Girolamo Savonarola (1452 - 1498) was a brilliant and bold voice proclaiming the fear of God in the very heart of the Renaissance. He was the first Reformation forerunner to recover an expositional method of preaching sacred Scripture, and that in the common tongue. He remains one of the most obscure and least appreciated forerunners to the Reformation. If he is mentioned at all, he is typically associated with electrifying denunciations of moral corruptions. Some mistakenly count him a mere moralist. Yet, he was the first forerunner to explicitly preach for “regeneration” of the church and call her to be the conscience of the state. His practice matched his preaching, such that his elevated spirit, intense devotion, and blameless moral character were known by friend and foe alike. His life and ministry were shaped by and shined forth a healthy and heartfelt fear of God—a fear that knew and made known the grace and love of God through Christ crucified. But his uncompromising stance against sin, his refusal to be played or swayed by men, and his attack on corruption in both the church and city were not well received. He was eventually indicted and excommunicated by the pope. After many tortures, the Roman Catholic Church ordered his execution by burning in the Palazzo de Vecchio of Florence.

Girolamo Savonarola was born at Ferrara, Italy. The year was 1452, the same as that of Leonardo da Vinci. Though not especially wealthy, his family enjoyed a respectable social rank. Michele Savonarola, Girolamo’s grandfather, was a famous professor of medicine at Padua University and a well-reputed physician to the Duke of Ferrara, which gave Girolamo’s family entrance to the court of higher society and all that came with it.

Singularly Well Learned

From an early age, Girolamo demonstrated a remarkable aptitude and appetite for learning. While others his age were playing games and sporting adventures under the sun, he preferred the shimmering light of a candle upon the pages of a book. He was drawn to the writings of some of the most learned men in history. He received instruction in philosophy, logic, and medicine. Before long, he exhibited a capacious mind, a studious disposition, and an extraordinary memory. Reflecting the combination of these gifts, John Foxe described him as, “singularly well learned.” But it wouldn’t take long before his taste for things eternal would redirect the use of his mind and learning.

In these early years, Girolamo was educated by his father and grandfather. It was only a matter of time before his father, Niccolo, would urge him to likewise devote himself to natural and medical science. Quite beyond his choice, Girolamo was destined for the University of Bologna.

University of Bologna

The University of Bologna in 1470 was Italy’s proud metropolis of letters. It hosted one of the most well-reputed schools of medicine in the world. A degree from Bologna would spell success wherever Girolamo wished to go.

Active Conscience

In addition to his gifted mind, Girolamo had an exceptionally tender conscience. University life was immersed in more than learning. Renaissance culture dominated the scene. Girolamo was repelled. In a letter home, he wrote, “To be considered a man here, you must defile your mouth with the most filthy, brutal, and tremendous blasphemies. If you study philosophy and food arts you are considered a dreamer; if you live chastely and modestly, a fool; if you are pious, a hypocrite; if you believe in God, an imbecile.”

It is at this point that a distinct captivity to the truth and holiness of God manifested itself with intensity. He had been reading and memorizing sacred Scripture in copious quantities. When he could no longer endure the moral corruption that pervaded the university environment, he made his way back home. Douglas Bond describes Girolamo’s condition at this time:

Conscious of his sin and impending damnation, he spent hours in prayer and fasting, confessing his evils and depriving himself of food for days at a time. On his first visit home from university, he had no cavalier tales of carousing and drinking; his parents looked aghast at a pale, gaunt, sober young man.*

His eyes had been opened to the fearsome majesty of God. This initial apprehension, like Martin Luther afterwards, reduced him to an unhealthy terror of God. He needed the gospel (“good news”).

Savonarola longed for peace with God. There was no justification by faith alone to be heard from the Semi-Pelagianism of the Roman Catholic Church surrounding him. He lived in a paroxysm of fear, daily terrified that he might have committed a mortal sin. So he deprived himself, hoping to find comfort for his soul by inflicting hardship on his body, his self-denial taking on more and more drastic measures.*

Back in Ferrara, he soon discovered that things were not much better. Theadore Beza later recounts Girolamo’s experience, saying that his “refined nature recoiled from the frivolity and licentiousness of his birthplace. He gave himself up to prolonged devotions. He secluded himself from society and pursued a close study of scholastic philosophy and theology.” His mighty mind and sensitive conscience were heading in a new direction.

One biographer summarizes the next several months in terms of the inner turmoil that marked Girolamo:

Thus filled with disgust for the wickedness of the world and disenchanted as to its illusions, it was natural that his thoughts should turn to a monastic life in which, he might suppose, peace, contentment and spiritual satisfaction were to be found. The project was one which he scarcely dared to entertain in view of the certain opposition of his family, yet it engrossed his mind, and refused to be dismissed. The months passed by and no decision was taken till in 1474 from a project it became a resolve. Influenced by a sermon preached by an Augustinian friar at Faenza, Savonarola made his final choice and determined in due season to assume the cowl. The pains he would endure and those which he would inflict by separation were so keenly realised that months elapsed before he could brace himself to his resolve.*

When that day finally came, providence had Girolamo at home in solitude. His family, though encouraging him to join them, left to engage with nearly the whole city of Ferrara in festivities. The attraction of peace with God and the repulsion of the world finally overcame him, compelling him to steal away from his family for a monastic life.