Ended sixteen years of Venetian-Ottoman war, restoring Venetian trade rights in the Ottoman Empire at the cost of key Aegean and Albanian territories.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 25 January 1479
- War duration ended
- Sixteen years
- Annual tax on Venetian trade
- 10,000 ducats
- Arrears owed to the Porte
- 100,000 ducats
- Territories ceded by Venice
- Scutari, Lemnos, Mani Peninsula, Negroponte, Croia
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A prolonged sixteen-year war between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire, marked by Ottoman sieges of Venetian-held territories including Scutari in Albania and the fall of Negroponte (Euboea), left Venice militarily exhausted and unable to defend its Aegean and Adriatic possessions against continued Ottoman expansion.
On 25 January 1479, Venice and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Constantinople, formally concluding their war. Venice surrendered Scutari, Lemnos, the Mani Peninsula, Negroponte, and Croia to Ottoman sovereignty, while agreeing to pay an annual flat tax of 10,000 ducats and settle 100,000 ducats in outstanding debts owed by its citizens to the Porte.
The treaty restored Venetian merchants' trading privileges within the Ottoman Empire, allowing commercial relations to resume under defined financial terms. Venice accepted a significantly diminished territorial presence in the eastern Mediterranean, while the Ottomans consolidated control over key strategic positions in the Aegean and Balkans that had previously been contested.
Political Outcome
Venice ceded Scutari, Lemnos, Mani Peninsula, Negroponte, and Croia; trading privileges restored against 10,000 ducats annual tax and 100,000 ducats in arrears.
Venice held contested territories in Albania and the Aegean; ongoing war disrupted Ottoman-Venetian trade.
Ottomans gained formal sovereignty over key Aegean and Albanian territories; Venice retained trading access under tributary terms.