The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Prophet

400 Pages·2012·2.45 MB·English

by  Weinstein, Donald

Savonarola
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Z X
Savonarola
T R F
he ise and all
R P
of a enaissance rophet
Z X
Donald Weinstein
New Haven & London
Copyright ∫ 2011 by Donald Weinstein.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond
that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for
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(U.K. o≈ce).
Set in Adobe Caslon type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc., Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weinstein, Donald, 1926–
Savonarola : the rise and fall of a Renaissance prophet / Donald Weinstein.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-11193-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Savonarola, Girolamo, 1452–1498. 2. Dominicans—
Italy—Florence—Biography. 3. Reformers—Italy—Florence—Biography. 4. Florence (Italy)—
Biography. 5. Florence (Italy)—Politics and government—1421–1737. 6. Florence (Italy)—Church
history. 7. Catholic Church—Italy—Florence—History. I. Title.
DG737.97.W43 2011
282.092—dc23
[B]
2011032980
Catalogue records for this book are available from the Library of Congress and the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Giles Constable
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Usages xi
Prologue 1
Chapter 1. The Making of a Moralist 7
Chapter 2. The Making of a Preacher 16
Chapter 3. The Making of a Prophet 28
Chapter 4. Florence and the Medici 42
Chapter 5. The Magnificent Lorenzo 54
Chapter 6. Bologna to Florence 64
Chapter 7. Lo, the Sword of God! 75
Chapter 8. The New Cyrus 94
Chapter 9. Liberty! 105
Chapter 10. The Ark and the Flood 115
Chapter 11. Toward the New Jerusalem 132
Chapter 12. The Virgin and the Republic of Virtue 148
Chapter 13. The Pope Summons 164
Chapter 14. Obstacles to the Spirit 174
Chapter 15. Mobilizing the Children 183
Chapter 16. I Can’t Live without Preaching 196
Chapter 17. The Tail Acquires a Head 209
Chapter 18. Burning the Vanities 217
viii Contents
Chapter 19. Excommunicated! 226
Chapter 20. Defiance 241
Chapter 21. Exodus 250
Chapter 22. Trial by Fire 267
Chapter 23. Despair and Hope 277
Chapter 24. Silence 293
Chapter 25. Echoes 298
Chapter 26. Afterwords 311
Notes 319
Selected Bibliography 363
Index 369
Illustrations follow page 104
Acknowledgments
My greatest debt is to my wife, Beverly Parker. Her moral support, editorial
acumen, technical skills, and intelligence have been with me all the way. I
could not have written this book without her. Four friends have been extra-
ordinarily helpful. Lorenzo Polizzotto placed his unmatched knowledge of
Savonarola and his movement at my disposal and has been a precise, con-
structive, and sympathetic reader and critic; Alan E. Bernstein has taught me
much about medieval religion over the years, and I have benefited greatly from
his suggestions, counsel, and friendship; Stefano Dall’Aglio has been un-
failingly generous in responding to my countless calls for help with archival
and bibliographical problems, caught a number of slips, and readily shared his
expertise on sixteenth-century Savonarolism; Jim Banker, my old companion
in the Florentine archives, has read the book with his sharp eye for detail and
sense of style.
Other friends and fellow scholars who have provided critical assistance
are JoAnne Bernstein, Alison Brown, Gene Brucker, Cornelia Carlson, Mel
Carlson, Giles Constable, Gail Eifrig, Christopher Fulton, Richard Gold-
thwaite, Sarah Blake Hamm, Valerie Hotchkiss, Howard Kaminsky, Kate
Lowe, Lauro Martines, Julia O’Faolain, Olga Zorzi Pugliese, David Price,
Fr. Fausto Sba√oni, O.P., Piero Scapecchi, Herbert Schneidau, Ludovica
Sebregondi, Fr. Armando F. Verde, O.P., Mark Zucker.
Warm thanks to the editors at Yale University Press who have enthusi-
astically and skillfully guided the book through the stages of publication,
especially to Eliza Childs, copy-editor senza pari, with whom collaboration
has been a pleasure. The manuscript she returned is far more presentable than
the one she received. Even so, senior editor Margaret Otzel found still more