April  1497. 

 9  A  Maestro  Alberto  {suo  fratello).  Date  24th  June  1497. 

 10  A  Maestro  Ludovico  Pittorio.    Date  13th  Aug.  1497. 

  11  ^  Maestro  Alberto  (suo  fratello).   Date  Vigil  of  Assumption, 

1497. 

 12  Alii /rati  de  San  Domenico  de  Bologna.    No  date,  but  written 

after  the  25th  Dec.  1497. 
 13  A  sorella  Katarina  suora  del  Monasterio  de  Pistoia.  Date  24th 

Jany.  1495. 

 14  Alia  Stesso.  26th  July  1497. 

These  last  two  letters  are  of  no  interest  or  importance. 

Class  III. — Sermons  and  Exhortations. 

Sermone  mero,  o  lectione  ^  molti  sacerdoti  religiosi  et  Secculari  in 
San  Marco,  25th  Feb.  1409. 

Sermones  XIX  nusquam  ante  hac  impressi.  Rev.  P.  Fra  Hieronymi 
Savonarola  in  primum  D.  Joannis  epistolam  et  in  alia  Sacre 
Scriptore  verba  igniti  eloquii.  12mo.  Ven.  1536.  (Preached  in 
Florence  about  1490,  1491.) 

This  volume  contains  the  following  twenty  sermons  : —  1.  De  Pace 
Superna  civitatis.  2.  De  admiratione  omnium  sanctorum.  3.  De 
celsitudine  verbi  Dei  per  sensum  tactus.  4.  De  Verbo  vitae  seu 
de  vitaeterna.  5.  De  vera  vita  manifestata.  6.  De  eternitate  vitae 
beatse.  7.  De  charitate  puri  cordis.  8.  De  auditu  missae.  9.  De 
compesitione  corporis  et  mentis  in  missa.  10.  De  mysteriis  in 
missa.  1 1.  De  Missa  et  mysteriis  ejus.  12.  De  Excellentia  verbi 
incarnati.  13.  De  loco  ubi  se  collocant  verbum  natum.  14.  De 
gaudiis  Beati  Virginis  Mariae  in  partu.  15.  De  veneratione, 
suavitate  ac  virtute  sacri  nominis  Jesu.  16.  De  fervore  magorum 
atque  perfidia  Judaeorum.  17.  De  virtute  et  potentia  sacri 
nominis  Jesu.  18.  De  Virtute  et  Potentia  sacri  nominis  Jesu, 
de  conditionibus  amoris  Jesu. 

*Prediche  XXV  sopra  il  Salmo,  Quam  bonus  Israel  Deus,  &c., predicate 
in  Firenze,  in  S.  Maria  del  Fiore  in  uno  Advento  del  1493,  del 
medesimo  poi  in  Latina  hngua  raccolte,  e  da  Fra  Girol.  Gianotti 
da  Pistoja  in  lingua  volgare  tradotte.  Ven.  1528.  Preached  at 
Florence  during  Advent,  in  the  church  of  S.  Maria  del  Fiore,  1493. 
Both  of  the  above-mentioned  collections,  making  forty-four  sermons, 

are  published  in  a  recent  edition  entitled  ;  "  Sermoni  e  prediche  di  Fra 

Girolamo  Savonarola  de'  predicatori,  8vo,  Firenza  1846.  Volume  Unico. 

This  volume  was  announced  as  the  first  of  an  intended  series  of  the 

VOL.  I.  II 


APPExXDIX. 


Prediche  of  Fra  Girolamo,  but  the  design  fell  to  the  ground  with  the 
new  reign  of  Liberalism  in  Italy. 

In  1847  the  same  collection — if  not  the  same  volume — appeared  with 
the  same  title,  but  the  date  and  place  of  publication  changed.  Prata 
being  substituted  for  Firenza. 

The  sermons  in  which  the  1st  Epistle  of  St.  John  is  expounded,  the 
editor  states,  in  the  preface,  are  from  the  Italian  edition  of  Venice,  of  1547, 
collated  with  the  Latin  edition  of  1536,  and  with  the  autograph  ma- 
nuscript, in  the  possession  of  Lord  Holland. 

