1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Danish Wartz. Just a quick note before 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: we begin a tiny bit of housekeeping. This summer in July, 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: I am co leading a trip to the south of 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: France to talk about Julia Child with an amazing program 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: called common Ground Pilgrimages. 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 2: This is the fourth trip that I'll. 7 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: Be leading with them, and I keep begging them to 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: let me come back because it's just it's amazing. You 9 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: spend the better part of a week going on long 10 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: walks and talking about writing and literature and big ideas. 11 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: It always makes me miss college and I feel like 12 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: as an adult, there are very few opportunities to talk 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 1: about ideas and writing and literature in spaces like this, 14 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: So the trips are just amazing. This one, like I said, 15 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: we'll be talking about Julia Child and her writing. You 16 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 1: don't need to read anything before you show up. We'll 17 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: just be you know, assigning certain letters and reading them 18 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: out loud. But if you're interested in signing up, it's 19 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: through common Ground. I'll link to it in the show description. 20 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: I'm very, very excited about it. And also I might 21 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: have mentioned this once or twice before, but I have 22 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: a new book coming out in May. It's called The 23 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: Arcane Arts. I co wrote it with a friend of 24 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: mine who's also a brilliant writer, and we used the 25 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,759 Speaker 1: pseudonym SD coverly because. 26 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 2: This book is a little sexy. 27 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: It's a little different than my other books. It was very, 28 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: very fun to write. It's a dark, academic, erotic thriller, romanticy. 29 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: If any of those words are exciting to you, absolutely please. 30 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 2: Please pre order the book. 31 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: Just to be totally honest, pre orders are kind of 32 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: the most important thing you could do to help an author. 33 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: They tell a publisher that books are even worth just 34 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: putting in bookstores. I'm so excited about this book being 35 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: out in the world. I'm so excited for readers, and 36 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: so if this is a book that you were interested in, 37 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: I would ask you just please pre order it. The 38 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: Arcane Arts. Thank you so much. Let's get into the 39 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: episode Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and 40 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. 41 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 2: Listener discretion advised. 42 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: On November twenty fourth, fourteen ninety four, the nobility of 43 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: Florence gathered for the funeral of Count Giovanni Pico de 44 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: la Mirandola, an aristocrat and philosopher. When he was alive, 45 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: he was a dazzling figure. Historian Paul Strathorne described him 46 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: as a quote peacock at six feet tall, always cloaked 47 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: in the trendiest fine wool doublets, with long auburn hair 48 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: down to his shoulders, and Pico had the intellect to 49 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: match his looks. He could recite Dante's Divine Comedy backwards 50 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: by heart. At the age of twenty, he had already 51 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: mastered Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, an Chaldean, and he went 52 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: on to write pioneering works a few humanist philosophy. But 53 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: in early November, when he was just thirty one years old, 54 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: Pico de la Marendola had suddenly fallen ill. He suffered 55 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: in bed for two weeks, alternating between lucidity and delirium 56 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: as he grew more and more fatigued. Pico's illness raised 57 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:28,679 Speaker 1: red flags across Europe. Even the King of France, Charles 58 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: the Seventh, who had diplomatic tensions with many of Pico's allies, 59 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: sent over his personal physicians to try and heal the philosopher, 60 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: but by the time the physicians had arrived, it was 61 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: too late. Pico was on his deathbed in a placid, 62 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: contemplative mood. 63 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 2: Quote, he asked all. 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 1: His servants forgiveness if he had ever before that day 65 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: offended any of them, Thomas Moore wrote in fifteen o five. 66 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: During his life, Pico had indulged in the pleasures of 67 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: his aristocratic intellectual upbringing, enjoying life outside of Florence living 68 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: with a mistress, but he had always flirted with a 69 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:21,119 Speaker 1: more austere godly path, expressing interest in becoming a Dominican monk. 70 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: In his final days, he gave all of his possessions 71 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: to the monastery at San Marco, and he pleaded with 72 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: his friend, the powerful Dominican friar Hirolamo Savonarola, to accept 73 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: him into the order. Savonarola complied, laying out a Dominican 74 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: habit over Pico's body before Pico died on November seventeen. 