The articles in this volume position Venice and her economy during the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries in relation to the larger European and Mediterranean context. In so doing, they engage firmly in a debate with recent historiographical discussions about the European "peripheries," the role of craft guilds and rural industries, the impact of fashion and demand-driven markets in the process of production specialization, and the emergence of regional markets and proto-industrial districts.

The Editor

PAOLA LANARO is full professor in economic history at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Her field of research is the economic and social history of Europe in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, with particular reference to Italy and the Venetian State. Her books include I mercati della Republica veneta (Venice, 1999) and La pratica dello scambio: Sistemi di fieri, mercanti e città in Europa (1400-1700) (Venice, 2003).

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