Death in Florence: the Medici, Savonarola and the Battle for the Soul of the Renaissance City

by Paul Strathern

  Yet this could not be the final dispensation. Although the ordeal itself fell under the jurisdiction of the Signoria of Florence, those taking part in it were members of the Church, which meant that it would also require the permission of Alexander VI. The Signoria sent a despatch to the Florentine ambassador in Rome; but when Bonsi was granted an audience with Alexander VI, His Holiness informed the ambassador that he could not possibly give his official consent to such an ordeal. On the other hand, it soon became clear that the pope was going to issue no Brief condemning it. However, a covert message now reached the Signoria, probably by way of Fra Mariano da Genazzano in Rome to the Augustinians in Florence, that Alexander VI was in fact in favour of the ordeal taking place. This would be the end of Savonarola, and as soon as he was exiled from Florence, Alexander VI would have him arrested and brought to Rome.

  Ironically, Savonarola himself reacted to the prospect of the ordeal with a remarkably similar ambiguity. Initially, he had abhorred the entire idea of an ordeal by fire. But as he fasted alone in his cell at San Marco the secret belief had grown within him that this event might indeed produce the miracle that would justify him and all his actions. This would be akin to the fulfilment of his prophecies, just as when Charles VIII had arrived as the ‘scourge of God’. Several contemporary sources confirm this change of heart in Savonarola, alluding to a series of events that brought it about.

  One of Savonarola’s closest followers amongst the monks at San Marco was Fra Silvestro Maruffi, a man of deep spirituality who was prone to ill-health, hypochondria and insomnia, a condition that rendered him susceptible to having visions similar to those of his prior. Savonarola had formed the most profound respect for Fra Silvestro, to the point where he now placed as much faith in the other monk’s visions as he did in his own. At this time, Fra Silvestro described to Savonarola a vision he had experienced in which the guardian angels of both Fra Domenico and Savonarola himself had promised him that Fra Domenico would pass through the flames unscathed. This, combined with Fra Domenico’s unwavering faith and enthusiasm for taking part in the ordeal, had finally convinced Savonarola that he should give it his blessing. Savonarola then sent word to the Signoria confirming that he did so, saying that it should take place a week later, on Friday 6 April. Several contemporary sources corroborate this, as well as what happened next, differing only in detail. Guicciardini gives the general picture:

  The day having been decided, Fra Girolamo was given permission by the Signoria to preach; and preaching in San Marco he showed the great importance of miracles and said that they should not be used except in necessity when reason and experience proved inadequate. Because the Christian faith had been proved in infinite ways and the truth of the things predicted by him had been shown with such efficacy and reason that anyone who was not obstinate in evil living could understand them, he had not made great use of his ability to perform miracles so as not to tempt God. Nevertheless, because they had now been challenged, they willingly accepted this challenge, and all could be sure that on entering the fire the result would be that their friar would emerge alive and unharmed while the other would be burned. If the opposite took place, they might boldly state that all he had preached was false. He went on to say that not only his friars but anyone who entered the fire in defence of this truth would emerge in a similar fashion. And then he asked them whether, if necessary, in the cause of so great a work ordained by God, they too would be willing to go through the fire. With a great shout almost all present answered that they would: this was the most amazing thing, for without any doubt, if Fra Girolamo had told them to, very many would indeed have entered the fire.7

  This sermon was delivered before a packed congregation consisting of friars and nuns, as well as lay Piagnoni, women and children. Savonarola’s preaching must have inspired a collective hysteria that went far beyond those who had taken holy orders.

  The ordeal was to be held in the Piazza della Signoria so that the miracle, or the sight of the victims burning alive, could be witnessed by as many of the population as possible. In the midst of the piazza a raised walkway consisting of brick and rubble covered with earth was constructed. This was seven feet high, ninety feet long and sixteen feet wide.fn3 On either side of the walkway were heaped two lines of logs, covered with brushwood and boughs, and ‘all the wood was soaked with oil, spirit and resin to make it burn better’.8 For the ordeal, these two incendiary lines were to be set alight along their entire length until they blazed like an inferno. Between the two lines was a pathway just five feet in width, and the contestants in the ordeal were each to start simultaneously at opposite ends of this ninety-foot-long path, walking through the inferno until they emerged at the other end unscathed, or were consumed by the flames.

