CYPRIOT SOCIETY IN VENETIAN TIMES

In general terms, Cypriot society in Venetian times was modelled on European feudal lines. Its main feature was the segregation of citizens into strictly defined classes, with the nobles and feudal lords ranking first, followed by the “townsmen” (cittadini) and then the common folk, who ranked lowest. The greater part of the latter class lived in rural areas, and was the poorest and most oppressed sector of the population. Town dwellers and foreign merchants benefited the most from commerce, while the lower classes lived in degradation.

In 1508, the traveller Martin von Baumgarten reported the following about those living the countryside: “All the inhabitants of Cyprus are slaves of the Venetians, being obliged to pay a third of their production or income to the state, be it agricultural produce – such as grain, wine and olive oil – or cattle, or anything else. Apart from this, every man is obliged to work for the state two days a week… And if anyone fails to turn up for (forced) labour, either because he is ill or because he has some urgent business of his own, he is forced to pay a fine for all the days he is absent. And as if that were not enough, a kind of (additional) taxation is levied every year, which the poor regard as extortion and plunder, and they barely manage to eke out a living.”

Poverty, social degradation and the hostility felt by the common folk towards the conquerors, together with the indifference they displayed, led to the creation of a cultural gap, since western influences barely impinged on the lower social classes and country dwellers.