Slavery in the late medieval Christian Mediterranean was generally hereditary. That is to say, the children of female slaves were likely to remain slaves, at least until they could buy their freedom or negotiate manumission through other means. Nevertheless, the reality of rampant sexual servitude meant that many children of female slaves were also the children of the master or a family member of the master, a fact which made the child’s free/enslaved status more complicated. To be sure, not all children of female slaves were born to men in the master’s household. Sometimes, for example, women were bought as slaves pregnant, so that the child was born into a state of slavery, or became pregnant by others outside of the family that owned the slave.

These sources from Venetian Crete (Crete was a colony of Venice from 1211-1669) offer three different outcomes for sons born to slave mothers. The first two are short final judgments from Crete’s highest court of appeals, the Ducal Court. The third is a will written for a well-off Cretan widow by a government-approved notary. All were originally written in Latin, though Cretan Catholics generally spoke Venetian (a language dialect related to modern Italian), while the native Greek population spoke a Cretan dialect of Greek.

Document 1 (8 January 1368): A Slave’s Son is a Slave

Translated from the Latin by Rena Lauer. Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASVe) Duca di Candia, b. 26, r. 2/2, fol. 122v (9 January 1368). This translation CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

It is said by the aforementioned lord Duke [of Crete] and his counsel, in agreement and concisely, that George Crassa is and must be the slave of John Hebramo, for the same John proved him [George] to have been the son of the Maria, his late slave, who was pregnant at the time that he bought her, and that the said George was born in the house of the said John from this pregnant [woman] and he confirmed this by oath.

Document 2 (17 December 1381): From Slave to Free Son

Translated from the Latin by Rena Lauer. Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASVe) Duca di Candia, b. 26, r. 2/5, fol. 377v (17 December 1381).

By the excellent lord Peter Mocenigo, honorable Duke of Crete, and his counsel, it is said in agreement that John, the young child, son of Maria, who was the former slave of Lanzaroto Demolino, should be handed over to the said Lanzoroto who was content to give him assets and care for him as [tamquam] an adopted son. It is in this condition that the said John from now forward is liberated and free and is his own man, and not subjected to any bonds of servitude, but should be bequeathed and inherited as [tamquam] liberated and free [liber et francus].

Document 3 (15 January 1340): Excerpts from the Will of Marchesina, widow of Nicolaus Hebramo

Translated from the Latin by Rena Lauer. Venice, Archivio di Stato di Venezia (ASVe) Notai di Candia, b. 295, fol. 14r-v (15 Jan. 1339/40). Edited in Sally McKee, ed., Wills from Late Medieval Venetian Crete, 1312-1420 (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1998), vol. 1, no. 144.

In the name of the eternal God, amen. The year from the incarnation of our lord Jesus Christ 1339,[1] the month of January, on the fifteenth day, the eighth indiction,[2] Candia, the island of Crete. Because no one can know the end of one’s life and we have nothing clearer than that one cannot avoid the judgment of death, it is rightly appropriate for everyone to take precautions by her own previous discretion, so that the fate of death would not befall her unexpectedly, and she would leave behind her goods disordered and disorganized. Therefore I, Marchesina, the widow of Nicolas Hebramo, resident of Candia, unwell in body, however healthy in mind, wanting to die organized, I had called to me Johannes Gerardo, notary, whom I have asked to write this, my testament. In which [testament] I appoint to be my loyal executors [commissarios] Ser Johannes Cornario of the greater house, and Maria, his wife, as well as Matheus Quirino and Francisca, his wife, my sons-in-law and daughters, residents of Candia, so that they should execute thus according to that which I will order and command to be bequeathed, after my death.

First of all, indeed, I want and order that I be buried in the same way as [quemadmodum] a foreign woman [peregrina mulier]. Likewise, I give to the Order of the Brothers Preachers [i.e. Dominicans] of Crete 30 hyperpera for the recitation of masses for my soul. Likewise, I give to Brother Henricus, the prior of the same order, 5 hyperpera, and to Brother Petrus Mudacio, also of that same order, 5 hyperpera for my soul….

[Marchesina continues to leave bequests to the Franciscans, to various churches, and to specific priests, including some moneys for more masses said for her soul.]

Likewise, I give to whichever two daughters of Agnes, daughter of Sophia, 10 hyperpera for getting married. Likewise, I give to Marinus, the natural [i.e. illegitimate] son of Petrus Hebramo, my son, 5 hyperpera for my soul. And if perhaps he should die, they should have the said hyperpera given to charity for my soul.

