Girolamo Savonarola left some of his listeners speechless. The Italian War had to do with King Charles VIII of France taking over Naples, Florence, Rome, Pisa. Before Charles VIII there was Louis XI who is an important and significant figure in the history of France. Most of this happened during the fifteenth-century.
Savonarola was at one time a famous figure in Florence, but soon that fame began to fade. He was against the Renaissance as he thought it was all about corruption and fame. He thought the people needed to stop with the Renaissance and go back to the Gospel. He disliked the Medici family who ruled Florence and who made everyone fear them. He then became powerful and began to force people to tattle-tale on each other. The people loved him until he began to challenge the pope too many times for their liking. He was then excommunicated by the pope and demanded that he go to council to choose another pope. The people then began to fear another Great Schism and soon had Savonarola killed.
Charles VIII of France wanted to capture Naples and said he had a claim over it. He began to conquer Naples while Milan, a neighboring country at the time, welcomed him with open arms. Eventually, after capturing Naples, the French king also took Florence, Pisa, and Rome. He then turned his attention to Milan, who had welcomed him into what we know as Italy today. Unfortunately for Charles VIII and fortunately for Milan, Charles’s men died from a disease as he himself died from hitting his head against a door frame. This is known as the Italian War of 1494-1498.
Louis XI, also a king of France before Charles, playing an important role in French history. He was totally committed to centralizing France, which caused France to become the strongest it had ever been after the war it was in at the time ended. He was a sincere believer and asked for the Church’s help as he ruled France. Like Louis XI all these men played important lives in the history of the West.
~Perrissa
Perrissa's 10th Grade School Blog 