1 Prime pagine ok.indd - accademia degli intronati

Mary, sovereign of Siena, Jesus, king of Florence 81
The pacification of Florence and its factions in the wake of the
Medici expulsion was this republic’s supreme challenge, as it would be
the supreme challenge of the New Republic. There was little opposition
to part one of the legislation; but the opposite was true of the second
part, whose passage (19 March), according to Savonarola, showed that
it was God’s will. Finally, as Florentines proceeded along the path of
reform thanks to his own strenuous efforts, he conceived the idea of
cementing the relationship between the republic and Christian living
by urging them to accept Christ as their king and His mother as their
queen 63 .
Girolamo’s plans for religious reform envisioned a profound, total
reform, conversio, of the Florentine people 64 . To this end, he preached
the inner qualities of simplicity, humility, and charity and the necessity
of prayer, fasting, and alms giving; and he used the law, as well as
intimidation, in a campaign against the capital cultic sins, particularly
blasphemy and sodomy 65 . All this is suggestive of theocracy – the state in
the service of religion and religious goals, its people living (willingly or
not) in accordance with divine law. Yet, as I have indicated, Savonarola
was, simultaneously, in close contact with the “real world” as far as
Florence’s material welfare was concerned. Besides seeking to create
a new republican order 66 , he steered the city through a series of crises,
63 As devoted follower Girolamo Benivieni put it, “where Christ is king there can be no
tyrant.” D. WEINSTEIN, Savonarola and Florence. Prophecy and Patriotism in the Renaissance
(Princeton 1970), 218-19. For the relevance of Savonarola’s theory of monarchy, ibid., 294; A.
BROWN, The Medici in Florence (Florence 1992), 266. There is a useful discussion of the peace
legislation in P. VILLARI, Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola, trans. Linda Villari (new ed.;
London 1889), 277-87.
64 See also n. 377.
65 Commentators marvelled at what Savonarola was able to accomplish overall, which far
exceeded the achievements of his fellow Observants – another miracle to set alongside the others!
Parenti speaks of “tanta mutazione di costume;” and Guicciardini, too, was full of praise and
admiration for this new moral order. PIERO DI MARCO PARENTI, Storia fiorentina 1 (1476-78/1492-96)
(Florence 1994), 245-46; R. RIDOLFI, The Life of Girolamo Savonarola, trans. Cecil Grayson (London
1959), 128.
66 See on these points VILLARI, Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola, 328-31.