Showing posts with label Chania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chania. Show all posts
30 July 2014
The Cretan bowman
Archer.
Detail from Mantegna, St. Sebastian. Louvre. ca. 1475.
From
Cyriaco of Ancona, 5 July 1445, Cydonia, Crete.
To
Niccolò
Zancarolo, son of A., the outstanding Cydonian archer and excellent
victor over bowmen. Today, the fifth of July, the favorable, fair
and celebrated day of quiver-bearing Delian Diana, he defeated, by his vogorous courage and worth, not only the outstanding Parthian, Scythian and Hyrcanian archers as well as others from foreign parts, but also proved superior to the expert Cydonian bowmen in an athletic contest held on the sand before the city walls, here in Cydonia, once the noblest of the Cretan coastal cities, now the illustrious Venetian colony of Khania . . . under the gaze of the distinguished citizens and colonists. A unique prize was proposed for the contestant who would be victorious with the flying arrow. Bending the mighty bow with his arms set apart, propelling the arrow through the pierced air from the string drawn to his ear, he aimed at the center of the target, which was the long distance of a stade* away, and struck it. To him Cyriac of Ancona, lover of antiquity, gave a silver coin engraved with the image of the sacred head of Pythian Apollo, the quiver-and-bow-bearing god [one one side] and the Rhodian prince Anthaeus [on the other]. He did this to commemorate and honor him.
[Cyriaco gives quotations from Isidore, Pindar, Lucan, Vergil, Ovid, Apuleius on Cretan archers.]
Cyriac of Ancona, lover of Hermes, chose all these brilliant and famous sayings of the ancinet writers and poets to record here as a proof of the ancient worth of all the Cydonian and Cretan archers. Done this day, the seventh of July, the glorious and venerable day of my protecting deity, Mercury, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Pope Eugene, one thousand and twenty-four years after the foundation of Venice.
From Edward W. Bodnar, Cyriac of Ancona: Later Travels, Letter 23. (2003).
* Stade = 184+ metres, or 605 ft.
Archery distances, Wikipedia.
[Cyriaco gives quotations from Isidore, Pindar, Lucan, Vergil, Ovid, Apuleius on Cretan archers.]
Cyriac of Ancona, lover of Hermes, chose all these brilliant and famous sayings of the ancinet writers and poets to record here as a proof of the ancient worth of all the Cydonian and Cretan archers. Done this day, the seventh of July, the glorious and venerable day of my protecting deity, Mercury, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Pope Eugene, one thousand and twenty-four years after the foundation of Venice.
From Edward W. Bodnar, Cyriac of Ancona: Later Travels, Letter 23. (2003).
* Stade = 184+ metres, or 605 ft.
Archery distances, Wikipedia.
For
a 1440 round, known until 2014 as 'FITA Round', standard indoor
distances are 18m and 25m. Outdoor distances range from 30m to 90m
for senior Gentlemen archers, and 30m to 70m for Ladies. The juniors
have shorter targets to shoot at. In Olympic archery, 70m is the
standard range.
29 October 2012
Cretan Defenses, 1502
Crete,
by Piri Re'is
From July 1500 through August 1502, Bartolomeo Minio was Venetian captain of Crete, which meant that he had primary responsibility for the defense of the island, and was second in command after the Captain General of the Fleet for the defense of the stato da mar. In June 1502 he was finally able to make a tour of the defenses of Crete, unable to go sooner because of the pressure of the Ottoman war. This is what has survived of his account of the fortifications, from a draft translation of the book I have coming out with John Melville Jones: The Greek Correspondence of Bartolomeo Minio: Volume 2: Dispacci from Crete, 1500-1502.
* * * * * *
14
July 1502
.
. . I left here on the 19th of June to investigate various
parts of this island and among other places, I was at Milopotamo1,
a fortification on the shore which is in very bad condition in every
respect that can be mentioned, where a number of good people live,
but I am ashamed to speak of their condition. Then I went to Rethimno
where I stayed two days. I looked over that place carefully and
found it to be very weak, both in its walls and its ditches, and in
my opinion a small enemy fleet would cause it great fear, and harm
because of its weak fortifications. Then it has a large borgo,
unwalled, not protected by any ditch nor anything else, one could
jump into the terra
over it anywhere without getting wet feet.
