men, and whilst he was preaching one stood by him with a halbert. But sometimes, when some of the Arrabbiati joined the Signoria, and the others were timid, he remained in his convent altogether.1

Yet he did not lose courage. The moral of his teaching was that a pious and learned man must not give way to a wicked and ignorant Pope. He comforted himself in his convent with his successes. "Every day a greater number, out of yearning for a more perfect life, forsake parents, friends, and goods, and betake themselves where each must do or not do as his superior wills; where no one has anything except what he absolutely needs, and where he can for a time be deprived by his superior even of that. But here every one becomes daily calmer, and confesses that Christ is his only joy. Only he who prays without ceasing attains to a holiness, from whose rays his face beams with rapture." 3 He found himself in the midst of the struggle between Popolari and Arrabbiati, the League and its enemies, the true and the Roman Church, between heaven and hell. He openly interpreted those two flags, the black and the white, in this sense. He felt certain of victory. At Christmas he published his treatise, "Triumphus Crucis." Therein he represented Christ upon a triumphal car, above his head the gleaming ball of the Trinity, in his left hand the Cross, in his right the Old and the New Testaments; further below, the Virgin Mary; before the car, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and preachers; on either side the martyrs and the doctors with opened books; behind him, all the converts; at a further distance the innumerable crowd of enemies, emperors, powerful rulers, philosophers, and heretics, all vanquished, their idols destroyed, and their books burnt.1

But the longer it lasted, the more furious waxed the conflict. At Shrovetide, 1498, his children desired to repeat the celebration of the previous year; but the

1 Nardi and Nerli.

2 Del governo.

3 Triumphus crucis, 121, 195. 114.

4

Triumphus crucis, p. 11. Machiavelli, Lettere, tom. vi. ed. 1783,

1

torches were torn out of their hands. At first, the children, and then even the men, stoned each other. A significant instance of the extent of the feud was afforded by the action of the painters, Baccio and Albertinelli. They had always worked together, and had had all things in common. They now left their workshop. The former went into a convent, the other became an innkeeper. How was it possible that these differences could be settled but by force? When, at last, a Franciscan friar presumed to declare that he would prove in the fire that certain doctrines of the Dominicans were erroneous, it appeared also to the latter that they had found another and the true decision-the ordeal. The Franciscans argued thus: if Savonarola would allow their friar to perish in the fire, he was no saint; and upon this they built. The others, who were half mad, who indulged sometimes in the market places in round dances to the accompaniment of a spiritual song, and who had chosen for their war cry "Viva Cristo!" hoped to conquer by the truth of their faith. During the sermon, hundreds cried, "Look! look! I will go for thy doctrine, O Lord, into the fire." Accordingly two piles of oak logs and brushwood, well saturated with pitch and oil, were built up side by side, 40 feet in length, leaving a very narrow passage between them, and on the 7th of April the Signoria, on this occasion only Arrabbiati, sat awaiting the trial.2

The Franciscans came quietly, the Dominicans with burning torches, red crosses, and loud singing, led by Savonarola. The monks approached the pyre; the Dominican seized the Host. At this moment the crisis arrived. The Franciscans would not permit him to have the Host, as this would be a test of the whole Christian faith, but he would not be prevented. Hereupon ensued a quarrel, confusion, a shower of rain, and a general stampede. Some rushed into the convent, others resorted to arms. Scenes of violence followed, and the Arrabbiati would not allow the favour of the Signoria and the

1 Vasari, Vita del Mariotto Albertinelli in the Vite, iii.

Nardi and Nerli, Declaratio fratris Hieronymi, in Burcardus, 6. Eccardus, 2090.

propitious moment to pass by without taking advantage of it. They attacked the Popolari in the streets and in the convent; and, although they did not take the convent by storm, they remained masters of the situation. Savonarola took no part in these proceedings. At first he exhorted his followers from the pulpit, afterwards he prostrated himself in the choir of the church and prayed. When all was quiet, he went out, and delivered himself up to his enemies.1

There was now no doubt that the League was victorious in Italy: the Arrabbiati were as devoted to it as the Popolari were to the French. On the 7th of April the Arrabbiati asserted their supremacy in Florence; on the 8th, Charles died, and the League was victorious even in France. Charles was at the last occupied with the internal affairs of his realm. Of his Grand Council he formed an ordinary Court of Justice, consisting of seventeen members, something similar to the later Reichshofrath of the Germans; in all commanderies he had a general book of customs compiled; he intended to live on his demesnes, and twice every week he sat to hear the complaints even of the poorest. Having made all these arrangements, and equipped with better alliances, he was again about to attempt to assert his right to Naples. Savonarola, too, had always referred to his return. But on the 8th of April, whilst passing through a gallery on his way to look at a game of tennis, he suddenly fell down, and, though a moment before in perfect health, died in a few minutes."

