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6
The Fall of Candia
An Ottoman empire established in the Aegean could not fail to covet
Crete. It was perhaps the fall of Cyprus in 1571 which brought home to
the Venetians how precarious their position was, and how Crete, the
last surviving Latin principality, was become a magnet that must
attract the Turks. For in the years following 1571 the island saw not
only the extraordinary appointment of Foscarini as Proveditor, but
also a rigorous attempt to strengthen the crumbling defences of Crete.
A Venetian document of 1593 tells how since the war, that is since the
fall of Cyprus, garrisons have been installed, fortresses built or repaired,
at Palaiokastro on the harbour of Frascia (this on the ruins of Pescatore’s
Genoese castle), at Suda on the island of Fraronesi, on the island
of St Theodore off Canea, on Spinalonga and on Grambousa. There is
something almost desperate about this activity. For without total
domination of the sea, the Venetians could not hope to remain in
Crete except as unwanted guests, pinned down in their castles, harassed
on one side by a sullen population and on the other by the damaging
incursions of their enemies. For those who could see, it had been evident
for thirty years that Crete was no longer safe.
Khaireddin Barbarossa, the pirate, commander of Suleiman the
Magnificent’s fleet, visited Crete in 1538. This was no insignificant
private adventurer scouring the coasts for plunder. Suleiman had lent
the pirate nearly two hundred warships, with which he had sailed
through the Greek waters capturing islands almost without opposition.
Aegina, Paros, Naxos, Santorin, Mykonos, Chios, Amorgos and, on a
second expedition, Karystos and Siphnos fell. Barbarossa then turned
to Crete. Starting near Canea, his fleet sailed along the north coast
towards Sitea. The pirates stopped frequently to devastate crops, to
carry off animals and slaves in thousands. Rethymnon was sacked. But
Crete was too big an island to succumb to these methods which had
worked well enough in the Cyclades. Barbarossa’s methods were haphazard.
If his assault had been better organized, more determined, he
might well have taken Crete. The fortifications of Candia were undergoing
one of their periodic reinforcements at the time, which partly
explains the extreme terror of the inhabitants. The populace was
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