75 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: His austere funeral a week later was in keeping with 76 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: his late in life turn to God. Rather than celebrating 77 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: his intellect or honoring his aristocratic lineage, Savonarola dwelled on 78 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 1: pico salvation. Savonarola told the audience quote, the soul of 79 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: Pico could not go to heaven at once it was 80 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: subject to a time in the flames of purgatory for 81 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: certain sins. Those sins he failed to name, but he 82 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: reassured the audience that Pico had appeared to him in 83 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: a dream, saying that he would expiate his sins in purgatory. 84 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: Pico was buried in San Marco in his habit, next 85 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: to his friend and collaborator, A Hillo Pulitziano, another Italian 86 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: classical scholar in Florence, and oddly enough, Pulitziano had died 87 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: just a few weeks earlier under similar conditions. Just like Pico, 88 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: Pulitziano suffered from a mysterious acute illness that killed him quickly. 89 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: Their deaths seemed so abrupt and untimely that some suspected 90 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: foul play. After all, Pico and Poliziano had no shortage 91 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: of enemies. The ensuing investigation into who killed Pico della Mirandola, 92 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: if he had been killed at all, would last over 93 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: five hundred years. I'm Danish forts and this is noble blood. 94 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: When twenty one year old Pico dela Marendola arrived in 95 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: the Florentine court in fourteen eighty four, he had no 96 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: idea that he would soon be at the center of 97 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: a political crisis. He was already a celebrated intellectual across Europe, 98 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: famous for his work connecting Christianity, Judaism, and the ancient 99 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: Greek philosophers. One of his mentors brought him back to 100 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: the court of Lorenzo de Medici, the leader of the 101 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: Republic of Florence and Medici Bank. While in Florence, Pico 102 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: met Angelo Poliziano, who was the Medici court poet at 103 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: the time. Politiciano was dazzled by Pico, but it seems 104 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: that everyone in Florence was particularly by Pico's writings on 105 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:16,280 Speaker 1: the Greek philosophers. Lorenzo da Medici, Politziano, and other Florentine 106 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: intellectuals had become enamored with the works of Plato. They 107 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: were particularly interested in how Plato emphasized virtue, love, and 108 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: individual dignity, suggesting that cultivating these qualities in the earthly 109 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: world could lead to divine truths. One member of this group, 110 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: Marsilio Ficino, coined the term Platonic love, a term Plato 111 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: himself never used to describe the ideal bond between specifically 112 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: male friends. The Medici intellectuals sharing poetry and talking about 113 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: love couldn't have been more different from the dominant intellectual 114 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: tradition in schools across Europe at this time, scholastic Aristotelianism, 115 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: where scholars spent their days writing rigorous, logical proofs of 116 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: Christian theology. While the Florentine set embraced Pico as one 117 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: of their own, they didn't know that he was not 118 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: as hostile to scholastic Aristotelianism as he may have seemed. 119 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: In fourteen eighty five, Pico wrote in a letter that 120 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: he had come to Florence not as a quote deserter 121 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: of academic tradition, but rather quote as a spy. Pico 122 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: didn't want to be pinned down to any particular intellectual school. 123 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: Behind the Medichi crowds. Back, Pico met up with an 124 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: old acquaintance, Gilimo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who hated the 125 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: Platonic Humanists and the Medici court. Savonarola thought that the humanists' 126 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: encouragement of cultivating virtue and philosophical contemplation on an individual 127 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: level would turn people away from the Church. Pico was 128 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: not just well versed in the classics, but also had 129 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: a deep theological knowledge he was able to pull from 130 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:26,559 Speaker 1: obscure Jewish and Christian texts alike. Savonarola and Pico spent 131 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: long hours at the monastery of San Marco quote piously philosophizing. 132 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 2: While these philosophical. 133 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: Differences may seem abstract or pedantic, they were slowly becoming 134 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: more politically divisive. Savonarola had a cult like following for 135 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: his sharp intellect and his commitment to ascetic life. One 136 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: monk described that he had spent his nights weeping during 137 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: the night long vigils and hours of f meditation, even 138 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: with his eyes swollen from being up all night. He 139 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 1: wrote quote, his teachings raised men's hearts above all human things. 140 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: In Savonarola's weekly sermons across Florence, he railed against the 141 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: Medici elite, arguing that the Mediici's sponsorship of Platonic philosophy, 142 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: of Lavish festivals, and of classical art and poetry was 143 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 1: evidence of the excesses of luxury and pagan moral decay. 144 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: This struck a nerve Savonarola made the Neoplatonists seem elitist 145 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: and out of touch, since the common people of Florence 146 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: couldn't spend all day pursuing their own moral education, of course, not, 147 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: They had to work. Worse, economic anxiety simmered underneath the 148 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: Medicheese seeming abundance as taxes rows and wealth inequality intensified. 