Life in Medieval Crete The Byzantine recapture of the Island was accomplished with great violence followed by a complete re-organization of its administrative system under officials from Constantinople. It would appear that there had been a wholesale conversion of Cretans to Islam and the response of the Byzantines after the reconquest was to initiate quite aggressive activities aimed at forcing them back into Orthodoxy.

Especially active was St. Nikon who is mentioned in contemporary accounts as having been previously active in the Peloponessos around Sparta in efforts to 'Hellenize' and convert the enormous numbers of Slavs who had settled there. He was especially harsh on the Jewish Community of Laconia (Sparta) and though not mentioned, it is unlikey that the Jews of Crete fared well during this period of re-Byantinizing the island.

At that time the walls of Herakleion were enlarged, and the Jewish quarter was not excluded, but incorporated within its new limits. Its inclusion hints at a sizeable quarter which, following a Byzantine custom had hitherto been outside the walls.

Life in Medieval Crete 11th cent. From a text of the Book of Job in Greek. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, MS Gr. 135. Pictures of Carpet pages from a Pirke Avoth (The Sayings of the Fathers) executed in Crete - 14th-15th cent.. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.