I left that place and went to Bicorna2,
which is a fortification outside the mouth of Suda Bay on the left
side. A very good fortress in bad condition, but to some extent
better than Milopotamo; in truth one could without much expense have
an angaria
of villani3
in this area to put it in such a condition that it would not be
captured by an attack from the sea, and would also be strong enough
to withstand a number of shots from bombards. On the right bank of
this fortress, not far away, are two streams of most abundant water,
and anyone who wants to take water from these streams can be attacked
from the castle.
Then I went to Suda Bay and made the whole circuit
and went to the rock of S. Nicolò which is at the mouth, guarded now
and then. This island is 300 passa
long and about a mile around. This island is about 275 passa
from the land of the right side, 850 passa
and more from the land on the left side.4
On this island, in the middle, is a church with some other
dwellings, and it is flat and open to all, and it is a steep place
where many people could stay, I say a large number. If one wanted
to block the entrance to Suda with the island, it is necessary
to build two fortresses on it, one at the right bank and the other on
the left, and build them low facing the sea . . . and nevertheless it
would defend from the sea where one would have to put the bombards,
because the sirocco
and levanta5
batter from the sea against all. Then the middle area of the
island is a spacious area, like the terraferma.
.
Behind Suda there is not enough drinking water for a large fleet.
Then
I traveled from the end of the bay of Suda to Chania by land, which
is a completely flat area and really beautiful territory, about 3 miles, where I stayed two full days. I wanted to
see the whole area of Chania and all the borgo,
which is completely walled and seems as if it were a strong site, I
found the place badly fortified, both the wall of the terra
and the borgo,
as well as the trenches, as all who have seen the place can well
testify. I found Chania, both the terra
and the borgo,
very well populated and to be land well situated to be able to
fortify both the terra
and the borgo,
. . . it is a place having value for many reasons that they can tell
you.
In
Chania I found a man who seems to me to have great ability and great
authority, by the name of Conte Franzon, who from what I have learned
is a provisionato
of Your Sublimity, who went everywhere with me both at Suda and the
island, then we toured all of Chania, and I also took him to Bicorna.
Speaking a good deal together, he seems to have a concern for its
good condition and apparently has sent Your Signoria a modello
of Chania.6
He has been most useful.
Then
I went to Chisamo, a fortification very near Cape Spada7,
a place in worse condition than the others and in a place more
dangerous that, by the true God, Most Serene Prince, besides such a
place could enter into the hand of the enemy to cause real harm to
Your Sublimity's state. It seems to me, speaking always with my
customary respect and submission toward you, that seeing this island
of so great importance to your state, seeing these places in such a
condition, seems to me a great shame. I inform you that I have
learned from him [Franzon] that last year at Chania there was the
captain of His Majesty, the King of France, at Suda, incognito, and
he wanted to see the whole thing and learned such details, saying
with his own mouth, “The Signoria of Venice has little care for
this great island to have these places so desolate and in such bad
condition, which all need to be completely fortified.” I do not
enlarge beyond what was said to me.
Because
the Most Serene Signoria commands me in your letter that I should
look well into the whole matter of Suda and also tell them my
feelings and thoughts, I think I have said reasonably discreetly what
I think, nor do I want to say anything else about this, but I will
send in another letter a detailed account of what I think are the
needs, and I will do also with good and loyal advice, and I will draw
a map, so that Your Serenity will be able to make the best decision,
both for Suda and for the other places . . . I will not refrainfrom
telling Your Most Illustrious Signoria these few other words: the
area of Sitia is of great importance because there is a good port and
it is at a cape on the eastern end.