  News of this coming event was by now spreading to all the major cities of Italy and even beyond the Alps. The courts, the monasteries and the merchant classes all had their own information networks by way of ambassadors, travelling friars, commerce routes, couriers and so forth. Such had been the interest generated by Savonarola and his previous activities, especially his sermons and his prophecies, that news of this latest development quickly filtered down to the public at large. The coming ordeal by fire was a topic of speculation, from the taverns and market places to the palazzi and the priories. Was Savonarola really capable of perfoming a miracle? This time there could be no question of fakery or mass delusion, or even prophetic coincidence: this ordeal would take place for all to see.

  It could hardly be claimed that this would represent a turning point in the evolution of human consciousness, yet there can be no doubt that the result of such a sensational event, which had so taken hold of the public imagination, might be seen as a contributory factor to the lengthy process of transformation that was taking place during this era, which we now refer to as the Renaissance. Concrete physical confirmation, or a single practical disproof, of the belief in miracles would at this point doubtless spread ripples of speculation far and wide amongst those of an enquiring disposition. Here, at the earliest dawning of the new scientific understanding, the truth was to be judged by an experiment whose result was verifiable. (‘The ordeal by fire’ was called in Italian L’esperimento del fuoco. A century later, Galileo and his contemporaries, the true pioneers of scientific experimental method, would start using the word esperimento to describe the tests, or ordeals, to which they subjected their practical ideas.)

  During the days leading up to the ordeal, Savonarola himself wrote and published a short document entitled Riposta, in which he attempted to justify himself and his attitude towards the coming event. This ends:

  Those who know themselves to be genuinely inspired by the Lord will certainly come through the flames unharmed, if the ordeal actually takes place, which is by no means certain. As for me, I am keeping myself for a greater cause, for which I shall always be prepared to lay down my life. The time is at hand when the Lord will manifest himself in supernatural signs and omens, but these will not come about as a result of the beseeching or the will of men. For the time being, let it be sufficient that, by sending some of our brethren, we will be equally exposed to the wrath of the people if the Lord does not allow them to pass unscathed through the fire.9

  During the final days leading up to the ordeal, Savonarola ordered the gates of the monastery of San Marco to be locked: no one was permitted to enter or leave. Sealed off from the outside world, the community of friars embarked upon a vigil of continuous prayer on behalf of their two brethren who were about to take part in the ordeal.

  Then, on Thursday 5 April, the very eve of the ordeal, the Signoria suddenly announced that it would be postponed for a day. The Signoria evidently had reason to believe that a message from Alexander VI forbidding the ordeal was on its way from Rome. Yet within twenty-four hours the Signoria mysteriously appear to have convinced themselves that no message forbidding the ordeal would be forthcoming, and decreed that it should go ahead the next day, Saturday 7 April. At the same time the
y issued an unpexpected new decree, modifying their previous one, and specifically stating: ‘In the event that Fra Domenico is burned, Fra Girolamo is to leave Florentine territory within three hours.’10

  The combination of the Signoria’s certainty that no papal Brief would arrive, and the issuing of the new decree immediately banning Savonarola from Florentine territory (under the circumstances, the border would almost certainly have taken longer than three hours to reach) further indicates that the Signoria must have received covert instructions, perhaps by way of Genazzano and the Augustinians, from Alexander VI. The specific details of Savonarola’s speedy banishment would have meant that in just three hours from the moment the result became clear at the event itself, at which he was certainly expected to be present amidst the packed Piazza della Signoria, he would have had to flee through the angry throng (in some danger of his life even then) and make his way to a fast horse that had been kept waiting in preparation. Not only did Savonarola abhor this privileged form of transport, but it would have been unthinkable to him to make prior arrangements for what he would have seen as a cowardly flight in the event of his loyal friend’s excruciating death. Even so, he would certainly have been apprehended after three hours, by which time he would no longer have been deemed under Florentine protection, even if he was still travelling through Florentine territory. This would have meant that he could have been intercepted and arrested on behalf of the pope within hours of leaving the city gates, by whichever band of armed Arrabbiati or Compagnacci was lying in wait for him, having already been commandeered for this very task. In a matter of days he would have been delivered to Rome, into the hands of Alexander VI. Here the ‘little friar’ who had had the temerity to send letters to the rulers of Europe, encouraging them to call a Council of the Church intended to depose the pope, could have expected little mercy from a man such as Alexander VI.

