144 Papadia-Lala
Latin dominion, the entry of a certain number of Greeks into the administra-
tion and the upper social ranks eventually led to the formation of novel social
identities.
Meanwhile, the progressive osmosis that had already commenced in the
13th century in some of the regions, such as the Principality of Achaea and
later in Hospitaller Rhodes and the Ionian Islands, brought about an increas-
ing degree of rapprochement between the Latins and Greeks of the upper
echelons, their basic commonality being their shared social status and, con-
comitantly, their differentiation from the other mainly Orthodox social strata,
this last often resulting in clashes between them.
A similar spirit of compromise is to be noted in the Greek lands under
Venetian rule, though principally after the 15th century, under the influence of
the Ottoman advance. Thus, despite the prevailing social differences and ideo-
logical antagonisms, the Greek-Venetian territories were enriched by an inflow
of institutions and cultural movements from western Europe, which crossed
creatively with elements of the local tradition, and served as a bridge between
Catholic western and Orthodox eastern Europe.