ABSTRACT
The history of Venice was interwoven with that of Alexandria. In the ninth century, Venice's religious authority was dependent on the Patriarchate of Aquileia, which was then under Frankish control. The State Archive in Venice contains various documents dealing with trade with Alexandria, notably those concerned with the local cottimo. The cottimo was a financial fund, which derived from proportional taxes on the goods either imported to or exported from Egypt. The Mamluks had instigated large-scale retaliations - and not only of a commercial nature - against the Venetian merchants in Alexandria and Syria. In the first half of the thirteenth century, until the war with Pisa prevented Venice from taking full advantage of the situation, conditions were propitious for Venetian trade. Venetian trade with Egypt now required thirty-four galleys each year, instead of the six galleys and four commercial ships which had sailed in earlier years. The Venetian commercial network in the East was well established and stable.
