venice’s maritime empire in the early modern period 149
elected to these positions or to the subordinate offices in larger colonies,
such the castellanies in Famagusta and Crete, were less experienced and
probably also belonged to less affluent families.59
Quite often, a provveditore, an office with extraordinary powers, was
nominated for an ad hoc mission, as, for example, immediately following
the inclusion of a territory in the maritime empire or when a need arose
to carry out a thorough reordering of the administration or of local institu-
tions. In some cases rectors obtained powers of provveditore without bear-
ing this title.60 With the increasing load of military responsibilities, the
provveditore tended to become a permanent magistracy, as in the case of
Corfu, where the office of Provveditore e Capitano emerged in the course
of the 16th century.61 A similar phenomenon can be followed in the two
big colonies of Cyprus and Crete, where provveditori generali appear fre-
quently (though not always) as a supreme authority over the pre-existing
governorships of the Luogotenente, the Duca the Capitano, and the various
rettori of the provincial towns.62
Some overseas territories had small dependencies: the bailo of Negro-
ponte was also responsible for Fitileo (Pteleon), Tinos, and Mykonos; the
castellan of Coron and Modon was also responsible for the island of Sapi-
enza, and briefly for Athens; the bailo of Durazzo had authority over Ales-
sio; the governors of Corfu were responsible for the island of Paxo, as well
as for the mainland dependencies of Butrinto and Parga, and for a while
also for Bastià. The islands of Scarpanto (Karpathos), Cerigo (Kythera) and
Cerigotto (Antikythera), as well as Tinos, were under the supervision of
the Venetian administration in Crete following the conquest of Negro-
ponte by the Ottomans in 1470 and until the fall of Crete itself.63
In several cases, Venice authorized local communities to elect the gov-
ernors of the small dependencies. The governors of Butrinto, Parga, bastià
59 O’Connell, Men of Empire, p. 43. The claim that in the early 16th century such
minor offices were sought after by numerous impoverished patricians has been subject to
criticism. See Volker Hunecke, “Matrimonio e demografia del patriziato veneziano (secc.
XVII–XVIII),” Studi veneziani 21 (1991), 278–79; and Andrea Zannini, “L’impiego pubblico,”
in Storia di Venezia, vol. 4 (1996): Il Rinascimento. Politica e cultura, eds. Alberto Tenenti
and Ugo Tucci, p. 437.
60 O’Connell, Men of Empire, pp. 47–48.
61 Gerassimos D. Pagratis, ed., Οι εκθέσεις των βενετών βαϊλών και προνοητών της Κέρκυρας
(16ος αιώνας) (Athens, 2008), pp. 18–19.
62 Da Mosto, L’Archivio di Stato, pp. 18, 23.
63 Jacoby, La féodalité, p. 210; Arbel, “Colonie d’oltremare,” p. 971.