I  have  in  my  possession  a  volume  in  12mo.,  printed  in  Vienna,  con- 
taining these  sermons,  in  Primam  D.  Joannis  Epistolam,  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  and  on  the  title  page  it  is  stated  they  were  never  before 
printed.    "  Nusquam  ante  hac  impressi.''^ 

In  four  of  those  sermons  on  St.  John's  Epistle,  we  find  the  sacrifice  of 
the  mass  described  in  a  manner  the  most  sublime,  and  the  mystery  of  re- 
demptionexpounded  andmade  intelligible  to  all  intellects,  and  its  symbols 
in  the  different  ceremonials  explained  with  wonderful  perspicuity. 

In  three  others,  we  find  the  following  subjects  treated  in  a  manner 
the  most  admirable  : — "  Of  the  veneration  of  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus, 
and  the  sweetness  and  the  virtue  of  it." 

"  Of  the  virtue  and  power  of  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus,  how  Jesus 
is  lost,  how  He  should  be  believed  in,  and  how  He  is  to  be  found." 

"  Of  the  conditions  of  the  love  of  Jesus  Chrst." 

The  last-mentioned  sermons  on  the  Psalm,  "  Quam  Bonus  Israel 
Deus,"  were  preached  in  Latin,  and  were  translated  into  Italian,  it  is 
said  in  the  preface,  by  Fra  Girolamo  Giannatto  da  Pistora,  from  the 
original  Prediche,  published  in  Venice  in  1528. 

Sermones  XLVI.  Quadragesimales  super  Arcam  Noe  ;  Venet.  1536. 

Svo.  pred.  in  1494. 
*23  Prediche  XXIII.  del  Rev.  P.  F.  Hieronymo  Savonarola  delordine 
de  Predicatori  Sopra  alguni  Salmi  et  sopra  Aggeo  Profeta  fatte 
in  Firenze  et  in  S.  Maria  dal  Fiore  del  Mese  di  Novembre  et  De- 
cembre,  1494.    Raccolte  dalla  sua  viva  voce.  Da  frate  Stefano  da 
Co,  di  Ponte  suo  discipulo.    Ven.  1544.    12mo.    Pred.  in  1494. 
[This  volume  containing  the  twenty-three  sermons,  preached  on  the 
occasion  of  the  entry  of  the  French  army,  under  Cliarles  the  Eighth,  into 
Italy,  in  the  author's  possession,  has  the  following  discourses  :] 

1.  Penitentiam  agite.  2.  II  lumen  naturale  non  e  sufiiciente  al  Chris- 
tiano.  3.  Le  bellezza  del  anima,  i  corpi  resuscitati  lucidi  e  chiari. 
4.  La  divina  misericordia,  nell  opera  misma  de  su  justitia.  5.  Quatro 
pani  per  cibo  de  Christiano  :  Simplicita,  de  la  sacra  sciittura,  e  Sacra- 
mcnto-penitentia  et  oracion.  6.  De  I'arca  quelli  chi  son  dentro  e  che 
vi  fuore.  7.  Del  area — e  sopra  il  Salmo  cxiv.  8.  Delia  rinovatione 
della  chiesa  e  sopra  il  salmo  "  Confitemini."  9.  Exposicion  del  Salmo 
— Beatus  vir,  kc.  10.  Chi  ha  del  superfluo,  siate  obligate  dare  a  po- 
veri.  11  II  cattivo  cattadino  figura  da  Balthassar  Re  di  Babilonio. 
12.  II  cielo  solo  incorruptibile.    II  fine  del  Uomo.     13.  Annuntia  la 


APPENDIX. 


