Patronage, entangled with nepotism, was the fundamental glue of Renaissance society — so much so that ordinary Romans rioted demanding the pope appoint his own illegitimate son, rather than a more competent outsider, as commander of the papal armies, because only a son's loyalty could be trusted.

Ada Palmer describes how deeply patronage and nepotism structured Renaissance life, illustrated by riots in Rome when Pope Paul III passed over his own illegitimate son in favor of a competent general — the public demanded nepotism because only kinship loyalty guaranteed an army wouldn't turn on its ruler. ✦ AI generated

Ada Palmer · Dwarkesh Podcast · 2026-06-16 · original ↗

Your Holiness, the people demand more nepotism. You must appoint your illegitimate son to command your armies, because your illegitimate son will never betray you, and we will know we can trust the papal armies not to turn on Rome if the Pope’s son is the commander.

verbatim transcript · starts at 36:13