Duke of Crete

This is a list of the rulers and governors of the island of Crete throughout its history.

Crete was conquered for the Roman Republic by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus in 69 BC and united with the Cyrenaica in the province of Creta et Cyrenaica until 193 AD, when it became a separate province. After the reforms of Emperor Diocletian in the 290s, its governor held the rank of consularis.

Crete became part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire upon the partition of the Roman Epire in 395 AD. It remained in Byzantine hands until it was conquered by Andalusian exiles in the mid-820s and became an emirate, nominally under Abbasid suzerainty. The emirate became a major base for Muslim naval raids along the coasts of the Byzantine Empire, and several attempts at reconquest failed. The Byzantines finally retook the island in 961 under the leadership of Nikephoros Phokas, and held it until 1205.

The supreme Venetian governor of Crete bore the title of "Duke of Crete" (Italian: duca di Candia).

Crete became an autonomous state under international protection and nominal Ottoman suzerainty following the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. A High Commissioner of the Great Powers (Ύπατος Αρμοστής) was installed to govern the island. In 1908, the Cretan Assembly unilaterally declared union with Greece, but this was not recognized by Greece until the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912 and internationally until 1913.

From unification with Greece in 1912 until 1955, Crete as a whole was administered by a government-appointed governor-general (Greek: Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης), who supervised the administration of the island's four prefectures (Chania, Heraklion, Lasithi and Rethymno).

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