PerhapsnothingshowsmoreclearlythetenacityoftheoldsystemofinterpretationthanthesermonsofSavonarola。Duringthelastdecadeofthefifteenthcentury，justatthecloseofthemedievalperiod，hewasengagedinalife-and-deathstruggleatFlorence。Nomaneverpreachedmorepowerfullythegospelofrighteousness；noneeverlaidmorestressonconduct；evenLutherwasnotmorezealousforreformormorecarelessoftradition；andyetwefindthegreatFlorentineapostleandmartyrabsolutelytiedfasttotheoldsystemofallegoricalinterpretation。Theautographnotesofhissermons，stillpreservedinhiscellatSanMarco，showthisabundantly。Thuswefindhimattachingtothecreationofgrassesandplantsonthethirddayanallegoricalconnectionwiththe“multitudeoftheelect“andwiththe“sounddoctrinesoftheChurch。”andtothecreationoflandanimalsonthesixthdayasimilarrelationto“theJewishpeople“andto“Christiansgivenuptothingsearthly。”[468]
[468]ForAgobard，seetheLiberadversusFredigisum，cap。xii；
alsoReuter’sRelig。AufklarungimMittelalter，vol。i，p。24；
alsoPoole，IllustrationsoftheHistoryofMedievalThought，London，1884，pp。38etseq。ForErigena，seehisDeDivisioneNaturae，lib。iv，cap。v；alsoi，cap。lxvi-lxxi；andforgeneralaccount，seeUeberweg，HistoryofPhilosophy，NewYork，1871，vol。i，pp。358etseq。；andforthetreatmentofhisworkbytheChurch，seetheeditionoftheIndexunderLeoXIII，1881。ForAbelard，seetheSicetNon，Prologue，Migne，vol。iii，pp。371-
377。ForHugoofSt。Victor，seeErudit。Didask。，lib。vii，vi，4，inMigne，clxxvi。ForSavonarola’sinterpretations，seevariousreferencestohispreachinginVillari’slifeofSavonarola，Englishtranslation，London，1890，andespeciallytheexceedinglyinterestingtableintheappendixtovol。i，chap。