Social stratification

The frequent piratical attacks at the shores of the island as well as pestilence, such as the plague epidemics in 1375-1376, were the main factors of the decrease in population. On the other hand, during the 14th century, the flow in the island of refugees from regions that had been conquered - or risked to be conquered - by non-Latins, led to increase of the population.

With the conquest of Thebes and Livadia by the Navarrese in 1379-1380, many inhabitants of Boeotia, not only Franks but also Greeks sought refuge in Euboea, thus changing the demographic image of the island. Moreover, Venice encouraged the settlement of "free" persons from other regions of Romania in the Venetian district of Chalkis. From 1340 onwards, Venice granted to these people the Venetian nationality.

The society of Euboea was organized into three groups: a) the wealthy Latin nobles, b) the free landowners, including Greeks, and c) the Greek small cultivators and serfs. Apart from the local Greek element, which existed before the Latin conquest, in Euboea lived Lombard sestieri and noblemen of Verona, Venetian colonists and Jews. In the 13th and 14th century, there were three Jewish communities in Euboea: one in Chalkis, one in Karystos and one in Oreos. From 1355 the Jews of Chalkis lived in their own district, the Giudecca, in the southern part of the city.

In Euboea, justice was administered based on the codified legislation of the Assizes of Romania introduced from the Peloponnese. In its final form, after it had been elaborated by the Venetian chancellery, this codified work consists of 219 articles, written in the Venetian idiom.