Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher active in Renaissance Florence, and known for his prophecies of civic glory and calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor. He prophesied the coming of a biblical flood and a new Cyrus from the north who would reform the Church. This seemed confirmed when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and threatened Florence. While Savonarola intervened with the king, the Florentines expelled the ruling Medici and, at the friar’s urging, established a popular... republic. Declaring that Florence would be the New Jerusalem, the center of world Christianity and "richer, more powerful, more glorious than ever", he instituted a puritanical campaign, enlisting the active help of Florentine youth. In 1495 when Florence refused to join Pope Alexander VI’s Holy League against the French, Savonarola was summoned to Rome. He disobeyed and further defied the pope by preaching under a ban, highlighting his campaign for reform with processions, bonfires of the vanities and pious theatricals.
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| Birthdate: | September 21, 1452 |
| Birthplace: | Ferrara |
| Date of death: | May 23, 1498 |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism |