Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to this Day
in History class, where we take a tiny bite of
history every day. Today is February seven. The day was
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February seven. Followers of the Dominican friar Gervalamo Savonarola burned
objects that were considered vanities, like books, artwork, and instruments.
Though this event is known as the Bonfire of the Vanities,
the term generally refers to burning objects that religious authorities
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believe incite people to sin. Savonarola became a Dominican monk
in fourteen seventy five, and the following years he began
teaching novices and lecturing on philosophy, and he studied with
various lecturers, concentrating on theology. By fourteen eighty two, he
had transferred to the convent of San Marco and Florence,
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and soon he was preaching in the Church of San Lorenzo.
He gained a reputation for his learning and austerity, but
at first he did not get much attention for his preaching.
In fourteen eighty four, though he reported his first vision
about the scourge of the church. He began delivering prophetic sermons,
and he preached in the church of San jim and
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Yano in fourteen eighty five, and during Lent in fourteen
eighty six, he spoke about the wrath of God and sinfulness,
and he called for a reform in the church. At
this point his popularity began to grow. Savonarola preached in
several different cities for a while, but in fourteen ninety
he returned to Florence. He soon began preaching in the
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cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, criticizing materialism and the
leaders of the world. He also criticized the policies of
the government, which Florentine ruler Lorenzo di Medici took offense
to the Lorenzo threatened to banish him. Lorenzo soon died
and Savonarola continued preaching. Savonarola prophesied the scourge of Italy,
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railing against vanity and corruption. He soon led his convent
to break from the ruling organization of monasteries that it
belonged to the Congregation of Lombardy. He advocated for other
convents to do the same, and he ordered that his
monks give up their possessions so that they could raise
money for impoverished people. Once Medici rule ended, he began
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suggesting new policies in his sermons. Plus his prophecies were
panning out. Savonarola quickly became a political authority. He did
not hold public office, but under his guidance, a new
republic was established in four He immediately set out to
help impoverished people, demanding more jobs and telling the churches
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to melt their gold and silver to buy food for
the hungry. He also called for more modesty. Songs deemed
profane were replaced with hymns, People began wearing an adorned clothing,
and art and other inappropriate objects were burned. Savonarola did
have enemies like the Arabillati and the Tepid, but he
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continued to pursue drastic reform in light of the abuses
of the church. He denounced jokes, sex, gambling, nude paintings,
jewelry and other luxuries, as well as the humanistic culture
of the Renaissance. He shut down traditional festivals and replaced
them with religious festivals. In fourteen nineties seven, his supporters
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gathered donations from Foreignine citizens for a fire of repentance.
On February seventh, they carried vanities objects like mirrors, dresses,
and cosmetics to a fire in the Piazza de la
Seignoria and burned them. This wasn't the first bonfire spot
served by the Dominicans, but it is one of the
most notable ones. Pope Alexander the Six ordered him to
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stop preaching, but he refused. In May of seven, the
Pope excommunicated Savonarola, who did not stop preaching until March
of just two months after his last sermon. After being
convicted of heresy, Savonarola was burnt at the stake. I'm
Eves Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more about
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history today than you did yesterday. Spend some of your
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today's show. We'll be back tomorrow with another episode. Mm hmmm.
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