Outside the mouth of Suda is a place most suitable for mounting arms
named [- - - -8]
that has an island in front which forms almost a port and is a
spacious place. And on this same route which goes from Suda to
Chania9
one goes by the place of Marathonisi10
at Chania, of which I have the opinion that there is no more apt
place than Suda to be able to load and unload from this island I
think you do not know it, because [ - - - - 11]
Spinalonga12
is a spacious port for landing and so too is Sitia. It is true that
the island is mountainous and in several places there are a number of
quite narrow mountain passes for going from one place to another, but
there is no other way to be able to pass. So as to not diminish the
truth some people have the opinion that the villani
could stand strong at the passes, but in my judgement they can have
the opinion that pleases them, but every day one sees through
experience that when they hear the name Turks they take to the
mountains. But if there were a good number of people, equipped and
practiced in such exercise, they could manage a good number of
villani
with them. I have not thought it inappropriate to say these few
words and Your most illustrious Signoria will make your own most wise
judgement.
1 Milopotamo
is the present Panormas, between Candia and Rethymno. There is
nothing to be seen of the fortification now.
2
Bicorno is a small
fortification on Suda Bay.
3 Angaria
of villani = required labor from paroichi, serfs.
4 275
passa
is about 1512 feet, and 850 passa
is about 4674 feet.
5 Sirocco:
a wind out of the Sahara desert which can reach hurricane force. It
leaves a coating of fine red dust in its wake. Levanta, or
levanter, is a strong north-east wind often bringing rain.
6 Modello:
a wooden model.
7 Chissamo,
a fortified town, is the present Kissamos, at the base of the gulf
formed by Capes Spada and Gramvousa, capes west of Chania.
8 The
name is left blank in the manuscript, but Minio is probably
referring to the small island of Souda
Nisida towards the mouth of
the bay.
9 Suda
and Chania are on opposite sides of the neck of a head-shaped
peninsula that bends eastward to form
Suda Bay.
10 Marathonisi
("fennel island"): now Marathi, a small bay and peninsula
at the opening of Suda Bay.
11 A
short space is left in the manuscript but more than a little is
missing, as the text switches abruptly from the western
end of Crete
to the eastern end.
12 Spinalonga:
a long peninsula with many inlets and outlets toward the eastern end
of Crete, north of Ag. Nikolaos on Mirabella Bay; not as far east as
Sitia.
For more of Bartolomeo Minio:
20 February 2009
The Alikianos Horror
There is a stone hand on either side of a door in the Venetian town of Maroulas, south-east of Rethymon. The town has few inhabitants: mostly it is walls and carved arches, and two massive fortified towers with entrances that have to be reached by ladders. One dates from the 1300s, one from the early 1600s.
Venetian Crete is mostly seen by tourists, and seen as madly, charmingly picturesque. But there are other sides to this colonial culture, complex and often disturbing. The fact that some Venetians colonists felt they had, even in a town, to live as if under siege is in itself disturbing. The reasons why are far more disturbing.
Nothing is known about Maroulas, but the guidebook tells the story of what happened at Alikianos. The story comes from a Venetian chronicle and one can hope that at least some of it is untrue.
A group of towns in the province of Chania rebelled in the late 1500s and set up their own governor by the name of George Gadhanole. Gadhanole presently came to the tower of Francesco de Molin who held one of the Chania fiefs, and asked for a marriage between the de Molin daughter and his son Petros, "the best and the bravest of all my sons." He might have reconsidered had he been able to read Latin: over the de Molin portal was inscribed OMNIA MUNDI FUMUS ET UMBRA. Everything of this world is smoke and shadow.
The marriage was arranged. The de Molin guests arrived from Chania in droves. There were presents--fabulous fabrics the Chania patrician merchants had acquired in Egypt and Syria and Constantinople. Dozens of pigs and bulls were roasting. The Gadhanole family arrived with three hundred men. The celebrations began in the morning and continued into the evening.
Then they spotted a fire from Chania. This was the signal for the de Molin guests to turn on the Gadhanole guests. By the time the troops arrived from Chania, the rebel Gadhanole and his three hundred men were trussed for slaughter. At dawn the troops hanged George Gadhanole, his son Petros, and another son. Others of the family were shot. The three hundred were divided into four groups. One group was taken to Chania and hanged. Another group was hanged at Gadhanole's home village, Chrystogerako, which was then burned and flattened. The other groups were hanged at Apokorona and on a mountain near Lakki.
That was the first act of reprisals against the rebels. The Venetian chronicle recorded that this was greatly consoling to those who had been faithful to their God and their Prince.