Likewise, I want and order that Herini, my slave, bought for 19 hyperpera, and Paulus and Marizola, her children, should be liberated and free [liberi et franchi]. And I leave to the aforementioned Marizola one of my bags [saumeriis]. And if anyone would want to prevent their freeing, he should have [upon him] the curse of God. And if anyone could get a judgment against the price of the aforementioned Herini of actually more [money], according to a pronouncement of the dominion [i.e. Venice], that person should receive it from my goods.

Likewise, I give to Theodorus, my muledriver, 4 hyperpera of those 13 hyperpera which he had from me [i.e. which was promised to him in his contract] for service to me and until this point he has not completed his service. Nevertheless I want that which is deducted, namely for that which he did service me, and the aforementioned four hyperpera. All of the rest should be given over to Paulus, the aforementioned son of Herini, my slave.

[Marchesina then leaves goods to her daughter Francisca, and instructs that certain items be sold. She then leaves a good deal of money, 200 hyperpera, for Flora, the “natural” daughter of her son Petrus, as well as many household goods such as featherbeds, linens, and quilts.]

Likewise, I want it to be known and from this testimony I reckon in my good conscience that Hemanuel, the son of the aforementioned Herini, my slave, was the natural son of Natale Hebramo, my late son, for he had often confessed to me that he made the said Hemanuel with the aforementioned Herini. And I give to the same Hemanuel 25 hyperpera and the better of my two bags [saumeriis].

Likewise, I give to Nicolas, Raphael, and Pauletus Hebramo, my grandsons, 200 hyperpera.

[Marchesina next arranges for her late son Antonius’ son Petrus to get money—“50 hyperpera and no more”—that had been her late husband’s and then her late son’s, with the stipulation that younger Petrus should not hand over any of it to his paternal uncle Petrus, Marchesina’s son.  She also orders her husband’s executors to do their job with loyalty, purity, and legality, and notes that she does not owe them anything.]

Likewise, I want and order that the aforementioned Petrus, my son, and my aforementioned grandsons, on pain of my curse [maledictionis mee], should not dare to contradict or prevent this, my testament, in any way, and especially for the freedom of the aforementioned Herini and her children. That if perhaps my aforementioned grandsons want to oppose the freedom of the aforementioned they should not have any of the aforementioned 200 hyperpera which I grant them. But rather, the said hyperpera should be given to those persons who are willing to defend and maintain the freedom of the same Herini and her children, with this condition, that if those grandsons of mine are able to have any judgment [ius] about the price of the aforementioned Herini of actually more [money], as much more as it is than the [original] price, it should be paid from the said 200 hyperpera.

[Marchesina then makes provisions to pay the notary 5 hyperpera.]

Truly, the rest of all of my goods, in any way and pertaining to me and considered [mine] by law, I want to be given and distributed for my soul as my aforementioned executors see fit.

[The will is completed with the common formulae which gives the executors power, after the testator’s death, to execute the will and engage in any legal activities which are necessary, and confirms the validity of the will. This is boilerplate, almost exactly the same in every will from Crete. It is then signed in the name of Marchesina by the notary, followed by signatures of two witnesses and the notary. A note at the end records that it was presented to the relevant law court by Franciscus, her son and executor. [3]]


[1] The Venetian calendar began the new year in March. Therefore, this would be 1340 according to our accounting, but 1339 for them.

[2] An indiction is a tax period.

[3] This appears to be an error, since the executors are Francisca, Marchesina’s daughter, and her husband Matheus Quirino, and Maria, her daughter, and her husband Iohannes Cornario. Marchesina did not have a son named Franciscus. Perhaps Francisca presented the will to the court.

Discussion Questions

  1. These first two stories of slave children survive in the context of court judgments. Why do these stories end up in court? What is the dispute or problem that sparked legal intervention? Why are the judgments so different? How might the will help us understand the legal disputes?
  2. What are the characteristics of a free person, according to these sources? How might these characteristics differ from our own expectations of the definition of freedom? What does this tell us about the society of late medieval Crete?
  3. What do these sources tell us about the gendered nature of slavery? How was slavery different for men and women? Was owning slaves also gendered, i.e. different for male owners and female owners?

Related Primary Sources

Themes

Birth, Children, Law, Life After Manumission, Manumission, Property, Sexual Slavery, Women