483 


renovatione  del  la  chlesa,  Ogni  regno  qiianto  piu  spirituale  tatito  mas 
forte.  14.  Sopra  I'Apocalisse  e  sopra  Aggeo.  15.  Del  governo, 
forma  di  stato,  Pace,  afflittione  di  Firenza  dal  1434.  16.  Che  il  huomo 
appassionate  non  vede  il  vero.  17.  Le  cose  corporale  sujetti  a  cose 
spirituale.  18.  La  felicita  humana  consiste  nella  contemplatione  di 
Dio.  19.  Esposition  de  Salmo  cxlvi.  Laudate  domiiium.  20.  Idem 
Seguita.  La  proprieta  di  Dio  e  di  unire,  e  del  diavalo  de  disunire.  21. 
L'  unione,  il  fondamento  del  reforma  di  una  cella  e  la  volonta  di  Dio. 
22.  Dio  solo  infinito.  II  huomo  il  termine  suo.  La  chiesa  in  peggiore 
stato  che  mai.  23.  Delle  hierarchie.  II  governo  d'un  solo  ottimo 
quando  il  governatore  e  bono  ma  non  convenirsi  in  Italia. 
Prediche  XXX.  sopra  diversi  Salmi  e  molte  altre  notabilissime  materie; 

Firenze,  1496,  4to.  Pred.  in  1495. 
 XLVII.  sopra  Job,  fatte  in  Firenze,  I'anno  1494  [stilo  Romane 

1495],  nuovamente  venute  in  luce.   Con  una  lettera  al  suo  Padre 

quando  entro  nella  religione  ;  Venez.  1545,  8vo.  Pred.  in  1495. 
Predica  in  Junio  1495.    A  Deo  Deus  Mundum  quod  dedit. 
Prediche  XLVII.  sopra  Amos  Profeta  e  sopra  Zaccharea  Profeta,  &c. 

Raccolte  della  viva  voce  da  Lorenzo  Violi ;  Fir.  1497.    Pred.  in 

1496. 

Predica.    Latasbor  Israel. 

 Del  arte  di  bene  morir.    Several  wood-cuts,  one  representing 

three  dead  bodies,  one  of  a  pope  with  the  tiara,  another  of  a  tem- 
poral sovereign  with  his  crown,  and  death  fljing  over  the  world. 
(In  a  volume  of  Savonarola's  works,  in  the  library  of  Lord  Charle- 
mont.) 

*Sermoni  due  fatti  ai  suoi  Frati  nella  vigilia  di  natale  sopra  la  nativity 

del  nostro  Signor  Gesu  Christo  ;  Venez.  1538,  Svo. 
There  is  a  Latin  version  of  this  sermon  "  in  vigilia  nativitatis,"  in- 
a  volume  of  Savonarola's  Sermons  in  my  possession,  printed  in  1510,  in 
16mo.  (no  name  or  place).  This  sermon  was  translated  into  Latin  by 
Bartholomey  Gallus  (Mutilianesis),  and  is  addressed  to  two  English 
professors  of  theology.  Doctor  John  Yong  and  Master  Stephen.  The 
dedication  of  this  translation  to  them  is  dated  from  London,  8th  Octo- 
ber, 1509.  The  valediction  at  the  end  is  very  complimentary  to  these 
*'  vires  venerabilis,"  of  an  unnamed  university  : 

"  Valete  totius  Angliae  eternus  decus." 
Prediche  XXIX.  sopra  Ruth  e  Michea,  fatte  1'  anno  1496,  ne'  giorni 

delle  feste,  finite  che  ebbe  la  Quaresima  ;    Firenze,  1497,  4to  ; 

Venez.  1514,  4to. 
Predica  fatta  la  mattina  dell'  Ascensione  1497.    Raccolta  par  maestro 

Hieron  Cinozzi,  publicata   alia  requisizione  del  Rev.  P.  Frate 

Hieronymo.    Venez.  1541,  Svo. 
Prediche  VIII.  supra  Lament.  Jeremise. 

 Alguni  sopra  il  Cantica  ed  altri  luoghi  della  Sacra  Scrittura. 

Sermone  fatto  a  molti  sacerdoti,  religiosi  e  secolari,  a  San  Marco  a  di 
15  de  Feb.  1498. 


484 


APPENDIX. 


Sermone  (Esortazione)  fatto  al  popolo  a  di  7  d'Aprile,  1498,  nel  quale  si 
tratte  de  fare  I'esperimento  del  fuoco  in  piazza  de  Signori ;  Fi- 
renza,  4to.,  1498;  Ven.  1540,  8vo. 

