marriage to Katharine invalid. Papal powers were transferred to the king, who became the supreme head of the English church. The break with Rome was now complete, and the Church of England was established. The king dealt harshly with rebellions against the abolition of papal supremacy and the dissolution of the monasteries. The end of Henry's reign saw a gradual move toward Protestantism. Henry remained immensely popular, despite his advancement of personal desires under the guise of public policy or moral right. His political insight, however, grew steadily better, and the power of Parliament increased. He gave England a comparatively peaceful reign. ?Girolamo Savonarola lived from 1452–1498. He was an Italian religious reformer, and a Dominican. He became popular in Florence for his eloquent attacks on moral laxity and for his predictions, some of them accurate. After the Medici were exiled (1494), he became spiritual ruler of Florence and imposed a severe regime. He supported the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII of France, hoping that Charles would help in forming a democratic government in Florence and reforming the scandalously corrupt court of Pope Alexander VI. He was excommunicated (1497) after ignoring the pope's order to stop preaching, Savonarola was finally executed as a false prophet. ?Baldassare Castiglione, who lived from 1478–1529, was an Italian author and statesman. His Book of the Courtier (1528), a treatise on etiquette, social problems, and intellectual accomplishments, contributed to a Renaissance ideal of aristocracy embodied in the life of Sir Philip Sidney. The son of a noble family, Castiglione was educated at thehumanist school of Giorgio Merula and Demetrius Chalcondyles, and at the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan. The Courtier was a great publishing success by the standards of the time. It was written for and read by noblewomen, including the poet Vittoria Colonna, Isabella d'Este, Marchione...
