venice and its minorities 463
to negotiate trade agreements, and some Greeks, especially inhabitants
of Venetian possessions in the east, settled in the city. the ecumenical
council of Ferrara-Florence, convened in 1438 in order to end the schism
between the roman catholic and Greek orthodox churches, brought
many Greeks to Venice as their port of entry into italy. subsequently, the
fall of constantinople in 1453 induced a substantial number of Greeks to
migrate to Venice. other Greeks came to Venice from Venetian territories
in the east, either on their own or increasingly in response to the constant
ottoman advances. Many of the Greek immigrants served in the fleet as
oarsmen (galleotti), both voluntary and conscripted, and sailors, as well as
on land together with the dalmatians and albanians as stratiotes; others
were shipowners, merchants, and traders on various levels, and a large
number earned a living in the city in a wide range of activities as laborers
and artisans, including shipyard workers, caulkers, tailors, barbers, glass-
workers, shoe-makers, artists, carpenters, and domestic servants, while
many lived on the margins of society.39
of special importance were the learned individuals who brought with
them the classical and medieval Greek heritage in the form of manuscripts
and translations and were active in the city as teachers, copyists, and trans-
lators, thereby giving great impetus to the diffusion of humanism. among
the famous learned Greeks in Venice was cardinal Bessarion, who termed
the city “almost another Byzantium” (quasi alterum Byzantium) and gave
his superb collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts to the republic on
the two conditions that they never be given away and that the repub-
lic establish an adequate building to house them, leading to the eventual
construction of the Biblioteca Marciana in Piazza san Marco. after print-
ing was introduced in Venice, the first book in Greek was published in
Venice in 1471, and subsequently several Greek presses were established,
including the famous aldine press of aldo Manuzio that undertook the
important task of selecting and editing texts and, with the help of Greek
typesetters and proofreaders, printed numerous first editions.
the immigration of Greeks into Venice continued during the 16th and
17th centuries, as the ottoman turks advanced westward, capturing coron
and Modon in 1500, nauplia di romania and Monenvale in 1540, cyprus in
1571, and crete in 1669. among these immigrants were also artisans who
created material objects such as religious icons and bells, as well as artists
such as doménikos theotokópoulos, better known as el Greco, from
39 see thiriet, “sur les communautés grecque et albanaise à Venise,” pp. 220–21, and
Mueller, “Greeks in Venice,” p. 169.