149 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: Savonarola blamed the elite for this economic precarity, suggesting that 150 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: God was punishing Florence for their sins and Pico was 151 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 1: only making things harder for Lorenzo da Medici. In early 152 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: fourteen eighty six, Pico had an affair with a young 153 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: woman named Margarita. The problem was she already had a husband. 154 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 1: When her husband died, her in laws compelled her to 155 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,079 Speaker 1: remarry a local tax official who was a distant relative 156 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: of Lorenzo da Medici's. In May, Pico and twenty armed 157 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: men set out towards Margherita's hometown, Arezzo, forty miles outside 158 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,439 Speaker 1: of Florence. They met up with Margarita at the city 159 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: gate and. 160 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 2: Rode off together. 161 00:11:55,920 --> 00:12:00,199 Speaker 1: The local authorities chased them down, and a battle ensuite, 162 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: killing fifteen men. Pico, his secretary, and Margherita all managed 163 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: to escape, but another village detained them and threw them 164 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: in prison. Lorenzo de Medici was not happy to have 165 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: to bail Pico out of prison, especially since Pico had 166 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:23,559 Speaker 1: humiliated Margherita's fiancee, who was a member after all, of 167 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: the Medici family. Lorenzo declared that Margherita had not been 168 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: unfaithful and should be returned to her husband, and he 169 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: ordered Pico to be released. He blamed the entire thing 170 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: on Pico's secretary, but an even bigger scandal was yet 171 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: to come. Pico had nearly completed his intellectual opus, nine 172 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 1: hundred theses that he claimed answered every question in philosophy 173 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: and theology. He combined ancient Egyptian, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew 174 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: sources in in order to create a universal system of beliefs. 175 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: Pico even mined alchemy, astrology, and mysticism for metaphysical truths 176 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: alongside the traditional teachings of the Bible. He was particularly 177 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: interested in the Jewish mysticism of the Kabbalah, writing quote, 178 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: no science affords better evidence of Christ's divinity than magic 179 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: and Kabbalistic practices. Pico arrived in Rome in November fourteen 180 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: eighty six to publish his nine hundred theses and conduct 181 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,439 Speaker 1: a public debate, defending his work against any possible argument. 182 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,319 Speaker 1: He assumed that his work would be uncontroversial, maintaining that 183 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: everything he had written would be quote approved by the 184 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: Catholic Church and her chief Pastor, Innocent the Eighth end quote. 185 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: As it turns out, Pope Innocent the Eighth was not 186 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: a fan of Pico's project. He thought that Pico's unquestioning 187 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: citations of the Kabbalah, which most Christians at the time 188 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: considered heresy, was a direct threat to the Church and 189 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: a challenge to his authority. Pope Innocent the Eighth shut 190 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: down Pico's proposed public debate and decided that his nine 191 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: hundred theses were quote heretical, rash, and likely to give 192 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: scandal to the faithful. Pico was determined to defend himself, 193 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: writing an apologia to back up his arguments and dedicating 194 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: it to Lorenzo de Medici. But Pico's apologia only made 195 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: things worse. In it, he proposed a reading of the 196 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: Bible which suggested that humans had free will to pursue 197 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: the lives of their choosing, which stood in direct contrast 198 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: to the Church's insistence at the time that God was 199 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: the ultimate authority. Pico escaped Rome and fled to France, 200 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: and Innocent the Eighth called for his arrest. Authorities in 201 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: France detained Pico for heresy and threw him in prison. Worse, 202 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: it's unclear whether Pico had asked Lorenzo de Medici's permission 203 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: to dedicate his apology to him, and so Lorenzo had 204 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: been dragged into the scandal as well, possibly against his will. 205 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: An international incident involving the Pope. Lorenzo now had to 206 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: choose whether to let his friend Pico suffer the heresy charges, 207 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: serious charges, since a common punishment for heretics was to 208 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: burn them at the stake, or to save Pico and 209 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: put his own reputation at risk. After days of deliberation, 210 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: Lorenzo de Medici decided to try and rescue Pico. While 211 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: this was diplomatically tricky, his friendship with Pope Innocent and 212 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: the French regent slightly improved his chances. Lorenzo requested that 213 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: Pico be freed, and both Pope Innocent the Eighth and 214 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: the French royalty agreed. Lorenzo brought Pico back to Florence 215 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: and set him up at a villa just north of 216 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: the city. While innocent didn't prosecute Pico, he wasn't totally 217 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: in the clear. The Pope refused to pardon Pico. Lorenzo 218 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: was now worried that the rest of his intellectual squad 219 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: of Neoplatonists could be convicted of heresy as well. Lorenzo 220 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: realized he could be targeted by the Vatican for his irreverent, 221 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: extravagant festivals and what historian Paul Strathen called quote his 222 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: lax attitudes towards religion. Lorenzo asked Pico for advice. Pico 223 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: suggested that he hire his old friend Savonarola to teach 224 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: