Two Volumes. pp. xlvii, 349; 440 + Frontispiece portraits, and other plates. Original full cloth bindings. though the bindings are not exactly uniform. The cloth covers also have some evidence of old damping, but not too distracting. 8vo. 235 mm. The first edition of this translation by Linda Villari (nee Mazini), Prof. Pasquale's wife and a significant author on her own right. This edition expands and improves previous versions and is still considered a standard reference for the life and times of Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498). Born in Ferrara. He joined Dominicans in 1475 and in 1481 he went to San Marco, the Dominican house at Florence. Here he became popular for his eloquent sermons, in which he attacked the vice and worldliness of the city, as well as for his predictions (several of which, including the death date of Innocent VIII, turned out to be true). In 1491 he became prior of San Marco, and after the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, who was his enemy, and the subsequent exile of the Medici (1494) he became the real and spiritual ruler of the city. He was uncompromisingly severe in his condemnation of what he considered the paganism of the times and called for a regeneration of spiritual and moral values and a devotion to asceticism. When Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in 1494 (as Savonarola had predicted), Savonarola supported him, hoping that Charles would lead the way to the establishment of a democratic government in Florence and to the reform of the scandalously corrupt court of Pope Alexander VI. Alexander, understandably infuriated, ordered Savonarola to refrain from preaching; however, he continued to preach. He called on the Florentines to burn all books, paintings, carvings and any other luxury that drew their hearts away from the deeper things of God. Florence listened. February 7, 1497, he consigned the follies of the city to a great "bonfire of the vanities." The pope excommunicated him, but Savonarola now declared Alexander no true pope, and went on as before. The people of Florence, who had for a time staunchly supported Savonarola, tired of his rigid demands. Hostility toward him grew, led especially by local Franciscans, and in March 1498, the government, threatened by a papal interdict, asked him to stop preaching. His ruin came suddenly when one of his disciples accepted an ordeal by fire to prove Savonarola's holiness. Rain prevented the event. Nevertheless, there were riots, and Savonarola and two disciples were arrested by the city. Under torture he confessed to being a false prophet, or so it was announced. The three were hanged and burnt for schism and heresy. but through the centuries his life and writings have continued to influence thought and action. **PRICE JUST REDUCED! NW26
