212 benjamin arbel
a big military conflict broke out, as during the war of the 1530s, and even
more so during the war of Cyprus (1570–71), it became necessary to rein-
force the fleet with coerced conscripts from the reserve forces (ordinanza
da mar).331 In the battle of Lepanto (1571) were involved seven Dalmatian
galleys (from Zara, Veglia, Arbe, Cherso, Sebenico, Trau, and Lesina), four
Corfiot galleys, at least one Cypriot galley, and an “Albanian” one (from
Cattaro). But the number of colonial rowers and seamen who served in
the navy in this battle was higher than those recruited specifically to man
galleys commissioned in the respective colonies. Thus, about 7000 Cre-
tans, who served as rowers in 30 to 40 galleys, and about 1500 Corfiots,
who must have occupied about 7 to 8 galleys, are reported to have par-
ticipated in this battle.332 Briefly, the navy, whose principal task was to
defend the stato da mar, was also manned predominantly by rowers and
seamen originating from the overseas territories.333
However, serving in the ordinanza da mar as a galley rower was one of
the most detested obligations among Venice’s colonial subjects, and they
tried to avoid it in all possible manners, including becoming priests, which
freed them from this burdensome obligation. Under such circumstances,
the burden was largely borne by poor peasants who could not afford to
buy an exemption from this service.334 For obvious reasons, among the
peasants of the terraferma, who were also required to serve, it was no
less difficult to overcome similar resistance, despite various privileges that
were granted to galley rowers.335
The daily care of the fleet units stationed in various colonies fell upon
the colonies themselves. Some ports, such as Famagusta and Candia,
served as critical supply and maintenance centers for the fleet, where
many tons of rusks were produced for the seamen’s diet, an obligation
that risked having repercussions on local food supply.336 Several colonial
331 Tenenti, Cristoforo da Canal, pp. 68, 131; Pezzolo, “Stato, guerra e finanza,” pp. 73–74,
84, 87.
332 Praga, History of Dalmatia, p. 174; Miller, “The Ionian Islands,” p. 230; Pezzolo, “Stato,
guerra e finanza,” pp. 77, 84, 92.
333 Tenenti, Cristoforo da Canal, pp. 121, 129; Pezzolo, “Stato, guerra e finanza,” 84.
334 E.g., Bacchion, Il dominio veneto su Corfù, 138; Υotopoulou-Sisilianou, ed., Πρεσβείες,
75–8; Tsiknakis, Οι εκθέσεις, 193.
335 Tenenti, Cristoforo da Canal, pp. 65–68; Aymard, “La leva marittima,” pp. 442–48;
Pezzolo, “Stato, guerra e finanza,” pp. 82–83.
336 E.g., Aikaterinis Ch. Aristidou, Ανέκδοτα έγγραφα της κυπριακής ιστορίας από το αρχείο
της Bενετίας, 4 vols (Nicosia, 1990–2003), 4:113–14, 245–46; Ioannis G. Yannopoulos, Η Κρήτη
κατά τοω τέταρτο βενετοτοθρκικό πόλεμο (1570–1571) (Athens, 1978), pp. 71, 116; Spanakis, ed.,
Μνημία, 4:158; Pagratis, ed., Οι εκθέσεις, 3:07, 396–97.