Cretan people during the period of Venetian rule granted part or all of their property to third parties in order to meet their spiritual needs. Specifically, women, mainly unmarried, widowed or childless, who for several reasons were unable to manage their property by themselves, chose to grant it to younger persons who could take care of them during their lifetime. In many cases, they granted part of their property to relatives, friends, priests or churches to cover obligations or relieve supernatural anxieties. With men, the case was almost the same. Old men, incapable of working, disabled, etc. sought possible heirs or helpers in their everyday life and, one way or another, granted them assets. Very often donations and care of the elderly were the same thing.