The Bonomini of San Martino

In Cosimo dei Medici’s Florence, many families, especially those of their opponents, fell into poverty because of unaffordable taxes imposed on them. Thus was formed the category of the “Poor Shamed”, shamed not because they were shamefully poor but because they were ashamed to have become so. They were wealthy people – merchants, artisans – who had fallen into poverty and retained the dignity that prevented them from extending a hand. It was then that the friar Saint Antonino Pierozzi summoned twelve citizens, two from each sixth of the city, appointing them Procurators of the Poor Shamed with the task of collecting and distributing the necessities to assist those in need in the most absolute privacy.
Since then through the centuries the Bonomini have always succeeded each other and Florence has always helped them, starting with the Medici themselves, with Cosimo in the lead, who made direct contributions and enacted special laws providing tax amnesties to those who contributed to their cause.
To this day the twelve chosen ones continue their mission, meeting every Friday to discuss old and new cases and the grants to be distributed. When the money runs out, they light a candle in the window of their headquarters in Piazzetta Dante Alighieri. Then word spreads around Florence, and if the Bonomini “are at their lowest,” the generous people of the city bring offerings to support the poor.