Land and Landowners in the Greek Territories 83
information about the course of the mission and the distribution of land fol-
lowing the conquest presents a number of interesting points. This information
derives from two documents (1255–56) which formed part of the first Register
of the fiefs of western Crete (Catasticus vocatus Albus).18 These excerpts,
though sometimes obscure, are invaluable, for they elucidate the course of the
expedition, from its planning stages in Venice to the actual distribution of land
in Crete. We do not know what course the previous two expeditions in the ter-
ritories of Candia and Rethymnon followed. There can be no doubt, however,
that the manner and the timing of the last colonising expedition had a signifi-
cant bearing on the final stages of the installation of feudatories on their lands.
The territory of Canea, as defined by the 1252 document, coincides with
the modern-day prefecture of Canea, including its two islands, Gavdos and
Gavdopoula. It was divided into 90 fiefs, 75 of which were earmarked for the
feudatories. The remaining 15 were set aside for the Venetian state. The capita-
neus (who was the leader of the expedition) and his councillors were entrusted
with the task of rebuilding the pre-existing settlement of Canea, or founding a
new city within the territory (with the assistance of the colonists) which would
serve as the base of the local authorities and the residence of the fief-holders.
The town would develop within a radius of three miliaria of the existing settle-
ment or the newly selected spot. As had already happened in Candia, the land
within the city would be divided into two equal parts, one for the state and one
for the feudatories. The state’s land would be used for the construction of pub-
lic buildings and houses that would be rented out; the private land, as urban
fiefs (burgesie) formed part of the feudatories’ property and was intended for
the construction of residences, either for private use or for renting. According
to the 1252 document, the expedition was comprised of 47 knights and six ser-
geants who would receive in total 75 fiefs.
Around three years later a document dated August 1255 set the boundar-
ies of the three-mile-wide area that would enclose the city. Eight months later
(four years since the colonisation document was composed) a document of
in 1252] (Athens, 1940). Concerning the conquest and organisation of the territory of
Canea, see Charalambos Gasparis, Catastici Feudorum Crete: Catasticum Chanee, 1314–1396
(Αthens, 2008), pp. 27–88.
18 These documents were first published in Guido Scaffini, Notizie intorno ai primi cento
anni della dominazione veneta in Creta (Alexandria, 1907), appendix, pp. 26–31. They
were republished with corrections and emendations in Chryssa A. Maltezou, “Concessio
Crete: Παρατηρήσεις στα έγγραφα διανομής φεούδων στους πρώτους Bενετούς αποίκους της
Kρήτης” [“Concessio Crete: Observations on the Documents Distributing Fiefs to the First
Venetian Colonists of Crete”], in Λοιβή: Eις μνήμην Aνδρέα Γ. Kαλοκαιρινού [Loibe: In Memory
of Andreas Kalokairinos] (Herakleion, 1994), pp. 126–31.