562 Patrimony of Saint Peter
about 690 by the saint’s biographers, Muirchú and
Tírechán, among others.
EARLY LIFEPatrick grew up on a small estate, a villula,near the villa
of Bannavem Taberniae, whose location is unclear. He
was the son of a certain Calpurnius, deacon of the
church, and the grandson of the priest Potitus. Patrick’s
Christianity was not a driving force in his youth. At the
age of 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders or pirates
and subsequently sold as a slave in Ireland. He spent six
years tending sheep, a period when his religious faith
greatly increased. He escaped to Britain, a years later
had a VISIONin which a messenger of the Irish, called
upon him to return to the land of his captivity. Patrick
decided at once and contrary to the wishes of his reli-
gious superiors in Britain, to devote his life to preaching
the gospel in Ireland. Patrick’s ecclesiastical education
and organizational preference are not clear. He may have
had religious instruction in Britain, Ireland, or Auxerre
in France.
PATRICK’S MISSIONPatrick focused on converting and baptizing new Chris-
tians, consecrating deacons, and consolidating the FAITH
of those who had already become Christians after the
episcopate of Palladius (ca. 364–430) in earlier in the
fifth century. He was concerned with abolishing pagan
practices, idolatry, and Sun worship. It is almost certain
that Patrick’s mission began in the middle of the fifth cen-
tury, perhaps between 431/432 and 461, but the dates are
problematic and could even be between 456 and 490. He
began his mission in Leinster and established his see at
Armagh.
He may have visited ROME in 442 to explain his
activities and been consecrated bishop of Ireland. He
introduced to Irish Christians the forms of English
church, especially episcopal government. He encouraged
the study of Latin and introduced MONASTICISMinto Ire-
land, although most of his foundations were soon taken
over by other religious houses. He died, according to var-
ious traditions, between 460 and even 490. The place of
his death and burial are not known. His feast day is
March 17.
Further reading: Patrick, St. Patrick, His Writings
and Life,ed. J. D. White. (New York: Macmillan, 1920);
David N. Dumville, with Lesley Abrams, Saint Patrick,
A.D. 493–1993 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1993);
Richard P. C. Hanson, Saint Patrick, His Origins and
Career(New York, Oxford University Press, 1968); E. A.
Thompson, Who Was Saint Patrick?(Rochester: Boydell
Press, 1999).
Patrimony of Saint Peter SeeDONATION OFCONSTAN-
TINE; PAPACY; PAPALSTATES.
patronage Patronage was a medieval and early RENAIS-
SANCEinstitution and practice, a relationship between a
more powerful person and someone dependent on him or
her for assistance. The arrangement could be almost con-
tractual, an obligation of reciprocal support, which could
be legal, economic, social, or political. Patronage could
bind two people or a community and an individual.
Ecclesiastical and lay institutions were often part of these
social networks. Patronage could be formally recognized
or much more informal and personal, at all levels of soci-
ety up to a prince or king. Patronage could parallel feudal
relationships or be integral to them. The roles of protec-
tor or protected could be temporary or close to perma-
nent, constantly contested or mutually comfortable.
Given all these conditions, patronage was fundamental
and nearly all-pervasive in medieval society and persisted
in the modern era in some societies.ARTISTIC PATRONAGE
Artistic patronage could involve individual projects or
long-term work on more than one endeavor. Groups of
artists sometime formed stables of workers for projects
from the building of a CATHEDRALto the decoration of a
chapel. Artists’ workshops constituted patronage of
younger artists as apprentices of a client, the master or
patron. In the later Middle Ages and Renaissance, the
artist gained more status than a mere artisan hired for a
job, enhancing the terms of patronage. Famous artists
and those in demand had more control over the style and
content of their works for individual patrons, besides
receiving superior pay and protection. However, it is usu-
ally unclear who during this era was actually responsible
for the style and content. Contacts survived in far greater
numbers for the later Middle Ages, and some of them,
reflecting a market, showed what was expected and how
the artist could be creative and innovative within guide-
lines set by the patron. Royal and princely courts were
centers of patronage that could deeply influence style and
content of all artistic objects.
See also BENEFICE; CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND THE
COURTS; ELECTIONS; FEUDALISM AND FEUDAL SYSTEM; FIEF;
GREGORIAN REFORM; MANORS AND MANORIAL LORDSHIP;
POLITICAL THEORY AND TREATISES.
Further reading:Iain Fenlon, ed., Music in Medieval
and Early Modern Europe: Patronage, Sources, and Texts
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981); Richard
Firth Green, Poets and Princepleasers: Literature and the
English Court in the Late Middle Ages(Toronto: University
of Toronto Press, 1980); Mary Hollingsworth, Patronage
in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Cen-
tury(London: John Murray, 1994); Karl J. Holzknecht,
Literary Patronage in the Middle Ages(1923; reprint, New
York: Octagon Books, 1966); Bram Kempers, Painting,
Power, and Patronage: The Rise of the Professional Artist in
the Italian Renaissance,trans. Beverley Jackson (London:
Penguin Books, 1994); F. William Kent and Patricia