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Acknowledgments The research and writing of this book have consumed more than half of my adult life. Over the years many individuals and institutions have contributed significantly to its completion. While my name alone appears on the title page, and any errors are of course mine, I would like to recognize those who have played especially significant roles in this project. I was able to spend a pleasant and profitable year and a half researching in Venice as a result of generous funding from several sources. Without such crucial support, this project could never have been brought to completion. My thanks, then, to the Brown Friends of Italian Studies, the University of Florence, Brigham Young University, the Fulbright Commission, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. I am especially grateful to these latter two institutions whose generous support allowed me to spend a wonderful year in Venice accompanied by my wife and children. As important as financial support is to the completion of any project, even more meaningful to me has been the personal support and encouragement I have received from many individuals both in the United States and in Italy. While a student at Brown University, I was very fortunate to work closely with several members of the faculty. These include Engin Akarli, Philip Benedict, Juergen Schulz, and Amy Remensnyder. I am especially grateful to Anthony Molho. He challenged me greatly during my graduate school years but also encouraged me, helped me to obtain research funding, and suggested outlets where I could present and publish my work. He was an ideal mentor and has become a good friend. Others who have provided encouragement, constructive criticism, and moral support include Edward Muir, Margaret King, Stanley Chojnacki, Palmira Brummett , Camal Kadafar, Joanna Drell, Emily O’Brien, Kurt Graham, Frank Christianson , David D’Andrea, Karl Appuhn, Christopher Carlsmith, Bruce Casson, Moníque O’Connell, and Marilyn Cooper. In Italy, Giovanni Levi, Francesca Trivellato , Maria Fusaro, Michael Knapton, Paolo Preto, and Rheinhold C. Mueller all x a c k n o w l e d g m e n t s provided much appreciated assistance and advice at various stages of my research . In Venice, Gabriele Argenti and his family provided a poor graduate student with room and board and a lasting friendship. Lucio Gabrieli and Mauro Saccardo introduced me to the Venice hidden behind its facades. Vittorio Mandelli explained the intricacies of Venetian institutions and the complexities of the Venetian language and always guarded my seat at posto numero uno in the Archivio di stato. Thanks to Daryl and Mary Lee, Shawn and Kelly Miller, John and Melissa Snyder, and Kip Clark for friendship and regular distractions from writing and research. John Snyder also provided artistic and technical assistance with the book’s images. A special mention goes to the archivists and sta√ members of the archives and libraries in which I worked in Venice. Dr. Maria Pia Pedani-Fabris of the Archivio di stato assisted me both in the archive and with her own work on VenetoOttoman relations. Roberto Greggio, formerly of the Archivio di stato, merits special mention. He took the time to explain the barely indexed notarial records at the heart of this study to a slightly bewildered graduate student and generously shared the private indices he had prepared while reorganizing this collection. His personal kindness and interest made my many months of research pleasant and fruitful. The extensive revisions required to transform a 650-page dissertation into a manageable book manuscript were accomplished against the musical backdrop of All Soul’s Vespers: Requiem Music from Cordoba Cathedral and Nova Cantica-Latin Songs of the High Middle Ages, which served both to put my mind into the appropriate historical context and to drown out the exuberance of my children. Friends, colleagues, students, and institutions at Brigham Young University have been of great assistance in bringing this project to completion. Craig Harline and Michael Farmer read various versions of the manuscript and provided helpful suggestions on how to improve it. Donald Harreld also read the manuscript and provided key references that greatly shaped my thinking on merchant nations and community. De Lamar Jensen and Douglas Tobler nurtured and inspired my love for history early on. The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences and the History Department have been consistently supportive with both funds and time, as has the David M. Kennedy Center. Special thanks to Deans Clayne Pope and David Magleby and to Je√rey Ringer, for...

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