Look Who it Was Random video

7th April 1498: Savonarola's Trial by Fire

4,755 views · Published 6 April 2015 · 2:13 · Indexed 1 October 2026

Channel: HistoryPod · 2015 · Education

Watch on YouTube

http://www.historypod.net

The Dominican friar Savonarola had built a powerful following in Florence with his passionate sermons against vices and luxuries that tempted people to sin.  The previous year he had been excommunicated for defying Pope Alexander VI’s order to stop preaching sermons in which the Pope himself was criticized for corruption and greed.  However, Savonarola ignored the Pope’s order and continued to preach and to celebrate mass.  Combined with his support for the French invasion of northern Italy, which he claimed was God’s punishment for the Florentines’ sinful past, Savonarola began to face a large and vocal opposition.

When he hinted at having performed miracles, monks from the rival Franciscan order proposed a trial by fire to prove Savonarola’s holiness.  When the two sides met on the 7th April, they squabbled for so long that a rainstorm eventually led to the cancellation of the event.

With Savonarola unable to prove his claim, the crowd turned against him.  The next day his convent was stormed by an angry mob and he was arrested.  Within six weeks he and two fellow friars had been executed for heresy.

More from this channel