February 7 1497 – The Largest Bonfire of the Vanities Occurs in Florence, Italy

February 7 1497 – The Largest Bonfire of the Vanities Occurs in Florence, Italy5 (100%) 1 vote Decades after St. Bernardino di Siena opened the practice of burning “temptation-inducing” items to turn Catholic adherents back toward the faith, parishioners of Friar Girolamo Savonarola launched one of the largest bonfires of the vanities on February 7, 1497. Set in the capital of the Italian Renaissance, Florence, historians wonder to this day what priceless works of art or literature may have been destroyed as “frivolous, sinful pursuits.” Throughout the 1400s, the cities of Europe engaged in a slow process of awakening from the Middle Ages. New ideas blossomed all over the continent, […]