The Elect Nation The Savonarolan Movement in Florence 1494-1545 [Hardcover]

The Elect Nationis the first comprehensive study of the religious, political and cultural movement inspired by Savonarola. Based on a thorough examination of archival material and manuscript sources, the book argues that the followers of Savonarola exercised a profound influence on every facet of Florentine life during the important period of the city's transition from republic to principate. It is the author's contention that their ideology and activities provide the key to understanding not only the political developments of the last years of the Florentine Republic, but also the nature of contemporary political debate and the characteristics of the merging Medicean Principate.


[A] definitive study based mainly on manuscript sources in some twenty archives but also employing the most recent secondary literature. --Sixteenth Century Journal

The narrative proceeds chronologically, building on the pioneering efforts of leadings historians such as Richard Trexler and Donald Weinstein, yet constructing an argument that is both original and highly convincing. Exceptionally throrough scholarly apparatus. --CHOICE

Historians rely in the first and last place upon an authoritative narration of events in their period of interest, resting on the broadest possible base of documentation, and Polizzoto provides just such a text....This is a fine achievement. --American Historical Review.

It is impossible to adequately convey the riches of this book in a short review. --The Historian

Polizzotto's lucid exposition of a wealth of manuscript and archival materials long left in the shadow of the prophet assures that this will be a lasting contribution to Florentine history and to early modern religious studies. --Church History