'Medici' Season 3: Who was Girolamo Savonarola and did he bring an end to the Medici's power in Florence?
In Big Light Productions' drama series, 'Medici', some of the greatest achievements of two of the most celebrated men of the Medici family are shown. The first season chronicled the life of Cosimo de' Medici (Richard Madden) while Seasons 2 and 3 follows the life of Lorenzo de' Medici who was also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (Daniel Sharman).
Season 3 which is now streaming on Netflix also serves as the last season for the show -- Lorenzo was, after all, the last great Medici. While his descendants did manage to make history, none of them achieved the greatness that Lorenzo did. It would be hard to top those of a man who after all served as a patron to the great Renaissance artists such as Michaelangelo, Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
Lorenzo was a great admirer of the arts and often commissioned secular works of art from these men -- this is one of the reasons he made an enemy out of Girolamo Savonarola, an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara. Savonarola was at first an ally to Lorenzo, however, in his later years, the puritanical preacher led to the downfall of the Medici family.
In Season 3, we see Savonarola using his oratory skills to turn the people of Florence against Lorenzo, suggesting that the latter was responsible for the death of Tommaso Peruzzi. Peruzzi was played by Toby Regbo, who incidentally played a Medici descendant in The CW's 'Reign', Lorenzo's great-great-grandson, Frances II. Frances went on to briefly become the King of France and the King Consort of Scotland before dying at the age of 16.
In the final episode of Season 3 of 'Medici', Lorenzo seeks God's forgiveness from Savonarola who condemned Lorenzo straying too far into Greco-Roman culture. Ironically, Lorenzo played a role in bringing Savonarola to Florence, as was shown in the show. Even Botticelli was severely influenced by Savonarola for a time and even gave up painting during the period.
On Lorenzo's deathbed, Savonarola tells him that the Medicis will be soon forgotten and all the art they commissioned from Michaelangelo and Botticelli would be destroyed. However, Lorenzo boldly tells him that Florence's Renaissance period will live on, angering Savonarola.
After Lorenzo's death, the Medicis were driven out of Florence in 1494 by King Charles VIII of France. By then, the Medici family had lost all support of the people of Florence, who were instead under Savonarola's guidance. Savonarola then persuaded Charles to spare Florence and became the de facto ruler of Florence and established a "popular" republic. Savonarola was declared to be a prophet even.
As shown in Season 3, Savonarola campaigned against what he considered to be the artistic and social excesses of Renaissance Italy and starting in 1495, he hosted the annual "bonfire of the vanities" where collected various objects that he considered to be objectionable: irreplaceable manuscripts, ancient sculptures, antique and modern paintings, priceless tapestries, and many other valuable works of art, as well as mirrors, musical instruments, and books of divination, astrology, and magic -- and destroyed them in a giant bonfire. Works he destroyed included those of Ovid, Propertius, Dante and Boccaccio.
Eventually, Savonarola's influence did not go unnoticed and his excesses earned him the disdain of Pope Alexander VI. He was then excommunicated from the Church in 1497 and was made to go through a trial by fire to prove his divinity. However, when it ended up being a fiasco, he was declared a heretic and hanged and burned.
After Savonarola's death, the Medicis returned to power in 1512 with the help of the Spanish army and Pope Julius II. However, the Medici family were never again able to wield the sort of power they once did, and eventually, the House of Medici's influence went away.
All episodes of Season 3 of 'Medici' are now streaming on Netflix.
