War and Religion

As part of a wide-reaching attempt to win the favour of the indigenous population, the Turks set about re-establishing the Orthodox Church on Crete, which had been marginalised under Venetian rule. In 1646 the Ottoman authorities appointed Neophytos Patellaros, a monk at the Monastery of Arkadi, Metropolitan of Crete and removed the Roman Church bishops. For their part, the Venetians attempted to woo the Orthodox population by summoning deposed Oecumenical Patriarch Ioannikos II to Crete. His presence and, above all, his efforts to establish a patriarchate in Chandax provoked the wrath of the Catholic clergy and eventually led to his removal.