International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Daniele Tinterri
École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, France /University of Turin, Turin, Italy; 
[e-mail] 
Orthodox and Catholic Church in Venetian Negroponte and in Genoese Chios: 
The Same Issue, Two Different Solutions
In the regions of Greece under Latin control after 1204, the issue of the relations between 
Catholic and Orthodox Church represent a major theme. How can this question be tackled and can 
different approaches be detected?
In this paper, I want to take into account the cases of the Venetian colony of Negroponte and of 
the Genoese colony of Chios. The policies which are put into being differ deeply from one another, 
a fact which is a clear index of a different conception of power and authority, largely dependent on 
ideology of the dominant classes in the two Italian cities.
As in Crete, ecclesiastical issues in Negroponte are considered as a most important feature of 
the organization of the State. The local orthodox clergymen are put under the control of Venetian 
magistrates, and no interference is accepted on the part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, also 
after the restauration of the Byzantine capital in 1261. The number of orthodox clergymen depends 
on the decisions of Venetian government, which wants to avoid an excessive amount of members 
of the local Orthodox church. This can be explained not only with the preoccupation of limiting 
the influence of an institution which represents an important feature of the identity of the local 
population, but also with fiscal reasons, as orthodox clergymen enjoyed various tax exemptions. 
Besides, the local Greek church is obliged to coexist not only with the Latin church, but also with 
an institution such as the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople, residing on the island from 1314. In 
the years around 1453, Bessarion is charged with the titularity of the Latin Patriarchate, in order to 
press for the union of the Catholic and Orthodox Church.
Under this respect, Genoese Chios reveals to us a clearly different scenario. The Giustiniani, 
the familiar group ruling the island, in their effort to limit the expenses for the settlement and in 
order to maintain good relations with the local population, do not hesitate to act in favour of the 
Orthodox local church, even at the risk of causing the protests of the Papacy. During the first half 
of the 15
th
century, Catholic bishops such as Leonardo Pallavicini complain with the Papacy for 
the lack of the financial means the local Latin church is exposed to, a situation which puts at risk 
the very dignity of the institution. The Giustiniani are even accused to attend religious functions 
in Orthodox churches, while the Papacy tries to oblige the rulers of Chios to observe rules which 
are present overall in Europe, but are not complied with in Chios, such as the obligation for Jews 
to indicate their belonging by putting a yellow sign on their clothes. In some cases, we get the 
impression that the Giustiniani are much more sensitive to the indications of the Orthodox church 
and of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople, than to the impositions of the Pope, an attitude 
which is also often attributed to the Genoese Gattilusio of Lesbos.
In consideration of numerous documents of the Venetian and Genoese government and of 
Papal institutions, two clearly different approaches to the present issue can be detected. While 
Venice considers ecclesiastical issues as a major part of the life of the State, to be used to promote 
the political influence of the magistrates, the Genoese Giustiniani consider good relations with the 
Orthodox population to be much more important than complying with Papal policies.

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