22
NEXT DAY, 8 April 1498, was Palm Sunday. At first the streets were ominously quiet. In the afternoon, as people left their houses, it soon became clear that the entire atmosphere of the city had been transformed. It began with minor incidents. As citizens of the better classes decked in their Sunday finery strolling through the Old Market encountered passing pro-Savonarola adherents (identifiable by their plain dress) and other evident Piagnoni, they began reacting aggressively towards them, calling them names, spitting at them, later even jostling them and pulling at their clothes. In the main streets and squares makeshift posters began appearing on the walls denouncing leading citizens who were known supporters of Savonarola, such as Mazzinghi, Valori and Soderini. Groups of bully-boyCompagnacci chased after any Piagnoni they encountered, beating up those they managed to catch.
Later Savonarola’s close disciple Fra Mariano Ughi was due to deliver the Palm Sunday sermon in Florence Cathedral, and well before Evensong the benches had begun to fill. Those who remained loyal to Savonarola saw this as an opportunity to rally together and show their continuing support. At the appointed hour Fra Mariano left San Marco and proceeded down the Via del Cocomero, surrounded by the usual company of monastic followers-cum-protectors, who now habitually accompanied any friar from San Marco on his way to deliver a sermon outside the safe confines of his own monastery church. Yet no sooner had Fra Mariano and his group emerged than they were greeted by a hail of stones hurled by street urchins who had been hired by the Compagnacci.
By the time Fra Mariano had managed to make his way to the cathedral, ‘the benches were already full’.1 Yet not all of those present were supporters of Savonarola: amongst them were groups of Compagnacci hell-bent on disruption, who:
began to strike the backs of the seats where the women were sitting, using coarse language and saying: Adante con Dio, piagnonacci (Get out of here, you snivelling psalm-singers). As a result, many amongst the congregation rose to their feet, and there began a great tumult in the church, with anyone who could make it to a door being lucky. When some of the other men protested, the Compagnacci tried to cuff them contemptuously and begin a dispute. Some even used their weapons against several of the partisans of the Frate as they were fleeing towards the Via del Cocomero. A number of these were struck and wounded, so that in a few hours the whole city was up in arms.2
Chaotic scenes developed outside the cathedral, with the Compagnacci encouraging their supporters with cries of ‘Let’s get the Friar! On to San Marco! On to San Marco!’3
Meanwhile other supporters of Savonarola had gone to San Marco to attend Vespers, but Landucci described how the piazza in front of the church was soon filled with a ranting anti-Savonarola mob:
making it impossible for many men and women who were in San Marco to come out. I chanced to be there; and if I had not managed to get out through the cloister, and go away towards the Porta di San Gallo, I might have been killed. Everyone was arming himself, in fact; and a proclamation from the Palagio [Palazzo della Signoria] offered 1000 ducats to anyone who should capture Fra Girolamo and deliver him up to the authorities. All Florence was in commotion …4
The friars had quickly locked and bolted the front doors of the church. They then ensured that the terrified women caught up in the church, together with others amongst the congregation who had no stomach for violence, managed to follow the prudent Landucci and make their escape by the back way out of the monastery.
Many of the friars began making preparations to defend San Marco, which seemed to be under imminent threat of attack by the baying mob, which continued to swell outside, and had been so incited by the Compagnacci that by this stage they were evidently beyond control. Together with the friars gathered inside the monastery were some thirty of so Piagnoni and leading secular Savonarola supporters. Amongst them was Francesco Valori, who had initially counselled the friars against any violence, telling them that in keeping with their monastic vows it was better they should leave the city, returning to take over San Marco when the Signoria had restored order and things were back to normal. But the friars had refused to contemplate deserting their home and made it clear that they were determined to defend the house of God. In fact, a few of the friars had for some time now been making preparations for just such an eventuality. An old unoccupied cell beneath the cloister had been converted into a secret armoury by two junior friars named Fra Silvestro and (ironically) Fra Francesco de’ Medici, and here they had already assembled a formidable array of weapons. These included:
Twelve breastplates and a similar number of helmets; eighteen halberds, five or six crossbows, various shields, four or five arquebuses, a barrel of gunpowder and a crate of leaden bullets, as well as a couple of small primitive mortars.5 fn1
These weapons had been smuggled into the monastery by the leading Piagnoni Francesco Davanzati and his henchman Baldo Inghirami, who now took it upon themselves to draw up plans for the defence of the monastery, handing out arms, posting guards at strategic points along the walls and lookouts at high windows. Sixteen of the friars had volunteered their willingness to take up arms under the command of Inghirami, who was to direct the defence of the monastery. Once the strong doors separating the church from the inner monastery had been locked, the high walls with narrow windows that encompassed the monastery itself gave it a formidable defence.
