1. Among the extensive relevant bibliography I might cite those studies that have contributed specifically to the clarification of my own views, such as Gilmore, Myron, Argument from Roman Law in Political Thought, 1200–1600 (Cambridge, Mass. 1941) 24–27, 36–44, 45–87, 127–132 Google Scholar; Ullmann, Walter, Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Humanism (London 1977) 118–148 Google Scholar; Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought (Cambridge 1978) I, 105–106, 201–208 Google Scholar; II, 123–134 and passim; Martines, Lauro, Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance Florence (Princeton 1968) 405–455 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Pullan, Brian, A History of Early Renaissance Italy (London 1973) 184–186 Google Scholar. See also Stevens, Linton C., ‘The Contribution of French Jurists to the Humanism of the Renaissance’, Studies in the Renaissance 1 (1954) 92–105 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kisch, Guido, ‘Humanist Jurisprudence’, Studies in the Renaissance 8 (1961) 71–87 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Riesenberg, Peter, ‘Civism and Roman Law in Fourteenth Century Italian Society’, Explorations in Economic History, nos. 1-2 (Fall-Winter 1969)Google Scholar: Economy, Society and Government in Medieval Italy. Essays in memory of Robert L. Reynolds 237–254.

2. On the subject the several studies by Elizabeth Santschi are of great value, not least because they appeal systematically to empirical evidence in order to show the centrality of the Statuto Venetorum as the basis of the administration of justice in Venetian Crete. See 7 (1970) 82–96; 9 (1972) 104–136; 10 (1973) 163–171; 11 (1974) 89–127; and 13 (1976) 47–80; and especially eadem ‘L’apparition des considérants de droit dans la jurisprudence vénéto-crétoise du XIVe siècle’, 12 (1975) 14–34. On the subject of law and justice in Venetian Crete see also Thiriet, Freddy, La Romanie venitienne au Moyen Age (Paris 1959) 235–243 Google Scholar and Cozzi, Gaetano, ‘La politica del diritto nella Repubblica di Venezia’, in idem, ed., Stato, società e giustizia nella Repubblica Veneta (sec. XV-XVIII) (Rome 1980) 31–42 Google Scholar and idem, Repubblica di Venezia e Stati italiani. Politica e giustizia dal secolo XVI al secolo XVIII (Turin 1982) 227–235. On the administration of justice in the early seventeenth century cf. the observations of the Venetian governor of Candia Venier in his report ed. by S.G. Spanakis, (1610)’, 4 (1950) 319–352, esp. 326–328.

3. Archivio di Stato di Venezia (A. S. V.), Notai di Candia, b.254, Tomaso Sachiellari, libro XVI (1605–1614), ff. 134v-135v: 24 January 1609. The document has been brought to my attention by Mary Constantoudaki-Kitromilides, who had noticed it in the context of her extensive researches on the Notai di Candia in connection with the history of post-byzantine painting in Venetian Crete. Her scholarly advice has been substantial over the years of the preparation of this article. A special debt is owed to her for pointing out to me illustrations pertinent to the subject matter of this paper. Professor N.M. Panayiotakis has been kind enough to inform me that he has noticed documentary evidence at the A.S.V. referring to a Cretan student by the name of Drimin at the University of Padua in the first decade of the seventeenth century. This obviously must be identified with the son Drimin who was pursuing his studies at Padua at the time while his father in Candia was assembling law books and creating a professional vestiary for him. Other documentary evidence in the same notary’s records suggests that the curious transaction between father and son through Vlastos’s intercession was due to a disagreement which also led to a transfer of the inheritance of Piero’s wife and Zuan’s mother Caterina Canetto from the first to the second, who was to hold it on trust until his younger brothers and sisters came of age. See A.S.V., Notai di Candia, b.254, Tomaso Sachiellari, libro XVI (1606–1641), f.135v: 24 January 1609. On Piero Drimin see also ibid, b.206, G. Pantaleo, libro VII, Atti, 1589–1590, f.17v: 29 December 1589, where he is referred to as ‘captain of the public place’ (). In 1581 he is already recorded in the sources as ‘vice capitano de piazza’. See A.S.V., Duca di Cândia, b.40 bis (Memoriali, Serie II), 53 (1581), f. 167. For this information too I am indebted to Mary Constantoudaki.