his son, Giovanni, which would signal to the Church that 225 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: he Lorenzo, was taking Catholicism more seriously. In fourteen ninety, 226 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: Savonarola agreed to the job, moving from Bologna back to 227 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 1: the monastery in San Marco. After Pico's run in with 228 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: the Church, he was quote somewhat beaten, as Savonarola put it. 229 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: At the time, Savonarola convinced him to abandon his nine 230 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: hundred theses and pursue a more godly life. Pico had 231 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,959 Speaker 1: given away his villa at Mirindola and flirted with joining 232 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi, walking barefoot 233 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: across Italy. He even considered joining the Dominican Order of 234 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: San Marco. But even as he spent hours our day 235 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: arguing with Savonarola about theology, he couldn't quite bring himself 236 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: to renounce his intellectual and worldly pleasures. But while Pico 237 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,719 Speaker 1: was still trying to endear himself to both Savonarola and 238 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: Lorenzo de Medici, simultaneously their feud had intensified. Lorenzo had 239 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: supported a rival of Savonarola's fra Mariano, in giving a 240 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: sermon taking Savonarola down. Lorenzo Pulitziano, the poet, Pico, and 241 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: the rest of the Medici intellectual scene attended that fateful 242 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: sermon as Mariano lambasted Savonarola for being a false prophet 243 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,439 Speaker 1: aiming to stir the people of Florence into a rebellion. 244 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: But Mariano took things a little too far, mocking Savonarola's accent, 245 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,040 Speaker 1: calling him quote a worm, a snake, a clown. He 246 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: was ignorant of the Bible and an inept priest who 247 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,680 Speaker 1: was not even capable of conducting a mass in proper 248 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: Latin end quote. Pico, Lorenzo and Politziano and the rest 249 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: of the congregation were horrified at the vitriol. Three days later, Pico, Politziano, 250 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: Lorenzo de Medici, and the other Florentine congregants reconvened to 251 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: hear Savonarola's response. Unlike Mariano, Savonarola was calm and collected. 252 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: He complimented Mariano's biblical interpretations and emphasized that they had 253 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: been cordial in the past. He alleged that someone intervened 254 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: and convinced Mariano to quote change his mind and attack him. 255 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: Even though Savonarola kept things vague, everyone knew this culprit 256 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: he was alluding to who had changed Mariano's mind and 257 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: caused him to att attack Savonarola well Lorenzo de Medici. 258 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: Mariano was so devastated by his defeat in the popular 259 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,880 Speaker 1: forum that he fled to Rome. Meanwhile, Savonarola had never 260 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: been more popular. He was elected prior to the monastery 261 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: of San Marco because the Medici family built San Marco 262 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: and even referred to it as their monastery. The newly 263 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: elected Friar was expected to pay a visit to the 264 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: Medici Palazzo, but Savonarola bulked at that request, saying to 265 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: his fellow monks, quote, who made me prior God or Lorenzo. 266 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 1: The monks responded God, and Savonarola said, quote, thus it 267 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: is the Lord God who I will think, and he 268 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: returned to his cell. Even when citizens and allies like 269 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: Pico warned him about making such a powerful enemy, Savonarola 270 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: refused to back down. He said, quote, although I am 271 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: a mere stranger to this city, Lorenzo is the most 272 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: powerful man in Florence. It is I who will remain here, 273 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: and he who will depart. He will be gone long 274 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: before me. The prophecy was well timed. Lorenzo's health had 275 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: been failing as he suffered from congenital gout that left 276 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: him weak and understandably cranky. It continued to worsen over 277 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: the rest of the year, and he retired to a 278 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: villa outside of Florence to convalesce. By spring of fourteen 279 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 1: ninety two, it seemed the end was near. On April fifth, 280 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 1: two of Florence's Lions, the city's mascots, had mauled each 281 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,120 Speaker 1: other to death in their cave, and later that night, 282 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: a lightning bolt struck the Florence Cathedral, causing pieces of 283 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:03,679 Speaker 1: marble to call around the building. These events seemed like 284 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: catastrophic omens, and even Lorenzo was not immune from superstition. 285 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: When he heard of the cathedral's collapse, he said, it means. 286 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 2: That I shall die. 287 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: On his deathbed, Lorenzo de Medici had a surprising visitor, Savonarola. 288 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: While it's unclear while Lorenzo had invited his frenemy over 289 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:33,880 Speaker 1: and even less clear why Savonarola accepted it, some historians 290 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 1: suggest that Pico della Mirandola may have leveraged his friendship 291 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: with both of them to arrange the meeting. Pico and 292 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 1: his friend, the poet Politziano, were there for this fateful meeting. 293 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: Politziano recalled that Savonarola asked him if he had faith 294 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: in God and would be willing to renounce his ill 295 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: gotten wealth and live a blameless life. Lorenzo Dope said yes. 296 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,680 Speaker 1: According to rumor, Lorenzo told Savonarola that his son Piero 297 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: would rule over Florence after his death and begged Savonarola 298 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: not to preach against him, Savonarola reluctantly agreed. At the 299 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: end of his visit Wright, as Savonarola turned towards the 300 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: door to leave, Lorenzo asked him to give him his benediction. 