to reside in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, where control was intense. Sudden wealth and feudal way of living Having conquered Constantinople and built a colonial empire, Venice was the predominant power in the eastern Mediterranean – with Genoa as enemy. This predominance formed the political frame together with the Latin Empire (1204–61), which allowed a massive expansion of trade. In addition, the merchants participated in growing trade with the Holy Land, where Acre played the main role until 1291. Trade alone was unable to account for such large amounts of capital, necessary to support not only numerous nobles, but also Populari grassi, men who had grown rich very fast, acquired estates on the Terraferma. Although the old clans tried to prevent this development, they could not stop it. Huge amounts were invested this way, although the towns on the mainland objected to these intrusions. Thanks to the gigantic wealth of populari and grandi, only casual conflicts occurred. The two strata converged to only one, whose members were regarded as the Magni. They held the political power and monopolized the profits of long-distance trade. Pressure was further reduced by sending 3,000 to 4,000 men and their families to Crete. Some of the nobles conquered little empires of their own in the Aegean; many of them were sent as placeholders to hundreds of military and administrative posts. The Venetian empire reached from Venice to Crete. Its centre point was the Golden Horn. Although Venice was completely unable to conquer the three eighths of the old empire that the crusaders had conceded to Enrico Dandolo, it secured strategic points. Forms of company The typical form of company was the so-called Collegantia. Within its frame a silent partner introduced about three quarters of the capital investment, the active partner, who conducted the trade, introduced the rest. Aims, responsibility assignment and shares were fixed before the journey being started, but the active partner could also reinvest his gains during the same journey. In a way silent and active partner were only roles that were fixed before each adventure, in which several silent partners could dare their luck. This way the risks diminished and the opportunities to accumulate capital increased. Close relationships and dependencies were developed and as a consequence family partnerships were largely preferred. Not before the Late Middle Ages – and thus very late in comparison to Tuscany - veritable societates prevailed, companies conceived