Though not essentially a "celebrity" in the same sense that contemporary society ascribes to it, the Italian friar, preacher, and highly charismatic speaker Savonarola was known to gather large crowds of people, and lived a life of renown - or infamy if you were Catholic - in Renaissance Europe. His work to form and guide the Frateschi religious movement in 15th century Florence helped elevate him to what many modern people would consider a Rock Star status, as hundreds would gather to hear him speak, sometimes staying for hours.

He even went so far as to declare himself a prophet to his adoring masses, and was known for bombastic spectacles during religious sermons - some of which brought stranger and more dangerous "miracle" antics than those used by preachers in the Good Ol' Fashioned tent revivals of the 20th century American South. For instance, one of his rivals challenged his connection to the divine in front of a crowd, and he claimed God would keep him safe from all harm. Not to be outdone, he promised God would save him from burning alive during a trial by fire. When the trial came, he and his entourage did everything to stall and avoid having to walk through a raging pit of flames. It began to rain that day in Florence, cancelling the plans, but the crowd gathered recognized that he was chicken and it ruined him. He was soon after tossed in prison, confessed under torture, excommunicated, hanged, then lit on fire. Brutal.

He is one of the best examples of someone who demonstrates a sense of that certain and necessary 'mystique' that surrounds a public personality who is well known, knows it, and uses it to drive and further their own aspirations or, for lack of better word, career. He is also one whose public persona leads to an inflated or exaggerated sense of self worth, purpose, and importance, which contributes to a fall from grace that galvanizes the public and keeps them from being able to look away.

Source: Donald Weinstein, Savonarola: The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Prophet