188 benjamin arbel
Rettimo, and Canea, or those of the Cypriot communities of Nicosia (two
councils) and Famagusta, and, exceptionally, even Cerines.235 Different
social groups, not necessarily formally recognized as corporate bodies,
could also occasionally send lists of requests, as in the case of the embassy
of the citizens (cittadini) and the commoners of Nicosia and Candia, or of
the stradioti (military settlers) of Cyprus.236
Whenever possible, Venice was ready to accept the requests of its colo-
nial subjects, especially when they did not harm its own interests and did
not involve great expenditure, or involved no expenditure at all. Mod-
erate generosity is probably the right term to define the Republic’s atti-
tude in such moments. Occasionally, even requests that clearly required
great expenditure, especially when related to the defense of the overseas
territories, fell upon favorable ears. From the early 16th century to the
early 18th, the Republic consented to its subjects’ demands to fortify their
towns, projects that always necessitated great expenditure, even if partly
covered by contributions of local subjects.237 The periodical updating of
the statutes in response to the capitoli, together with the decisions of local
governors or provveditori generali, which also became part of the local
legal framework, subject to confirmation by the Senate,238 enabled the
Venetian courts in the stato da mar to operate without losing contact with
changing realities.239
Public Service and Local Officials
The most important occupations of the urban councils were caring for
the basic needs of local society, such as food supply, public health, poor
relief, and education; election of council members to offices and to smaller
councils; and drafting demands from Venice. In councils that had a pre-
established number of members, the councils occasionally dealt with
235 E.g., Giorgio [Yeoryios] S. Ploumidis, Οι βενετοκρατούμενες ελληνικές χώρες μεταξύ του
δευτέρου και του τρίτου τουρκοβενετικού πόλεμου (1503–1537) (Ioannina, 1974), pp. 137–47; idem,
Κανονισμοί της νησου Κύπρου (Ioannina, 1987), pp. 9–45, 46–55, 57–74.
236 Papadia-Lala, Ο Θεσμός, pp. 100–03. For the medieval precedents of this practice, see
Thiriet, La Romanie vénitienne, pp. 208–11; Maria Dourou-Iliopoulou, “Πρεσβεία των κατοίκων
του βενετοκρατούμενου Χάνδακα στα μέσα του 16ου αιώνα,” Παρουσία 5 (1987), 355–97.
237 E.g., Bacchion, Il dominio veneto su Corfù, p. 90; Gilles Grivaud, “Aux confins de
l’empire colonial vénitien: Nicosie et ses fortifications,” Επετητίς του Κέντρου Επιστημονικών
Ερευνών 13/16 (1984–87), 273.
238 Kolyvà, “Obedir et esseguir,” p. 492.
239 Cozzi, “La politica del diritto”; Arbel, “Colonie d’oltremare,” p. 970. E.g., Jacoby, La
féodalité, p. 259 (regarding Corfu); Arbel, “Η Κύπρος,” pp. 460–66.