venice’s maritime empire in the early modern period 147
and profit49 but also to act for the well-being of the territory entrusted to
their care.50 Before leaving Venice, the patrician elected for an overseas
office as well as his chancellor had to take an oath in front of the heads
of the Council of Ten to behave according to the orders specified in the
written commission handed to them.51
Governors’ titles varied. Crete had a duke (duca), Cyprus a luogote-
nente, Corfu and Durazzo a bailo, Veglia, Cephalonia, and Castelnuovo—
a provveditore. At Scutari and in Dulcigno there was a count and captain
(comes et capitaneus), whereas Curzola, Lesina, Pago, and Trau had sim-
ply a count. There was a podestà at Antivari, Drivasto, and Malvasia, as
well as in several Istrian provinces, and only a castellan (castellanus), a
magistracy of lesser importance, on 15th-century Cerigo. Titles sometimes
changed, as in the case of Cerigo in 1504, or in 16th-century Corfu.52 In the
bigger territories, such as Cyprus or Crete, the chief governor was flanked
by two counselors and one or two financial officers (camerlenghi). Smaller
colonies had no camerlenghi, and one of the counselors had to deal with
financial affairs. The chief governor and his counselors constituted the
“Regime” (Reggimento), which had to make any significant decision by
majority vote. In the greater territories, or those considered of special
importance, such as Cyprus, Crete, or Zara, military affairs were placed
under the responsibility of a separate magistrate, mostly with the title of
capitano, but in the smaller ones, the rettor (rector, or governor) also func-
tioned in this capacity. Important castles were entrusted to Venetian cas-
tellans. In trying to save expenses on salaries of magistrates, the Republic
sometimes united some of these functions in one person. In Zara, for
example, the functions of Camerlengo and Castellan were merged into a
single magistracy from 1609.53
Crete constituted a special case, for its colonial administration had
been established in the early 13th century according to the Venetian
49 Chryssa Maltezou, ed., Ire debeas in rettorem Caneae. La commisio del doge di Venezia
al rettore di Canea, 1589 (Venice, 2002), p. 41 (commission of Pier Francesco Malipiero,
rector of Canea, 1589): “tractabis et operabis honorem et proficuum Venetiarum.”
50 Ibid.: “ordinandum et utile faciendum pro bono Venetiarum et insulae Cretae.”
51 Marco Folin, “Spunti per una ricerca su amministrazione veneziana e società ionia
nella seconda metà del Settecento,” in Studi veneti offerti a Gaetano Cozzi (Venice, 1992),
p. 337.
52 For some partial lists of colonial magistrates, see Charles Hopf, Chroniques gréco-
romanes inédites ou peu connues (Paris, 1873), pp. 371–413; Andrea Da Mosto, L’Archivio di
Stato. Indice generale, storico, descrittivo ed analitico, 2 vols (Rome, 1937), 2:15–23 (rather
inaccurate); and O’Connell, Men of Empire, pp. 161–64.
53 Angelo De Benvenuti, Storia di Zara dal 1409 al 1797 (Milan, 1944), p. 198.