4. Meletios Vlastos was a leading personality in the religious and intellectual life of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Candia and mentions of his presence are quite numerous in contemporary sources. A distinguished representative of the humanist movement himself, he was also in touch with one of its most prominent leaders, Maximos Margounios whom we will encounter in the survey of humanist libraries in Candia. On Vlastos’s life and contribution to Cretan humanism see Tomadakis, N.B., (Athens 1965) 37–47 and 49–56 Google Scholar and Mastrodimitris, P.D. — Vincent, A.L., ‘ (1625)’, 9 (1972) 97–103 Google Scholar. More recent contributions on this important Cretan humanist include Papazoglou, G., ‘ 12 (1980) 95–124 Google Scholar with earlier bibliography. He is attested as possessing a personal library which included Greek manuscripts. See Pargoire, J., ‘Meletios Syrigos, sa vie et ses oeuvres’, EO 11 (1908) 332.Google Scholar

5. Black, Anthony Cf., Guilds and Civil Society in European Political Thought from the Twelfth Century to the Present (Ithaca, N.Y. 1984) 27.Google Scholar

6. For a case in point see Constantoudaki-Kitromilides, Mary, II (Athens 1981) 123–145.Google Scholar

7. Berman, Harold J. Cf., Law and Revolution. The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition (Cambridge, Mass. 1983) 390–392.Google Scholar

8. At the moment I am working on a bibliographical reconstruction of the contents of the library, that will hopefully allow a more precise identification of the books mentioned in Tomaso Sachiellari’s notarial list.

9. See Manousakas, M.I., , 8 (1971) 7–16.Google Scholar

10. Hoffman, G., ‘La biblioteca scientifica del monastero di S. Francesco di Candia nel medio evo’, OCP 8 (1942) 317–360 Google Scholar. The contents of this Catholic monastic library, which are known in remarkable detail, can now be contrasted with the holdings of the library of an Orthodox Cretan monastery, that of Valsamonero, which are known from a 1644 stock-taking. See Mavromatis, G.K., (1644)’, 20 (1990) 458–499 Google Scholar. This Orthodox monastic library contained primarily theological and liturgical books, four books of canon law and seven classical authors, including Plutarch’s Moralia, one dictionary and one music book. In contrast a sixteenth century record of another Orthodox monastic library in Crete indicates only ecclesiastical books in its holdings besides a chronographical source. See Tomadakis, N.B., 1555 1580’, 2 (January-June 1976) 76–80.Google Scholar

11. See Patrinelis, C.G., III (Athens 1968) 202–206.Google Scholar

12. Panayiotakis, N.M., 5 (1968) 54–55.Google Scholar

13. Manousakas, M.I., , DIEE 15 (1961) 225.Google Scholar

14. See Varouhas, Manolis, (1597–1613), ed. by Bakker, W. — Gemert, A. Van (Rethymno 1987) 342.Google Scholar

15. See Caclamanis, Stephanos, 26 (1986) 152–153.Google Scholar

16. Caclamanis, loc. cit.

17. See briefly Manousakas, M.I., 16 (1979) 403 Google Scholar, reporting on pertinent researches by N.M. Panayiotakis.

18. Geanakoplos, Deno J., ‘The library of the Cretan Humanist-Bishop Maximos Margounios, especially his collection of Latin books bequeathed to Mount Athos’, III (Athens 1968) 75–91 Google Scholar. On the broader connection between humanism and Christianity Gilmore, Myron P. cf., The World of Humanism 1453–1517 (New York 1952) 204–228 Google Scholar. This relation is often overlooked by scholars who tend to juxtapose humanism and religion as antithetical cultural forces. In fact it is of fundamental importance for an understanding of the inception of the humanist movement in the Greek Orthodox East as well as in the Latin West.

19. See Panayiotakis, N.M., 5 (1968) 45–118 Google Scholar, esp. 54–55.

20. See Spanakis, S.G., ‘ (1611)’, 9 (1955) 379–348 Google Scholar, esp. pp.450–455. It is interesting to note that Meletios Vlastos is among the beneficiaries of Cornaro’s will, being left 100 hyperpyra. See ibid., p.391. On Cornaro’s stature as a humanist see Panayiotakis, N.M. — Vincent, A.L., ‘ Stravaganti’, 7 (1970) 52–62.Google Scholar

21. See Maria G. Constantoudaki, 12 (1975) 123. In all likelihood this is the same person as Giovanni Roditi, whose coats of arms, dated 1643 and 1644, have been identified among the emblems of Cretan students at the University of Padua. See G. Gerola, ‘Gli stemmi cretesi dell’ Università di Padova’, Atti del Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 88 (1928–1929) 267, nos. 134–135. An interesting comparison can be made between the evidence of Roditi’s library and that presented by Vecchi, B. de, ‘I libri di un medico umanista fiorentino del secolo XV’, Bibliofilia 35 (1933) 293–301.Google Scholar

22. On the place of these authors in political and ideological debate see Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought I, 53–65 Google Scholar; II, 123–134 and L. Martines, Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance Florence, 407–408.

23. See Kelley, Donald R., Foundations of Modern Historical Scholarship (New York 1970) 87–115 Google Scholar and Tuck, Richard, Natural Rights Theories. Their Origin and Development (Cambridge 1979) 32–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

24. See Grendler, Paul F., The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press 1540–1605 (Princeton 1977) 131.Google Scholar

25. For the political reason of this see briefly Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, I, 10–12, 61–65.Google Scholar

26. Lane, Frederic C., Venice and History (Baltimore 1966) 305–306.Google Scholar

27. See , ed. Lidia Martini (Thessaloniki 1976) 92, verse 292: . For the suggested dating of the play see Vincent, A.L. in Holton, D., ed., Literature and Society in Renaissance Crete (Cambridge 1991) 287.Google Scholar

28. Gozzi, G., ‘La politica del diritto nella Repubblica di Venezia’, 21–30 Google Scholar. On the extensive use of this source as a basis of the adjudication of civil cases since the early days of Venetian rule in Crete see Santschi, Elisabeth, Régestes des arrêts civils et des mémoriaux (1363–1399) des archives du Duc de Crète (Venise 1976) XXXII Google Scholar and passim under individual cases.

