Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Part VI: administration and settlement in Venetian Navarino

Hesperia, Wntr, 2004 by Siriol Davis

Two changes in policy in 1704 may have affected the tithe figures of the territory over the six years for which we have data (Table 4). In that year the ban on export of wheat to Ottoman territory was lifted, which may have stimulated a rise in prices and therefore higher bids. Second, the Sindici Inquisitori, having abolished some impositions, increased the tithe from 10% to 12.5%. Both these factors may have led to the rise in auction figures evident here. A much lower figure is given for 1700 (1,590) than for 1701 (3,213); a similar pattern is found for the province of Romania, indicating that it was a widespread phenomenon, possibly connected with the peace of 1699. Paradoxically, perhaps, the peace appears to have caused a crisis of confidence in the markets. Interpretation of these figures is a complex matter and we have no evidence specific to the region to explain the differences from year to year. (111)

It is likely that the auction figures were often unrealistic. In 1705 Angelo Emo, then Provveditore Generale, wrote despairingly about the type of people who became farmers of the tithe: they bid for sums that they could not possibly hope to pay since they had no other means of earning a living; people who were more financially secure did not invite ruin by committing themselves beyond their means. (112)

Within the territory of Navarino 36 people took on tithe contracts in the period 1700-1705. The fact that the auctions for the tithe of Cavallaria, Ligudista, and other villages took place in Cavallaria, rather than New Navarino, indicates that the majority of interested parties were resident there.113 There is evidence of people residing in the larger villages or in the city farming the tithe of other villages. For example, the following individuals from Cavallaria are recorded: Gianni Anastopullo farmed Alli Cozza and Lesachi; Daniello Daniellopullo farmed Cassan Aga and Flocca; and Cristo Gianacopullo farmed Schilirachi, Mususta with Tristena, and Mischa Catto, which in 1704 he had notified the authorities was public land. Giorgo Stamatelopullo of Ligudista farmed the tithe of Schilirachi. (114)

We also have examples of residents in New Navarino farming the tithe in villages of the territory. Steffano Refeletti, for example, farmed the tithe in Suman Aga, Allafina, Delachmeti with Muscugli, Pispisa, and Cavallaria, in addition to holding the tithe on lime. Zuanne Refeletti, who was also a resident of New Navarino, farmed the tithe for Iclena and Toppici, and the whole territory in 1700. Of the immigrant population we have only one example of a tithe-farmer: Michiel Sanudo of Candia (Iraklion), a resident of Navarino, farmed the tithe of Rustan Aga and Cassan Aga. For most of the tithe-farmers we have no indication of their origins since they do not appear as tenants or beneficiaries of public property, where their places of residence are listed. As explained above, taking on a tithe contract did not necessarily indicate prosperity, but sometimes the opposite.