Girolamo Savonarola

2015-07-27T12:40:45Z

86.165.78.171: /* Biography */

{{Era|AC2|PL|2book|Rbook}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{Quote|Why are you here?! Why do you disturb me?! You should be cleansing your homes, cleansing your SELVES!|Savonarola, after a mob swarms the Palazzo Pitti, 1498.|Assassin's Creed II}}
{{Character Infobox
|name = Girolamo Savonarola
|image = Savonarola.png
|birth = 21 September 1452<br>[[Ferrara]], {{Wiki|Duchy of Ferrara}}
|death = 23 May 1498 (aged 45)<br>[[Florence]], {{Wiki|Republic of Florence}}
|hidep = yes
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''<br>''[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]''
|voice = [[Alex Ivanovici]]}}
'''Girolamo Savonarola''' (1452 – 1498) was a Dominican friar and the leader of [[Florence]] from 1494 to 1498. Despite having great ambitions, most men found him lacking the ability to be a great leader.

In 1488, Savonarola managed to obtain an [[Ezio's Apple of Eden|Apple of Eden]]. Recognizing its powers, he used it to instigate the [[Bonfire of the Vanities]] in Florence; hoping to cleanse the city of everything he regarded as evil, such as art and wealth.

==Biography==
Savonarola was born in the city of [[Ferrara]], where, at a young age, he took a moral stance against the corrupt clergy present in [[Renaissance]] [[Italy]].

In 1475, Savonarola studied at Santo Spirito, and became a Dominican friar. In 1482, he was dispatched to Florence, which his Order considered to be the "city of his destiny". During the 1480s, he made little impression, and was often called a poor public speaker.

Seven years later, in 1487, Savonarola departed from Florence for Bologna.<ref name="Bonfire">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - ''[[Bonfire of the Vanities (DLC)|Bonfire of the Vanities]]''</ref>

===Battle of Forlì===
[[File:Godfather 3.png|thumb|right|250px|Savonarola eavesdropping on the Orsi brothers]]
A year later, in 1488, Savonarola resided in [[Forlì]] for some time, where he caught wind of the existence of the Apple of Eden after passing by the Orsi brothers, who were conversing with [[Caterina Sforza]]. He [[Eavesdropping|eavesdropped]] on them, and from then on, he kept a close eye on the Orsi pair.<ref name="Forli">''Assassin's Creed II'' - ''[[Battle of Forlì (DLC)|Battle of Forlì]]''</ref>

By some means, [[Checco Orsi]] managed to take the Apple of Eden from Caterina, and fled with it out of Forlì. Though he was pursued and killed by [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], he managed to stab the [[Assassins|Assassin]] in his lower abdomen, causing him to collapse.<ref name="Forli"/>

Before Ezio lost consciousness, Savonarola appeared, and took the [[Pieces of Eden|Piece of Eden]] from him.<ref name="Forli"/>

===Bonfire of the Vanities===
After [[Charles VIII of France]] drove [[Piero de' Medici]] from Florence in 1494, Savonarola used the Apple he had stolen to take over Florence. After uniting the city under his banner, he began to destroy all Renaissance [[Art merchants|art pieces]] and books, due to his desire to revert the city back to Medieval times.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

He also believed that all worldly possessions and pleasures, including fine clothes, musical instruments and even things like mirrors and money, were sinful and as a result, most of Florence's wealthy citizens were either openly persecuted or killed outright, or fled the city in fear for their lives.<ref name="Bonfire"/> His loyal fanatics hunted down everything deemed sinful and on more than one occasion innocent blood was spilled, including that of [[Cristina Vespucci]] and her husband [[Manfredo Soderini]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

When Pope [[Rodrigo Borgia|Alexander VI]], the [[Grand Master]] of the [[Templars|Templar Order]], found out that Savonarola had the Apple of Eden in his possession, he sent several [[Papacy|Papal]] troops to retrieve it, though with no success. Meanwhile, Ezio Auditore returned to Florence in 1497, and worked with [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] to overthrow Savonarola and retrieve the Apple of Eden.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

[[File:Power to people 3.png|thumb|250px|left|Savonarola using the Apple of Eden to control Florence]]
Ezio concluded that Savonarola's rule was being enforced by his nine lieutenants, who were suppressing the Florentines. With this in mind, Ezio [[Assassination targets|assassinated]] all nine of them, who had all been either lured into serving Savonarola, such as the Preacher, or were being controlled by the Apple like the Doctor.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

Once this had been been achieved, his fellow Assassins [[La Volpe]] and [[Paola]] began to encourage the people to fight for themselves. Eventually, Savonarola's grip over Florence was lost.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

In May of 1498, an angry mob gathered in front of Savonarola's residence at the [[Palazzo Pitti]] to stand up against him, having finally cracked under the mad monk's tyrannical regime and cruel words and deeds. Savonarola demanded to know why they were disturbing him when they should be cleansing their homes and selves, but was met only by angry shouts claiming that he had already stripped them of everything. Having failed to win them over with words, Savonarola tried to control the mob with the Apple of Eden, causing them to recoil in horror from the Apple's blinding light, but Ezio threw a [[Throwing knives|knife]] at Savonarola's hand, causing him to drop the artifact.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

With Savonarola powerless, the mob swarmed him en masse and took him away, and a Templar [[Agile guards|guard]] fled with the Piece of Eden. Ezio chased after and killed the guard, reclaiming possession of the Apple once more.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

