The Economy Of Latin Greece 213
Mediterranean. Candia became the major stopover and transhipment station
for Venetian ships involved in bilateral exchanges with Cyprus and the Levant.
The resumption of direct trade between the West and Egypt in 1345 undercut
to some extent its role as transit station for around 30 years, although the city
served as port of call for the Venetian state galleys sailing between Venice and
Alexandria and returning with spices and other costly goods.
Following the Genoese occupation of Cypriot Famagusta in 1374, which
lasted until 1464, Venetian ships increasingly avoided that city and, as a result,
Candia assumed again major importance as transit and transhipment station
and as collecting and distribution centre for goods travelling between Venice
on the one hand, Alexandria and Beirut on the other. The Venetian govern-
ment furthered Candia’s function as main intermediary between Venice and
the Levant by fiscal measures. The temporary storage of goods in Candia
enabled several sailings between the city and Egypt or Syria during the navi-
gation season, and thus the shipping of a larger volume of merchandise. The
state galley line from Venice to Cyprus was suspended from 1373 to 1445 and,
instead, a new galley line carrying out three voyages a year from Candia to
Beirut was established in the winter of 1373–74.
Candia also served as transit station between Constantinople and the
Western Mediterranean. Beginning in the 13th century it became an impor-
tant market and distribution centre for slaves imported from the Black Sea
and the Aegean, who were shipped to Italy, southern France, and the Iberian
Peninsula. Instead of sailing directly from Venice to Constantinople, goods
were sometimes transhipped in Candia. Cretan cheese and wine, the most
lucrative Cretan exports, were distributed throughout the Aegean, as well
as to Constantinople, the Black Sea and Egypt, Cretan wine reaching even
Flanders and England. Candia also fulfilled major functions in the Venetian
naval defence system. Galleys were constructed and repaired in its arsenal. It
was a base for the outfit, manning and provisioning of Venetian ships protect-
ing commercial vessels and fighting enemy fleets, corsairs and pirates. In 1455
the self-conscious Cretan elite proudly proclaimed that “the city of Candia is
another city of Venice in the east”. This statement reflects Candia’s rise as a
major emporium, which reached a peak in the first half of the 15th century.51
Modon and Coron, which together formed a single administrative unit of
the Venetian overseas empire, shared many economic features. Their economy
was entirely export-oriented. Their rich rural hinterland produced abundant
olive oil and wine and they were important tanning centres. They served also
51 For the last three paragraphs: Jacoby, “Creta e Venezia,” pp. 77–106.