178 benjamin arbel
position of Greek Orthodox believers in Venetian territories and the care
taken by Venice not to provoke them was not unrelated to this crisis. Paolo
Sarpi, Venice’s major spokesman during the Interdict conflict, referred
to this issue in a document written in 1613, in which he emphasized the
legitimacy of Venice’s policy towards its Greek subjects, based on both
Venetian legislation and former papal decisions.192
During the Interdict crisis and in the following years there were even
manifestations of solidarity with Venice on the part of the Dominante’s
Greek Orthodox subjects. Yet the stato da mar in the period that followed
the Interdict crisis was not free of religious strife, caused by activities of
Catholic prelates and missionaries and by preachers of both rites.193 The
interplay between zealous Catholic agents and the pragmatic and preoc-
cupied Republic continued as before the Interdict crisis. The founding of
the missionary organization of Propaganda Fide in 1622 added another
element of friction between Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox in
colonies such as the Ionian Islands and Crete, where the Franciscan friars
connected to this organization were trying to gain souls for the Catholic
cause with the support of Spanish agents.194 Violent incidents originating
in religious disagreement occurred in Crete during the following years,
and constant vigilance was necessary in all overseas colonies to prevent
new clashes between Orthodox and Catholics, not merely those resulting
from outside intervention but also those resulting from the very friction
of the two rites and their respective adherents.195
When deemed necessary, the Republic did not hesitate to remove prel-
ates from their dioceses. This was all the more evident, and probably also
easier to carry out, in wartime. At the beginning of the war that ended
with the Venetian conquest of the Morea, the Venetian commander, Fran-
cesco Morosini, having conquered Santa Maura and Prevesa in August and
September 1684, wintered on Corfu. On that island during that moment,
Archbishop Barbarigo was conducting an aggressive anti-Orthodox cam-
paign. The archbishop was requested to return to Venice; and a dispute
with the papacy on this regard did not change the mind of the Venetian
Senate.196
192 Peri, “L’‘Incredibile risguardo,’ ” pp. 605–06.
193 For the role of Greek monks in inciting the Greek clergy against any collaboration
with the Catholic prelates in the Ionian Islands, see Viggiano, Lo specchio, pp. 215–16.
194 Tenenti, “Le Isole Ionie,” p. 14; Pagratis, ed., Εκκλησία και Κράτος.
195 Tea, “Saggio sulla storia religiosa,” pp. 1421–25.
196 Manfroni, I colonizzatori italiani, 2:278.