SHIGAKU ZASSHI
Online ISSN : 2424-2616
Print ISSN : 0018-2478
ISSN-L : 0018-2478
The Relation between the Ottoman Empire and Venice in the First Half of the Sixteenth Century
Yutaka Horii
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1994 Volume 103 Issue 1 Pages 34-62,149-148

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Abstract

During the first half of the sixteenth century, the rapid territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire caused the expansion of its foreign relations in the directions of both east and west. It has important effects on the making of early Modern Europe. Under these new circumstances, the Ottoman-Venetian relation, which had had a long tradition and was still important for both sides, must have also changed in some aspects. The Ottoman Empire and Venice remained on friendly terms throughout the first half of the sixteenth century, except for 1499-1502 and 1537-1540. In this paper, five ahdnames granted to Venice by the Ottoman Empire to conclude the peace treaties of 1502, 1513, 1517, 1521 and 1540 are examined to shed some light on changes in some aspects in Ottoman-Venetian relations. Provisions in these five ahdnames were based on the tradition of treaties concerned with trade in Middle East Islamic and Mediterranean societies. These provisions can be classified into four categories as follows : 1.The preconditions to make ahd, especially territorial agreements. 2.Establishing order on the seas between the Ottoman Empire and Venice. 3.Rights and obligations of Venetians in Ottoman territory. 4.Treatment of fugitive slaves, criminals and debtors. Almost all of the provisions followed the same content in each ahdname. On the other hand, some provisions were, reflecting the real situation, changed or newly added when each new ahdname was granted. By examining these changed or added provisions, the author concludes as follows. At the time when Bayezid II (ruled 1481-1512) and Selim I(ruled 1512-1520) were confronted with the rising of the Safvids in Persia while maintaining a peace policy toward Europe, the expanding Venetian's rights in the Ottoman territory became more important than the obligating principles of Islamic law on them. After the enthronement of Suleyman I (ruled 1520-1566), who succeeded to the vast territory expanded toward Syria and Egypt by Selim, the Ottomans extended their influence into the Levantine sea under a westward expanding policy. In 1540, two years after the Ottoman victory at the battle of Preveza, Ottoman superiority over Venice was recognized formally. Many of the provisions changed or added in the ahdnames of 1513 and 1521 were included in the draft of the Ottoman-French treaty made in 1535 and the ahdname granted to France in 1569. What it means is that the making of a new framework for Otto-man-Venetian relations in the first quarter of the sixteenth century had importance for building an Ottoman-French friendship under the reign of Suleyman.

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© 1994 The Historical Society of Japan
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