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Why did Girolamo Savonarola appeal for a general church council?
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Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, painting by Fra Bartolomeo; in the Museo di San Marco, Florence.
Girolamo Savonarola appealed for a general church council as a direct act of defiance against Pope Alexander VI.
Following his excommunication in June 1497, Savonarola was commanded to remain silent. He defied this decree by resuming his preaching in early 1498, during which he explicitly called for a general council to reform the church. This appeal was rooted in his evangelical denunciation of the wickedness and corruption he perceived within the papal court. By seeking a general council, Savonarola aimed to challenge the authority of the pope, whom he viewed as a corrupt leader in need of reform.123