The Lauda and the Cult of Savonarola
ravelers in Florence around the year 1500 who happened on Piazza San Marco toward evening might well, if they listened carefully, have caught the muffled strains of a lauda sung by the Dominican friars beyond the walls of the convent of San Marco. And if any of the words had been audible, chances are good they would have been "Ecce quam bonum et quam jocundum habitare fratres in unum" ("Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity," Ps. 132:I). Only a few years before, the streets of Florence had echoed with the singing oflaude such as Ecce quam bonum as thousands of children-the Savonarolanfanciulli-