Acknowledgements

I owe my sincerest gratitude to Georg Christ and Paul Oldfield. Their strong belief in this book, even when it was just a collection of scattered notes, coupled with their contagious enthusiasm and constructive comments, proved pivotal in the eventual fruition of this work. The example they set of how to be excellent scholars and kind human beings is a constant source of inspiration for my stay in academia.

I must also thank Lucia Travaini and Monica Baldassarri. Lucia introduced me to the intricacies of historical research with her incisive, original, and never-predictable comments, combined with rare intellectual honesty and genuine friendship. Under her careful mentorship, I learnt the patience and care essential to the craft of historical writing. Monica instilled in me a deep appreciation for asking questions rather than seeking answers. Her boundless curiosity and meticulous attention to detail in historical research are qualities I have tried to emulate, hopefully successfully, in this work.

I am deeply indebted to Barrie Cook for his unstinting support since we first met in 2012 at the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum (now Money and Medals). Barrie has always been there to discuss medieval money, and with exceptional humility and profound knowledge, he has dedicatedly commented on every page I have written, not just for this book.

David Abulafia and Philipp Rössner were among the first to read and provide constructive feedback on an early draft of this manuscript. Their suggestions allowed me to clarify some aspects and deepen others. I am grateful to both of them for their valuable insights.

Over the past few years, esteemed colleagues and friends, including Antonio Antonetti, Matteo Broggini, Jacopo Bruttini, Francisco Cebreiro Ares, Raffaele Danna, Ignazio Del Punta, Silvia Diacciati, Lorenzo Fabbri, Davide Fabrizi, Enrico Faini, Richard A. Goldthwaite, Lauren Jacobi, Alessio Montagano, Giuseppina Orobello, Jacopo Paganelli, Alma Poloni, Luca Scholz, Adolfo Sissia, Sergio Tognetti, Paolo Tomei, and Marco Vendittelli, have generously shared their ideas and work with me. I thank them all for their valuable time and assistance, particularly Antonio and Paolo, for helping collect some of the archival sources for this research.

In its final phase, this book benefitted greatly from two research fellowships I held, respectively, at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America (Columbia University) and Queen Mary University of London as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow. They provided me with the most precious resource a scholar needs: time to read, think, and develop ideas. Within the circle of colleagues encountered during these fellowships, I extend my sincere gratitude to Giovanni Ceccarelli, David Freedberg, Joel Kaye, Giorgio Lizzul, Filippo Petricca, Miri Rubin, Alan Stahl, and Francesca Trivellato.

I also thank Sarah White for her kind help in copyediting the text, as well as the series editors and the editorial staff of Manchester University Press, especially Meredith Carroll, Kate Hawkins, Siobhán Poole, and Laura Swift, for their guidance and patience. Any mistakes remain my responsibility alone.

I would like to remember and thank the late Professor Peter Spufford, a dear friend and ‘marvellous’ scholar, who was enthusiastic about this research from the very beginning. Peter was a constant source of advice and support, generously sharing his vast knowledge of medieval money and mercantile culture through signed copies of his publications, which he kept sending me by post. I am honoured to have made his acquaintance, and I jealously cherish the memory of our lunch at the Guildhall in Whittlesford in July 2017.

Finally, I would like to thank those colleagues who have always and foremost been close friends. These are Fabrizio Ansani, Simone De Cia, Michele Baitieri, Ambra Mazzelli, Maddalena Vaccaro, and Luca Zenobi. I deeply appreciate your full and unconditional support. A special mention should go to the Mancunian post-lads Marco Biasioli, Daniel Calderbank, Vitaly Kazakov, and Lewis Ryder, as well as Eric Lepp and Ria Sunga Turner. Your good-for-the-soul company and countless pints together helped me navigate the precarity of the past years without losing heart. Gerardo Serra’s fraternal friendship continues to enrich me both as a scholar and a human being.

My family has always been a constant source of love, present despite the geographical distance and time zones that too often kept us apart. This book is dedicated to Alberto, Giorgio, Giulia, and Mariarosa, but also to Gianangelo, Pietro, and Severina, wherever they are. My deepest gratitude is for Chiara. Her confidence in me surpasses my own, and she is my source of encouragement when I need it the most.