Probably the most important event in Cristofori's life is the first one of which we have any record: in 1688, at age 33, he was recruited to work for Prince Ferdinando de Medici.

" Lastly, the Prince was evidently fascinated with machines ( he collected over forty clocks, in addition to a great variety of elaborate musical instruments ), and would thus be naturally interested in the elaborate mechanical action that was at the core of Cristofori's work on the piano.

Maffei's interview reports Cristofori's memory of his conversation with the Prince at this time:

Hammers: The hammer heads in Cristofori's mature pianos are made of paper, curled into a circular coil and secured with glue, and surmounted by a strip of leather at the contact point with the string.

As with all later pianos, in Cristofori's instruments the hammers struck more than one string at a time ; Cristofori used pairs of strings throughout the range.

Cristofori's instrument spread at first quite slowly, probably because, being more elaborate and harder to build than a harpsichord, it was very expensive.

The later instruments, dating from Cristofori's old age, probably include work by assistant Giovanni Ferrini, who went on after the inventor's death to build pianos of wider range using the same basic design.

Cristofori's great success was solving, with no prior example, the fundamental mechanical problem of piano design: the hammer must strike the string, but not remain in contact with it ( as a tangent remains in contact with a clavichord string ) because this would dampen the sound.

Cristofori's piano action was a model for the many different approaches to piano actions that followed.

Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings, and were much quieter than the modern piano — but compared to the clavichord ( the only previous keyboard instrument capable of dynamic nuance via the keyboard ) they were much louder and had more sustain.

Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, Scipione Maffei, wrote an enthusiastic article about it ( 1711 ), including a diagram of the mechanism.

Silbermann's pianos were virtually direct copies of Cristofori's, with one important addition: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern damper pedal, which lifts all the dampers from the strings simultaneously.

The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death records, two wills, the bills he submitted to his employers, and a single interview done by Scipione Maffei.

Cristofori's initial work space was probably in this area, which did not please him.

The term " Arpicembalo ", literally " harp-harpsichord ", was not generally familiar in Cristofori's day.

In his left hand is a piece of paper, believed to contain a diagram of Cristofori's piano action.

Pollens notes further evidence from the will that this reflected no falling out between Cristofori and Ferrini, but only Cristofori's moral obligation to his caretakers.

Action: Piano actions are complex mechanical devices which impose very specific design requirements, virtually all of which were met by Cristofori's action.

Although Cristofori's design incorporates no specific device for repetition, the lightness of the action gives more facility for repetition than the heavier actions of the English type that developed in the first half of the 19th century, until these were provided with additions of one kind or another to facilitate repetition.

Second, a piano action must greatly amplify the motion of the player's finger: in Cristofori's action, an intermediate lever was used to translate every key motion into a hammer motion eight times greater in magnitude.

Cristofori's multiple-lever design succeeded in providing the needed leverage in a small amount of space.

In Cristofori's action, this was accomplished by two means.

Cristofori's action was sufficiently complex and hard to build that it was a barrier to later builders, who tried to simplify it.

However, Cristofori's viewpoint ultimately won out ; the standard modern piano action is a still more complex and evolved version of Cristofori's original.

Frame: Cristofori's pianos use an internal frame member ( bentside ) to support the soundboard ; in other words, the structural member attaching the right side of the soundboard is distinct from the external case that bears the tension of the strings.

The use of a separate support for the soundboard reflects Cristofori's belief that the soundboard should not be subjected to compression from string tension.

Thus, it appears that the move toward heavier framing, a trend that dominates the history of the piano, had already begun in Cristofori's own building practice.

The Prince of Wales, the Legion's patron, made a much-publicized speech at the Legion's annual conference in June 1935 stating he could think of no better group of men than those of the Legion to visit and carry the message of peace to Germany, and stated that he hoped that Britain and Germany would never fight again.

The heir to the throne, Frederick, Prince of Wales was involved in a long-running dispute with his father, George II, and was the patron of the opposition.

* March 4 – Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration ( d. 1460 )

* November 13 – Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration ( b. 1394 )

The handover was done on St. Andrew's Day ( patron Saint of Scotland ); the Queen sent as her representative Prince Andrew.

The name of Louis was bestowed because it was typical of a Prince of France ; Stanislas after his great-grandfather King Stanisław Leszczyński of Poland ; and Xavier for Saint Francis Xavier, whom his mother's family held as one of their patron saints.

In that year Prince Albert became the patron of the regatta.

Through one of his sitters, Lord Charles Stewart, he met the Prince Regent who was to become his most important patron.

She became a member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women ’ s Participation, has a seat on the board of governors of the Chair on the Management of Diversity and Integration at the Free University of Amsterdam, she ( along with her husband ) is a patron of the Orange Fund ( established to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands ), and she also chairs the Board of Trustees of the Prince Claus Chair of the University of Utrecht.

Between 1862 and 1892 the villa was rented by the Cavendish family to a number of successive tenants, including the Duchess of Sutherland in 1867, the Prince of Wales in the 1870s, and the Marquess of Bute, patron of the painter William Burgess, from 1881 to 1892.

On the death of Prince Henry, his patron, Hall did preach the funeral sermon to his household.

The current patron is Charles, Prince of Wales.

Prince Richard is also a patron of the Severn Valley Railway and the Pestalozzi International Village Trust.

In December 2010 plans were announced to redevelop IWM London's First World War gallery in time for the conflict's centenary in 2014, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge became the foundation's patron.

James Cook entered Prince William Sound in 1778 and named it Sandwich Sound, after his patron the Earl of Sandwich.

The National Trust was unhappy with Cruel Kings and Mean Queens because it made fun of Prince Charles, the trust's patron, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Gerard Legh is normally given the credit for having suggested the Pegasus as a coat of arms, having given an account of Robert Dudley playing the part of Prince Pallaphilos, a patron of the Honorable Order of Pegasus in the 1561 Christmas revels.

George III of the United Kingdom | Prince George, a patron of Blackstone

Later that year Blackstone was paid £ 200 by the Prince, who became an " appreciative, loyal, and soon to be incomparably influential patron ".

In June 1903 Prince Ludwig agreed to act as patron of the museum and the city of Munich donated Coal Island as a site for the project.

The symphony was premiered privately in summer 1804 in his patron Prince Lobkowitz's castle Eisenberg ( Jezeri ) in Bohemia.

As a patron of science and the arts, King Carlos took an active part in the celebration of the 500th anniversary ( in 1894 ) of the birth of Prince Henry the Navigator.

The work was dedicated to Count Franz von Oppersdorff, a relative of Beethoven's patron, Prince Lichnowsky.

The endeavour was to have been profitable: his patron, Prince Henry, had promised him £ 300 on its completion plus a pension.