Last Things First: Notes On Sources: Cerretani, Parenti On Francesco Valori

Here's a quick pairing of sources for two modern biographies in English on the life and times of Girolamo Savonarola. Specific instances of footnotes are followed by specific citations on specific topics, quotes or mentions. These are followed by quotes or notes about the source or sources, as well as a more recent secondary collection, etc.

In Lauro Martines: Fire In The City: Savonarola and the struggle for the soul of Renaissance Florence ; Oxford University Press, New York, 2006 

Cerretani, Bartolomeo. 1994. Storia fiorentina. Ed. G. Berti. Florence. 248: "Description of Valori" [as Gonfalonier of Justice for the months Jan-Feb 1497]

"A man of gravity and few words, with a long reddish face, he is described by Cerretani as having had 'a giant of a spirit' (animo vastissimo), 'great presence', and 'extraordinary courage'. Although ambitious and 'austerely proud', he was generally regarded as a man of exceptional honesty and integrity, ... he lived sparely, dressed modestly, and had no children to whom he could pass on his political fortunes." [p. 152]

Francesco Valori, elected as Gonfalonier in the two-month stint January/ February of 1497, had been a man at the center of things before, and could be seen as a mostly reliable ally by the Frateschi and the Dominicans at San Marco. A chief rival of his had been Piero Capponi, killed in battle outside Pisa just the previous October 26. Valori proclaimed himself publicly as a partisan for the Frateschi. This fluid group in these uncertain times were political actors that publicly sided with the reforms called for by Savonarola and their Piagnoni, or, 'Wailers'. Then Valori was selected again to the Signoria and then by end of 1496 as chosen as Gonfalonier to start the new year. He would also play a decisive role in the execution of the five in August that year as well, and pay for that with his life the following spring.

Bartolomeo Cerretani our primary source here, is, along with Parenti and Landucci, Martines says, 'one of the leading chroniclers' for Florence in the period around the invasion of France and the rise and fall of Friar Savonarola. Martines calls Cerretani  'anti-Savonarolan', as well. Still he wasn't so partisan to leave out that the Friar had his effect in the City against gambling, the displayance of finery, and crimes like sodomy.

Along with Piero Parenti, Cerretani is called an 'upper class chronicler', but could still make huge errors. For instance, Cerretani doubles the number of French men at arms that Parenti says entered the city with the King of France. But he also may have been close enough to the center of action that day. Enough to give quotes of the lively interchange between the King and Piero Capponi, with troops in the city, in a moment of heat, where both could bluff about their intentions. Later, Cerretani seemed certain that Piero d'Medici's forces assembled outside the walls would have captured the city, if not for the rain that April day of 1497.

Worse, Cerretani repeats the story that the Dominican Friar had sent a note to Gonfalonier Bartoli in August 1497, calling tacitly that 'God wants justice', and that certain high-profile captive citizens should be executed for treason. Martines details this story, notes the source and disagrees due to the majority of the rest of the evidence, saying it would be outside the Savonarolan character. Sources say Cerretani died in 1524, but I can't find a birthdate.
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Parenti, Piero. 1994. Storia fiorentina I 1476-78, 1492-96. Ed. A Matucci. Florence. 317-18:
[On shifting pro-Medicean influence (going for and then against Savonarola) and the alliances in Florence]; and, vol. 4, 181-2, Parenti (Schnitzer)

In 1910 Liepzig published a collection of writings Savonarola nach den Aufzeichnungen des Florentiners Piero Parenti that dealt with the history of Florence in the years of Savonarola's prominence there. In 1912 a review of Schnitzer's work was published in The English Historical Review. A summary of Parenti's life can be found in that simple review.

Parenti was related to the Strozzi and an adult when Florence was overcome in turn by the French, and then by Savonarola. Thus he is a chief eyewitness to the many twists and turns in the lead up to the dissolution of the Republic of Florence. Parenti himself went on to live (d. 1518) and to see the return of the de'Medici family into his city. Parenti's church was that of the Franciscans at Santa Croce who were among those critical of Savonarola's prophecies and mysticism.

During the time that France was in Italy and the famines and upsets that followed, the continued battles over Pisa and even the warnings sent from the papacy about the Dominican friar, Parenti seems undecided about Savonarola's perceived power. Parenti seems more concerned about the return of de'Medici influence by whatever means. But when Francesco Valori announced himself a partisan with the Savonarolan stamp late 1496, and then elected to the Signory with the priors then selecting him as Gonfalonier for earliest 1497, Parenti's view becomes more critical of Valori.

Valori would go on to work his way in the Signoria and manage to cast out and ban many critics of the Dominican friar. His successor Bernardo Del Nero actively spoke out against the Friar and would continue to act with a pro-Medician lean.

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In Donald Weinstein: Savonarola: the rise and fall of a renaissance prophet , Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011

Parenti, Piero di Marco, 1994. Storia fiorentina Ed. Andrea Matucci, 2 vols. (Florence, 2004-5). vol2, 1496-1502.

Much of Weinstein's discussion (pp. 214-6) on the time of Valori as Gonfalonier relies on Matucci's 2nd volume of Parenti's Storia fiorentina.  Weinstein gives us this intensive view of Valori's style of leadership, which by leaping into view, brings much into clear focus.

"Valori knew how to get his way with legislators even in the absence of majorities. One of his favorite tactics was to convene large consultative bodies (pratiche larghe) that he stacked with men he trusted to propose measures favorable to his party. When those bills duly came before the Council of Eighty and the Great Council only those known to be in favor were allowed to speak. If a measure faltered, Valori would introduce it again and again until all objections were overcome and its opponents silenced. In this way Valori speedily pushed through much of Savonarola's stalled reform program, including more thorough marshalling of the Florentine faniculli, more drastic penalties for sodomy and gambling, and tighter regulation of women's dress and ornament." [p.215]

A notable exception quickly diverting from Parenti's narrative via Weinstein, is a mention of Guicciardini's History of Florence  (123), where he says that the death of Piero Capponi in the field was necessary for the elevation of Francesco Valori in the Signoria.
and...
"Documents and information regarding the Valori in L. Polizzotto and C. Kovesi, Memorie di casa Valori (Florence, 2007)". But this is very recent.