CONFESSIONALE [PRO] INSTRUCTIO[N]E CO[N]FESSO[RUM] reuere[n]di patris fratris Hieronymi Sauonarole de Ferraria ordinis Predicatorum. by Savonarola, Girolamo (1452-1498); Ferrariis, Elias de - 1507

Lazzaro de' Soardi, Venice: ., 1507. pp. 93 (of 94) leaves. Number 84 repeated in foliation. Lacks title page. Last three pages are defective with some loss, but the woodcut printer's device at the colophon remains. 16 mo. (in 4's). 150 mm. Latin black letter text. Very early worn limp vellum binding, with leather double bands sewn in. Ink ownership of F.F. Washburn, Florence, March, 1869. From Wiki: Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule and the exploitation of the poor. He prophesied the coming of a biblical flood and a new Cyrus from the north who would reform the Church. In September 1494, when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, and threatened Florence, such prophecies seemed on the verge of fulfilment. While Savonarola intervened with the French king, the Florentines expelled the ruling Medici and, at the friar's urging, established a "popular" republic. Declaring that Florence would be the New Jerusalem, the world centre of Christianity and 'richer, more powerful, more glorious than ever.' He instituted an extreme puritanical campaign, enlisting the active help of Florentine youth. In 1495 when Florence refused to join Pope Alexander VI's Holy League against the French, the Vatican summoned Savonarola to Rome. He disobeyed and further defied the pope by preaching under a ban, highlighting his campaign for reform with processions, bonfires of the vanities, and pious theatricals. In retaliation, the Pope excommunicated him in May 1497. A trial by fire proposed by a rival Florentine preacher in April 1498 to test Savonarola's divine mandate turned into a fiasco, and popular opinion turned against him. Savonarola and two of his supporting friars were imprisoned. On 23 May 1498, Church and civil authorities condemned, hanged, and burned the three friars in the main square of Florence. Some consider Savonarola a pre-curser of the Protestant Reformation. CHEST 2/1. Hardcover. Good.