At the apex of the pyramid were the Venetian nobles and feudal lords, followed by the second class Cretan nobility, on whom titles were bestowed in exchange for military or other services to the Venetian state. Public servants and professionals living in the towns were called citizens or townsmen. Peasant farmers and the commoners in the towns were at the base of society. In addition to being the most numerous, they made up the most wretched sector of the population, encumbered by burdensome obligations and subject to many forms of oppression.
Initially, divisions between the Venetian colonists and the local population were marked, stemming mainly from differences in religious creed, since the former were Catholic and the latter Orthdodox. But over the course of time, as Venetian policy on religious matters became more tolerant, a climate of harmonious coexistence grew up between the two groups, and mutual influences were pronounced.
