Since the thirteenth century it has been customary at Rome to confide to some particular prelate, and since 1420 specifically a Cardinal, a special solicitude in the Roman Curia for the interests of a given religious order or institute, confraternity, church, college, city, nation etc. Such a person is known as a Cardinal Protector. He was its representative or orator when it sought a favor or a privilege, defended it when unjustly accused, and besought the aid of the Holy See when its rights, property or interests were violated or imperiled. As such, the cardinal protector was a position with an extensive juridical responsibily that gave the cardinal ample powers. Antecedents See also Protector (title) In ancient Rome a similar relationship had existed between the client (cliens) and his patronus (hence 'patron'); as Rome's power grew, a still closer analogy is visible between the Roman institution and the modern ecclesiastical protectorate. Nearly every provincial city had its patronus, or procurator, in imperial Rome, usually a Roman patrician or eques, and such persons were held in high esteem. Thus Cicero was patronus of Dyrrachium (later Durazzo, now Durrës) and of Capua, in which Campanian city a gilded statue was raised to him. In time the office became hereditary in certain families; Suetonius wrote, in his life of Tiberius, that the [imperial] Claudian family (gens Claudia) was from ancient times protector of Sicily and the Peloponnesus. Titular churches Every cardinal (except a Cardinal-Patriarch) is also, since the reign of John Paul II, called the Cardinal protector of the title (titular church s.s. for a Cardinal priest or Cardinal-deaconry for a Cardinal deacon) in or near Rome which he is assigned to, which gives him his title and benefits from his material support for upkeep or restoration, especially when he holds a rich see (usually as Archbishop). Cardinal protectors of religious orders The Roman Church adopted this, with many other imperial institutions, as one serviceable for external administration, not that the popes who first conferred this office and title sought to copy an ancient Roman usage, but because analogous conditions and circumstances created a similar situation. The office is conferred by the pope through the Cardinal secretary of state, sometimes by spontaneous designation of the Pope, sometimes at the request of those who seek such protection. Such a cardinal protector had the right to place his coat-of-arms on the church or main edifice