The island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

came under the rule of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

in two periods: the first extends from the late antique period (3rd century) to the conquest of the island by Andalusian exiles in the late 820s, and the second from the island's reconquest in 961 to its capture by the competing forces of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in 1205.

History

First Byzantine period

Under

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rule, Crete was part of the joint

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Crete and Cyrenaica Crete and Cyrenaica (, ) was a senatorial province of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, established in 67 BC, which included the island of Crete and the region of Cyrenaica in modern-day Libya. These areas were settled by Greek colon ...

. Under

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

(r. 284–305) it was formed as a separate province, while

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

(r. 306–337) subordinated it to the

Diocese of Moesiae The Diocese of Moesia (, ) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern western Bulgaria, central Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece. History The Diocese of Moesia was one of the twelve dioceses in which ...

(and later the

Diocese of Macedonia The Diocese of Macedonia (; ) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, forming part of the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Its administrative centre was Thessalonica. History The diocese was formed, probably under Constantine I (r. 306–337 ...

) within the

praetorian prefecture of Illyricum The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum (; , also termed simply the prefecture of Illyricum) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Later Roman Empire, Late Roman Empire was divided. The administrative centre of the prefecture wa ...

, an arrangement that persisted until the end of

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

.Kazhdan (1991), p. 545Nesbitt & Oikonomides (1994), p. 94 Some administrative institutions, like the venerable ''

Koinon ''Koinon'' (, pl. Κοινά, ''Koina''), meaning "common thing", in the sense of "public", had many applications, some societal, some governmental. An abstract noun formed from the neuter of the adjective, koinos, "common", the koinon could mean ...

'' of the island, persisted until the end of the fourth century,Detorakis (1986), p. 129 but as elsewhere in the empire these provincial civic institutions were abandoned in face of the increasing power of imperial officials. Few contemporary sources mention Crete during the period from the 4th century to the Muslim conquest in the 820s. During this time, the island was very much a quiet provincial backwater in the periphery of the Greco-Roman world. Its bishops are even absent from the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

in 325, in contrast to neighbouring islands like

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

. With the exception of an attack by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

in 457 and the great earthquakes of 9 July 365, 415, 448 and 531, which destroyed many towns, the island remained peaceful and prosperous, as testified by the numerous, large and well-built monuments from the period surviving on the island.Kazhdan (1991), p. 546 In the 6th-century ''

Synecdemus The ''Synecdemus'' or ''Synekdemos'' () is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of their cities. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian Justinia ...

'', Crete is marked as being governed by a ''

consularis ''Consularis'' is a Latin adjective indicating something pertaining to the position or rank of consul. In Ancient Rome it was also used as a noun (plural ''consulares'') to designate those senators who had held the office of consul or attained con ...

'', with capital at

Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna (, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gortyn was the Roman c ...

, and as many as 22 cities. The population in this period is estimated as high as 250,000, and was almost exclusively Christian, except for some Jews living in the main urban centres. This peace was broken in the 7th century. Crete suffered a raid by the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

in 623, followed by Arab raids in 654 and the 670s, during the first wave of the

early Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabian Peninsula, Arabia that ...

, and again during the first decades of the 8th century, especially under Caliph

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

(r. 705–715). Thereafter the island remained relatively safe, under the rule of an ''

archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

'' appointed by

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. In ca. 732, the emperor

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...

transferred the island from the jurisdiction of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

to that of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

. A ''

strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

'' of Crete is attested in 767, and a seal of a ''

tourmarches A ''turma'' (; plural ''turmae''; ) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative divisions of a '' thema''. The word is often tran ...

'' of Crete is known. This has led to suggestions that the island was constituted as a

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

in the 8th century, perhaps as early as the 730s. Most scholars however do not consider the evidence conclusive enough and think it unlikely that the island was a theme at the time.

Arab conquest and Byzantine reconquest

Byzantine rule lasted until the late 820s, when a large group of exiles from

Muslim Spain Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

landed on the island and began its conquest. The Byzantines launched repeated expeditions to drive them back, and seem to have appointed a ''strategos'' to administer what parts of the island they still controlled. The successive campaigns were defeated however, and failed to prevent the establishment of the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

stronghold of Chandax on the northern coast, which became the capital of the new

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( or , ; ) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the ...

