It's called patronage. Not all that rare in the Renaissance 
Which is actually not the same thing as directed, state-supported research at all! States only started issuing contracts for specific technological innovations on a large scale in, like, the nineteenth century.
Other than that, it's mostly just "you seem like a person who invents things! have some money so you can do your thing and so I look important". Since these efforts were not systematic on anybody's part, they usually didn't yield anything meaningful. The bureaucratic/institutional concept of "research and development" didn't really exist. There's a worthwhile further discussion to be had about the technology of organization, but I imagine that would be somewhat off-topic.
I'd like to register my disappointment that you've decided to disclose Scribe Lady's sexual availability to players before you shared *anything* else about her, including her name. As one of a handful of WOC characters, it's important to treat her with at least the same level of respect as, say, Varric and questions about his romance options. But by making the first thing we know about Scribe Lady be who gets sexual access to her, you're not treating her - or WOC who may identify with her - well at all.
BioWareDAI There was no intention to slight her character, and I apologize if I did so. --Laidlaw
Good question. Answer was kinda predictable, but probably the best one under the circumstances.
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