1497–1512.

Savonarola, a Dominican friar, was instrumental in creating a popular republic in Florence after the Medici family was expelled. He was an ascetic, very much against sin and objects that might facilitate sin, and he organised a bonfire of the vanities in 1497. He was excommunicated in 1497 and in 1498 public opinion turned against him. He was arrested and burnt at the stake.