The Burning of the Vanities: Savonarola and the Borgia Pope
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.88 (594 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0750929812 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-06-30 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Yet there was more to him than prophecies of doom. Had he succeeded, the Reformation might have been avoided. Acclaimed author Desmond Seward casts new light on this controversial and contradictory figure. In the 1490s, Girolamo Savonarola, a visionary friar, dominated Renaissance Florence, terrifying the city with his uncannily accurate prophecies. Best remembered for his 'burning of the vanities' - the destruction of 'profane art' in public bonfires - Savonarola has often been caricatured as a hell-fire fanatic. Yet Victorian England saw him as an Italian Martin Luther, while his career inspired George Eliot's novel, Romola. Exploring Savonarola's early years in Ferrara, his birthplace, Seward highlights the fact that an outsider had such an impact on Florence. Savonarola prophesied the French invasion of Italy with alarming precision, and foretold the deaths of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Pope Innocent VIII. They stormed his friary and , after a mockery of a trial during which he was tortured by the strappado and condemned as a heretic, he was hanged and burned in chains.In this wide-ranging biography Desmond Seward portrays Savonarola as a surprisingly human figure. He draws on
Masterpiece Truly splendid, highly organized book that takes a balanced view of Savonarola.
He is the author of numerious books, including biographies of Henry IV of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Marie Antoinette, Empress Eugenie and Napoleon's Family. . Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University
He is the author of numerious books, including biographies of Henry IV of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Marie Antoinette, Empress Eugenie and Napoleon's Family. . About the Author Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University