Prosopography of the Greek-Venetian World, 13th–17th Centuries

This project aspires to establish an open and continually updated hub for prosopographical research, comprising open-access prosopographical databases and related studies concerning individuals who lived or were active in the Venetian territories of the Greek world between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The project encompasses the Venetian colonies and areas under Venetian control or influence across the wider Aegean region, from the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204 to the Ottoman conquest of Crete in 1669. At the core of this initiative is a shared digital tool that not only records personal names but also gathers essential factoids shaping each individual’s life. These include their social or institutional roles, as attested in the sources, as well as their relations (kin or otherwise) and the places with which they were associated or in contact during their lifetime. The database content is further enriched with additional textual evidence that offers that provides broader historical context to the prosopographical data.

Given the extensive volume of available sources for this period and region, the project necessarily focuses on selected, systematically defined groups of individuals rather than aiming for exhaustive coverage. Selection criteria may be chronological, geographical, or thematic, thereby ensuring that the available information remains manageable and analytically productive.

Prosopographia Cretae: The People of the 13th Century

This database records all individuals who lived or were active in Crete during the thirteenth century (the terminus ante quem has been provisionally set at 1320, a point by which individuals born or active in the thirteenth century are still traceable in the sources). The decision to record all individuals from this particular time and place was deemed necessary, not only due to the relatively limited availability of sources, but also because the thirteenth century marks a transitional period in the island’s history. The resulting dataset sheds light on the emergence of a new society composed of native Greek inhabitants and newly arrived Venetians, as well as other Italians and Latins from Western Europe.

Coordinator: Charalambos Gasparis

Prosopography of Modon-Coron and Cerigo: The People of the Thirteenth Century

This subproject records all individuals who lived in or were active in the Venetian colonies of Modon (Methoni) and Coron (Koroni), as well as on the island of Cerigo (Kythera) during the thirteenth century. By documenting these individuals, the project further illuminates the history of these regions during a period for which surviving source material is particularly scarce

Coordinator: Marina Koumanoudi

Prosopographia Catasticorum Cretae: The People in the Medieval Cadastres of Crete, 13th-15th Century

This subproject documents all individuals recorded in the Venetian land registers (catastici) of Crete (fief-holders, dependent and independent peasants, local officials, and numerous other persons) from approximately the third decade of the thirteenth century until shortly after the mid-fifteenth century. Through this documentation, the project highlights, among other aspects, the composition and evolution of the Cretan feudal class, the genealogy of major Venetian families on the island, the administrative hierarchy, and various other issues concerning late medieval Venetian Crete.

The project is being implemented at the Institute of Historical Research, with the intention of establishing future collaborations with other institutions, research groups, or individual scholars interested in the development of similar prosopographical databases or studies.

A forthcoming monograph titled Feudatarii Cretenses: A Colonial Ruling Class, 1211-1363 constitutes a synthetic continuation of the ongoing projects Prosopographia Cretae: The Persons of the Thirteenth Century and Propographia Catasticorum Cretae: The Persons in the Medieval Land Registers of Crete, 13th-15th Century. This study aims to provide a comprehensive account of the Cretan feudal class at the political, social, and economic levels, placing it within the broader historical context of Venice and other Italian city-states. The chronological scope begins with the first expedition of colonist-feudal lords to Crete in 1211 and ends in 1363, with the outbreak of the revolt of St. Titus, a crucial event that brought significant changes to the political role of the feudal elite.

Coordinator: Charalambos Gasparis