Transfers of high-ranking officials for governmental work in Venetian Crete

The present paper deals with the duties of certain high-ranking Venetian officials, such as the Duke, the councilors and the treasurers of Candia, the Captain of Crete, the rectors and the Provveditore generale, focusing on their transfers within Crete in order to perform governmental work and on their range of power at an institutional and geographical level.

Officials were most commonly transferred from their main office to inspect the castles and the army, suppress a rebellious movement, ensure the adequacy of grain supply, administer justice to the people of the countryside, and so on. Every time they were escorted by certain people and substitutes were appointed during the time of their absence. The authorised cost of these transfers burdened the public treasury as well as the villages where the officials stopped by – which were burdened with the cost of the officials’ food and accommodation. As a result, in the 16th century, proposals were submitted regarding the cancellation of a number of transfers carried out by the Duke and the rectors and the replacement of those by the Provveditore generale’s tours in order to save money.