  fn1 There would appear to be no hypocrisy or misuse of reason in Savonarola’s argument here. Even modern psychology does not deny that such experiences may indeed seem all too real to those who undergo them.

  fn2 As well as ordeal by fire, during the medieval era there had been in various parts of Europe ordeals by the other three elements: ordeal by water (which could result in drowning), earth (that is, burial) and air (being cast from a high tower or cliff).

  fn3 The details of this construction can be found in Landucci, Diario, p.135, where he gives the proportions in the contemporary measurements of braccia. Braccio means ‘arm’, and this was effectively a length of just under two feet. Thus Landucci gives the height of the walkway as four braccia, its length as fifty.

  21

  Ordeal by Fire

  BY DAWN ON 7 April 1498 people were already filing into the Piazza della Signoria. Only three entrances were left open, and these were heavily guarded by armed men. No spectator was permitted to carry arms, and on specific orders of the Signoria no women or children were permitted to enter the square, on the grounds that their expressions of emotion might stir the crowd beyond control. By ten o’clock in the morning the piazza was crammed with spectators, a large portion of whom were Piagnoni and their supporters; but it was equally evident that other large sections of the crowd were openly anti-Savonarolan. Anticipating this tense situation, the Signoria had commandeered a thousand men to take up various strategic positions throughout the piazza, with the aim of maintaining order and quickly thwarting any disturbances that might occur. These armed men too consisted of representatives of both sides of the divided population, making no effort to hide their sympathies. With a show of characteristic arrogance, Doffo Spini, the head of the Compagnacci, led in a group of several hundred of his supporters, all resplendent in full armour. Warned by the Dominicans that the Compagnacci might well make a move to seize Savonarola, the Piagnoni sympathiser Marcuccio Salviati had raised a corps of 300 armed men who also reported for guard duty in the piazza that day. All troops present were nominally under the command of Giovanni della Vecchia, the Signoria’s Captain of the Square, who in addition commanded 500 armed men of his own. Most of the men of this detachment were ordered to guard the Palazzo della Signoria, containing Gonfaloniere Popoleschi and his Signoria, in case any attempt was made to storm the building by Piagnoni, who were now under no illusions concerning the Signoria’s anti-Savonarolan sympathies.

  By noon all three public entrances to the piazza had been sealed to prevent any further spectators cramming into the already overcrowded space. Despite the colourful appearance of the multitude and the soldiery beneath the April sky, the atmosphere was far from festive, with tension mounting as the time passed. The contesting parties had been ordered to present themselves in the piazza at 1 p.m., and at the appointed hour 200 Franciscans duly arrived. Dressed in their plain brown robes tied with knotted white ropes, they filed silently between the cleared crowds across the piazza, their heads bowed. Without any outward display or show of emotion, they took up their allotted position in the open Loggia dei Signori, beside the Palazzo della Signoria, which had been divided in two by a wooden barrier to separate the opposing parties. The Franciscan side of the barrier, on the eastern side closest to the Palazzo, was protected by breastplated Compagnacci, whilst Salviati had deputed a squad of his pro-Savonarolan troops to guard the western side. Before the Loggia, stretching from the edge of the raised pavement in front of the Palazzo della Signoria towards the western side of the piazza, stood the long raised-earth walkway ready for the ordeal, its sides piled with incendiary-soaked logs and brushwood.

