692 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
age and introduce an era of civil freedom. He also predicted Charles' subsequentretreat. Commines, who visited Savonarola in the convent of St. Mark's after the trials which followed Charles' advent in Italy had begun, went away impressed with the friar's piety and candor, and declared that he predicted with certainty to him and to the king, "things which no one believed at the time and which have all been fulfilled since." ^ On the other hand, such solemn prognostications failed of fulfilment, as the extension of Florentine dominion even to the recovery of Pisa, made INIay 28, 1495, and the speedy conversion of the Turks and Moors, made May 3, 1495. The latter purported to be a revelation from the Virgin on his visit to paradise. Where a certain number of solemn, prophetic announcements remained unfulfilled, it is fair to suspect that the remainder were merely the predictions of a shrewd observer watching the progress of events. Many people trusted the friar as a prophet but, as conditions became more and more involved, they demanded with increasing insistence that he should substantiate his prophetic claim by a miracle. Even the predictions which came true in part, such as the coming of Charles VIII. across the Alps, received no fulfilment in the way of a permanent improvement of conditions, such as Savonarola expected. The statement of Prof. Bonet-Maury expresses the case well. Savonarola's prgpheiic gift, so-called, was nothing more jhanpoliti^aland religious intuition.^ Some of his predictions were not in the line of what Christian prophecies might be expected to be, such as the rehumiliation of Pisa. The Florentines felt flattered by the high honor which tlie prophet paid to their city, and his
1 Villari I. 355 and Bonet-Maury, p. 232.
2 This is the view of Lucas, pp. (i!> sfj., Pastor, Creighton, III. 248, who pronounces " the prophetic claims a delusion," and Villari. The last author says, I. 352 sqq., " Is it not possible that Savonarola was intoxicated by the feeling that the earlier predictions had been fulfilled, and, as the difficulty of maintaining his position in Florence in the last years of his life increased, he felt forced to appeal more and more to this endowment as though it were real ? " Rudelbach gives a long chapter to iSavonarola's prophecies, pp. 281- 333. Pastor discusses Savonarola's alleged prophetic gift thoroughly in his Oesch. d. Pdpste, III. 145 sqq., and in refutation of Luotto in his Znr Bcurtheilung.
§ 76. GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA. 693
predictions of lier earthly dominion as well as heavenly glory. In his Manual of Revelations he exclaims, " Whereas Florence is placed in the midst of Italy, like the heart in the midst of the body, God has chosen to select her, that she may be the centre from which this prophetic announcement should be spread abroad throughout all Italy."
No scene in_Savonarola''s career excels in moral grandejirajid drnmntip. int.prpst his appparancp, at the death=had..Qf LoraQZ^
the Magnificent, in 1492^ History has few such scenes to offer. When it became apparent to the brilliant ruler of the Florentine state that his days were numbered, he felt unwilling to face the mysteries of death and the future without the absolution priestly prerogative pretends to be competent to confer. Savonarola and Lorenzo loved Florence with an equal love, though the one sought its glory through a career of righteousness and the other through a career of worldly dominion and glittering culture. The two leaders found no terms of agreement. Lorenzo had sought to win the preacher by personal attention and blandishments. He attended mass at St. Mark's. Savonarola held himself back as from an elegant worldling and the enemy of the liberties of Florence. " You see," said Lorenzo, "a stranger has come into my house, yet he will not stoop to pay me a visit." " He does not ask for me; let him go or stay at his pleasure," replied the friar to those who told him that Lorenzo was in the convent garden.
Five influential citizens of Florence called and suggested to the friar that he modify his public utterances. Recognizing that they had come at Lorenzo's instance, he bade them tell the prince to do penance for his sins, for the Lord is no respecter of persons and spares not the mighty of the earth. Lorenzo called upon Fra Mariano to publicly take Savonarola to task. This he did from the pulpit on Ascension Day, 1491. Lorenzo himself was present, but the preacher's charges overshot the mark, and Savonarola was more popular than ever. The prior of St. Mark's exclaimed, " Although I am a stranger in the city, and Lorenzo the first man in the state, yet shall I stay here and it is he who will go hence."
When the hour of death approached, Lorenzo was honest