Scotl&, like so many other nations, has produced poetry that is patriotic, that paints landscapes, people & situations, that speaks to personal matters, & those equally everyday matters pertaining to the mind & to the spirit. The Christian heritage of Scotland has long been played out in verse, through Celtic devotional works, Catholic works, Protestant works, & not forgetting satires on the Puritanism in Scotland ...

In the 1490s, with Florence at the height of its Renaissance glories, the most remarkable man in the city, paradoxically, was not an artist but 'a lowly little friar' called Savonarola, a charismatic preacher & the talk of all Italy. Foreign ambassadors in Florence kept a close watch on him, reports of his doings flowed into the papal court & he was accused of heading an illegal political party. Yet many young men from leading Florentine families joined him as friars. His message of a rapturous devotion to Christ moved women to rebel against the worldly ways of their men. Intellectuals rallied to his side, & great processions of boys took to the streets in his cause. In mute fascination, Machiavelli attended some of his sermons. Artists, including Michelangelo & Botticelli, were awed by him.

Scourge & Fire is the story of the Friar

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When the King of France invaded Italy in 1494, princely states would fall, sending tremors up & down the peninsula. The Medici fled from Florence; the republic sprang back to life; & the French army, occupying the Renaissance city for ten terrifying days, stood on the verge of sacking it. A 'little friar' from Ferrara, Savonarola was alone in knowing how to comfort citizens with his sermons & in urging the King to get out of Florence.

Although the French left a city riven by political factions, the Friar's popular 'party' swiftly prevailed. With Florence at the height of its Renaissance glories, his voice rose above those of all other men. Claiming to be a messenger from God, he attacked evils on all sides
- a mercenary Church, the despotism of the Medici, vile political elites, & Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, whose name itself was a byword for brazen corruption. Savonarola foretold a universal 'scourging', but made pleas, above all, for the renewal of Christianity & for the political voice of the people. His struggle turned into a battle for the 'soul' of Florence.

Excommunicated & silenced, Savonarola spurned Rome & began to preach again, retaining the strong support of the city republic. As the Pope & Medicean conspirators closed in on him, five prominent Florentines were beheaded for plotting against the state, further inflaming the passions already rife in the city. After an abortive trial by fire to shame & discredit him, his enemies set siege to his convent, leading to his arrest & trial on trumped-up charges of heresy.

Savonarola mingled the fervour of religion with the ardour of republican politics. Scourge & Fire is the story of his impact on Florence & of the city's spell over him.






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