Amazingly, all these preparations had been made without the knowledge of Savonarola, who would certainly have forbidden such activity. Indeed, he remained until a late stage largely ignorant of what was taking place within his own monastery – though he quickly became aware of what was happening outside, as the yelling mob surrounded San Marco and began throwing stones, together with other missiles and refuse, over the walls. And as prior it must have been his order to begin sounding the great San Marco bell, known as La Piagnona (in part because of its wailing toll, as well as the more obvious reason that it summoned the Piagnoni to church services). On this occasion, the tolling of the bell was intended to sound the alarm, signalling for the civil militia to be sent to restore order. But the Signoria appeared to be in no mood to allow such necessary action to be taken, and instead sent their official mace-bearing heralds to proclaim outside San Marco that all within were to lay down their arms. At the same time, Savonarola was ordered into exile, the proclamation specifically stating that he had to be beyond the borders of Florentine territory within twelve hours. This latter, more realistic, stipulation was presumably intended to reinforce the authenticity of the Signoria’s order, as well as its feasibility, in the hope that Savonarola might take this opportunity to escape with his life. However, the proclamation had precisely the opposite effect. The friars inside San Marco who heard it refused to believe that it was anything other than a trick by theCompagnacci to get them to open the doors, so that their armed men could burst in and attack them.
When it became evident that the proclamation had produced no effect, the Signoria began to argue amongst themselves over what action they should take in order to maintain their authority, with some suggesting that an order be issued for the removal of all arms from the immediate region of San Marco, simply to avoid bloodshed. During the discussion of this, and alternative measures, tempers flared to such an extent that at one stage two of the Signoria made to draw their arms as they confronted one another. But the anti-Savonarolan majority soon prevailed over the voices of the moderates, who were mainly concerned to avoid a riot, as civil division was now spreading throughout the city. With similar intention, the pro-Savonarolan Domenico Mazzinghi, who held a senior post in the administration, expressly went to the Palazzo della Signoria and reminded the members of the ruling body, and others gathered in the palace, of their sovereign duty to maintain order. But according to one of those present, he was ‘rebuffed with every villainy in the world, and had it not been for several noblemen, I think he would have been killed’.6
Meanwhile in San Marco, Savonarola was determined to prevent any serious violence. Donning his official sacred vestments and taking up a crucifix, he declared that he intended to leave San Marco and surrender himself in the piazza outside, justifying his actions: ‘Let me go forth, since this storm has only arisen because of me.’7 But the friars and their secular supporters who were with him refused to let him do this, begging: ‘Do not leave us! You will only be torn limb from limb; and what would become of us once you are gone?’
As darkness descended, Francesco Valori made good his escape from the besieged monastery, with the intention of gathering together as many loyal Piagnoni as he could muster, so that they could come and defend San Marco. Landucci described how Valori:
got out of San Marco secretly, into the garden at the back and along the walls, but here he was seized by two villainous men and taken to his house. Later in the evening he was fetched by the mace-bearers of the Signori, who promised that his life would be spared, and marched him off to thePalagio. But on the way … a man came up behind him and struck him on the head with a bill-hook two or three times, so that he died on the spot. And when they ransacked his house, they wounded his wife so that she died, and they also wounded the children and their nurses, stripping the house of everything.8
By now the mob had begun to break into the houses of several leading Piagnoni supporters, pillaging them, and other murders took place.fn2 Landucci went on:
At the same time, there was fighting around San Marco, where the crowd was constantly increasing; and they brought three stone-throwing machines into the Via Larga and the Via del Cocomero. By now several people had been wounded and killed. It was said that between fifteen and twenty people were killed in all, and about a hundred were wounded.
