Letter to Pope Alexander VI (13 March 1498)
Savonarola protests to the pope that, after his own defence, the pope has believed his enemies and left him without help. The letter calling the Christian princes to a council (1498) was not found in a clean public-domain text and is not yet staged.
Latin text: Epistola fratris Hieronymi Savonarolae ad Alexandrum papam VI (privately printed, 8 copies; Florence, 1854), from the autograph of 13 March 1498. English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
1Epistola (Florence 1854), p. 5-7
Beatissime Pater. Officij mei partes esse putabam ad honorem Dei, et ad exaltationem sacro-sanctae Fidei, tum veritatem doctrinae Catholicae defendere, tum mores corruptos corrigere, arguere, et ad disciplinam Christianam revocare: postquam vidissem aliquos Ecclesiae Pastores pravis exemplis, nec non malesana doctrina oves suae curae subjectas in errorem mittere, et per multa flagitia in infernum praeire. Id vero dum facio, et per flagellorum peccatoribus imminentium annuntiationem, populos in semitam arctam traducere satago, tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me, in qua non est qui consoletur, qui adjuvet me. Et quidem sperabam Sanctitatem Vestram in meum auxilium insurrecturam, et pro me contra hostes Fidei pugnaturam: caeterum contrarium mihi evenisse aspicio. Quando Sanctitas Vestra tot defensiones innocentiae meae, totque rationes a me propositas, non ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis sed ad demonstrationem integritatis doctrinae, quam praedico, et ad ostensionem humilitatis meae, qua Sanctitatem Vestram et sanctam Romanam Ecclesiam veneror, rejecisse; atque aures adversariis meis addixisse videtur: ita ut in posterum frustra expectandum mihi existimem aliquod adjutorium a Sanctitate Vestra, quod ab illa et tanquam Christiano, et tanquam Summo Pastore jure debuissem accipere: ita lupis feralibus data est potestas saeviendi in me. Caeterum in eo, qui infirma mundi elegit, ut fortia quaeque confundat, spero exauditum iri me ab illo propter hanc, pro qua tanta haec patior et sustineo, veritatem; daturosque poenas omnes hos, qui me persequuntur, quique opus Dei, quod operari conatus sum, impediunt; quandoquidem et ego gloriam meam, exemplo Christi, nunquam quaesivi, neque quaero; et summo desiderio mortem expecto. Sanctitas Vestra non differat suae saluti propriae consulere. Datum Florentiae Idus Martij, stilo Rom, An. MCCCCLXLVIII. Servus inutilis Iesu-Christi Frater Hieronymus Savonarola, manu propria.
Most Blessed Father. I thought it part of my office, for the honour of God and the exaltation of the most holy Faith, both to defend the truth of Catholic doctrine and to correct corrupt morals, to rebuke them, and to recall them to Christian discipline, after I had seen certain Pastors of the Church, by wicked examples and also by unsound doctrine, sending the sheep entrusted to their care into error and leading the way before them into hell through many shameful deeds. But while I do this, and strive to bring the peoples over to the narrow path by announcing the scourges that hang over sinners, tribulation and anguish have found me, in which there is no one to console me, no one to help me. And indeed I hoped that Your Holiness would rise up to my aid and fight for me against the enemies of the Faith; but I see that the contrary has happened to me. For Your Holiness seems to have rejected so many defences of my innocence and so many reasons put forward by me, not to make excuses in sins, but to demonstrate the soundness of the doctrine I preach and to show the humility with which I revere Your Holiness and the holy Roman Church; and to have lent your ears to my adversaries; so that I think I must in future wait in vain for any help from Your Holiness, which I ought by right to have received from you both as a Christian and as Supreme Pastor; thus power has been given to savage wolves to rage against me. But in him who chose the weak things of the world to confound all that is strong, I hope that I shall be heard by him because of this truth, for which I suffer and endure all these things; and that all those who persecute me, and who hinder the work of God that I have tried to do, will pay the penalty; since I, too, after the example of Christ, have never sought my own glory, nor do I seek it; and with the greatest desire I await death. Let Your Holiness not delay to provide for your own salvation. Given at Florence, on the Ides of March, Roman style, in the year 1498. The unprofitable servant of Jesus Christ, Brother Girolamo Savonarola, with his own hand.
Matt 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:143 (quotation, medium confidence) · Lam 1:9 (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 141:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 20:29 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:27 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:50 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 17:10 (allusion, medium confidence) · Phil 1:23 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Savonarola tells the pope that, having defended his doctrine and humility in vain, he expects no help from him, trusts in God's vindication, awaits death, and urges the pope to see to his own salvation.
- The Ides of March is 15 March; the work file dates the letter 13 March 1498. "Roman style" means the year is reckoned from 1 January, not by the Florentine year beginning on 25 March.
- The printed year "MCCCCLXLVIII" is an irregular numeral for 1498.
- "Not to make excuses in sins" quotes Ps 141:4 (Vulgate Ps 140:4), "ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis."
- The letter's charges against the pastors of the church and its final warning to the pope are translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Printed text read “frusta”; corrected to “frustra” (OCR slip (lost r)).
- Printed text read “venerar”; corrected to “veneror” (OCR slip (a for o)).
- Printed text read “Frater Hiero”; corrected to “Frater Hieronymus Savonarola, manu propria.” (End of the signature lost in staging; restored from the printed edition).
Cite (SBL): Savonarola, Ep. Alex. §1 (Epistola (Florence 1854), pp. 5–7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/savonarola/letter-to-alexander-vi-1498/#p-1).
Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-10-27