The Death of Savonarola

Many Florentines were convinced that the apocalyptic predictions Savonarola had been making were coming true. Two leading historians and intellectuals, Machiavelli and Guichardini, took opposed views on him. He was arrested, charged with heresy, tortured into disavowing his prophetic gift, and finally executed. It would be made a crime even to own a copy of his books, but he would remain a divisive figure.