Cover -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Theme -- The Title, Timeframes, Terminology -- The Aim and Concept of the Study -- The Sources -- Construction -- Literature -- Chapter I: Evidence Of Presence: On the Pages of Narrative Sources -- An Attempt to Order -- On the Pages of Narrative Sources -- Marcin Kromer -- Szymon Starowolski -- Maciej Stryjkowski -- Krzysztof and Łukasz Opaliński -- Sebastiano and Valerio Montelupi, Niccolò Siri -- Paweł Piasecki -- Father Jan Piotrowski -- Zbigniew and Jerzy Ossoliński -- The Kraków Burgher -- Jan Markowicz -- Chapter II: The Coming: From the Italian Perspective -- Emigration and Its Causes -- From Italy to the Commonwealth-Motivations -- Knowledge about Poland -- Nunciature and Jesuits -- "Pro-Polish Lobby" -- The Motives for Setting Out On a Journey -- "Curiosity" -- "Business" -- "The Call of Duty" -- "Refugium"-defectors -- Decision-making Mechanism -- Personnel Recruitment -- Variants and Strategies -- Hardship and Risk -- For the Short Term -- "For Good" -- Ties with Italy -- Chapter III: The Stay: Italians in the Commonwealth -- From Early Contacts to the Early Modern Period -- Spheres of Activity and Typology of Figures -- The Economic Sphere -- Merchants and Entrepreneurs -- Administering the Post -- Politics, Religion, and Intellectual Pursuits -- Bona and Her Circle -- Politicians and Royal Advisers -- Diplomats and Secretaries -- Diplomacy -- Secretaries -- Scholars, Intellectuals…Globetrotters -- Religious Dissenters -- The Artistic Sphere -- Architects and Builders -- Vilnius and Other Places -- Builders, Sculptors, and Stuccoists -- Longhi-an artist's life -- Plastic Arts -- Painters -- Chalcographers and Goldsmiths -- Musicians and People of Theatre -- The Sphere of Services and Professional Specialisations -- Doctors and Apothecaries -- Military and Engineers.

Active in Many Fields… -- Tito Livio Burattini -- Girolamo Pinocci -- Paolo Del Buono -- Group Portrait -- The Scale of the Phenomenon-Possibilities of Quantitative Presentations -- Geography of the Italian Presence -- Municipal Area -- Kraków -- Lviv -- Vilnius -- Gdańsk -- Royal Court -- Magnate Courts -- Chapter IV: Interaction: A Friendly Confrontation -- In New Realities -- Ties and Conflicts within the Italian Community -- The Art of Adaptation -- What and Who Did they Find? -- Difficulties in Adaptation -- Successes and Failures -- Could Italians Enter Old Polish Elites? -- Various Directions of Influences -- Similarities and Differences -- Relations with Polish Surroundings -- Polonisation -- Indygenat and Ennoblements -- Italianisation -- The Knowledge of Italian -- Italianisms in Polish -- The Most Important Spheres of Italian Interaction -- Intellectual Sphere -- Humanist Culture-Literary Influences-Translations -- Italianism, Italianisation, Interaction -- Literary Influences -- Translations -- The World of Ideas -- Callimachus -- Machiavelli -- Castiglione, that is Górnicki -- Artistic Inspirations -- Architecture and Construction -- Architectural Treatises -- Ceremonies -- Music and Theatre -- Civilisational Sphere -- Innovations -- Political Culture -- Models of Political System Solutions-Venice -- Role Models-models of norms and behaviours -- Effectiveness of Influence -- Chapter V: Reaction: To Italian Emigrants -- Attitude to Foreigners -- "Italophilia" and its Practitioners -- Mikołaj Wolski -- Zygmunt Myszkowski -- Pacowie-Pazzi -- Towards Italophobia -- The Queen and Her Compatriots-In a Different Light -- Under Jan Kazimierz Vasa -- Burgher Literature -- Attitudes to Foreign Education -- Instead of a Conclusion-Gabriel Krasiński -- In the Circle of Stereotypes -- The Stereotype of an Italian -- An Italian in Italy.

An Italian in Poland-Lithuania -- Sagacious, Learned, and Prudent -- Artful, Cunning, Devious, and Insincere -- Greedy and Covetous -- Sensual, Artist, Shallow Religiosity -- Italia-"Italian delicacies" -- Chapter VI: Consequences and Contexts: The Lost Chance for Modernization -- L'Italianità-Model of Italian Influence -- Roman Pollak -- Arturo Stanghellini and Enrico Damiani -- The Essence of Mutual Relations -- Lack of Worthy Progeny -- Temporary and Long-Lasting Consequences -- Comparative Views -- Italians in France, Russia, and England -- Italians and Other Groups of Foreigners -- Final Remarks -- Italians in Modern Europe -- Mutual Relations, Their Tradition and Perspectives -- Afterword -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources.