Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/234

 21S POLITICAL HERESY.— THE CHURCH. he boldly resumed preaching. The series of sermons on Ezekiel, which he then commenced and continued through the Lent of 1497, shows clearly that he had abandoned all hope of reconcilia- tion with the pope. The Church was worse than a beast, it was an abominable monster which must be purified and renovated by the servants of God, and in this work excommunication was to be welcomed. To a great extent, moreover, these sermons were politi- cal speeches, and indicate how absolutely Savonarola from the pulpit dictated the municipal affairs of Florence. The city had been reduced almost to despair in the unequal contest with Pisa, Milan, Venice, and the papacy, but the close of the year 1496 had brought some unexpected successes which seemed to justify Sa- vonarola's exhortations to trust in God, and with the reviving hopes of the republic his credit was to some extent restored.* Still Alexander, though his wrath was daily growing, shrank from an open rupture and trial of strength, and an effort was made to utilize against Savonarola the traditional antagonism of the Franciscans. The Observantine convent of San Miniato was made the centre of operations, and thither were sent the most renowned preachers of the Order — Domenico da Poza, Michele d' Aquis, Giovanni Tedesco, Giacopo da Brescia, and Francesco della Puglia. It is true that when, January 1, 1497, the Piagnoni, strengthened by recent successes in the field, elected Francesco Yalori as Gon- faloniero di Giustizia, he endeavored to stop the Franciscans from preaching, prohibited them from begging bread and wine and necessaries, and boasted that he would starve them out, and one of them was absolutely banished from the city, but the others per- severed, and Savonarola was freely denounced as an impostor from the pulpit of Santo-Spirito during Lent. Yet this had no effect upon his followers, and his audiences were larger and more enthu- siastic than ever. Xo better success awaited a nun of S. Maria di Casignano, who came to Florence on the same errand.f The famine was now at its height, and pestilence became threatening. The latter gave the Signoria, which was now com- posed of Arrabbiati, an excuse for putting a stop to this pulpit war- fare, which doubtless menaced the peace of the city, and on May 3 • Villari, I. 489, 492-4, 496, 499, cxlii. ; II. 4-6. t Processo Autentico, pp. 533-4. — Perrens, pp. 189-90. — Landucci, pp. 144-6.