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

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Death in Florence: the Medici, Savonarola and the Battle for the Soul of the Renaissance City Page 48

by Paul Strathern


  10. ‘In the event that …’: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.150, where n.2 gives full details of the original source in the Florentine archives.

  21: Ordeal by Fire

  1. ‘I cannot be sure whether …’: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, pp.152–3. See Esortazione fatta al popolo in San Marco il di 7 Aprile 1498, which is included at the end of his Prediche sopra l’Esodo (Sermons on Exodus)

  2. ‘And then came the Dominicans …’: Landucci, Diario, p.169

  3. ‘of fiery red velvet’: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.226, giving as his original source Parenti, Storie fiorentine (Schnitzer), p.257

  4. ‘engaged in an extraordinary …’: ibid.

  5. ‘The Franciscans were afraid …’: Guicciardini, Opere, Vol. I, p.150

  6. ‘was most wicked’ et seq.: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.228

  7. ‘The patience of the multitude …’ et seq.: see Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, pp.157–8. This account makes use of the detailed descriptions in Lorenzo Violi, Le giornate, ed. G. C. Carfagnini (Florence, 1986) and Fra Benedetto [of Florence] Luschino, Vulnera diligentis, ed. S. dall’Aglio (Florence, 2002), as well as Burlamacchi, Savonarola, while others such as Landucci also confirm these events. Fra Benedetto and Violi confirm Salviati’s threatening words. These several descriptions vary in minor details, especially with regard to the order of some events, but Villari’s would seem to be the most considered and vivid summary.

  22: The Siege of San Marco

  1. ‘the benches were already …’: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.232, giving Cerretani as his source

  2. ‘began to strike the backs …’: Landucci, Diario, p.170

  3. ‘Let’s get the Friar …’: many contemporary sources record variations of these cries: see, for instance, Landucci, Diario, p.170; Burlamacchi, Savonarola, p.156

  4. ‘making it impossible …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, p.170

  5. ‘Twelve breastplates …’: see Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.ccxxxiii

  6. ‘rebuffed with every villainy …’: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.234, giving as his source Parenti, Savonarola (Schnitzer), p.265

  7. ‘Let me go forth …’ et seq.: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, pp.166–7, using as his sources the original documents printed at the end of Vol. II, in this case Documento XXVIII, especially those sections relating to Fra Silvestre on p.ccxx et seq. and Alessandro Pucci on p.cclxxiij [sic] et seq. These are largely confirmed by Burlamacchi and other contemporaries.

  8. ‘got out of San Marco secretly …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, pp.170–1

  9. ‘It was an extraordinary sight …’ et seq.: see Villari, La Storia …Savonarola, Vol. II, p.166. Here, and in the following description, Villari has conflated a number of contemporary reports, relying heavily upon that of Fra Benedetto, who was one of the armed monks.

  10. ‘Every word that I have …’: Fra Benedetto Luschino, Cedrus Libani, ed. P. V. Marchese, Archivo Storico Italiano, App. VII (Florence, 1849), pp.82–6

  11. ‘Should not the shepherd …’: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.175, giving his contemporary sources as Burlamacchi, Violi and Fra Benedetto (who was present at the time)

  12. ‘We agree to hand over …’: cited in Seward, Savonarola, p.245, giving as his source Burlamacchi, Savonarola (Lucca, 1764), p.144

  13. ‘Behold the true …’ et seq.: ibid.

  23: Trial and Torture

  1. ‘People laid down …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, pp.171–2

  2. ‘At the ninth hour …’: Landucci, Diario, p.172

  3. ‘It gave us the greatest pleasure …’: Gherardi, Nuovi documenti, p.231

  4. ‘Regarding my aim …’ et seq.: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.250. One of the corrupted versions of Ser Ceccone’s transcript was printed as I processi di Girolamo Savonarola (Florence, 1498). This was republished in Florence in 2001 under the editorship of Ida G. Rao et al.

  5. ‘I strongly …’: cited in Seward, Savonarola, p.250

  6. ‘No, I did not …’: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, pp.195–6, giving as his source Document XXVI of the end of the same volume, which contains what purported to be an entire printed version of Savonarola’s interrogations, now and later.

  7. ‘for the sake …’: see Seward, Savonarola, p.251, paraphrasing the original text

  8. ‘I intended to …’ et seq.: see above, and other sources such as Martines, etc.

  9. ‘formalise and set …’: cited in Savonarola, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, p-374

  10. ‘If you publish …’ et seq.: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. 1, p.374, giving as his source Burlamacchi, Savonarola (1937 edn), p.171. See n.47 in Vol.2, p.645 for Ridolfi’s comments.

  11. ‘The protocol of …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, p.173

  12. ‘without torture or …’: I processi … (ed. Rao), p.25

  13. ‘The frate was …’: Landucci, Diario, p.174

  14. ‘in some places there …’: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, p.378, giving as his orginal source his own edition of the trials: I processi del Savonarola, ed. R. Ridolfi, in La Bibliofilia Vol. XLVI (1944), p.30

  15. ‘consecrated the bread …’ et seq.: I processi … (ed. Rao), p.25

  16. ‘My intention, as I have said …’: ibid., p.27

  17. ‘It was not my intention …’: ibid., pp.28–9

  18. ‘In the certainty …’ et seq.: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.207. The complete deposition of Fra Domenico’s trial can be found at the end of Vol. II as Document XXVII.

  19. ‘I have always thought …’: cited in Seward, Savonarola, p.252

  20. ‘the true document …’: Villari in La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.cxcix. Villari gives the sources of these documents in note 1 for each of them.

