In the 15th-century, Girolamo Savonarola appeared as prophet and reformer to purify Renaissance Florence and expel its patrons the "licentious" Medici. The hallmark of Savonarola's campaign were the Frateschi, Savanrola's religious police drawn from the zealots among the Florentine youth. The Frateschi drove the immoral from the streets and organized the Bonfire of the Vanities: the burning of objects condemned by Savonarola as occasions of sin, including the works of Renaissance humanist Giavonni Boccaccio like his X-rated Decameron.
In the 21st-century, we're experiencing a new wave of purification, which aims to rid of us of cultural sin and gender oppression.
At Holy Cross College in Massachusetts, it's led by the head of the biology department who wants to purge the college's Christian Crusader mascot, which might frighten non-Christians. The head of the biology department? An odd choice for Savonarola, and purging a mascot is a pathetic exercise compared to exiling the Medici and burning Boccaccio.