The second act began with the appointment of a new governor for Chania, named Cavalli, with full authority to extirpate the rebels -- "l'estirpazione degli uomini seditiosi." Cavalli took troops at night to the nearby rebel village of Fotinakko and set fire to it. At dawn they hanged the twelve leading men, and to be sure the lesson was learned, ripped open four pregnant women and battered their infants. The chronicle said that this spread terror across the countryside, and that they deserved worse.
For the third act, Cavalli sent word to the rebel villages that anyone who wanted to make submission and avoid the same or worse was to bring him the head of his father, or son, or cousin, or nephew. In due time, a priest of the Pateri-Zapa family arrived with two sons and two brothers. They threw down five heads before Cavalli: one belonged to a son of the priest, one to a brother, one to his father-in-law, and two to his nephews. The identities were attested to by witnesses.
Cavalli cancelled his decree.
The story is from Candia Veneziana, M. Buonsanti & A. Galla (Heraklion, 2004). Carvings from Francesco de Molino's Chania palace can be seen in the Byzantine/Post-Byzantine Museum in Chania.
Venetian Crete is mostly seen by tourists, and seen as madly, charmingly picturesque. But there are other sides to this colonial culture, complex and often disturbing. The fact that some Venetians colonists felt they had, even in a town, to live as if under siege is in itself disturbing. The reasons why are far more disturbing.
Nothing is known about Maroulas, but the guidebook tells the story of what happened at Alikianos. The story comes from a Venetian chronicle and one can hope that at least some of it is untrue.
A group of towns in the province of Chania rebelled in the late 1500s and set up their own governor by the name of George Gadhanole. Gadhanole presently came to the tower of Francesco de Molin who held one of the Chania fiefs, and asked for a marriage between the de Molin daughter and his son Petros, "the best and the bravest of all my sons." He might have reconsidered had he been able to read Latin: over the de Molin portal was inscribed OMNIA MUNDI FUMUS ET UMBRA. Everything of this world is smoke and shadow.
The marriage was arranged. The de Molin guests arrived from Chania in droves. There were presents--fabulous fabrics the Chania patrician merchants had acquired in Egypt and Syria and Constantinople. Dozens of pigs and bulls were roasting. The Gadhanole family arrived with three hundred men. The celebrations began in the morning and continued into the evening.
Then they spotted a fire from Chania. This was the signal for the de Molin guests to turn on the Gadhanole guests. By the time the troops arrived from Chania, the rebel Gadhanole and his three hundred men were trussed for slaughter. At dawn the troops hanged George Gadhanole, his son Petros, and another son. Others of the family were shot. The three hundred were divided into four groups. One group was taken to Chania and hanged. Another group was hanged at Gadhanole's home village, Chrystogerako, which was then burned and flattened. The other groups were hanged at Apokorona and on a mountain near Lakki.
That was the first act of reprisals against the rebels. The Venetian chronicle recorded that this was greatly consoling to those who had been faithful to their God and their Prince.
The second act began with the appointment of a new governor for Chania, named Cavalli, with full authority to extirpate the rebels -- "l'estirpazione degli uomini seditiosi." Cavalli took troops at night to the nearby rebel village of Fotinakko and set fire to it. At dawn they hanged the twelve leading men, and to be sure the lesson was learned, ripped open four pregnant women and battered their infants. The chronicle said that this spread terror across the countryside, and that they deserved worse.
For the third act, Cavalli sent word to the rebel villages that anyone who wanted to make submission and avoid the same or worse was to bring him the head of his father, or son, or cousin, or nephew. In due time, a priest of the Pateri-Zapa family arrived with two sons and two brothers. They threw down five heads before Cavalli: one belonged to a son of the priest, one to a brother, one to his father-in-law, and two to his nephews. The identities were attested to by witnesses.
Cavalli cancelled his decree.
The story is from Candia Veneziana, M. Buonsanti & A. Galla (Heraklion, 2004). Carvings from Francesco de Molino's Chania palace can be seen in the Byzantine/Post-Byzantine Museum in Chania.
Labels:
Alikianos,
Cavalli,
Chania,
Francesco de Molin,
Gadhanole
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