At about six in the night [i.e. 2 a.m.] they set fire to the doors of the church and the cloister of San Marco, and bursting into the church began to fight.
The friars were determined to hold out, confident that Valori would soon return to save the day, having rounded up a crowd of armed and enthusiastic Piagnoni supporters from all over the city. Accounts vary, but it seems that more than a dozen armed friars, along with their supporters, now gave battle to hold back the incited rabble invading the church:
It was an extraordinary sight to see these men with helmets on their heads, breastplates donned over their Dominican robes, brandishing halberds as they charged through the cloister yelling ‘Long live Christ!’ and calling their comrades to arms.9
Brandishing drawn swords, friars chased back the invaders. Meanwhile the besiegers had got hold of ladders and began trying to scale the walls into the monastery. They were repulsed by monks hurling down tiles stripped from the roof of the building. Yet by all accounts the hero of the day was a German friar by the name of Fra Enrico, a tall muscular fellow who, according to at least one account, literally flung himself into the fray and seized an arquebus from one of the invaders, before using it to repulse the attackers. A more likely version has him stationing himself in the pulpit with one of the arquebuses from the monastery arsenal, and firing down into the fray that was erupting in the nave of the church. Here he would have had the time and the means to reload with ammunition and reprime his weapon with gunpowder. Amidst the explosions from his own and other arquebuses, the resultant clouds of acrid smoke, the general confusion, yells and shrieks of the battling crowd below, Fra Enrico is said to have killed several invaders, using the pulpit to steady his aim and select his target. It was as if the apocalyptic visions that Savonarola had described from this selfsame pulpit were now materialising in the very place once occupied by his rapt congregation.
All sources concur that heavy fighting persisted in and around San Marco for a number of hours that night. Despite being unable to restrain several of his friars from taking violent action, Savonarola is said at one stage to have taken up a position in the choir of the church, which was illuminated by burning torches. Here, surrounded by the majority of his faithful brethren, he led prayers, until the approaching mayhem became too threatening, whereupon a number of the friars seized the burning torches and advanced on the crowd. According to some contemporary sources, this sight caused consternation amongst many of the invaders, who superstitiously believed that a band of angels had descended from heaven to defend San Marco. But the panic and flight of the invaders from the church were not comprehensive, nor did they last for long. When the mayhem re-erupted and once more the situation became too dangerous, Savonarola led his acolytes in procession out of the church and into the monastery, where they reassembled in the Greek Library. Here, against the background of the crowd outside rioting and shouting, marked by occasional explosions from arquebuses, Savonarola addressed his assembled faithful:
Every word that I have said came to me from God, and as He is my witness in heaven I do not lie … I am departing from you with deep sorrow and anguish, so that I can surrender myself into the hands of my enemies. I do not know whether they intend to kill me. However, you can be certain that if I die I shall be able the better to aid you from heaven than I have been able to do here on earth.10
Even at this late hour it was suggested to Savonarola that he could still escape by way of the garden, using the same route as Valori. According to some sources, Savonarola considered this. Yet it was now that the Judas amongst his disciples chose to act. Within the community of San Marco, one monk had traitorously vowed his secret allegiance to the Arrabbiati: this was Fra Malatesta Sacramoro, who now approached Savonarola and suggested: ‘Should not the shepherd lay down his life for the sake of his flock?’11
Fra Malatesta evidently had a good insight into the way Savonarola’s mind worked, for the ‘little friar’ at once ceased all hesitation, silenced any debate and declared his irreversible decision to give himself up to the authorities. After receiving communion he took his leave of his fellow friars, kissing each one of them. Many of his closest followers begged to be allowed to go with him, but in the end Savonarola allowed only one friar to accompany him: Fra Domenico da Pescia, whose unswerving faith at the prospect of the ordeal by fire had so impressed him.
