Devedo: The venetian response to Sultan Mehmed II in the Venetian-Ottoman conflict of 1462-79

The so-called Venetian-Ottoman war of 1463-79 has long been considered a key event in the political history of the Mediterranean, one that marked the beginning of a downward turn in Venetian colonial fortunes. Yet, surprisingly little has been done to explain Venice's entry into open hostilities with Sultan Mehmed II and the policy tools it used in the hope of achieving a convenient peace treaty. This article shows that already in 1462 concerns over trade and large round-ships (carracks, the most advanced type of ship of the day) made the Senate consider itself in conflict with Mehmed, several months before any military action took place; that by the summer of 1464 an embargo on all trade with Ottoman lands had become Venice's chief foreign policy tool against Mehmed; and that Venice's attempts to win support for its embargo impinged upon Italian politics from the very outset of the Venetian-Ottoman conflict of 1462-79.