712 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
bodies were burnt and, that no particle might be left to be used as a relic, the ashes were thrown into the Arno.
Savonarola had been pronounced by Alexander's commission " that iniquitous monster — omnipedium nequissimum — call him man or friar we cannot, a mass of the most abominable wickedness." The pious Landucci, in thinking of liis death, recalled the crucifixion and, at the scene of the execution, again lamented the disappointment of his hopes for the renovation of the Church and the conversion of the infidel — la novazione della chiesa e la conversions degli infedeli.
Savonaj-ola was one of the most noteworthy figures Italyjaas produced. The modern Christian world, Catholic and Protestant, joins him in close fellowship with the flaming religious luminaries of all countries and all centuries. He was a preacher of righteousness and a patriot. Among the religious personalities of Italy, he occupies a position of grandeur by himself, separate from her imposing popes, like Gregory VII. and Innocent III. ; from Dante, Italy's poet and the world's ; from St. Francis d'Assisi and from Thomas Aquinas. Italy had other preachers, — Anthony of Padua, Bernardino of Siena, — but their messages were local and ecclesiastical. With Arnold of Brescia, Savonarola had something in common. Both had a stirring message of reform. Both mixed up political ideals with their spiritual activity and both died by judicial sanction of the papal see.
Savonarohi^ jlltallfi^tualgifte and attainments were not e^.ti'aordinary. He was great by reason of moral convietiou, liis eloquence, his disinterested love of liis country, liis whole souled devotion to the cause joJjiglitemiaiJLess. As an administrator, he failed. He had none of the sagacity or tact of the statesman and it was his misfortune to have undertaken to create a new government, a task for which he was the least qualified of all men.^ He was a preacher of righteousness and has a place in the "goodly fellowship of the prophets." He belonged to the order of Ezekiel and Isaiah, Nathan and John the Baptist, — the company in which the Protestant world also places John Knox.
1 See the excellent remarks of Burckhardt : Renaiss., II. 200.
§ 76. GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA. 713
Jfiavonarola was ajbraa_CathoHc. He did not deny a single dogma of the mediaeval Church. But he was more deeply rooted in the fundamental teachings of Christ than in ecclesiastical formulas. In the deliverance of his message, he rose above rituals and usages. He demanded regeneration of heart. His revolt against the authority of the pope, in appealing to a council, is a serious stumbling-block to Catholics who are inclined to a favorable judgment of the Friar of St. Mark's. Julius II.'s bull Cum tanto divino, 1505, pronounced every election to the papacy secured by simony invalid. If it was meant to be retroactive, then Alexander was not a true pope.^
The favorable judgments of contemporaries were numerous. Guicciardini called him the saviour of his country — salvatore di patria — and said that " Never was there so much goodness and religion in Florence as in his day and, after his death, it was seen that every good thing that had been done was done at his suggestion and by his advocacy." Machiavelli thus expressed himself : " The people of Florence seemed to be neither illiterate nor rude, yet they were persuaded that God spake through Savonarola. I will not decide, whether it was so or not, for it is due to speak of so great a man with reverence."
The day after Savonarola's death, women were seen praying at the spot where he suffered and for years flowers were strewn €here. Pico della Mirandola closed his biography with an elaborate comparison between Savonarola and Christ. Both were sent from God. Both suffered in the cause of righteousness between two others. At the command of Julius II., Raphael, 12 years after Savonarola's death, placed the preacher among the saints mJ&isJDisputa. Philip Neri and Catherine de Ricci ^
1 Pastor, III. 436 says that Savonarola was always true to Catholic dogma in theory. His only departure was disobeying the pope and appealing to a council. Father Proctor, Pref. to Trmmph of the Cross, p. xvii, calls Savonarola " Of Catholics the most Catholic "
2 Cardinal Capecelatro in his Life of St. Ph. Neri. trsl. by Father Pope, I. 278, says, " Philip often read Savonarola's writings especially the Triumph of the Cross, and used them in the instruction of his spiritual children." Quoted by Proctor, Preface, p. 6. For Catherine de Ricci, see her Life by F. M. Capes, Lend., 1908, pp. 48, 49, 53, 270 sq. She was devoted in her cult