. The fall of Crete to the Arabs posed a major headache for Byzantium, as it opened the coasts and islands of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

to piracy. Byzantines under Nikephoros Phokas besiege Chandax

A major Byzantine campaign in 842/843 under

Theoktistos Theoktistos or Theoctistus (; died 20 November 855) was a leading Byzantine official during the second quarter of the 9th century and the ''de facto'' head of the regency for the underage emperor Michael III from 842 until his dismissal and ...

made some headway, and apparently allowed for the re-establishment of the recovered parts of the island as a

, as evidenced by the presence of a ''strategos'' of Crete in the contemporary ''

Taktikon Uspensky The ''Taktikon Uspensky'' or ''Uspenskij'' is the conventional name of a mid-9th century Greek list of the civil, military and ecclesiastical offices of the Byzantine Empire and their precedence at the imperial court. Nicolas Oikonomides Nikolao ...

''. However Theoktistos had to abandon the campaign, and the troops left behind were quickly defeated by the Saracens. Further Byzantine attempts at reconquest in 911 and 949 failed disastrously, until in 960–961 the general

Nikephoros Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of t ...

, at the head of a huge army, landed on the island and stormed Chandax, restoring Crete to Byzantium.Treadgold (1997), p. 495

Second Byzantine period

After the reconquest, the island was organized as a regular theme, with a ''strategos'' based at Chandax. Extensive efforts at conversion of the populace were undertaken, led by

John Xenos John Xenos (; 970? – after 1027), also known as John the Hermit, was an itinerant ascetic, Christian saint and founder of churches and monasteries on Byzantine Crete. He wrote an autobiography in Greek, ''Bios kai politeia''. John' ...

and

Nikon the Metanoeite Nikon the "Metanoite" (, ''Nikon ho Metanoeite'' (Nikon "Repent!" ); born circa 930, died 26 November, 998.) was a Byzantine monk, itinerant preacher, and Christian Orthodox saint.: "Nikon the Metanoeite...Greek monk, itinerant preacher, and sain ...

. A regiment (''taxiarchia'') of 1000 men was raised as the island's garrison, under a separate ''taxiarches'' and subdivided into ''

tourma A ''turma'' (; plural ''turmae''; ) was a cavalry unit in the Roman army of the Republic and Empire. In the Byzantine Empire, it became applied to the larger, regiment-sized military-administrative divisions of a '' thema''. The word is often tran ...

i''. Under

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

(r. 1081–1118), the island was ruled by a '' doux'' or ''

katepano The ''katepánō'' (, ) was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as ''capetanus/catepan'', and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", mean ...

''. By the early 12th century, it came, along with southern Greece (the themes of Hellas and the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

) under the overall control of the '' megas doux'', the commander-in-chief of the

Byzantine navy The Byzantine navy was the Navy, naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman navy, Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its ...

. Aside from the revolt of its governor, Karykes, in 1092/1093, the island remained a relatively peaceful backwater, securely in Byzantine hands until the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. During the Crusade, Crete appears to have been granted to

Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat (; ; c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat (from 1192), a leader of the Fourth Crusade (1201–04) and the king of Thessalonica (from 1205). Early life Boniface ...

as a ''

pronoia The ''pronoia'' (plural ''pronoiai''; Greek: πρόνοια, meaning "care", "forethought" or "providence," from πρό, "before," and νόος, "mind") was a system of granting dedicated streams of state income to individuals and institutions i ...

'' by the emperor

Alexios IV Angelos Alexios IV Angelos (; – February 1204), Latinized as Alexius IV Angelus, was Byzantine Emperor from August 1203 to January 1204. He was the son of Emperor Isaac II Angelos and his first wife, an unknown Palaiologina, who became a nun with t ...

. Boniface however, unable to extend his control to the island, sold his rights to the island to the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. In the event, the island was seized by the Venetians' rivals, the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

,Treadgold (1997), pp. 712, 715 and it took Venice until 1212 to secure her control over the island and establish it as a Venetian colony, the

Kingdom of Candia The Realm or Kingdom of Candia (; ; ) or Duchy of Candia (; ; ) was the official name of Crete during the island's period as an Stato da Màr, overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, from the initial Venetian conquest in 1205–1212 to its fal ...

Governors

Office of governor

According to the ''

Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...

'' and the '' Synekdemos'', Crete was governed by a ''

'' belonging to the senatorial rank of ''

clarissimus The constitution of the late Roman Empire was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down, mainly through precedent, which defined the manner in which the late Roman Empire was governed. As a matter of historical convention, the lat ...