301 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 2: And he did. 302 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: Shortly thereafter, on April eighth, fourteen ninety two, Lorenzo died. 303 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: Piero took over Florence, and true to his words, Savanarola 304 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: did not undermine him in his sermons. But Savanarola considered 305 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: capitalizing on the growing political instability for his own aims. 306 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,679 Speaker 1: Florence had fallen into financial chaos late in his life, 307 00:23:54,760 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: Lorenzo attempted to increase taxes, a hugely unpopular mine move 308 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: given the gulf between the Medichi's fabulous wealth and the 309 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: wide spread poverty of the rest of the population. At 310 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: the time, around thirty percent of the taxable population, which 311 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: was almost ten thousand people, were so impoverished that they 312 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: paid no tax at all, while fifty percent of the 313 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: working population paid little more than a flora in each 314 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 1: Savanarola bulked at the luxury of the Medichi lifestyle and 315 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: wanted to bring a spirit of austerity to Florence. Pico 316 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: was not on the same page. His heresy charges had 317 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: been all but forgotten, so he returned to writing and 318 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,920 Speaker 1: even lived with a mistress, an evident sin. Even though 319 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 1: some sources suggest that Savonarola knew about Pico's sex life, 320 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: contrary to his doctrinaire and hard headed nature, it seems 321 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: that Savonarola just looked the other way when it came 322 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,640 Speaker 1: to his friend. Savonarola wanted to use his brilliant friend 323 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: Pico to spread his theological agenda. He had Pico write 324 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: in anti astrology, screed with a jab that astrologers were 325 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: so inept that they couldn't even predict the weather. Bullied 326 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: by the Church and swayed by Savonarola, Pico had abandoned 327 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: his more forward thinking Renaissance humanism and instead started promoting 328 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: strict obedience to God's authority. Meanwhile, in Milan, a Duke 329 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: Lorenzo Sforza was suffering a power struggle of his own 330 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 1: as he fought with various aristocrats for control of the region. 331 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: Sforza asked for support from Charles the Eighth, the new 332 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: young king of France and at that time the most 333 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: powerful nation in Europe. In return, Sforza promised to back 334 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 1: Charles if he chose to take control of Naples. Because 335 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: Charles's grandmother's family had had control over the Napalese territory 336 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,640 Speaker 1: in twelve sixty six, he believed that Naples rightfully belonged 337 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 1: to him. In fourteen ninety four, the King of Naples died, 338 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 1: giving Charles the perfect opportunity to invade. With Sforza's backing, 339 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: he led his army into Milan, aiming to take. 340 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 2: Naples by force. 341 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:41,400 Speaker 1: Piero de Medici had initially decided to use Florence's resources 342 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: to defend Naples against Charles, but Piero's reputation was beginning 343 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: to fall apart. Piero had become infamous for being hot headed, arrogant, entitled, 344 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 1: and dumb. Even his own late father had called him 345 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: a fool. Various Florentine officials contrasted Piero with his cousin 346 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:11,199 Speaker 1: apologies another Lorenzo de Medici, who was more moderate and 347 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:16,919 Speaker 1: even keeled, deeply embedded in civic institutions and educated in 348 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:22,919 Speaker 1: humanist philosophy. This cousin, Lorenzo, had been in contact with 349 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: the French army and promised to offer them safe passage. 350 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: Even if Piero refused, and he even agreed to back 351 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: Charles the Eighth's invasion financially, Piero, feeling that he had 352 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: no choice because he was being undermined and possibly usurped 353 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: by his cousin, decided to tacitly allow the invasion. At 354 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: the end of August fourteen ninety four, Charles the Eighth 355 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: and an army of forty thousand marched into Tuscany. By 356 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: September twenty first, the citizens of Florence were terrified about 357 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,679 Speaker 1: the future of their city. Hundreds of people, including Picodela Marendola, 358 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: crowded into the cathedral to hear Savonarola's latest sermon. While 359 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: he never made a direct attack on Piero, Savonarola had 360 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: apocalyptic warnings about Florence's future. He castigated the gamblers, blasphemers, 361 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,439 Speaker 1: and sodomites that would lead to Florence's downfall, saying that 362 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,640 Speaker 1: the quote scourge of God had arrived. Upon hearing those words, 363 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: Pico della Mirandola began to shake as the rest of 364 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: the crowd wept and moaned in hysterics. Just three days 365 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: after that apocalyptic sermon, one of Pico Mirandola's closest friends, 366 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: the poet and Glo Politziano died. He had suffered a 367 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: mysterious illness that took his life in just two weeks. 368 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: Pico had no idea how soon his own death would follow. 