The Stravaganti Academy

This was a cultural association founded in Chandax circa 1590 by the Venetian-Cretan aristocrat intellectual Andreas Cornaros, brother of the poet Vicenzos, who was himself a member of the academy. Members also included several Greek Orthodox and Catholic intellectuals and literati, most of whom had studied at the University of Padua. The academy's activities are linked to a significant body of Italian language poetic, philosophical and historical texts written by the membership.