llisrony. Of the aboriginal inhabitants of Crete little is known apart from legend; but recent archwological discoveries tend to show that the island was settled at a very early period by Phomicians and Egyptians, and that it undoubt edly was a stepping-stone for those who brought the culture of the valley of the Nile to the main land of Greece.
Passing by the possible identification of Crete with the Old Testament Caphtor, and with the Refit) of the Egyptian inscriptions, one of the earliest historical notices of the island is that embodied in the Odyssey (six. 172-79). here it is spoken of as well populated, and by people of mixed descent, pure Cretans, Achwans, Dorians, and others. The main element in the population was Greek, but whether Dorian or some other type is uncertain. Here the fabled King Minos, son and companion of Zeus, reigned in legendary days. When the Odyssey was composed, Cnosus, Minos's capital, situated in the northern part, was the greatest of the ninety cities of Crete. By the side of Gnosus, the city republics of Gortyna, in the south, and Cydonia, in the northwest, rose to great prominence.
As allies of the Cilician pirates the inhabitants came into conflict with Rome, and, niter a desperate resistance of two years, were subdued by Metellus in B.C. 66. On the division of the Empire the island fell to the Byzantine rulers, who held it till the year S23, when it was con quered by an army of Arabs from Andalusia. In 963 the Byzantines drove out the Saracens and reestablished Christianity in the country. Upon the establishment of the Latin Empire of the East, in 1204, Crete was given to Bonifaee of Montferrat, who sold it to the Venetians. These retained their power till 1669, when the Turks, after a blockade lasting twenty-one years. took the fortress of Candia. The last vestiges of Vene tian authority disappeared in 1715, and Crete remained a part of the Ottoman Empire.
Widespread discontent with Turkish rule, and the hostility prevailing between the Christian and the Mussulman inhabitants. led to repeated revolts and civil wars in the latter half of the nineteenth century. An insurrection lasting from 1806 to 1868 extorted from the Porte the promise of reforms in the Government; the pledge re mained unredeemed. however, till 1878, when the Sultan, spurred on by the Congress of Ber lin, issued a pact or charter, and appointed a Christian Goergor-General of the island; hut the rights promised in the charter were not aceorded, and the influence of the Christian ran was offset by the appointment of a Mussul man Alilitary Governor, in whom the real power was vested. In 1889 the Christians rose in arms.
hut the revolt was suppressed, the pact was abrogated, and the island held under military rule till 1894. when the intervention of the Powers led to the reappointment of a Christian Governor. Tt was a repetition of the old farce.
In 1896 a fresh uprising took place. The Sultan gave his consent to the calling of a national as sembly. but the Christian insurgents refused to lay down their arms, in expectation of assistance from Greece, where their efforts for independenee were watched with great sympathy. In Febru ary, 1897, a Greek force landed in Crete and at tacked the Turkish troops. But Greece. which bad counted on European sympathy, if not active aid, in its struggle with Turkey, found itself alone. The concert of Powers, comprising Aus tria. England, France, Germany, Italy, and Rus sia, deelared that Crete should be granted com plete autonomy, but that annexation to Greece was impossible; they established a peaceful blockade of the island, and demanded that Greece recall its troops. The refusal of Greece to com ply plunged it into war with Turkey, the out come of which destroyed all hopes of annexation. From 1897 to near the end of 1898 Crete was the scene of continuous violence, while the Powers quarreled over the appointment of a Governor. At length, the Ottoman forces were withdrawn from the island, and in December, 1898; Prince George of Greece, son of King George, was created High Commissioner of Crete for the Powers, for a term of three years. A national assembly met and formed a constitution provid ing for the creation of a legislature, and guaran teeing freedom of religion to all inhabitants. With life and property thus secured, the people returned to their wonted occupations and order was quickly restored. Consult: Hoeck, Kreta (Gottingen, 1823-29), the Opns I\lagnum of Cre tan topography, mythology, and archaeology; Raulin, Description physique de rile Crete (Paris, 1869) ; Bursian, Geographic von Gricehenland, vol. ii. (Leipzig, 1809-72) ; Pashley, Trawls in Crete (Cambridge. 1837) ; Spratt, Travels and Researches in Crete (London, 1805) ; Stillman, The Cretan Insurrection of 1866-118 (New York, 1874) ; Time Greet-, the Cretan, and the Turk (London, 1897) ; Annual of the British School at Athens, vol. vi., vii. (Athens, 1899 1901). For further information about discov eries, see ARCILEOLOGY ; CNOSI'S.