369 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:10,959 Speaker 1: While Poliziano's sudden death would normally have raised suspicions, the 370 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 1: population of Florence was far too preoccupied with a potential 371 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: French invasion to delve into an investigation. 372 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 2: About the death of a poet. 373 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: By the end of September fourteen ninety four, Piero felt trapped. 374 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: Charles the Eighth's vast army was moving quickly, with advanced 375 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: artillery that could easily destroy Florence's meager defenses. Moreover, all 376 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: of Florence's allies were aligned with Charles the Eighth, but 377 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: capitulating to the French would humiliate Florence and throw the 378 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: city into an even deeper crisis. The end of October, 379 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: Piero went to Charles's camp in Tuscany to negotiate with him, 380 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: using the same diplomatic tactics that his father had pioneered. 381 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: Figured that he could allow the French army to pass 382 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: through Florence in the short term and regain control over 383 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: the city after the fact. But he arrived at the 384 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: camp realizing he was at a huge disadvantage. He had 385 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: gone alone, with no army or political muscle to back 386 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: him up. Charles had no interest in negotiating with Piero, 387 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: regarding him as a quote nothing. According to a contemporary, 388 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: he told Piero that he needed the immediate surrender of 389 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: the fortresses surrounding Florence for as long as he wanted. Piero, 390 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: in a shock, agreed immediately and even offered the king 391 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,840 Speaker 1: two hundred thousand florins. When the population of Florence heard 392 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: what happened, they were incensed. Piero's conduct at that meeting 393 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: seemed to confirm the worst rumors about him. He acted 394 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: rashly and unilaterally, capitulating to Charles's dedays without consulting any 395 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: of his advisers. Even though Florence was ostensibly a republic, 396 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: Piero was acting more like a dictator. Piero finally returned 397 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: to Florence on November eighth. The city was silent, with 398 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: no celebrations welcoming him home. He approached the Piazza della Signora, 399 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: which housed the Florentine government, but the main door was 400 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: slammed in his face. An official shouted at him that 401 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: he could only enter by way of the sportello, the 402 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: tiny side gate intended for servants and delivery boys. As 403 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: Piero contemplated what to do, the city's bell rang out, 404 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: the traditional call alerting citizens to an emergency. A crowd 405 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: gathered in the piazza. At first heckling Piero and pelting 406 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 1: him with trash and stones. The mob chased him and 407 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: his men threw the city back to the Palazzo Medici. 408 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: The next day, Piero fled the city. Over the next week, 409 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: the city was in chaos. Anticipating the French army's invasion. 410 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: Mobs broke into the palazzo and burned down registry files 411 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: to clear their debts, a real fight club move. Meanwhile, 412 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 1: Pico de la Mirindola had fallen suddenly ill, just like 413 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: his late friend Politziano. While he continued to attend his 414 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: friend Savenarola's increasingly grim and over the top sermons, Pico 415 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: had been feverish and weak. Finally, on November seventeen, he 416 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: died at age thirty one. The French marched into Florence 417 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: that very day, occupying the city without a fight. The 418 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: army sacked Florence and left the city in ruins as 419 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: it continued. 420 00:32:59,000 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 2: On to Naples. 421 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:06,720 Speaker 1: Pico and Poliziano's deaths seemed to signal the end of 422 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: the Medici Era and the Renaissance humanism that had flourished. 423 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: Though Savonarola buried the two men together in San Marco, 424 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: he treated their deaths slightly differently. In his sermons, he 425 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: portrayed Pico de la Mirendola as a devout Christian and 426 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: a symbol of the power of repentance. He emphasized that 427 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 1: at the end of his life, Pico had renounced his 428 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: philosophical heresies and joined the Dominican Order. While this was 429 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 1: technically true, Pico's religious commitments were a bit of wishful 430 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: thinking on Savonarola's part. Most historians interpret this late in 431 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,880 Speaker 1: life conversion as a last minute attempt to get into 432 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: heaven and probably wouldn't have occurred if Pico wasn't on 433 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:04,960 Speaker 1: his deathbed. In contrasts, Savanarola said nothing about Politziano. Savonarola 434 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: considered Politziano a friend and had been deeply affected by 435 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: his death, but the poet was a more controversial figure 436 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: than Pico was. Unlike the distant and reclusive Pico, Politziano 437 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 1: was known to the public as a teacher and was 438 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: more closely associated with Piero di Medici, since he remained 439 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 1: on the Medici payroll long after Lorenzo, the first original 440 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:38,480 Speaker 1: Lorenzo's death. Moreover, Pico's work was dense and difficult to access, 441 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: given that his nine hundred theses were banned by the church, 442 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 1: while Politziano's poetry, praising the beauty of young boys in 443 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: the classical style, was accessible and widely available to the public. 