The Treaty of Constantinople ends the 16-year-long First Ottoman–Venetian War.

The 1479 Treaty of Constantinople marked the formal end of the First Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479), a long and costly conflict that reshaped the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean. The war itself had been sparked by Venice’s desire to protect its maritime empire and commercial interests after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Over sixteen years, fighting spread across the Aegean, the Balkans, and the Ionian Sea, draining both states financially and militarily. By the late 1470s, however, it was clear that the Ottomans—under Sultan Mehmed II—held the strategic advantage, while Venice was increasingly eager for peace to stabilize its trade networks.

Under the terms of the treaty, Venice was forced to make significant territorial and financial concessions. Most importantly, it formally recognized Ottoman control over key former Venetian possessions, including Negroponte (Euboea), Lemnos, and several strongholds in Albania and the Aegean. Venice also agreed to pay a war indemnity of 100,000 gold ducats and an annual tribute to maintain its remaining trading privileges within Ottoman lands. In return, the Ottomans allowed Venice to retain some bases, such as Coron and Modon in the Peloponnese, and restored Venetian commercial access across Ottoman ports—crucial for Venice’s economy.

The treaty highlighted the changing nature of power in the eastern Mediterranean during the late fifteenth century. While Venice remained a major naval and commercial force, the Ottomans emerged as the dominant territorial power in the region. Mehmed II’s success demonstrated the effectiveness of Ottoman military organization, particularly its ability to combine land campaigns with naval operations. At the same time, the treaty showed Ottoman pragmatism: rather than eliminating Venice as a rival, the sultan preferred to integrate Venetian trade into the Ottoman economic system, ensuring revenue and stability.

In the longer term, the 1479 Treaty of Constantinople set a precedent for future Ottoman–Venetian relations, which alternated between warfare and negotiated coexistence. It confirmed that Venice could no longer rely solely on military force to defend its overseas empire and would increasingly depend on diplomacy and trade agreements. For the Ottomans, the treaty marked another step in their transformation from a regional power into a Mediterranean empire. Although peace would not last forever, the agreement symbolized a new political reality in which Ottoman supremacy had to be acknowledged by even the most powerful European maritime states.