shahmaran wrote:Oracle wrote:denizaksulu wrote:Nikitas wrote:You have to read up on Cyprus under the Venetians once more. You will be surprised at the vast difference between what you were taught in school and the reality of the time.
If you can take a trip to Venice too. One of the biggest churches in Venice is Saint Demetrius, a Greek Orthodox Church. The main canal of the city is the Canal di Greci, the canal of the Greeks. There are Greek libraries dating back to the Middle Ages and collections of printint presses for Greek books. You think the Venetians embraced this presence while treating Greeks as enemies?
The Greek Orthodox Church was ranked after the catholic church in Cyprus but it was not as repressed as your Ottoman books tell you.
Yes!! They were Greeks indeed.NOT CYPRIOTS. The Venetians did not give a shit about Cypriots. Ungrateful lot you all turned out to be. Cyprus was conquered from the Venetians NOT the Cypriots. What belonged to the Venetians reverted to the Ottomans.
What utter tosh you talk ...
The Venetians worked in unison with Greek Cypriots and they intermarried. The Venetians spoke Greek, and most of the administrative posts were carried out by the islands nobility of Greek Cypriots. Yes there were a lot of peasants who were Greek Cypriots, but that's because they were the majority and the majority are usually the workforce.
The Venetians only stepped up their 'rule', actually imposing their hold on the island, only once the Ottomans started raiding and pillaging the island for treasures and payments some several years before their actual invasion.
Stop trying to change our history ... blooming Turks!
Actually when the Venetians came the islands was a VERY multicultural place, it was never all about the Greek Cypriots.
It was multicultural ... even VERY ... but the overwhelming majority were always the Greek Cypriots!
We have already mentioned that the upper ranks of Cypriot society originated mainly from the
Crusader territories and the most active European trading cities. The majority of the rest of the island’s
population were Greek-speaking Orthodox peasants, farmers or craftsmen. Among them, as the
documents testify, were thousands of Armenians, Maronites, Hebrews and members of other eastern
Christian faiths, such as Abyssinians and Nestorians. They used Greek for their day-to-day
communication, as is attested by the French merchant Jacques le Saige, who visited Cyprus in 1518
There was never any harsh ruling ... they intermarried, the royalty was part Greek etc.
In any event, for
the whole of Cypriot society the period of Venetian rule was one of relative participation in the island’s
administration, even though the highest authority remained under the control of the Venetian
patricians and its senate. The degree to which a large portion of the Cypriot population linked
themselves to the Republic of Saint Mark is proven by the fact that after the Ottoman conquest, many
of the Cypriots who could afford to do so moved with their families to Venice.
shahmaran wrote:You claim they worked in unison, yet many history books claim the settlers on the island always opposed the harsh ruling of the Venetians.
However, the Orthodox,
who were far more numerous than any other faith, were occasionally able to impose their will on the
Venetian authorities in matters of ecclesiastical tax payments and agricultural exploitation, or in the
use of churches belonging to Maronites, Copts or Armenians (ASV, Senato, Mar, reg. 37, 154). ***
The Venetians only feared losing Cyprus to the Ottomans and then started taking over command and imposing rule ... BECAUSE of the pending Ottoman invasions!
The Venetian policy of not eliminating the royal traditions of Cypriot society was also aimed at
bringing the nobles over to the Republic’s side and acquiring their loyalty. It was important to obtain
support for the Venetian power among the Cypriot society, as the plan of transporting settlers from
Venice had failed. To gain the support of the most influential families of the Cypriot nobility, the
Venetian senate acknowledged the preservation and the hereditary character of the royal titles
Nevertheless, the situation in Cyprus during the 16th century was more delicate. Citizens of the
Ottoman empire could be found in the strategic fortresses of Famagosta and Nicosia, and even
around the island, hiding their identities by dressing in Christian clothing (ASV, Senato, Secreta, reg.
61, c. 14r; Bellenger, 122). On the one hand, the senate instructed the government of Cyprus not to
harass them, but on the other, to keep them under strict supervision in order to avoid unpleasant
episodes (ASV, Consiglio dei Dieci, Parti Secrete, filza 13, 15 agosto 1569). Very often, the ships of
the Ottoman fleet would disembark on the coasts of Cyprus and pretend to receive money and gifts,
instead of taking them by force. They claimed to be protecting the island from pirate attacks.
Therefore, every time the Turkish captains appeared on the coasts of Cyprus, the Venetian authorities
were obliged to offer them at least six silk cloths of different colours and 200 silver coins. This was a
kind of tribute that the Cypriot treasury had to pay to the Ottoman sultan, who already received 8,000
ducats annually from Cyprus, in virtue of the tribute previously paid to the Mameluke sultan of Egypt.
However, this was not all. The sultan and other high officials of the Ottoman empire often used to send
requests to the Venetian government of Cyprus asking for some of the island’s renowned sweet wine
and fine hunting falcons. These frequent visits by Ottoman representatives, and the lavish reception
they had to be offered, caused great expense to the island’s treasury (ASV, Senato, Dispacci, filza 1).
Under these terms, the Cypriots already felt in a way subjected to the Ottomans, even years before
the full Turkish conquest of the island was finally consummated in 1570-1571.
Source:EVANGELIA SKOUFARI
Università degli Studi di Padova
