h a great {51} wooden cross he took to defend the choir from
sacrilege. "Save Thy people, O God"; it was the refrain of the very
psalm they had been singing. The place was dense with smoke, and the
noise of the strife was deafening. A young monk died on the very altar
steps, and received the last Sacrament from Fra Domenico amid this
strange turmoil.

As soon as a pause came in the attack, Savonarola led the brethren to
the library. He told them quietly that he was resolved to give himself
up to his enemies that there might be no further bloodshed. He bade
them farewell with tenderness and walked forth into the dangerous crowd
about the convent. His hands were tied and he was beaten and buffeted
on his way to prison. The first taste of martyrdom was bitter in his
mouth, and he regretted that he had not answered the Franciscan's
challenge.

The prophet was put on trial on a charge of heresy and sedition. He
was tortured so cruelly that he was led to recant and to "confess," as
his judges said. They had already come to a decision that he was
guilty. Sentence of death was pronounced, and he mounted the scaffold
on May 23rd, 1498. He looked upon the multitude gathered in the great
Piazza, but he did not speak to them; he did not save himself, as some
of them were hoping. It was many years before Florence paid him due
honour as the founder of her liberties and the greatest of her
reformers.

{52}

Chapter V

Martin Luther, Reformer of the Church

The martyrdom of Savonarola gave courage to reformers and renewed the
faith of the people. It had been his aim to progress steadily toward
the truth and to draw the whole world after him. Unconsciously he
prepared the way for the German monk who destroyed the unity of the
Catholic Church. Though he was merciless to papal abuses, it had not
been in the mind of the zealous Dominican to protest against the
doctrines of the Papacy, nor did he ever doubt the faith which had
drawn him to the convent. He had no wish to destroy--his work was to
purify. But his death proved that purification was impossible. Rome
had gone too far on the downward path to be checked by a Reformer. She
had come at last to the parting of the ways.

Martin Luther knew nothing of the pomp of Italian cities. He was born
in very humble circumstances at Eisleben, a little town in Germany, on
St Martin's Eve, 1483. Harsh discipline made his childhood unhappy,
for the age of educatio