() as leader of the conspiracy. In search of support, the conspirators had approached Lima, who instead of helping them, informed the Venetian officials. Sifis Vlastos (also Siphius or Sifi Vlasto) was a descendant of the Cretan noble Vlastos family, who resided in Rethymno. No further details are known about his life, however, it is conjectured that having conceived such a bold feat and having managed to gather a substantial number of followers, he must have been an important and influential person. The objective of the conspiracy was most probably a reaction against the oppression of the Venetian rulers and the encroachment of the Catholic Church. It has also been suggested by modern historians that a more ambitious aim was to establish an independent Greek state, which would continue the legacy of the Byzantine Empire. This is further supported by the account of Andrea Cornaro, according to whom the conspirators aimed to cut the Venetian rulers in pieces and install another ruler. Furthermore, Venetian documents found by Manousos Manousakas mention that the conspirators had forged a letter of support from the Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. Fearing that if Vlastos and his followers managed to ignite a rebellion, the military forces on Crete would be grossly outnumbered by the Cretans, the Venetian authorities under the Duke of Candia, Benedetto Vitturi, decided to act fast, without first consulting Doge Francesco Foscari. Thus, with the help of local feudatories, a total of 39 accomplices were arrested, among whom were the priests Manassis Arkoleon and Pavlos Kalyvas, and the civilians Leontakios Troulinos and Georgios Kallergis. The conspirators were executed by hanging, and their properties confiscated. Informants were given awards and hereditary annual subsidies that amounted to 1000 hyperpyra for each. They were also granted the right to be escorted by armed guards. Limas was offered the position of protopapas of Candia, but never occupied it in the fear of popular reaction. Offering material rewards in exchange of loyal services to Venice was a common practice of the Republic. As a further punishment, the Council of Ten forbade the ordination of Orthodox priests for five years and ordered the strengthening of the garrisons of Chania and Rethymno. The 1460–1462 conspiracy Following the fall of Constantinople and the decline of the Despotate of the Morea, Orthodox priests and monks fled to Crete, strengthening the anti-unionist sentiment there. Religious tensions continued, as unionists such as the