Book description
By the end of the fifteenth century, Florence was well established as
the home of the Renaissance. As generous patrons to the likes of
Botticelli and Michelangelo, the ruling Medici embodied the
progressive humanist spirit of the age, and in Lorenzo the Magnificent
they possessed a diplomat capable of guarding the militarily weak city
in a climate of constantly shifting allegiances between the major
Italian powers.
However, in the form of Savonarola, an unprepossessing provincial
monk, Lorenzo found his nemesis. Filled with Old Testament fury and
prophecies of doom, Savonarola's sermons reverberated among a
disenfranchised population, who preferred medieval Biblical
certainties to the philosophical interrogations and intoxicating
surface glitter of the Renaissance. Savonarola's aim was to establish
a 'City of God' for his followers, a new kind of democratic state, the
likes of which the world had never seen before. The battle which this
provoked would be a fight to the death, a series of sensational events
- invasions, trials by fire, the 'Bonfire of the Vanities', terrible
executions and mysterious deaths - featuring a cast of the most
important and charismatic Renaissance figures.
This famous struggle has often been portrayed as a simple clash of
wills between a benign ruler and religious fanatic, between secular
pluralism and repressive extremism. However, in an exhilaratingly rich
and deeply researched story, Paul Strathern reveals the paradoxes,
self-doubts and political compromises which made the battle for the
soul of the Renaissance city one of the most complex and important
moments in Western history.
Paul Strathern studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. He has
lectured in philosophy and mathematics. He is a Somerset Maugham
Prize-winning novelist; author of two series of books -
Philosophers
in 90 Minutes
and
The Big Idea: Scientists who Changed the World
;
Mendeleyev's Dream
(shortlisted for the Aventis Science Book Prize);
Dr. Strangelove's
Game: A History of Economic Genius
,
The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
and
The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior
(published by Cape and Pimlico).
