List of IllustrationsList of TablesForeword by Catharine R. StimpsonAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Potlatch alla Veneziana: Coerced Monachizations in the Context of Patrician Intermarriage and Conspicuous Consumption2. Marvelous Venice: A Virgin City and Its Noble Body Politic3. The Theology and Politics of Clausura4. The Economic Dimensions of the Convent-Reform Program5. Convents and the Question of State SovereigntyConclusionAppendix