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surprisingly even-handed. Both signatories undertook to return all prisoners and to stay out of each other’s home waters – which for Venice was deemed to be the entire Adriatic, while for Genoa this was limited to the stretch of the Mediterranean between Marseilles and Pisa. And both sides were required to suspend for three years all trading in the contested region of the Sea of Azov; and to ensure adherence to the treaty, both cities were required to deposit 100,000 gold florins in a neutral city.
Despite this favourable treaty, Venice (and its trade) would suffer during the ensuing years from another enemy, as the powerful and expansionist King Louis of Hungary laid claim to Dalmatia. Venice had neither the money nor the stomach for another prolonged war, and in 1358 ceded the entire territory to Hungary – a great loss of face as well as a dangerous strategic setback. The fact is that the long wars against Genoa and the subsequent loss of trading revenue had reduced the city to the verge of bankruptcy. The public debt was consolidated in the fund known as the Monte Vecchio , to which all property-owning citizens were obliged to contributeby buying bonds proportionate to their wealth (and which paid out 5 per cent). This debt had mushroomed alarmingly from 432,000 ducats in 1343 to around 1,500,000 ducats by 1363. And now higher taxes were needed to make up for the loss of income from Dalmatia, which resulted in the other colonies being forced to contribute even more than previously to the Venetian exchequer.
In 1363 this led to a revolt in Venice’s largest colony, the island of Crete, which contained many feudal estates owned by Venetian landlords. The spark for this revolt was the Venetian demand that the capital city of Candia (now Heraklion) pay a tax for extra repairs needed to the harbour, which was in fact mainly used not by the Cretans or the local Venetians, but by passing shipping en route from Venice to Cyprus and the Levant. This tax was proclaimed by the city’s heralds in Candia Cathedral on 8 August 1363, with the warning that anyone refusing to pay faced confiscation of their property or the death penalty. The following day a large angry procession of local Greeks led by Venetian feudal landlords, many of whom were members of noble families, marched into the main square and stormed over the rooftops into the palace of the Venetian governor, Leonardo Dandolo, son of the late venerated doge. With cries of ‘Death to the traitor!’, the rebels, led by the hotheaded Venetian landlord Tito Venier (who was also of a noble family), were only prevented from murdering governor Dandolo because he was hustled away to the safety of a prison cell by some of the Venetian landlords.
The Cretans had rebelled against Venice before, but this was the first time the local Greeks had been joined by the feudal Venetian landlords. A sizeable proportion of them had now lived on their estates on the island for two or three generations and had adopted many aspects of the indigenous Greek culture. They resented the increasingly burdensome taxes being imposed upon them by what they had come to regard as a foreign and autocratic regime. An indication of the widespread and deep nature of this pan-Cretan resentment can be seen from the fact that over the next few days Venetian rule in the cities of Rethimno and Chania (now Xania) was toppled, and by the end of the week the entire 150-mile length of the island was effectively in the hands of the rebels.
Symbolically, the Venetian flag of the Catholic San Marco was hauleddown, and in its place was run up the flag of St Titus, the Byzantine Orthodox patron saint of the island. The rebels elected the Venetian landlord Marco Gradenigo as the new governor of Crete, along with two councillors, while Tito Venier was rewarded with the governorship of the city of Chania. Amongst governor Gradenigo’s first measures was recruiting an army to defend the island. As there was no money to
Despite this favourable treaty, Venice (and its trade) would suffer during the ensuing years from another enemy, as the powerful and expansionist King Louis of Hungary laid claim to Dalmatia. Venice had neither the money nor the stomach for another prolonged war, and in 1358 ceded the entire territory to Hungary – a great loss of face as well as a dangerous strategic setback. The fact is that the long wars against Genoa and the subsequent loss of trading revenue had reduced the city to the verge of bankruptcy. The public debt was consolidated in the fund known as the Monte Vecchio , to which all property-owning citizens were obliged to contributeby buying bonds proportionate to their wealth (and which paid out 5 per cent). This debt had mushroomed alarmingly from 432,000 ducats in 1343 to around 1,500,000 ducats by 1363. And now higher taxes were needed to make up for the loss of income from Dalmatia, which resulted in the other colonies being forced to contribute even more than previously to the Venetian exchequer.
In 1363 this led to a revolt in Venice’s largest colony, the island of Crete, which contained many feudal estates owned by Venetian landlords. The spark for this revolt was the Venetian demand that the capital city of Candia (now Heraklion) pay a tax for extra repairs needed to the harbour, which was in fact mainly used not by the Cretans or the local Venetians, but by passing shipping en route from Venice to Cyprus and the Levant. This tax was proclaimed by the city’s heralds in Candia Cathedral on 8 August 1363, with the warning that anyone refusing to pay faced confiscation of their property or the death penalty. The following day a large angry procession of local Greeks led by Venetian feudal landlords, many of whom were members of noble families, marched into the main square and stormed over the rooftops into the palace of the Venetian governor, Leonardo Dandolo, son of the late venerated doge. With cries of ‘Death to the traitor!’, the rebels, led by the hotheaded Venetian landlord Tito Venier (who was also of a noble family), were only prevented from murdering governor Dandolo because he was hustled away to the safety of a prison cell by some of the Venetian landlords.
The Cretans had rebelled against Venice before, but this was the first time the local Greeks had been joined by the feudal Venetian landlords. A sizeable proportion of them had now lived on their estates on the island for two or three generations and had adopted many aspects of the indigenous Greek culture. They resented the increasingly burdensome taxes being imposed upon them by what they had come to regard as a foreign and autocratic regime. An indication of the widespread and deep nature of this pan-Cretan resentment can be seen from the fact that over the next few days Venetian rule in the cities of Rethimno and Chania (now Xania) was toppled, and by the end of the week the entire 150-mile length of the island was effectively in the hands of the rebels.
Symbolically, the Venetian flag of the Catholic San Marco was hauleddown, and in its place was run up the flag of St Titus, the Byzantine Orthodox patron saint of the island. The rebels elected the Venetian landlord Marco Gradenigo as the new governor of Crete, along with two councillors, while Tito Venier was rewarded with the governorship of the city of Chania. Amongst governor Gradenigo’s first measures was recruiting an army to defend the island. As there was no money to
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