Savonarola initially had many followers, including well-known writers and artists. why might his words have found such a ready audience in florence at that time?

Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian priest active in Renaissance Florence. He was well known because of his denunciation of the Church's corruption, but also because of his prophecies of biblical renewal. He believed Florence would become the "new" Jerusalem, and that all secular art would be destroyed. He was eventually excommunicated, hanged and burnt in the main square of Florence.

He was able to amass a huge following during most of his life, and there were several reasons why his doctrine became so popular:

answer; the sons of liberty;