Thesis title: Un’isola ambivalente. La società veneto-cretese, la congiuntura trecentesca e la nascita di un’identità medievale (1299-1363).
This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation of the Venetian-Cretan society in the first half of the fourteenth century, aiming to capture its main dimensions and transformations. Through the analysis of both published and unpublished sources preserved in the Duca di Candia collection of the State Archives of Venice, the study outlines the profile of a complex society undergoing a process of growth and reorganization. This process is evident in the role played by the Cretan ruling class in the Eastern Mediterranean and in its diplomatic relations with Venice, in the economic dynamics of expansion and contraction affecting the island, as well as in the transcultural interactions among its various local components. These dynamics, both a cause and a consequence of the ongoing changes, contributed to the gradual formation of a dual local identity: partly aligned with Venetian rule, partly shaped through daily negotiations and hybridizations. The peak of this process coincides with the outbreak of the Revolt of Saint Titus in 1363, marking both its culmination and a symbolic interruption. The integration of additional documentary and literary sources, together with insights from the most recent historiography, allows a more precise reconstruction of a profound transformation, one that challenges traditional distinctions between economic, social, cultural, and political categories.