'' between the 4th and 6th centuries. It was one of only four provinces of this rank or higher in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum, the other eight being of lower rank. In 539, there is a lone attestation of a

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

with the rank of '' spectabilis'', suggesting that the province had been upgraded. The status of the province after

, when the theme system was being instituted is unclear. It may have been part of the theme of Hellas or

. It was a separate province governed by

s (an ''archontia'') from the first half of the eighth century. These are mostly known from seals and can be ordered and dated only approximately. An ''archontia'' lacked the military resources of a theme and Crete's lower status relative to the themes was probably a factor in its inability to resist the Arab incursions without major expeditionary forces sent from elsewhere. Crete is not included in any surviving list of themes, either Byzantine or Arab. In the '' Taktikon'' of 842/843, there is reference to both a "patrician and strategos of Crete" and an "archon of Crete", implying that Crete had recently been raised to a theme and its governors from archon to ''

''. This was probably a response to the Arab invasion. According to the ''Continuations'' of Theophanes, the Emperor

Michael II Michael II (, ; 770 – 2 October 829), called the Amorian (, ) and the Stammerer (, or , ), reigned as Byzantine emperor from 25 December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, the first ruler of the Amorian dynasty. Born in Amorium, Michael was ...

(820–829) appointed Photeinos "to govern the affairs of Crete", probably around 828. He was probably the first ''strategos'', although his authority would have been limited by the Arab conquests. With the failure of the campaign of Theoktistos in 843, the theme of Crete ceased to exist.

List of governors

;Proconsul *Helios (539) ;Archon *Theophanes Lardotyros (c. 764–767), also called ''strategos'' and archisatrap in the ''Vita'' of

Stephen the Younger Saint Stephen the Younger (, ''Hagios Stephanos ho neos''; 713/715 – 28 November 764 or 765) was a Byzantine monk from Constantinople who became one of the leading opponents of the iconoclastic policies of Emperor Constantine V (r. 741–775). ...

*John (8th century), ''

paraphylax The ''paraphylax'' (, "chief guardian") was a low-ranking provincial military office in the middle Byzantine Empire. The ''paraphylax'' is often attested in lead seals of the 7th–9th centuries, and mentioned in lists of offices. The post was low ...

'' *Leo (8th century), imperial ''

spatharios The ''spatharii'' or ''spatharioi'' (singular: ; , literally " spatha-bearer") were a class of Late Roman imperial bodyguards in the court in Constantinople in the 5th–6th centuries, later becoming a purely honorary dignity in the Byzantine Emp ...

'' *Basil (8th century), imperial ''spatharios'' *Baasakios (8th/9th century), imperial ''spatharios'' *Nicholas (8th/9th century), imperial ''spatharios'' and hypatos *Nicholas (8th/9th century), imperial ''spatharios'' *Petronas (first years of the 9th century), imperial ''spatharios'' *Constantine (first quarter of the 9th century), imperial ''spatharios'' ;Strategos * Photeinos (c. 828) *'' Arab rule (843–961)'' *Michael (10th/11th century), ''

dishypatos , Latinized as (), was a Byzantine honorary dignity (, ) in the 9th–11th centuries, intended for "bearded men" (i.e. non-eunuchs). From then on, and especially during the Palaiologan period, it is attested as a family name. The title is relat ...

'' *Basil (c. 1000), patrician *Bracheon Philaretos (c. 1028), ''

protospatharios ''Prōtospatharios'' () was one of the highest Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court dignities of the middle Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to forei ...

'' *Eumathios (1028), ''protospatharios'' ;Doux (katepano) *Michael Karantenos (1088–1089),

vestarch () was a senior Byzantine honorific dignity in use from the late 10th to early 12th centuries. The term means 'master of the ', another group of high court dignitaries. Etymologically, these terms are related to the , the imperial wardrobe, bu ...

Karykes Karykes (, Latinised Caryces) was the Byzantine governor of Crete who led a rebellion that began in 1090 or 1091 and lasted into 1092 or 1093 during the reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The principal narrative sources for the revolt are Anna K ...

(1090–1092) *Nikephoros Diogenes (before 1094), son of Romanos IV *Michael (11th/12th century) *John Elladas (1118), ''

protoproedros ''Proedros'' (, "president") was a senior Byzantine court and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is ''proedrissa'' (προέδρισσα). Court dignity The title was created in the 960s by Nikephor ...

'' *John Straboromanos (mid-12th century) *Alexios Kontostephanos (1167), nephew of Manuel I *Constantine Doukas (1183) *Stephen Kontostephanos (1193) *Nikephoros Kontostephanos (1197)

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{coord missing, Greece

Provinces of the Byzantine Empire States and territories disestablished in 1205