Catherine of Siena's Treatise of Providence with additional sections of the Treatise of Discretions is really an extended disquisition on the "love thy neighbor" injunction. This, it might be said, is the heart of the Christian ethic, and Catherine has God explaining how this is really the only route to the apprehension of God. As it was a powerful (and new) principle for the city dwellers of the Roman world in which Christianity first spread, so it is revived and made fundamental in a new world of cities in 14th and 15th century Italy. The principle might be said to have two sides-love your neighbor, which is summed up in "charity" (caritas) and don't love yourself above others, which is summed up in "humility".

But in Antoninus' and Savonarola's urgings and activities we see efforts to find ways to apply this principle in the life of a city, a city which is marked by ambition, greed, materialism, social stratification, the pursuit of power and prestige-things which in fact drive this society.

From the above readings about and by Antoninus and Savonarola, discuss the ways in which they tried to translate a "love thy neighbor" ethic into a working social, economic, and political practices. Consider matters of taxation and decision-making and the role of the poor.