The Renaissance was the era of the Seigniors. These are individuals generally, but not exclusively, of noble lineage who centralize power to themselves, giving their subjects conditions of legal equality in return. In Italy, it is not only Florence, with the financially powerful House of the Medicis, which states, ‘We are on the side of the population’. The Seigniors become established in Milan, with the Visconti and then the Sforza; in Verona with the Scaligeri; the Este in Ferrara; the Gonzaga in Mantua; and other Houses in smaller centres. Seigniors are powerful magnets that attract artists, entrepreneurs and businesses. They will give way to modern States, only to reappear on the horizon of the globalized economy.
