Jaded_Railman
Banned
This was actually inspired by the Byzantine-Venetian history. Except that the Byzantines largely gave the monopolies because of their weakness post-Manzikert, whereas the Ottomans would be operating from a position of strength. The Italians would be able to rise to prominence because of the superiority of their economic models over those of any Muslim competitors- the development of banks and all the legal innovations that are necessary to make them possible is probably the single biggest innovation/contribution that the Ottomans get from conquering Italy.
Not really. Well, kind of, but not entirely. Italian trading cities were getting a helping hand from the time of the Macedonian Dynasty. Trade privileges for the Venetians show up in a 992 novel written by Basil II.