  Around noon Savonarola had celebrated High Mass at San Marco, before delivering a brief sermon to a large audience of fellow friars and supporters. Curiously, even at this late stage, he told them: ‘I cannot be sure whether the ordeal will take place, because this does not depend upon us.’1 Yet he went on to assure his audience, ‘if it does take place, victory will certainly be ours’.

  Savonarola and his Dominican delegation then set out from San Marco, reaching the Piazza della Signoria half an hour after the arrival of the Franciscans. Landucci watched their entrance:

  And then came the Dominicans, with the greatest show of devotion. There was a great number of Frati, about 250, walking in pairs, followed by Fra Domenico bearing a crucifix, and then Fra Girolamo holding aloft the Host; whilst behind them was a great multitude with torches and candles, devoutly singing hymns. After they had taken their place in the Loggia and prepared an altar, they sang a mass; and the people awaited the great spectacle.2

  Yet the expectant crowds were in for a disappointment if they expected the ordeal to get under way at once. It soon became clear that the Francisans were determined to raise certain procedural objections. According to the eyewitness Parenti, Fra Domenico had taken it upon himself to don for the occasion a full-length cloak ‘of fiery red velvet’.3 It was evident to many present that he was playing up to the full his central role in this potentially miraculous occasion, although the ironic symbolism of his flame-coloured attire seems to have escaped him. As Martines has observed, it was as if he was ‘engaged in an extraordinary and contradictory pantomime of the martyrdom that he believed would not overtake him’.4 Chief amongst the Franciscan objections were these very robes that Fra Domenico had decided to wear (‘The Franciscans were afraid they might be bewitched’5) in order to protect him from the flames. When his red cloak was removed, the Franciscans further protested that the Dominican robes he was wearing underneath the cloak might also be ‘bewitched’, and Fra Domenico was taken into the Palazzo della Signoria, where these too were removed and he was stripped naked. According to word that later circulated amongst the Piagnoni, the Franciscans even insisted upon scrutinising his genitals for any untoward supernatural signs.

  Fra Domenico was made to don the robes of another Dominican friar before he returned to the Loggia. Even then, the Franciscans insisted that Savonarola or one of his fellow Dominicans might attempt to bewitch him before the ordeal, so he was made to wait amongst the Franciscans, where he stood clutch
ing the crucifix that he firmly believed would protect him from the flames.

  Next the Franciscans insisted that Fra Domenico should not be permitted to enter the flames carrying his crucifix, in case this too was somehow ‘enchanted’. Savonarola proved willing to concede this point, on Fra Domenico’s behalf, and suggested that instead he should enter the flames bearing a piece of the consecrated Hostfn1 that Savonarola himself had borne into the piazza. Once again there was an objection, and representatives of the Dominicans and the Franciscans were invited into the Palazzo della Signoria for a theological discussion of this matter, while Fra Domenico and Savonarola waited outside. The Franciscans were determined not to let the Host enter the flames, on the grounds that this ‘was most wicked’6 and ‘against the Church’, whilst the Dominicans insisted that even if the appearance of Christ’s body (the bread) was consumed by the flames, its essence (Christ’s body itself) could not possibly be affected.

  Outside, the mood of the vast confined crowd was beginning to change. All had come expecting a spectacle – some in the belief that they would witness a miracle, no less; others stirred by anticipation of the gruesome sight of people being burned to death. In expectation of such a wonder, one way or the other, both factions had been willing to remain patient for a considerable time, but by now their patience was beginning to wear thin, as the disputations went on and on behind the closed doors of the palazzo. Savonarola, becoming increasingly worried about this developing state of affairs, sent an urgent message into the palazzo, insisting that both sides settle their differences as soon as possible so that the ordeal could go ahead. The reply from the palazzo made it clear to Savonarola that if this was his attitude, the Dominicans were quite free to proceed with the ordeal on their own. Savonarola naturally turned down this request. Villari, summarising the many detailed eyewitness reports, described what happened next: