The Jewish Communities in the Social Fabric of Latin Greece 267
Jewish settlement in Canea (now Chania) presumably began later than in
Rethymnon. In 1252 Venice envisaged the reconstruction of the city or the
foundation of a new one in a vacant site. The establishment of Jews in Canea
must have followed the building or repair of dwellings for the Venetian set-
tlers. By 1276 a Jewish resident of the city was trading in the countryside. In
1325 the city’s rector was given the power to transfer the Jewish community to
the suburb.70
In addition to the three communities mentioned so far, Jews also resided for
varying periods of time in smaller Cretan settlements adjoining castles used by
Venice to control the island. Their presence is attested in two such settlements
of central Crete, Castelnuovo and Bonifacio. It is likely that Jews already settled
in the two localities in the first half of the 13th century, in connection with the
operation of the Jewish economic network supplying kosher cheese, wine and
livestock. As attested later, they acted as middlemen between peasants in their
own region on the one hand, Jewish merchants and consumers in Candia, on
the other.71 This function was furthered over time by the expanding export of
kosher commodities from Candia and, to a lesser extent, by the growth of the
city’s Jewish community.
A Jewish resident of Castelnuovo is first attested in 1281. In 1363 the local
Jewry appears to have been rather small and lacking communal and rabbinical
leadership. It was partly massacred in the following year by rebels attempting
to overthrow Venetian rule over Crete. Its continuity in the following 80 years
is illustrated by various documents. The existence of a Judaica in 1448 implies
that the number of local Jews had grown, yet some of them owned houses
outside the quarter. All local Jews were expelled in the 1450s, yet allowed to
return in 1465. In 1567 the local communal leaders issued their own ordinance,
undermining thereby the authority of the communal leaders in Candia. The
community is again documented in 1577.
The presence of Jews in Bonifacio is first attested in 1319. Three Jews
bought a total of 40 tanned hides in 1339. Jewish surgeons resided in Bonifacio
in 1379 and 1395. The local Jews are mentioned in 1440, and their Judaica is
indirectly attested in 1450. Like those of Castelnuovo, they were expelled in
the 1450s, yet allowed to return in 1465. The community is mentioned in the
70 Jacoby, “Jews and Christians,” p. 250.
71 Castelnuovo and Bonifacio were not rural settlements and there is no evidence that they
were inhabited by “rural” Jews directly involved in rural production, as claimed by Ankori,
“Jews and the Jewish Community in the History of Mediaeval Crete,” in Πεπραγμένα του
Β ́Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου [Proceedings of the Second International Cretological
Congress], 4 vols. (Athens, 1968), 3:349–60.