===Death===
[[File:Mob justice 3.png|250px|thumb|right|Savonarola's demise]]
Savonarola was taken by the Florentine citizens to his execution: being burned alive at the [[Piazza della Signoria]]. His repeated screeches and promises of the Florentines burning was met with jeers and denial. In an act of mercy, Ezio decided that no one should die in such agony, and pushed through the crowd towards Savonarola, who was praying for deliverance. The Assassin then stabbed him in the neck with his [[Hidden Blade]] before the flames could reach him, ultimately ending his life.<ref name="Bonfire"/>

Savonarola's death greatly upset the [[House of Borgia|Borgia family]], as it meant that the Apple had again become out of their reach.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]''</ref> After his death, the Medici regained power in Florence and the ways of the Renaissance began to creep back into the city. A number of Savonarola's followers remained loyal to his cause, but were given an ultimatum by the church: renounce Savonarola, or face excommunication. Despite this, there were several instances throughout history where men with ideas like Savonarola's destroyed everything they were against, most notably Adolf Hitler's Fascist regime which destroyed books and documents and works of art that were deemed counter to their ideology.

==Lieutenants==
The following individuals were those who did Savonarola's bidding:
*The [[Painter]]
*The [[Doctor (Savonarola's lieutenant)|Doctor]]
*The [[Preacher]]
*The [[Farmer]]
*The [[Condottiero]]
*The [[Merchant (Savonarola's lieutenant)|Merchant]]
*The [[Nobleman]]
*The [[Priest (Savonarola's lieutenant)|Priest]]
*The [[Guard Captain|Captain Guard]]

==Trivia==
*In 1488, Savonarola was missing his little finger, although the reason for this is unknown.
*During the memory "[[A Warm Welcome]]", Savonarola could be seen next to the gate when Niccolò Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza entered the city.
*Historically, Pope Alexander VI tolerated Savonarola's criticisms against the church, but after constant defiance, he had Savanarola hanged and burned at the stake. Additionally, the night before his execution, he was held in the tower of the Palazzo della Signoria - the same cells used to hold [[Giovanni Auditore da Firenze]] and his sons the night before their execution in 1476.
*Savonarola's character was quite similar to that of [[Jubair al Hakim]] from ''[[Assassin's Creed]]''. Both men believed that knowledge was the path to evil and sin, and both organized massive bonfires throughout their cities to burn books and other sources of knowledge that they believed corrupted society. The memories which resulted in their assassinations were also very similar, as both situations had the respective Assassins take down each of the target's lieutenants before actually confronting them, though for Jubair, killing his lieutenants was optional.
*In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]'', Ezio shot Savonarola with his [[Hidden Gun]] instead of stabbing him.
*Savonarola was mentioned in Machiavelli's ''The Prince'', where his failure was used as a reference in the sixth chapter of the treatise; which stated ''"Moses, Cyrus, Theseus and Romulus would have been unable to have their constitutions obeyed for so long a time if they had been unarmed, as was the case in our own day with Fra' Girolamo Savonarola, who failed with his new laws as soon as the multitude no longer believed in them. He had no way to keep them faithful to what they had believed, or to force the unbelievers to believe."''
*Savanarola's troops bear a monk insignia on their armor.
*Savonarola was the only assassination target in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' that was obligatory for Ezio to kill (outside of the [[Memory Corridor]]) with his right Hidden Blade.
*During ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'', [[heralds]] mentioned Savonarola in a warning to his remaining followers, advising them to either conform with the Church or face inquisition.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180" position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center">
CU Girolamo Savonarola.jpg|Early concept art of Savonarola
Zw-girolamosavonarola.png|Savonarola's database picture
Checcomate 5.png|Savonarola stealing the Apple of Eden from Ezio
Power to people 4.png|Ezio throwing a knife at Savonarola
Power to people v.png|The mob carrying Savonarola away
Mob justice 1.png|Citizens preparing to burn Savonarola
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{AC2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savonarola, Girolamo}}
[[Category:1452 births]]
[[Category:1498 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Italians]]
[[Category:Friars]]
[[Category:Dominicans]]
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]]

Fioretta Gorini

2015-07-24T15:13:38Z

86.165.78.171: Created page with "'''Fioretta Gorini''' was the mistress and cousin of Giuliano de'Medici. By the time of the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici, Fioretta was heavily pregnant with Giuliano's ..."

'''Fioretta Gorini''' was the mistress and cousin of Giuliano de'Medici. By the time of the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici, Fioretta was heavily pregnant with Giuliano's son. In 1478, she and Giuliano attended High Mass at the Duomo, along with Guliano's brother, Lorenzo de'Medici, and Lorenzo's wife. However, before they could enter the cathedral, one of the conspirators, Bernardo Baronchelli, ran at Giuliano and attacked him with a dagger, spraying blood over Fioretta. In shock, Fioretta could only watch numbly as Giuliano was brutally killed by Francesco de'Pazzi. Lorenzo came under attack from behind, but was saved by the Assassin Ezio Auditore, who had hidden amongst the crowd in an attempt to stop the attack. Eventually, the Pazzi were driven from Florence and the Medici remained in power, with Fioretta giving birth a month later to Guilio de'Medici.

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Girolamo Savonarola

Fioretta Gorini