The father of Emmanuel Mormoris, Jacomo, was a "cavaliere" ("cavalryman") in the Venetian army and leader of the "stratioti" of Crete. Before 1570, Emmanuel Mormoris was sent by the Venetian "provveditore generale" ("governor-general") of Crete to Sfakia, a region in western Crete, to convince some local rebel to surrender to Venetian rule. In 1568, he became leader of a cavalry unit of "stratioti di nationi Greca" ("soldiers from the Greek nation") and was sent to the island of Corfu. In 1571, he was accepted as member of the Cretan nobility ("cretensi nobili") by the Venetian Senate.