This Day in History May 13, 1497

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I am not trying to post tragedies--honestly.  But this one caught my attention.  When people are executed for speaking against the church, I always find myself reading the story with interest.  There were so many.  Here goes.

Girolamo Savomarola is the man pictured above.  He was an Italian Dominican friar (his outfit may have given you an inkling of this).  He was born September 21, 1452, and he initially pursued a career in medicine (following the footsteps of his grandfather).  On April 25, 1475, he made the decision to enter the convent, and he reportedly told his father that he wanted to become a knight of Christ.

The focus of his career was Florence, Italy, and the main tenets of his sermons were that the church needed reform.  He was tired of seeing the excesses of sin inside and outside of the church.  And in 1497, he and his followers burned a lot of these things including fine Renaissance paintings--The Bonfire of Vanities.  He was also vocal about his beliefs.  He spoke about what it really meant to be a Christian and that "tepid" Christians in the church were undermining it.  He also said that Christians needed to love their neighbor as the Bible admonished them to.

It was on this date in 1497 that the Pope excommunicated Savomarola, and it was but a short time later (May 23) that he and his two cronies were tried, found guilty of heresy, hanged and burned till death.  I am always horrified when I read of things like this in history happening.  That a church would put people to death because they chose to speak out against the corrupt church!  I am pretty sure that when I get to heaven, I will see this blessed friar.  He spoke the truth, and the Catholic church could not handle it!

For more information, please check out:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/525815/Girolamo-Savonarola/6450/Trial-and-execution
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Girolamo_Savonarola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola