‘The Life & Afterlife of Savonarola’: Talk in English at the British Institute Library

 

 

Wednesday, 16: THE LIFE AND AFTERLIFE OF FRA GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA.  A talk in English by Mark Roberts. The British Institute of Florence. Lungarno Guicciardini 9.  6 pm. In person (€15); to reserve a place send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it or via Zoom (voluntary donation).

Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) was a fiery Dominican preacher who set up a theocratic republic in late 15th century Florence, with himself as dictator. His apocalyptic sermons terrified the Florentines, until he came into conflict with the worldly Spanish pope, Alexander VI Borgia, and lost public support. Savonarola was arrested by the mob, tortured and finally hanged and burnt in piazza Signoria. In the 18th and 19th century he was generally regarded as a dangerous fanatic, until he was rehabilitated by Pasquale Villari’s biography. In the 20th century Italy, Fascists sought to appropriate Savonarola’s image for their own purposes. On the 500th anniversary of his birth, a new biography established a balanced view. Mark Roberts disentangles the threads of this surprising story.