This week in Christian history: Answers in Genesis sues Kentucky; the first Bonfire of the Vanities

First 'bonfire of the vanities' occurs – Feb. 7, 1497

This week marks the anniversary of when the Italian city-state of Florence engaged in a public burning of items considered sinful in nature, famously known as the “bonfire of the vanities.”

Organized by Dominican Friar Girolamo Savonarola, who was a prominent social and political influencer in the city at the time, groups of supporters went door to door, reportedly seizing items like playing cards, perfumes, dice boards, musical instruments and racy pictures to be burned.

“Everything was brought to the Piazza della Signoria, where a great tiered wooden edifice had been built, somewhat like a pyramid, filled with brushwood and broom. At the structure’s apex stood a statue of Satan; demons circled its base,” explained History Today.

“The goods were heaped on the pyre. Trumpets sounded, then torches lit the fire. ‘With the greatest of happiness they burned everything’, an eyewitness said.”

The following year, however, Savonarola was removed from power due to his many enemies, among them Pope Alexander VI, and executed under the charge of heresy.