Davide Trentacoste holds a double PhD in ‘History of Europe from the Middle Ages to the Contemporary’ (University of Teramo, Italy) and in ‘Oriental Languages and Civilisations – Iranian Studies’ (University of New Sorbonne, France). He is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Haifa Centre for Mediterranean History, University of Haifa. His main research interests especially concern the “eastern” projection of the pre-unitary Italian states, their eastern politics and diplomacy in the Mediterranean context, and their relations with the Muslim empires (in particular Safavid Iran), and their knowledge of the “Orient” (particularly between 1530-1730). He is a member of the research group of the DIPLOINMED project: Intercultural Mediterranean Diplomacy of the Spanish Monarchy, financed by the Spanish ‘State Program to Promote Scientific-Technical Research and its Transfer, under the State Plan for Scientific, Technical, and Innovation’ (2023-2027).