# Girolamo Savonarola — Romola character guide > Girolamo Savonarola in Romola by George Eliot. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Fra Girolamo, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, Savonarola, the overmastering Fra Girolamo, Girolamo, the Frate, The Frate, Frate **First appearance:** 0024-xxi-florence-expects-a-guest ## Snapshot The Dominican preacher whose calm gaze and unbending doctrine make Florence tremble, and make Romola stop in her tracks. ## Who they are Fra Girolamo commands Florence from the pulpit, claiming a divine warrant to reform the city's morals and politics, and his authority reaches even into Romola's private flight. His face is not beautiful but strong, and what moves her is the sense of being cared for apart from any personal feeling — a gaze she has never met before. He matters because he gives the book its central question: whether a woman may choose her duties, or whether duty chooses her. ## Relationships ### [Tito Melema](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters/tito_melema) _rivalry_ Savonarola opposes Tito's worldly and corrupt influence, viewing him as an enemy of morality. ### [Tito Melema](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters/tito_melema) _rivalry_ Savonarola opposes Tito's worldly and corrupt influence, viewing him as an enemy of morality. ### [Tito Melema](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters/tito_melema) _rivalry_ Savonarola opposes Tito's worldly and corrupt influence, viewing him as an enemy of morality. ## In the story ### [Proem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/proem) Mentioned as the Dominican friar preaching in San Lorenzo during Lent of 1492, denouncing clerical corruption and urging charity. ### [XV: The Dying Message](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xv-the-dying-message) Present at Dino's deathbed, commands Romola to kneel and accept the crucifix, exerting his spiritual influence. ### [Florence Expects a Guest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xxi-florence-expects-a-guest) His prophecies of a divine scourge are being fulfilled with the French invasion; he sees Charles VIII as God's instrument. ### [Inside the Duomo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xxiv-inside-the-duomo) Preaches a powerful sermon in the Duomo, denouncing corruption and prophesying divine scourge, offering himself as a martyr. ### [XXV: Outside the Duomo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xxv-outside-the-duomo) His preaching draws a massive and diverse crowd, and his influence is analyzed as both noble and compromised. ### [XXXV: What Florence Was Thinking Of](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xxxv-what-florence-was-thinking-of) Savonarola is emerging as a key political force, using his sermons to advocate for a specific form of government, the Great Council, which he equates with the will of God. ### [XL: An Arresting Voice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xl-an-arresting-voice) Intercepts Romola and delivers a powerful sermon on duty, obedience, and the sanctity of marriage. ### [XLI: Coming Back](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xli-coming-back) Leads Romola back to Florence, assigns her to Fra Salvestro as a confessor, and instructs her to find her calling in serving the suffering and hungry of Florence. ### [XLII: Romola in Her Place](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xlii-romola-in-her-place) Defies the Papal mandate to preach, delivering a bold sermon urging steadfastness and promising divine rescue. ### [XLIII: The Unseen Madonna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xliii-the-unseen-madonna) Savonarola is part of the procession, his presence evoking both reverence and hostility. His advice to focus on helping the poor rather than offering gifts to the Virgin is mentioned. ### [XLIV: The Visible Madonna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xliv-the-visible-madonna) His influence remains a powerful force in Romola's life, providing her with a moral framework and a reason for living beyond personal happiness. ### [XLIX: The Pyramid of Vanities](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/xlix-the-pyramid-of-vanities) Implied as the driving force behind the Piagnoni's reform of Carnival, having organized the boys to collect vanities and administer communion. His influence is central to the chapter's events. ### [A Prophetess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lii-a-prophetess) Savonarola preaches his final Lenten sermons, defying excommunication and proclaiming a coming renovation, while also facing increasing hostility and relying more on visions. ### [LV: Waiting](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lv-waiting) His excommunication is a pivotal event in the chapter, which re-energizes Romola's devotion to him as a standard-bearer against a corrupt ecclesiastical power. ### [LVIII: A Final Understanding](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lviii-a-final-understanding) Mentioned as the potential influencer who might sway the council to grant the Appeal. ### [LIX: Pleading](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lix-pleading) Defends his decision to remain aloof from the political affair of the condemned conspirators, arguing that the safety of the Republic and the cause of God's kingdom require severity. He is visibly shaken by Romola's accusations. ### [LXI: Drifting Away](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxi-drifting-away) Though not present, Romola's thoughts are consumed by him. She has lost her trust in him, seeing his striving for reform as egoistic and his political measures as narrow and contradictory. Her disappointment in him is a primary cause of her despair. ### [The Benediction](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxii-the-benediction) Delivers a final, triumphant benediction and performs a public test of his divine mandate, which is met with a shout of acclaim. ### [LXIV: The Prophet in His Cell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxiv-the-prophet-in-his-cell) In his cell, Savonarola grapples with the impossibility of the Trial by Fire, his mind torn between prophetic conviction and practical fear. He reluctantly entrusts a letter to Tito, unaware of the betrayal. ### [LXV: The Trial by Fire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxv-the-trial-by-fire) Savonarola appears outwardly confident during the Trial by Fire, but internally he is weighed down by foreboding and the impending ruin of his cause. He makes concessions to the Franciscans' objections, first about the crucifix and then about the Host, but remains firm in his stance. ### [A Masque of the Furies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxvi-a-masque-of-the-furies) Preaches his final sermon, is arrested and humiliated by the mob, and resigns himself to his fate. ### [LXIX: Homeward](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxix-homeward) Romola's sense of debt to him is recovering predominance. She remembers the great inspiration he gave her, which waked a new life in her, and she begins to question her own judgment of him. ### [The Confession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxxi-the-confession) Savonarola's confession and subsequent prison writings reveal his inner turmoil, shifting from self-assertion to a plea for divine mercy. ### [LXXII: The Last Silence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/lxxii-the-last-silence) Savonarola is tortured, retracts his confession, and is ultimately led to execution, where his voice falls into eternal silence. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/chapters/endnotes) Referenced in notes about his sermons and the Law of Appeal. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters/girolamo_savonarola - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/romola_se/characters