444 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 1: His poetry and his role as a teacher to the 445 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: elite sparked rumors that he was sleeping with his male students. 446 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:00,880 Speaker 2: He was even. 447 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: Arrested on charges of sodomy before he died, but he 448 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: didn't end up being charged. One contemporary said that Politiano 449 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: was quote the object of as much infamy and public 450 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: vituperation as it is possible for a man to attract. 451 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: Their different reputations meant that even though Pico and Poliziano 452 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: were friends who died under almost exactly the same circumstances 453 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: within weeks of each other, historians viewed their deaths as unrelated. 454 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 1: In the late fifteenth century, pro Savonarola writers interpreted Pico's 455 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: death as an untimely tragedy, while leaving out Politziano entirely. 456 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:51,319 Speaker 1: Just as Savonarola had. They interpreted these deaths as divine judgments, 457 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: God's punishment for Florence's sins, and after Savanna Arroola's death 458 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: in fourteen ninety eight, who were against him took almost 459 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: the opposite perspective, reclaiming Pico as a humanist rather than 460 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:13,320 Speaker 1: a converted Christian, rather than a divine punishment. His death 461 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:18,800 Speaker 1: was a tragic symbol of Florence's forward looking intellectual culture 462 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: during the Medici era that was being destroyed by the 463 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,600 Speaker 1: political forces of the era. It wasn't until the fifteen 464 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:32,720 Speaker 1: eighties that more scandalous rumors about Politziano's death emerged. Early 465 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:38,320 Speaker 1: sixteenth century clerical writers linked Politziano's death with the rumors 466 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,920 Speaker 1: about his homosexuality, suggesting that his life of sin and 467 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: excess led to his demise as syphilis spread throughout Europe. 468 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 1: Clerical historians in the fifteen eighties interpreted this implication literally, 469 00:36:54,160 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 1: suggesting that maybe Politziano had died of syphilis. While some 470 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:05,359 Speaker 1: poisoning speculations floated around in the years after Pico's death, 471 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:10,839 Speaker 1: it wasn't until the mid sixteenth century that historians made 472 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:17,080 Speaker 1: an explicit allegation that Pico was murdered. These writers tended 473 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:23,879 Speaker 1: to be anti Savonarola and accused Savonarola's most extreme followers 474 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: of assassinating Pico. The claim was that these religious fanatics, 475 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: unlike Savonarola himself, saw Pico as a dangerous heretic who 476 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: could undermine Savonarola's religious authority. On the other hand, if 477 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:46,600 Speaker 1: Pico happened to die, it would confirm Savonarola's apocalyptic premonitions, 478 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: shoring up his control over the city. Speculation swirled about 479 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:57,239 Speaker 1: both Pico and Poliziano's deaths until two thousand and eight, 480 00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:03,320 Speaker 1: when scientists exhumed both of their bodies to study the remains. 481 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:08,799 Speaker 1: They found high levels of arsenic, mercury, and lead in 482 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: their bones, suggesting that they may have been poisoned. That said, 483 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: Pico had higher levels of arsenic in his system than 484 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:22,600 Speaker 1: Pulitziano did, and arsenic was also used as a medical treatment, 485 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 1: leaving it unclear whether they had been poisoned, or whether 486 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,000 Speaker 1: they were trying to treat an already existing illness. Still, 487 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,879 Speaker 1: this new evidence, emerging over five hundred years after they 488 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,480 Speaker 1: had died, linking Pico and Poliziano's death for the first 489 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:48,880 Speaker 1: time might have confirmed a potential conspiracy. Thinking had changed 490 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: from the sixteenth century, so modern historians set aside their 491 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:59,400 Speaker 1: suspicions that Savonarola influenced religious fanatics had poisoned Pico. They 492 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:04,000 Speaker 1: figured that those older historians had blamed the religious devotees 493 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,400 Speaker 1: out of their own biases and contempt for the preacher, 494 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:13,000 Speaker 1: rather than based in any actual evidence. Moreover, Savenarola's followers 495 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,719 Speaker 1: had a deep respect for Pico and tended to go 496 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: after their enemies publicly, making a secret poisoning unlikely. Instead, 497 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:28,359 Speaker 1: some historians turned their blame to Piero de Medici, The 498 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:34,760 Speaker 1: head of the Italian National Cultural Committee that commissioned the exhumation, said, quote, 499 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:40,040 Speaker 1: combining the results of our analysis with historical documents which 500 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: have recently come to light, it seems Piero was the 501 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:49,120 Speaker 1: most likely culprit for the assassination order. The committee had 502 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:54,839 Speaker 1: added quote, it was probably Pico's secretary who administered the 503 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: poison In fact, the secretary admitted later that he had 504 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,840 Speaker 1: given Pico medicine because he was sick. The head of 505 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 1: the committee argued that Piero had paid off the secretary 506 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,719 Speaker 1: to kill Pico because Pico had chosen to plead the 507 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:18,759 Speaker 1: cause of his nemesis Savonarola. It's not clear that this 508 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:23,319 Speaker 1: allegation has a ton of evidence behind it. That new 509 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:27,000 Speaker 1: historical document that they mentioned was the diary of a 510 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: Venetian historian from fourteen ninety six, a few years after 511 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:36,960 Speaker 1: Pico's death. By then, Savonarola had taken control over Florence 512 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: while the Medicheese were in exile. Still, Savonarola worried that 513 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:46,040 Speaker 1: the Medicheese would oust him, and so he arrested and 514 00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:51,800 Speaker 1: executed nobles whom he suspected were still aligned with the Medichese. 