Apologetic Writings (The I Tatti Renaissance Library)

Apologetic Writings (The I Tatti Renaissance Library)

<p>First brought to Florence by Lorenzo de€ Medici as a celebrity preacher, Girolamo Savonarola (1452€“1498), a Dominican friar, would ultimately play a major role in the events that convulsed the city in the 1490s and led to the overthrow of the Medici themselves. After a period when he held close to absolute power in the great Renaissance republic, Savonarola was excommunicated by the Borgia pope, Alexander VI, in 1497 and, after a further year of struggle, was hanged and burned in Florence€s Piazza della Signoria in 1498.</p><p>The Latin writings brought together in this volume consist of various letters, a formal <i>apologia</i>, and his <i>Dialogue on the Truth of Prophecy</i>, all written in the last year of his life. They defend his prophetic mission and work of reform in Florence while providing a fascinating window onto the mind of a religious fanatic. All these works are here translated into English for the first time.</p>