[xix] This book owes more acknowledgments than it deserves. Various institutions have provided grants for study in Spain, beginning with my first doctoral research in 1977. They include the: Council of European Studies; Committee on European Cultural Studies, History Department, and Graduate School of Princeton University; Social Science Research Council; Whiting Foundation; Danforth Foundation; American Philosophical Society (Penrose Fund); American Council of Learned Societies; National Endowment for the Humanities; and the History Department, Division for Sponsored Research, and Graduate School of the University of Florida. I am grateful to all these organizations for their support and encouragement. I am especially indebted to Professor John H. Elliott and the Directors of the Institute for Advanced Study, and to the History Department of Princeton University for the assistantship (1980-1981) and postdoctoral appointment (1983-1984) that provided the tranquility needed for writing this work. The generous support (and tolerant good humor) of my colleagues at the University of Florida also contributed vitally to the finishing of such a lengthy project. Finally, I am obliged to Steven Boyett, Adrienne Turner, and Tina Slick for typing endless versions of the text with exemplary speed and surprising cheerfulness.

I gratefully acknowledge the American Historical Review, the University Presses of Florida, and the Journal of European Economic History (published by the Banco di Roma) for permission to reproduce excerpts from previously published essays and articles. Similar thanks are due to the Institut Municipal d'Historia, the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat, and the Museu de Cerámica of Barcelona for permission to reproduce materials from their collections. I am also indebted to Michelle Mannering, editorial assistant to the American Historical Review, and Marjorie [xx] Niblack of the Office of Instructional Resources of the University of Florida for their expert assistance in preparing the graphs and maps. I consider myself particularly fortunate to have had as editors and designer Miriam Brokaw, Joanna Hitchcock, and Peter Andersen of Princeton University Press. Their patient forebearance and good humor have been much appreciated.

Many teachers and colleagues have made my task easier by criticizing this book at several of its stages. Natalie Zemon Davis, Felix Gilbert, Temma Kaplan, Peter Sahlins, John Sommerville, and Stanley Stein all read chapters and provided helpful comments. Cheryll Cody overcame her initial horror at my manhandling of quantitative data to suggest ways in which their presentation might be improved. The late Allan Sharlin also read portions of this work; I join others in missing his dry humor and generous criticism. I owe a special debt to my graduate adviser, Theodore K. Rabb, and to Anthony Grafton, John Elliott, and Lawrence Stone, the other readers of the thesis upon which this study was based. Needless to say, the indulgence all these scholars have shown toward my work does not oblige them to share responsibility for its conclusions.

I take pleasure in acknowledging two other longstanding debts at Princeton University. Like all other history graduate students, I am grateful to Leona Halvorsen, Alice Lustig, Charlotte Skillman, and other members of the departmental staff for their many kindnesses. I also owe an irrevocable debt to those from whom I learned the most while in school--my fellow students. I feel privileged to have been able to live for years in an atmosphere marked by the free and lively exchange of ideas and criticisms among friends. I need not mention them by name, as they know all too well who they are.

"I went openly to the city of Barcelona, the archive of courtesy, refuge of foreigners, hospital of the poor, country of the valiant, avenger of the offended, and abode of firm and reciprocal friendships." How true the words of Miguel de Cervantes [xxi] still ring! Throughout my stay in Catalonia I enjoyed the good fortune of coming into contact with historians whose selflessness and generosity can only be described as exemplary. While limitations of space prevent my listing all those who have helped with the research and writing of this book, I could not fail to mention certain individuals. First, I would like to thank the personnel of the archives and libraries where I carried out my research. I am especially indebted to Laurea Pagarolà and Ariana Ruiz of the local Notarial Archive for their cheerful assistance. Special mention should also be made of Sr. Jaume Martorell, an exceptionally informed bookseller and a valued friend. To Josep Fontana I am indebted for criticism as constructive as it was forthright. I am similarly grateful to Manuel Arranz, Josep M. Pradera, Ricard García Cárcel, Xavier Gil, Carlos Martínez Shaw, Eva Serra, Jaume Torras, and Jordi Vidal. All the above-mentioned have lent forms of assistance far transcending mere professional courtesy. To each of them I extend my thanks for their help and, above all, their friendship.

Special mention should also be made of other friends who have contributed to the unfolding of this study. Bill Christian, Temma Kaplan, Gianna Pomata, Peter Sahlins, and Mike Seid-man did their best to focus my attention on the larger issues of social and cultural history. Lorraine Daston and Richard Kagan offered words of encouragement at crucial moments. Gary McDonogh has been present since the creation of this book. Only he can be aware of the extent to which his suggestions and remarks have shaped it. And I am deeply grateful to John Elliott for the consistent support he has shown for my work. I have found this confidence a dependable source of intellectual stimulus and personal help, and wish to register, once again, my thanks.

It almost----but not quite----goes without saying that I have incurred the greatest debt with kith and kin on both sides of the waters. My warmest memories are of Pep and Carme, Ana and Maria, the two Xaviers, and other companys who would [xxii] doubtless prefer to remain nameless. Because of them I recall with pleasure days at the archives, and nights spent far away from the seventeenth century.

Gainesville, March 1985