The Bonfire of the Vanities: How One Burning Changed France

In 1497, the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola lit a bonfire in Florence that consumed books, art, and luxuries. But the echo reached France. This episode traces the strange journey of that bonfire's idea across the Alps, where King Charles VIII's Italian expedition brought back Renaissance humanism—and its critics. We follow the preacher Jean Vitrier, the reformer Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, and the Sorbonne's fierce reaction to the 'new learning.' How did a Florentine monk's moral panic shape the French Reformation before Luther? And why did French bishops burn books before the Protestants did? Lucas and Luna untangle the threads of piety, power, and the printing press. #GirolamoSavonarola #BonfireOfTheVanities #CharlesVIII #JeanVitrier #JacquesLefèvre #FrenchReformation #Renaissance #PrintingPress #Sorbonne #UniversityOfParis #Italy #Florence #1497 #Humanism #BookBurnings #DominicanOrder #Europe #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo