Thereafter, the new colony took shape: the island was divided into six provinces (sestieri) named after the divisions of the city of Venice itself, while the capital Candia was directly subjected to the Commune Veneciarum.

Thereafter, and despite occasional revolts and Turkish raids, the island largely prospered, and Venetian rule opened up a window into the ongoing Italian Renaissance.

The Republic's relative military weakness, coupled with the island's wealth and its strategic location controlling the waterways of the Eastern Mediterranean attracted the attention of the Ottoman Empire.

The Genoese however, who already had a trading colony on Crete, moved more quickly: under the command of Enrico Pescatore, Count of Malta, and enjoying the support of the local populace, they soon became masters over the eastern and central portions of the island.

In 1209, the Venetians managed to capture Palaiokastro near Candia (Greek Chandax, Χάνδαξ; modern Heraklion, Ηράκλειον), but it took them until 1212 to evict Pescatore from the island, and the latter's lieutenant, Alamanno da Costa, held out even longer.

[19] Already in 1212, the Hagiostephanites brothers rose in revolt in the Lasithi Plateau, possibly caused by the arrival of the first Venetian colonists, and the expropriation of the Cretan nobles and the Orthodox Church on the island.

The rebellion soon spread throughout the eastern part of Crete, capturing the forts of Sitia and Spinalonga, and was only suppressed through the intervention of Marco I Sanudo, the Duke of Naxos.

The arrival of a Venetian fleet allowed Tiepolo to recover the capital, and Sanudo agreed to evacuate the island in exchange for money and provisions; twenty Greek lords who had collaborated with him accompanied him to Naxos.

75 serfs were set free, the privileges of the metochi of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian on Patmos were confirmed, and Venetian citizens became liable for punishment for crimes against the Cretan commoners (villani).

This treaty had major repercussions, as it began the formation of a native Cretan noble class, set on equal footing with the Venetian colonial aristocracy.

The rebellion raged for four years, but its prospects were never good; not only was Michael VIII unable to send any substantial aid, but the influential Greek noble Alexios Kallergis refused to support it, fearing the loss of his privileges.

Finally, in 1265 another treaty ended the uprising, reconfirming the privileges of the Cretan nobles, awarding two more knightly fiefs to their leaders, and allowing the safe departure of Sergios from Crete.

In 1276, the rebels scored a major victory in an open battle in the Messara Plain, in which the Duke of Crete, a ducal councillor, and the "flower of the Venetian colony of Candia" fell.

The Chortatzes family and many of their supporters fled to Asia Minor, where several entered Byzantine service, but the brutal repression of the Venetians created an unbridgeable gulf with the local population.

[31] Despite his double-dealing and shifting allegiance between Venice and his own compatriots, the defeat of the Chortatzes brothers left Alexios Kallergis as the most prominent and respected of the Cretan nobles.

The Genoese admiral Lamba Doria captured and torched Chania, and sent envoys to Kallergis offering an alliance, along with recognition as hereditary ruler of the island.

[35] The uprising was terminated with the "Peace of Alexios Kallergis" (Latin: Pax Alexii Callergi), signed on 28 April 1299 between Duke Michel Vitali and the rebel leaders.

In 33 articles, the treaty proclaimed a general amnesty and the return of all confiscated possessions and the privileges formerly enjoyed by the rebel leaders, who were also granted a two-year tax exemption for the repayment of any debts accrued.

The uprising began as a protest in Mylopotamos, but soon spread to the western provinces in September 1333, under the leadership of Vardas Kallergis, Nikolaos Prikosirides from Kissamos and the three Syropoulos brothers.

The families of the rebels were exiled, but the brothers and children of Vardas Kallergis were condemned to life imprisonment as an example; and the entry of non-Cretan Orthodox clergy in the island was prohibited.

The revolt broke out there, and soon spread to other areas, as other noble families joined it, including the Skordilides (Konstantinos Skordiles was Leon Kallergis' father-in-law), Melissenoi, Psaromelingoi, and others.

Several Greek nobles joined them, including the Kallergis clan, and the revolt spread quickly to the rest of the island: in all major cities, the Venetian authorities were overthrown.

The Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos also appears to have supported this uprising, sending the Metropolitan of Athens Anthimos to the island as proedros (ecclesiastical locum tenens) of Crete.

[49] Venice reacted by securing a declaration from the Pope granting absolution to any soldier fighting against the rebels, and engaging in extensive recruitment of mercenaries, including Turks.

In June 1538, the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa captured Mylopotamos, Apokoronas, and Kerameia, besieged Chania without success, and then marched to Rethymno and Candia.

It was only the appeal of the Venetian authorities to the local population, offering amnesty and tax exemptions, that preserved the city, especially when the Kallergis brothers Antonios and Mathios used their fortune to recruit men and strengthen the island's fortifications.

Some local inhabitants, resentful at Venetian misgovernment, even made contact with the Turks, but the intervention of the Cretan nobleman Matthaios Kallergis managed to calm down spirits, and restore order.

[64] The conquest of Crete brought Venice its first major colony; indeed, the island would remain the largest possession of the Republic until its expansion into the northern Italian mainland (the Terraferma) in the early 15th century.

After 1569, as the Ottoman danger increased, the appointment of a provveditore generale became regular even in peacetime for two-year tenures, and the post came to be held by some of the most eminent statesmen of Venice.

Another major Cretan literary figures were Marcus Musurus (1470–1517), Nicholas Kalliakis (1645–1707), Andreas Musalus (1665–1721), and other Greek scholars and philosophers who flourished in Italy in the 15-17th Centuries.