Which part of the sentence is the "because......" part explaining for?
History has recast the 15th century Florentine monk Girolamo Savonarola as a rabble-rousing zealot lording over the “bonfire of the vanities”; yet this so-called __blank___ --mainly because he directed his censure at the church--was a crusader for austerity and thus a check on a papacy that had run a course of profligacy.

" he directed his censure at the church--" is the reason for this so-called "something" was a crusader, or, is it the reason for that blank ( something)?

Question

Which part of the sentence is the "because......" part explaining for?
History has recast the 15th century Florentine monk Girolamo Savonarola as a rabble-rousing zealot lording over the “bonfire of the vanities”; yet this so-called __blank___ --mainly because he directed his censure at the church--was a crusader for austerity and thus a check on a papacy that had run a course of profligacy.

" he directed his censure at the church--" is the reason for this so-called "something" was a crusader, or, is it the reason for that blank ( something)?

Answer

The missing word relates to Savonarola, as portrayed by the Catholic Church at the time.  So the missing word could be "rebel," "blasphemer," "pagan," or various other slurs.

Answer

He did three things and these three things caused him to be cast as a rebel rouser.The three things are then listed.