Note on Names and Dates

All names retain their original medieval Italian form but have been standardized, with the exception of those appearing in direct quotations of an original source or in the case of a few individuals, such as Corso Donati, who appear regularly in anglophone scholarship in a simplified form. All dates have been rendered according to the Gregorian calendar with the new year beginning on January 1 rather than the Florentine calendar in use during the period studied in this book, which began on March 25.