128 Papadia-Lala
Venetian East was marked by a strict social stratification, strongly influenced
by the socio-administrative system of Venice herself.
A turning point in the history of Venice had been the Closing of the Great
Council in 1297 (Serrata del Maggior Consiglio).24 Its members, belonging to
a small number of families who elected the doge—the lifetime though not
hereditary ruler of the city—secured for themselves the hereditary status of
nobility and thereby their participation in the administration. An intermedi-
ate social stratum was formed by the cittadini who emphatically set themselves
apart from the lower stratum made up of the popolo.
This then was the scheme that was implemented in the Venetian Stato da
Mar, adapted however to the various socioeconomic circumstances of each
locality. One strongly distinguishing feature of the Greek-Venetian lands,
starkly contrasting with the exclusively urban environment of Venice, was the
fact that it was underpinned by the twin “pillars” of countryside and city. The
city residents made up the more eminent and privileged segment of the indig-
enous populations, while the countryside included the greater, yet also subor-
dinate, segment of the locals who were required to contribute to the defence
and the provisioning of the cities.
Τhe highest social rank was comprised of the members—both Latins and
Greeks—of the local communities who wielded wide-ranging administrative
powers and who, depending on the region, were termed nobles or more usu-
ally “citizens” (cittadini). The second social stratum was composed of the cit-
tadini/civili, mainly of Greek origin, who were entitled to certain lower local
offices but were excluded from the communal councils. The third stratum was
made up of the populace (popolo, plebe), also almost totally of Greek origin,
exercising such occupations as those of craftsman and small trader. The largest
part of the local population, as mentioned above, was comprised of the Greek
inhabitants of the rural areas, divided into a) feudal villeins and b) freeholders
and landless peasants.25 Lastly, the Jews, economically powerful though few in
number, comprised a community of their own, which was developing along-
side, but separately from the Christian ones.
1:73–79, and Aspasia Papadaki, “Τοπικοί αξιωματούχοι και υπάλληλοι” [“Local Officials and
Clerks”], in Βενετοκρατούμενη Ελλάδα, 1:83–101.
24 Among the rich bibliography, see Gerhard Rösch, “The Serrata of the Great Council
and Venetian Society, 1286–1323,” in Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of
an Italian City-State, 1297–1797, ed. John Martin and Dennis Roman (Baltimore, 2000),
pp. 67–88.
25 Anastasia Papadia-Lala, “Κοινωνική συγκρότηση στις πόλεις” [“The Social Make-up of
Towns”], in Βενετοκρατούμενη Ελλάδα, 1:105–27.