Lorenzo de' Medici and Savonarola, Martyrs for Florence
HE authority of a Renaissance ruler seemed to depend in part on the divine protection afforded him during his life. The identity of his protectors was to some extent a matter of birth: the saint of the day on which he was born, the saint's name given him at baptism (often the same), and the saints of his homeland. As he matured, the ruler might choose as additional protectors saints he believed would help him, and their identity depended on the client's assessment of their efficacy. The protection of still other saints was thrust upon the ruler. In military victory, after successful business negotiations, and with the birth of an heir, an already powerful man found that some saints volunteered their services on their feast days; they were then gratefully incorporated into the client's pantheon. It is commonly assumed that powerful men of this age cultivated these links with particular divinities not only for their own material and spiritual benefit, but in order to increase their authority among their subjects, clients, or fellow citizens. Such links, said Machiavelli, made it appear that divine powers participated in the decisions of men and groups.1 The Medici have not escaped the suspicion that they used saintly associations to this end, and one has only to mention their relationship to the Magi to make the point.2