Lovell-Smith Photography

Olympic REGD. SCHOOL 1A EXERCISE BOOK

SUBJECT

Lovell-Smiths of Hastings

[Hubert Lovell-Smith’s drawing of the Savonarola chair, with measurements in inches]

RESCUE BREATHING

Start at once – Don’t waste time – Seconds count

GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA.

1452-1498.

Italian religious reformer, he entered the Dominican Order at the age of 23, and soon became a popular preacher.

His addresses to the people of Florence began in 1489, and his invective against the sins and opostasy of the age excited great popular interest.

A few years later he attempted to set up a ‘Christian commonwealth’ in Floence [Florence], whose law should be the Gospel and its ruler Christ.

At his incitement stringent enactments were made against vice and display, and the women of Florence eagerly cast their jewels into ‘bonfires of vanities’.

By 1494 he virtually ruled Florence, and denounced Pope Alexander VI who dealt out vengeance upon him.

His claim to the gift of prophecy made him suspect of heresy, and in 1495 he was forbidden by Rome to preach, and in 1497 excommunicated.

He lost control of the city and was arrested by the city authorities when riots followed a challenge to a Franciscan who opposed his preaching, to the ‘ordeal by fire’ to prove Savonarolas holiness.

By now the populace had largely deserted him, and he was tried for heresy and sedition.

Found guilty, with two of his disciples, he was strangled and burned on May 23rd 1498.

Savonarola was one of the most learned men of his time, and his works have been translated into nearly all languages.

George Eliots ROMOLA contains a fine estimate of his character, and his life by Villari is a great biography.