Maartje van Gelder is Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Amsterdam. After studying history at the University of Amsterdam and the Università di Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, she wrote a PhD dissertation on the role of the community of Dutch and Flemish merchants in early modern Venice. Her book, Trading places: The Netherlandish merchants in early modern Venice, was published with Brill in 2009. Her research interests include the Dutch in the Mediterranean world; the role of converts to Islam in early modern diplomacy; urban history; and Italian (popular) politics.