ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION ON CYPRUS UNDER VENETIAN RULE
The cession of Cyprus to the Venetians by Caterina Cornaro did not imply any radical change to the social and economic regime in place on the island under the Lusignans.
The change that occurred was a political one, and thus any ensuing institutional reforms can be termed as attempts to adapt to the political institutions peculiar to the Venetian administration.
In other words, though the feudal nature of the regime remained unchanged, the administrative machinery assumed a more centralized and bureaucratic nature, along the lines of the paradigm in the mother city.
In particular, administrative and military organization on Cyprus was assigned to a Governor or locum tenens (locotenente), who was a Venetian noble appointed by secret ballot to a re-electable two-year term.
Assisting him in his work were two councillors, as was the case on Crete, who collectively constituted the government (regimento) based in Nicosia. This triumvirate represented Venetian authority on Cyprus, and had the administrative, judicial, military and other powers wielded by the king, viceroy and Upper Council (Haute Cour) under Frankish rule. The only exception to this was the legislature, which passed to the relevant legislative bodies in the mother city.
The council also held responsibility for public finances on the island. It would elect two nobles to a two-year term as bursars (camerlenghi, lit. “chamberlains”), charged with preparing the budget, collecting state revenues and disbursing payment orders, in all cases with the countersignature of council members. They had also to deposit any income surplus in the state treasury.
A two-year term was likewise served by the Captain of Cyprus, the other senior official on the island, who was based in Famagusta and thus also known as the capitano di Famagosta. His brief was of an administrative, judicial and mainly military nature, since in peacetime he was head of military forces on the island. In cases of war or emergency, command of military forces and thus operations was assumed by the Provveditor General, who was directly appointed by the Grand Council of Venice. He was at the top of the administrative hierarchy, second only to the Governor.
In the lower ranks, the Venetians more or less preserved the system applying under Frankish rule. The police chiefs (viscounts) of Nicosia and Famagusta were noble lords from the island elected by the council to maintain order in the towns and their environs. In carrying out their duties they were aided by two Greek or Frankish assistants drawn from the well-to-do urban class, elected by the populace.
The two police commanders had joint responsibility for administering the twelve regions on Cyprus (Nicosia, Famagusta, Paphos, Karpasia, Lemessos, Mesaoria, Kerynia, Alykes, Avdimos, Chrysochos, Pentayia and Mazoto).
The most important regions had a captain or castellan as local commander, while the remainder had a representative (bailo) or rector (civitano).
Some of these local dignitaries (the captains of Paphos, Alykes and Kyrenia) were appointed by the Grand Council of Venice and others (the captains of Mesaoria and Karpasia) by the Captain of Famagusta, while the remainder were chosen by the Grand Council of Nicosia. All were of local descent.
