This is a list of rulers of 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 ...

throughout its history.

Antiquity

Crete was conquered for the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (c. 114 BC – late 50s BC) was a politically active member of the Roman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death. He was consul in 69 BC along with Quintus Hortensius Hortal ...

in 69 BC and united with the

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

in the

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 ...

of Creta et Cyrenaica until 193 AD, when it became a separate province.

Roman governors of Creta et Cyrenaica

Roman governors of Crete

After the reforms of Emperor

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 ...

in the 290s, Crete's governor held the rank of ''

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 ...

''.

Byzantine and Arab periods

Crete became part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire upon the partition of the Roman Empire in 395 AD. It remained in Byzantine hands until it was conquered by Andalusian exiles in the mid-820s and became an

emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalent ...

, nominally under

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

suzerainty. The emirate became a major base for Muslim naval raids along the coasts of the Byzantine Empire, and several attempts at reconquest failed. The Byzantines finally retook the island in 961 under the leadership of Nikephoros Phokas, and held it until 1205.

First Byzantine period

;Proconsul *Helios (539) ;Archon *Theophanes Lardotyros (c. 764–767) *John (8th century) *Leo (8th century) *Basil (8th century) *Baasakios (8th/9th century) *Nicholas (8th/9th century) *Nicholas (8th/9th century) *Petronas (first years of the 9th century) *Constantine (first quarter of the 9th century) ;Strategos * Photeinos (827/828)

Emirs of Crete

Second Byzantine period

;Strategos *Michael (10th/11th century) *Basil (c. 1000) *Bracheon Philaretos (c. 1028) *Eumathios (1028) ;Doux (katepano) *Michael Karantenos (1088–1089) * Karykes (1090–1092) *Nikephoros Diogenes (before 1094) *Michael (11th/12th century) *John Elladas (1118) *John Straboromanos (mid-12th century) *Alexios Kontostephanos (1167) *Constantine Doukas (1183) *Stephen Kontostephanos (1193) *Nikephoros Kontostephanos (1197)

Venetian period, 1212–1669

Genoese governors, 1204–1212

Dukes of Crete, 1209–1669

The supreme Venetian governor of Crete bore the title of "Duke of Crete" (, ).

Ottoman period, 1646–1898

Valis 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 ...

Modern period, 1898–today

High Commissioners of the Cretan State

Crete became an autonomous state under international protection and nominal Ottoman suzerainty following the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War (), was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the O ...

. A High Commissioner of the Great Powers (Ύπατος Αρμοστής) was installed to govern the island. In 1908, the Cretan Assembly unilaterally declared union with Greece, but this was not recognized by Greece until the outbreak of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in October 1912 and internationally until 1913.

Governors-General of Crete

From unification with Greece in 1912 until 1955, Crete as a whole was administered by a government-appointed

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

(), who supervised the administration of the island's four

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

(

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

Lasithi Lasithi () is the easternmost regional unit on the island of Crete, to the east of Heraklion. Its capital is Agios Nikolaos, the other major towns being Ierapetra and Sitia. The mountains include the Dikti in the west and the Thrypti in the ...

and

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

). :Notes: ^§ denotes a person bearing cabinet rank as Minister General-Governor of Crete (Υπουργός Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης) or Vice-Minister General-Governor of Crete (Υφυπουργός Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης).

Regional governors of Crete

With the establishment of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of Crete (Περιφέρεια Κρήτης) in 1986, Crete became again an administrative entity. Until 2011, the regional governors (περιφερειάρχες) were government-appointed, but in accordance to the

Kallikratis reform The Kallikratis Programme () is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the country's administrative divisions following the 1997 Kapodistrias reform. ...

Antiquity

Roman governors of Creta et Cyrenaica

Roman governors of Crete

Byzantine and Arab periods

First Byzantine period

Emirs of Crete

Second Byzantine period

Venetian period, 1212–1669

Genoese governors, 1204–1212

Dukes of Crete, 1209–1669

Ottoman period, 1646–1898

Valis 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 ...

Modern period, 1898–today

High Commissioners of the Cretan State

Governors-General of Crete

Regional governors of Crete

Appointed governors

Elected governors

Notes

Sources

External links

Antiquity

Roman governors of Creta et Cyrenaica

Roman governors of Crete

Byzantine and Arab periods

First Byzantine period

Emirs of Crete

Second Byzantine period

Venetian period, 1212–1669

Genoese governors, 1204–1212

Dukes of Crete, 1209–1669

Ottoman period, 1646–1898

Valis 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 ...

Modern period, 1898–today

High Commissioners of the Cretan State

Governors-General of Crete

Regional governors of Crete

Appointed governors

Elected governors

Notes

Sources

External links

Valis 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 ...