SAVONAROLA. 237 VIII., in 1598, hoped to acquire Ferrara, he is said to have made a vow that if successful he would canonize Savonarola, and the hopes of the Dominicans grew so sanguine that they composed a litany for him in advance. In fact, in many of the Dominican convents of Italy during the sixteenth century, on the anniversary of his execution an office was sung to him as to a martyr. His marvellous career thus furnishes the exact antithesis of that of his Ferrarese compatriot, Armanno Pongilupo — the one was vener- ated as a saint and then burned as a heretic, the other was burned as a heretic and then venerated as a saint.*
- Wadding, ann. 1498, No. 23.— Landucci, p. 178.— Perrens, pp. 296-7.— Pro-
cesso Autentico, pp. 524, 528. — Cantu, Eretici d'ltalia, I. 234-5. — Benedicti PP. XIV. De Servorum Dei Beatificatione, Lib. in. c. xxv. §§ 17-20. — Brev. Hist. Ord. Prsedic. (Martene, Am pi. Coll. VI. 394). — Reusch, Der Index der verbotenen Biicher, I. 368. A goodly catalogue of miracles performed by Savonarola's intercession will be found piously chronicled by Burlamaccbi and Bottonio (Baluz. et Mansi I. pp. 571-83).