By now the Signoria had at last despatched a contingent of armed troops under the command of Giovanni della Vecchia, who had imposed an element of order amongst the rioters, as well as managing to force his way through to the cloister inside the monastery. Savonarola sent two of his friars into the cloister to parley his surrender to della Vecchia’s men-at-arms. The friars informed the men: ‘We agree to hand over the Frate if you promise to take him safely to the Palagio.’12 Having received this assurance, Savonarola and Fra Domenico proceeded out into the cloister, where della Vecchia’s men had just been joined by the official mace-bearers from the Signoria, who immediately took charge of the two friars.
It was now probably around 3 a.m. or maybe even later.fn3 The mace-bearers barely had time to manacle Savonarola and Fra Domenico before the angry mob surged around them, attempting to break through the men-at-arms and lay hands on the prisoners. As they were led away between the soldiers into the Piazza San Marco, the crowd, illuminated in the darkness by flickering torches, jeered, yelled insults and spat into their faces. At one stage someone attempted to burst through the line of soldiers and thrust his flaming brand into Savonarola’s face, yelling sarcastically, ‘Behold the true light!’13 Just as the two prisoners were being ushered through the side door of the Palazzo della Signoria someone managed to land a kick on Savonarola’s backside, shouting, ‘Look, that’s where his prophecies come from!’
Once inside, Savonarola and Fra Domenico were led before Gonfaloniere Popoleschi, supported by his Signoria and numerous dignitaries. Popoleschi could not refrain from gloating over the victory that he had engineered with his fellow Arrabbiati. His voice heavy with sarcasm, he asked the two hapless and humiliated prisoners whether they still persisted in believing that their words came from God. Both replied that they did indeed. Whereupon they were led off to separate places of imprisonment within the palazzo. Savonarola was marched up the stone stairway to the top of the tall turreted tower, where he was locked in the tiny stone cell known as the Alberghettino (little inn), whose narrow window looked down over the Piazza della Signoria. Ironically, this was the very cell where Cosimo de’ Medici had been imprisoned in 1433, when the Albizzi family had temporarily succeeded in ousting the Medici from power. The canny Cosimo de’ Medici had used his network of contacts and managed to save his life by bribing his way out of the Alberghettino; meanwhile his friend Pope Eugene IV and other Italian heads of state had protested on his behalf, to ensure that his death-sentence was rescinded and he was allowed to travel with his family into exile, where he had access to sufficient funds to help contrive the Medici’s return to rule. But Savonarola had no such network, no such means, no access to such sympathetic powers. The pope and heads of state throughout Italy all rejoiced at his downfall, and the population of Florence had turned overwhelmingly against him. Only the remaining downtrodden Piagnoni still supported him, sullenly and in secret.
fn1 A halberd was a pike-like weapon with a long wooden shaft tipped by a metal capping consisting of a spike, an axe-blade and a sharpened point. An arquebus was the earliest form of rifle: a long-barrelled musket operated by a matchlock, generally using gunpowder and firing round lead bullets. It came into use earlier in the century, was effective only at short range and liable to explode, making it often more dangerous to the user than the target. The early mortars were a form of short-barrelled wide-bore cannon, which used gunpowder to fire into the air cannonballs or stones and were equally dangerous for all concerned.
fn2 Understandably, amidst the darkness and general chaos pervading the city, the order of events that took place that night varies slightly in the different contemporary accounts. I have not adhered precisely to Landucci’s account, but have chosen what appears to have been the most likely sequence.
fn3 The times given by contemporary sources vary considerably. For instance, the events that Landucci described as taking place at ‘6 in the night’ – that is 2 a.m. (see here) – probably took place somewhat earlier, while Burlamacchi gave the time of Savonarola’s arrest as ‘the sixth hour of the night’ (1937 edn, p.161). Ridolfi stated ‘It was now after the seventh hour of the night’ (Vol. I, p.368) and in a note (n.27) he discusses Burlamacchi and this problem of timing. All that can safely be stated is that the arrest and the ensuing events took place in the darkness of what we would call the early hours – that is, some time before first light, which began just before 5 a.m. in Florence at that time of year.