  21. ‘When they read …’: ibid., pp.205–6

  22. ‘on twenty or twenty-five …’: ibid., p.210, giving as his source the deposition of Fra Silvestro’s trial which is printed at the back of this volume as Document XXVIII

  23. ‘Not only ourselves …’: ibid., p.213. The Latin original of this letter can be found in F.-T. Perrens, Jérome Savonarole d’après les documents originaux et avec des pièces justificatives en grande partie inédites (Paris, 1856), Document XVII

  24. ‘All the citizens arrested …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, p.174

  25. ‘both on account of the way …’: cited in Villari, Savonarola (trans. L. Villari), Vol. II, p.399–400, giving as his original source Florentine Archives, Register, Sheet 86 t. This also appears in Lupi, Nuovi Documenti.

  24: Judgement

  1. ‘Unfortunate am I …’: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, pp.385–6

  2. ‘Miserere mei …’: Psalm 51, v.1

  3. ‘Verily I say …’: Mark, Ch. 14, v.30

  4. ‘But these questions …’: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, pp.385–6

  5. ‘extraordinary fortune’ et seq.: Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. II, p. 650 n.8

  6. ‘An exposicyon after …’: see British Library, catalogue no. c.52, f.16.(2.)

  7. ‘Death to the friar!’ et seq.: these words appear in varying forms in the main biographies, such as Villari and Ridolfi, citing as their original source Burlamacchi, Savonarola, p.154

  8. ‘observed how [Savonarola] would …’: see Seward, Savonarola, p.251

  9. ‘Remolino ordered that …’ et seq.: see Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p. clxxxvij et seq. Amongst the documents printed at the back of Vol. II is the complete transcript of Savonarola’s third trial, which runs from p.clxxxiv to p.cxcviij. Slightly differing versions of this transcript appear in I processi … (ed. Ridolfi) pp.3–41, and the modern version in I processi … (ed. Rao), of which I have also made use

  10. ‘such things as Ser Ceccone …’: Ridolfi, Vita … Sa
vonarola, Vol. I, p.391

  11. ‘for history rarely produces …’ et seq.: see Burlamacchi, Savonarola, pp.151–2. Indicatively there is no remaining original document of this meeting in the Florentine archives.

  12. ‘Sandro, do you want …’: see Doc. 13 (b) in Lightbown, Botticelli, Vol. I, pp.169–70: original source Estratto della Cronaca di Simone Filipepei, which is in the Archivo Segreto Vaticano, Politicorum, XLVII, fol. 338 et seq.

  13. ‘when his trial …’ et seq.: I processi … (ed. Rao), p.43

  14. ‘If this friar …’ et seq.: cited in Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.234, giving as his original source Burlamacchi, Savonarola, p.154

  15. ‘He confesses to inciting citizens …’ et seq.: this report was signed by both Torriani and Remolino, but is generally accepted as being written, at least for the most part, by Remolino. Versions of this entire report to Alexander VI, which differ in medieval Latin spelling and details of text, can be found in A. G. Rudelbach, Savonarola und seine Zeit (Hamburg, 1835), pp.494–7, and Fra Karl Meier, Girolamo Savonarola aus grossen Theils handschriftlichen Quellen (Berlin, 1836), pp.389–91. My citations are selected from the beginning of the latter.

  16. ‘as heretics and schismatics …’: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, p.293, giving as his original source the document appended to the end of the third trial: see Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, p.cxcviij

  17. ‘22 May. It was decided …’: Landucci, Diario, p.176

  25: Hanged and Burned

  1. ‘Collect up from my cell …’: Burlamacchi, Savonarola, p.155

  2. ‘I hear that you have …’ et seq.: ibid., pp.156–7

  3. ‘The account of his last …’: Roberto Ridolfi, ‘Savonarola’ entry, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2002 edn), Vol. X, p.485

  4. ‘It was already well …’ et seq.: Villari, La Storia … Savonarola, Vol. II, pp.238–9. The source of the story and the quote are Burlamacchi, Savonarola, pp.157 and 193.

  5. ‘do not seem credible …’: ibid., p.239 n.1

  6. ‘A multitude of people …’: Guicciardini, Opere (Bari, 1929), Vol. I, p.298

  7. ‘the ceremonies lasted …’: cited in Martines, Savonarola, p.274, giving as his contemporary source Piero Vaglienti, Storia dei sui tempi 1492–1514 ed. G. Berti et al. (Pisa, 1982), p.48

  8. ‘I separate you from …’ et seq.: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. 1, p.400. The initial incident is recorded in slightly differing forms by several contemporary sources, such as Iacopo Nardi, Istorie di Firenze, 2 vols, ed. A. Gelli (Florence, 1848), Vol. I, p.136, and Simone Filipepi, Estratto della Cronaca, in P. Villari and E. Casanova, Scelta di prediche e scritti di fra Girolamo Savonarola (Florence, 1898), p.504 et seq.

  9. ‘They were robed in all …’: et seq.: Landucci, Diario, p.177

  10. ‘Savonarola, now is …’: cited in Ridolfi, Vita … Savonarola, Vol. I, p.402

  11. ‘there not being …’ et seq.: Landucci, Diario, pp.177–8

  12. ‘which he suffered …’: Guicciardini, Opere (Bari, 1929), Vol. I, p.298

  13. ‘Now at last …’: Burlamacchi, Savonarola, pp.161–2

  14. A miracle …’: Burlamacchi, Savonarola, p.162

  Aftermath

  1. ‘everyone had began …’: Landucci, Diario, p.181

  2. ‘As an old man …’: Vasari, Le Vite, Vol. I, pp.869, 871

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