Acknowledgements

I could not have produced this book without the help of numerous institutions and individuals, only some of whom I shall name here.

First and foremost, I acknowledge the scrupulous guidance and unstinting support of Dr Emily Michelson and Professor Andrew Pettegree, who supervised the doctoral research that is presented in this book. I also owe heartfelt gratitude to Professor Simon Ditchfield, who has offered me counsel and encouragement with uncommon generosity.

I am grateful to the many eminent scholars who have welcomed me into an international academic community of which I had assumed I would always remain an admiring bystander, particularly, Professor Christopher F. Black, Professor Irene Fosi, Professor Vincenzo Lavenia, Professor Adriano Prosperi and Dr Camilla Russell, who have taken the time to listen to, test and refine my ideas with intellectual generosity and unfailing patience. I also thank them and Dr Matteo Al Kalak, Father Paolo Fontana, Dr Philippa Jackson, Dr Dennj Solera and Dr Carlo Taviani for their invaluable advice on the use, contents, and sometimes even existence of archives for my research. My work has also benefitted from numerous counsels from the talented scholars at the Reformation Studies Institute at the University of St Andrews, particularly Dr John Condren, Dr Nina Lamal and Dr Drew Thomas who have provided both stimulating conversation and sage advice, and Dr Jan Hillgaertner who has helped me to tackle German texts with great patience.

For generously funding my research, in the UK and across Italy, I thank the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation, the University of St Andrews, the Russell Trust and the Society for Renaissance Studies. I am particularly grateful for the year-long residential scholarship that I received from the British School at Rome, which provided me with both material support and a transformative intellectual environment in which to work.

The success of my research trips has relied upon the advice and courtesy of the staff of many institutions. At the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu I thank all of the staff, particularly Father Brian MacCuarta, Dr Carlo Luongo and Hélène Reychler, who first welcomed me to the archive when I was a nervous master’s student. I also thank the staff of the Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, especially Dr Daniel Ponziani, and all those who have helped me at the Archiginnasio, Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Archivio della Penitenzieria Apostolica and the state archives of Bologna, Genoa, Modena, Rome and Turin.

Many personal friends have encouraged and supported my work and intellectual development, directly and indirectly, over decades. I owe particular thanks to Edward Collet, for his patient and thoughtful proof-reading of the final draft of this book, as well as to James Cossey, Dr Teresa Kittler, Christopher Mason, Father Rupert McHardy, Rev. Dr Athanasius McVay and Yvonne Richmond.

My husband, Patrick, has supported this research project with unquestioning patience, despite it putting hundreds of miles between us; I am eternally indebted to him. I am thankful to my father for his help throughout my studies. Finally, I express my heartfelt gratitude for my sister, Holly, who summoned enthusiasm for my work even as she fought for her life. This book is dedicated to her memory and to the friendship that we shared with our brother, Tony, which has sustained me through the final stages of this project.