Prediche  XXII.  sopra  FEsodo  e  sopra  alqiianti  Salmi, fatte  in  S.Maria 
del  Fiore  cominciando  la  domenica  della  Settuagesima  il  di  xi 
di  Febrajo,  1498;  Raccolte  per  Messer  Lorenzo  F/o/z ;  Firenze, 
1498,  4to. 

Class  IV, — Spiritual  Songs  and  Poems. — Laude  e  Canzone. 
Canzona,  De  Ruina  Mundi,  Sc.  in  1472. 

 De  Ruina  Ecclesiee,  Sc.  circa,  1475. 

 Ad  Divam  Katarinam  Bononiensem. 

 Sopra  la  Felicita  di  Fiorenza,  cantata  del  1496. 

 A  Fiorentini,  Sc.  circa  1495. 

Canzonetta  Della  Consolazione  del  Crocifisso. 

Ottave  scritte  da  Savonarola  nel  Proprio  Breviario,  I'anno  1471. 

Lauda,  composta  I'anno  1474. 

 al  Crocifisso  da  Cantarsi  con  Musica  a  tre  voci. 

 per  Infiammare  II  Core  al  Divino  Amore. 

 Jesu  air  Anima. 

 a  S.  Maria  Maddalena  Sc.  dal  Savonarola  nel  Proprio  Breviario. 

 de  S.  Maria  Maddalena  pro  Itirantibus. 

Oratio  Devotissima  ad  Virginem  Mariam. 
Sonetto,  Salve  Regina. 


NOTES. 

Note  1.  Savonarola's  work  "  Compendium  Totius  Philosophiae  tarn 
Naturalis  quam  Moralis,"  lib.  xx.  Ven.  1542,  as  described  by  Miran- 
dola,  is  cited  by  Cave,  under  the  title  of  "  Margarita  Philosophica  seu 
Rationalis  Philosophiae  Principia  ab  O.  Finaeo  aucta,  &c."  Basle,  4to. 
1535. 

Echard,  in  his  great  work  "  Scriptores  Predic."  vol.  i.  p.  890,  in 
the  notice  of  Savonarola's  writings,  cites  the  treatise,  '''Compendium  totius 
Philosophic  tarn  Naturalis  quam  Moralis,''  in  5  books,  printed  in  Venice, 
by  Juntas,  in  8vo.  1542;  afterwards  in  Francfort,  in  8vo.  and  in 
Wittemberg,  1596,  in  8vo. 

Cave  has  fallen  into  a  gross  error,  and  has  probably  confounded 
Savonarola's  Treatise  with  a  very  singular  work  of  another  author,  which 
contains  the  earliest  notice  of  distinct  faculties  of  the  mind  being  seated 
in  particular  organs  in  the  brain,  with  a  rude  woodcut  representing  these 
several  organs  regularly  mapped  out  in  a  phrenological  manner,  that 
work  has  been  ascribed  to  a  Carthusian  monk  of  the  name  of  Reisch. 
This  matter  deserves  the  investigation  of  the  learned.    Strange  to  say, 


appe:^dix. 


485 


the  "  Margarita  Philosophica,  without  an  author's  name,  Sec."  published 
at  Basle,  4to.  1535,  has  been  confounded  with  a  work  of  John  Scotus 
Erigena,  "  De  Divisione  Naturae,"  lib.  v.  edited  by  Gale,  and  published 
at  Oxford,  4to.  1681. 

The  ^vork  ascribed  to  Reisch,  is  entitled  "  Margarita  Philosophica 
Totius  Philosophise  Rationalis  et  Moralis  Principia  Duodecim  libris, 
Dialogis  Complectens.    Friburgi  Johannis  Schottus,  4to.  1503." 

In  the  last  line  we  have  evidently  the  cause  of  the  confusion  which 
has  led  to  the  work  being  ascribed  to  Erigena.  John  Schottus,  the 
printer,  is  mistaken  for  John  Scotus,  the  schoolman  denominated 
Erigena. 