Many are of opinion that this event first determined Savonarola's fate. Many accusations had been brought up against him; and as often as torture was applied, he confessed all that was wanted. But as soon as he came to himself again, he denied everything, saying that "on the rack he would certainly confess to it again."

1 Nardi and Nerli. Burcardi Diarium, 2087, 2094. Excerpta ex Monacho Pirnensi, probably a pamphlet, mentioned by Trithemius in Mencken, ii. 1518.

2 Garnier from the Lettres patentes, 515, and a letter of Charles there cited. Comines, 591. St. Gelais, 120. Bayard, 56.

Brantôme, 44.

Meanwhile his soul communed with itself. His pride was broken; if he ever had thought himself holy, he thought so no longer. It often seemed to him as if Despair, with a strong army with lances and swords, the standard of Justice before it, and surrounded by instruments of torture, appeared in the town, called him from afar, and, coming nearer, whispered into his ear all his sins; and then again Hope, shining with the light of heaven, would comfort him. He spoke to himself thus: "Thou hast loved the Lord many years, and hast wrought out of love to Him; then didst thou exalt thy heart; then didst thou follow thine own thoughts, and live in the vanity of thy mind; then did the Lord take His hand from thee, and thou art like a sinner plunged into the depths of the sea." He had arrived at this holy self-enlightenment, when he was doomed to die; his body was consigned to the fire.1

With his death the essence of his teaching and his influence was not destroyed. Simone Cronaca, a good artist, honoured him whilst he was alive, and spoke of him when he was dead. Even after thirty years, the accomplishment of his most famous prophecies was expected to take place. But at that time, as we have said, the Arrabbiati attained the principal offices. They did not now consider the recall of Piero necessary for their safety. They were so devoted to the League, that all its members, except the Venetians, considered it better to restore Pisa to them."

1 Meditatio in Psalmum; "In te, Domine, speravi," I. quam morte praeceptus absolvere non potuit, 84, 97. The history of Savonarola has since then commanded the greatest attention in all civilized countries, and has been the subject of various treatises. The account that I gave here as the result of my former studies, I could not alter by the light of them, although on the occasion of a lengthened visit to Florence I have not neglected to make researches. I still hope to be able to publish in a later volume the results of my labours at that time, which have especial reference to the history of Florence in the first epoch of the Medici. [Note to the 2nd edition.]

2 Vasari, Vita di Simone, detto il Cronaca. Zurita, i. 143.

3. EXTENSION AND ASCENDENCY OF THE LEAGUE

But

Thus the object of the League was attained, and Italy subjected to its views. But the extension and ascendency of the League is fraught with other consequences for the whole of Europe, and for later times. The alliance of the Houses of Hapsburg and Aragon is one result of the conditions which obtained during these years. Ferdinand knew how to draw the maritime princes into the sphere of his alliances, and among them first Dom Manuel of Portugal. He had protected him whilst he was still Duke, and had made military preparations in his favour when he inherited the throne after John's death.1 Dom Jorge, John's natural son, of whom all were afraid, was led by Jacobo Almeida before the King to kiss hands, and war was averted. Ferdinand promised his daughter Isabella to this Manuel. Isabella, who considered a second marriage a bad thing, demanded that Manuel should at all events expel from Portugal the Jews and all those whom the Inquisition had condemned. She would not consent to be his wife until he had promised her this.3 After that day, peace and union existed between Portugal and Spain for a century and a half.

2

4

At the same period, in August, 1497, and ever since the treaty with Brittany, Ferdinand was negotiating with Henry VII of England. If Spain and France quarrel, England must take part in it. In June, 1496, Henry joined the League; he received hat and sword from the Pope, and received the envoys of all the allies. His councillors, indeed, asserted that this was tantamount to bringing the war to England; but this monarch, who never cared about taking the field, except it might be against a rebel, well knew what he was about, and that he was working at the iron wall, with which, as he said, he intended to gird his

1 Zurita, 78.

Hieronymi Osorii de rebus Manuelis libri xii. lib. i. 3, a.

* Zurita, f. 124. Osorius, i. 14.

Burcardus, 2067. Cf. Brewer, Calendar of State Papers, i. 247 (note to 2nd edition).

5 Chronicon Venetum, p. 41.

K