<P> In part heretical, in part the flower of heresy; several are scandalous and offensive to pious ears; most do nothing but reproduce the errors of pagan philosophers...others are capable of inflaming the impertinence of the Jews; a number of them, finally, under the pretext of' natural philosophy', favor arts that are enemies to the Catholic faith and to the human race . </P> <P> Pico fled to France in 1488, where he was arrested by Philip II, Duke of Savoy, at the demand of the papal nuncios, and imprisoned at Vincennes . Through the intercession of several Italian princes--all instigated by Lorenzo de' Medici--King Charles VIII had him released, and the pope was persuaded to allow Pico to move to Florence and to live under Lorenzo's protection . But he was not cleared of the papal censures and restrictions until 1493, after the accession of Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) to the papacy . </P> <P> Pico was deeply shaken by the experience . He reconciled with Savonarola, who remained a very close friend . It was at Pico's persuasion that Lorenzo invited Savonarola to Florence . But Pico never renounced his syncretist convictions . </P> <P> He settled in a villa near Fiesole prepared for him by Lorenzo, where he wrote and published the Heptaplus id est de Dei creatoris opere (1489) and De Ente et Uno (Of Being and Unity, 1491). It was here that he also wrote his other most celebrated work, the Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinicatrium (Treatise Against Predictive Astrology), which was not published until after his death . In it, Pico acidly condemned the deterministic practices of the astrologers of his day . </P>

The medici family was an organization that answered to the church