In a season of letters sent back and forth, and bold declarations, there were also warnings and attacks. As with the year before, Florence's new envoy to Rome was having problems. Two years before (June 1496) messer Domenico Bonsi had been accused in Florence of 'beastliness and lies' by what turned out to be seen as a Savonarolan-allied attorney working from the office of the Archbishop of Florence. The man, ser Giuliano da Ripa had attacked Bonsi for playing with people's fears of higher taxes, all with an aim of driving people along to support their agendas. The accuser himself was atacked and took refuge in San Marco. Then he was captured, tortured, and interrogated over the inner workings of the network against San Marco. Found sufficiently guilty for the day, he was banished for two years.
By late February 1498, Bonsi had only bad things to tell regarding the opinions at the court in Rome. Another strongly foreboding warning was felt when Bonsi himself was attacked. As Lauro Martines tells us in his Fire In The City:
"On the night of the 21st, at about 3:00am, three men, armed with swords and an axe, had smashed their way into his garden and courtyard, where one of them had mounted the wall to get up to his terrace, to force an entry into the house. In the event, he toppled into the courtyard and broke a leg, whereupon the others fled. Bonsi concluded that their aim had not been robbery but murder, because the injured man came from Montepulciano, an attractive Tuscan town... that had rebelled against its Florentine masters with the help of Siena." [p. 202]After this, a strongly worded statement came out that the Pope was so incensed with Florence that he refused audience with her envoy, Bonsi himself, despite (disbelieving?) the attack.
February 22: messer Bonsi survives intruder attack: p. 202, 207 in Martines, source: [Gherardi, 178-9, 201]
February 26: Pope sends breve to Signory in Florence for them to arrest and send S to Rome in chains; [Gherardi, 183-5; Sanudo, Diarii i, 899-900, 905, 920; Villari II, lxvi-lxvii] ...
But by the next day His Holiness was willing 'to absolve Savonarola if the Friar would stop preaching'. [Martines, p.203]
March 01: Savonarola [S] changed venues from San Reparata to San Marco 'for his protection' he said later, as he continued to preach on Exodus. The new Signory was being sworn in.
March 03: the new Signoria begins talks on what to do about the Friar; the Sixteen were divided 10-6, the Twelve were all for him, as were the Ten. This meant a majority still backed him so they decided at that point to wait and see. Thus the Ten resolved to write to messer Domenico Bonsi in Rome that S was 'preaching to produce good fruit' in the City; Martines, p. 208 [in Gherardi, 187-8].
March 04: Receiving letters from Pope and Bonsi, the Priors wrote to the Pope stung that he could not see S was merely defending what they saw as goodness and correct doctrine [Marchese, Documenti intorno al S, 165-7]
March 07: Bonsi back to the Signory and Ten: S must stop; [Gherardi, 192]
March 09: Papal brief ('as a spreader of poison' S should be arrested) and Bonsi cover letter sent to Signory [in Gherardi, 192-6]
March 10: letter from the Ten to the Pope explaining S's sermons should be seen as allegory, even trying with different words to say the same things [Gherardi, 198]. When they received they couldn't hardly believe it. They already knew how to read.
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from Martines, Lauro: Fire In The City: Savonarola and the struggle for the soul of Renaissance Florence Oxford University Press, Inc.,NY 2006
March 13: S to Pope: 'you should worry about the state of your immortal soul': [Lettere (1984) 226-7]
March 14: pratiche held by the Signory; Papal briefs read out; [Fachard, Denis: Consulte 1993: I, 42-61]March 16: Signory summons leaders to again state their views - this time a majority say S should stop preaching
March 17: S informed of papal brief of Mar9
March 18: S preaches for last time
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