Late Middle Ages · Europe · Politics

1479

Ottoman Treaty with Venice

1479

Venice signed a treaty with Mehmed II ending their sixteen-year war. Venice lost Negroponte and several Aegean islands, paid a large indemnity, and accepted annual tribute. In return, Venetian merchants received trading privileges throughout the Ottoman Empire. The Serenissima had bought its survival with hard cash and strategic concessions. The treaty established a pattern of alternating war and trade that shaped eastern Mediterranean politics for two centuries.