574. The Medici: Curse of the Mad Monk (Part 3)

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Dominic mentions that Simon Sebag Montefiore wrote this book and quotes his strong opinion that Savonarola was 'one of the most evil men who ever lived' who 'presided over an intolerant, sanctimonious, and murderous reign of terror.'

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Dominic references Christopher Hibbert's popular history of this period multiple times, citing his pen portraits including descriptions of Maddalena and Franceschetto, and quoting him on how most Florentines had 'food, exciting public holidays and justice.'

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Dominic cites Mary Hollingsworth's 'very caustic take on the Medici' in which she argues Lorenzo probably embezzled hundreds of thousands of florins in public money, calling it 'a sorry tale of greed.'

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Dominic describes this as 'an absolutely brilliant book by an American scholar, the late Donald Weinstein' that 'digs behind all the myths that you see in the popular histories' and says he depended very much on it, recommending it to listeners.

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Dominic mentions that Lorenzo's close friend Pico della Mirandola wrote this book, which is 'often described as the kind of great Renaissance manifesto.'