The  name  of  Reisch  is  not  mentioned  at  all  in  this  edition,  either  on 
the  title-page  or  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

There  is  a  later  edition  of  this  work  than  that  printed  in  Basle,  1535 
or  1536,  which  has  been  in  my  possession.  No  author's  name  appears 
in  the  title-page,  but  Brunetin  his  Manuel  du  Libraire  (Ed.  1820)  vol. 
iii.  page  209,  ascribes  the  work  to  Gregorius  Reisch,  Prior  de  Friburg. 

An  edition  in  the  library.  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  bears  the  name 
of  Reisch*  on  the  title  as  its  author,  it  is  entitled  :  "  Margarita  Philo- 
sophica hoc  est  Habituum  Lex  Disciplinarum  omnium  Quotquot  Philo- 
sophiae  Syncerioris  amitu  continentur  perfectissimse  (in  lib.  xii.)  A 
r.  Gregorio  Reisch,  Dialogis  suis  primum  edita  dein  ab  Orontio 
Finaeo  Delphinate  Regio  Parisiensi  Mathematico  Necessariis  aliquot 
Auctoriis  locupleta,  4to.  Basil,  (no  date).     Preface  of  Ed.  dated  1503. 

This  is  the  work,  and  the  edition  of  it,  which  in  Cave's  "  Scrip  tores 
Ecclesiasticae  "  is  cited  as  Savonarola's  Treatise. 

Savonarola's  "  Compendium  Philosophise"  is  extremely  rare  ;  I  have 
never  seen  a  copy  of  it.  It  remains  for  those  who  may  have  access  to 
it,  to  determine  how  far  Resch  may  have  availed  himself  of  it  either 
wholly  or  in  part. 

Note  2.  In  the  very  rare  tract  of  Savonarola,  entitled  "  Declarationi 
del  Misterio  della  croce  qui  descripta,"  which  exists  in  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  there  are  two  woodcuts,  and  a  representation  of  a  cross,  five 
and  a  half  inches  long,  and  three  and  a  half  inches  broad,  with  words 
in  the  several  spaces,  which  served,  I  imagine,  as  a  formula  of  prayer 
for  some  devotion  in  honour  of  the  cross.  There  is  also  another 
figure  of  a  cross  with  a  ladder  set  up  against  it,  prefixed  to  another 
tract  in  the  same  volume,  addressed  to  the  Jurist  de  Calvis,  of  Bologna. 


*  Reisch  w  as  confessor  to  the  emperor  Maximilian  who  died  in  1519. 


486 


APPENDIX. 


Salve  Crux 

San  pfn 

Salve  Mundi 
Gloria. 

Caritas 

Te  adoranda 
In  Te  crueem 
Unificam, 

Maria 

JLX  dllllllLiXO. 

Vera  Spes 

Per  te  redempti 

nostra  : 

Dulce  decus 

Vera  ferens 

y  dLLvliCl. 

Sli  (rrinTiri 

Virgo  et  M 

Seculi  : 
Se.nper 

Salutis 

o 

laudamus, 

Sal  us 

o 

Semper  tibi 

In  periculis: 

y. 

canimus 

Vitale 

lignum 

vit.am 

etas,  Fides. 

per  lignum, 

ferens 

per  te  sumus 

omnium. 

liiberi. 

APPENDIX. 


487 


Sit  Deo  Patri 

Ecce  Crucem 

laus  in  Cruce 

Domini ! 

o 

CO 

Fugite 

filii. 

partes 

adversse. 

<:-( 

Improperia. 

(D 

Flacrplla 

Sit  JEqualis 

Vicit  Leo 

laus,  sancti 

de  Tribu 

Spiritus 

Judae. 

Civibus 

o 

Radix 

Sum  mis 

a 

o 

Davidi 

gaudium 

3 

o 

Aperire 

Sit    A  n  op  1 1  c 

p 

Librum 

lionor 

et  solvere 

Sit  Mundo 

p 

'« 

Septem 

C'r  icis 

C» 

Signacula 

n> 

exallatio. 

c« 

ejus. 

Amen. 

488 


APPENDIX. 


1^ 


I 


# 


Date  Due