29. The appearance of Armenopoulos among Drimin’s books might be interpreted as the indication of a potential osmosis between the prevailing Venetial law and the customary right of the Orthodox subject population of Crete. In this respect the evidence of the early seventeenth century legal library can be cited as a response to a problem noted by Elisabeth Santschi for the fourteenth century: ‘Les Statuta Venetorum sont principalement appliqués (…) Quant au droit byzantin de basse époque, il n’est représenté en Crète par aucun texte écrit, et il faut imaginer que son application était passée au domaine coutumier, et par conséquent susceptible d’être absorbée par les critères législatifs purement vénitiens, quand ceux-ci sont à l’avantage de la Dominante’. See Santschi, E., ‘Aspects de la justice en Crète vénitienne d’après les Memoriali du XIVe siècle’, 24 (1972) 324 Google Scholar. The edition of Armenopoulos in Drimin’s books was almost certainly the Greek and Latin version … Promptuarium iuris (Geneva 1587).

30. See Zulueta, F. de, ‘The Science of Law’, in The Legacy of Rome, ed. Bailey, Cyril (Oxford 1957) 179.Google Scholar

31. See Lane, , Venice and History 532 Google Scholar. Bolgar, R.R. Cf., The Classical Heritage and its Beneficiaries (Cambridge 1973) 266–268 Google Scholar and Baron, Hans, The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance (Princeton 1966) 121–129 Google Scholar and passim.

32. There is no better indication of Plutarch’s appeal to Renaissance minds than Montaigne’s essay, ‘Defense of Seneca and Plutarch’, composed in 1578–80. See The Complete Essays of Montaigne, translated by Donald M. Frame (Stanford 1965) 545–550. See also Bolgar, , The Classical Heritage, 340.Google Scholar

33. Doglioni, Giovanni Nicolò, Historia Venetiana scritta brevemente… sino anno di Christo 1597 (Venice 1598).Google Scholar

34. Dolce, Lodovico, Nuove osservationi della lingua volgare co i modi, et ornamenti del dire parole piu scelte, et eleganti (Venice 1597).Google Scholar

35. See Bolgar, R.R., The Classical Heritage, 207 Google Scholar. Grendler, Cf., The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 66.Google Scholar

36. Apophthegmatum ex optimis utriusque linguaescriptoribus libri iix P. Manutii studio adque industria doctissimor (Venice 1577).

37. Porta, Giovanni Battista della, De Humana Physiognomonia librii iiiii (Vici Aequensis 1586)Google Scholar, with newer editions in 1593 and 1601. It could be that Drimin possessed one of these newer editions. The importance of the subject to Renaissance minds is suggested by the long essay devoted to it by Montaigne. See The Complete Essays of Montaigne, 792–814.

38. See Tuck, Natural Rights Theories, 42–45. Cf. also Cozzi, G., ‘Authority and the Law in Renaissance Venice’, in Hale, J.R., ed., Renaissance Venice (London 1973), 321.Google Scholar

39. For a case in point see Grendler, , The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 198 Google Scholar. See also Church, Frederic C., The Italian Reformers 1534–1564 (New York 1932) 296–303 Google Scholar and Panayiotakis, M.I. Manousakas-N.M., ‘ (1536–1559)’, 18 (1981) 7–118.Google Scholar

40. On the pressures of the Counter-Reformation in the Venetian domains see Grendler, , The Roman Inquisition and the Venetian Press, 128–181 Google Scholar and Panayiotakis, N.M., 16 (1979), 120 Google Scholar and idem., (1983) 86–102, esp. 96–99.

41. Didaci Covarruvias a Levya, Opera Omnia (Frankfurt am Main 1583) vols. 1–2. Later ed. Frankfurt 1592. Drimin could have possessed either of these editions. It is clear from the document that he did have both volumes.

42. Gilmore, Cf., Argument from Roman Law in Political Thought, 127–132 Google Scholar and Skinner, , The Foundations of Modern Political Thought II, 269–275.Google Scholar

43. Ullmann, Walter Cf., Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Humanism, 118–148 Google Scholar and Martines, Lauro, Lawyers and Statecraft in Renaissance Florence, 412-413.Google Scholar

44. Kelley, Donald R. Cf., ‘Legal Humanism and the Sense of History’, Studies in the Renaissance 13 (1966) 184–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

45. Bouwsma, William J. Cf., Venice and the Defense of Republican Liberty (Berkeley 1968) 417–482.Google Scholar