515 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:59,480 Speaker 1: One of the men he interrogated was Pico's secretary. The secretary, Cristoforo, 516 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:03,400 Speaker 1: confessed that he had quote hastened the death of his 517 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 1: master by poisoning. But this Venetian diarist was not a 518 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 1: witness to the confession, so this was just a second 519 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:17,240 Speaker 1: hand rumor. Moreover, one would think that such a scandalous 520 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,960 Speaker 1: admission would have made quite the splash in Florence at 521 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,640 Speaker 1: the time, but no other contemporary sources mention it. This 522 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:30,160 Speaker 1: story obviously would have only helped Savonarola's case. He could 523 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,759 Speaker 1: have used it to convince the public that the Medicis 524 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 1: were conspiring against him they had paid his friend's secretary 525 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,120 Speaker 1: to murder him. Furthermore, it seems that this newly discovered 526 00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:48,360 Speaker 1: historical document was not so new. After all, the Venetian 527 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,280 Speaker 1: Diary had been in print for centuries, and the theory 528 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:57,320 Speaker 1: that Piero de Medici had hired Christoforo to kill Pico 529 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,840 Speaker 1: had been circulating in the historic record since at least 530 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight. In any case, as one Italian historian, 531 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:11,840 Speaker 1: Giolo Bussi put it quote, Pico's death is destined to 532 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:18,200 Speaker 1: remain shrouded in mystery. That's all for the story of 533 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,600 Speaker 1: Pico della Mirandola, but stick around to hear a bit 534 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:26,799 Speaker 1: about the rumored love affair between Pico, Lorenzo de Medici, 535 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:38,320 Speaker 1: and Politziano. We mentioned earlier in this episode that Politziano 536 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 1: had been rumored to have gay affairs with his students, 537 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:48,600 Speaker 1: but it wasn't just Politziano Rumors of bisexuality followed Lorenzo 538 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:53,760 Speaker 1: de Medici and Pico della Mirandola as well. Some even 539 00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:58,800 Speaker 1: think that Pico and Politziano were a couple. Politziano wrote 540 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,680 Speaker 1: Pico a poem that said Pico was quote a hero 541 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,480 Speaker 1: on whom nature had lavished all the endowments, both of 542 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:12,279 Speaker 1: body and mind. Historian Paul Strathorne wrote that Pico and 543 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:18,200 Speaker 1: Lorenzo were certainly bisexual, suggesting that this group of neoplatonist 544 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:24,480 Speaker 1: intellectuals may have been more than m platonic friends. There 545 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:29,400 Speaker 1: was certainly a widespread culture of male homosexuality in Florence. 546 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:34,359 Speaker 1: According to the historian Michael Rock, in Florence, every year 547 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:39,000 Speaker 1: during the last four decades of the fifteenth century, an 548 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:43,720 Speaker 1: average of some four hundred people were implicated and fifty 549 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:48,480 Speaker 1: five to sixty condemned for sodomy. It's worth pointing out 550 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:54,360 Speaker 1: that accusations of sodomy were effective political tools that someone 551 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:59,200 Speaker 1: could use to ruin an enemy's reputation. All of that said, 552 00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:04,040 Speaker 1: there isn't a lot of evidence to suggest that Pico, Lorenzo, 553 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:09,040 Speaker 1: or Poliziano were involved with each other. Pico, Lorenzo, and 554 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:14,279 Speaker 1: Politziano saw open expressions of love and admiration as a 555 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:19,800 Speaker 1: classical tradition and a natural extension of their platonic ideals, 556 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:24,120 Speaker 1: but that argument didn't really land with the Church. Many 557 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 1: of Pico's contemporaries were suspicious of close affectionate relationships between 558 00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:37,560 Speaker 1: male friends, Unlike Politziano, Rumors about Lorenzo and Pico's sexuality 559 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:43,239 Speaker 1: didn't emerge until the twentieth century. Frustrated with the decadence 560 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:49,160 Speaker 1: of the Mediici era, many early Catholic historians suggested that 561 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:54,120 Speaker 1: the vibe of the Mediici court was too erotically permissive. 562 00:44:54,800 --> 00:45:00,719 Speaker 1: Strathearn's assertion that Pico and Lorenzo were quote certainly bisexual 563 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:06,719 Speaker 1: is an outlier, as few other historians have speculated about 564 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:12,840 Speaker 1: their sexuality outside of the general cultural context, but you 565 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:25,240 Speaker 1: never know. Nobel Blood is a production of iHeart Radio 566 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:28,880 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is 567 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:33,200 Speaker 1: hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research 568 00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:38,200 Speaker 1: by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy hit and Julia Milani. 569 00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:42,480 Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with 570 00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:48,280 Speaker 1: supervising producer rima il KLi and executive producers Aaron Mankey, 571 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:53,040 Speaker 1: Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 572 00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:57,600 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 573 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:01,680 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.