Editing Venice (section)

=== Decline ===
Venice's long decline started in the 15th century. Venice confronted the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the [[Siege of Thessalonica (1422–1430)]] and sent ships to help defend [[Constantinople]] against the besieging Turks in 1453. After the [[Fall of Constantinople]], [[Sultan Mehmed II]] declared the first of a series of [[Ottoman-Venetian wars]] that cost Venice much of its eastern Mediterranean possessions. [[Vasco da Gama]]'s 1497–1499 voyage opened a sea route to [[India]] around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and destroyed Venice's monopoly. Venice's [[oared vessels]] were at a disadvantage when it came to traversing oceans, therefore Venice was left behind in the race for [[colonies]].<ref name="www.studenti.it">{{Cite web |title=Repubblica di Venezia: storia, cronologia e caratteristiche della Serenissima |trans-title=Republic of Venice: history, chronology and characteristics of the Serenissima |url=https://www.studenti.it/repubblica-venezia-storia-cronologia-caratteristiche-della-serenissima.html |last=Angione |first=Edoardo |date=15 July 2019 |access-date=7 July 2023 |work=Studenti |language=it}}</ref>

[[File:Gaspar van Wittel - View of the San Marco Basin.JPG|thumb|View of [[San Marco basin]] in 1697]]

The [[Black Death]] devastated Venice in 1348 and struck again between 1575 and 1577.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=William J. |year=2009 |title=A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World |pages=143 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=978-0802144164}}</ref> In three years, the [[plague (disease)|plague]] killed some 50,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |author=State of Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services |url=http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_plague.shtm |title=History of Plague |publisher=Dshs.state.tx.us |access-date=28 March 2009 |archive-date=11 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411041422/http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_history_plague.shtm |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1630, the [[Italian plague of 1629–31]] killed a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lindemann |first=Mary |year=1999 |title=Medicine and society in early modern Europe |pages=41 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521423546}}</ref>

Venice began to lose the position as a centre of [[international trade]] during the later part of the [[Renaissance]] as Portugal became Europe's principal intermediary in the trade with the East, striking at the very foundation of Venice's great wealth. France and Spain fought for [[hegemony]] over Italy in the [[Italian Wars]], marginalising its political influence. However, Venice remained a major exporter of agricultural products and until the mid-18th century, a significant manufacturing centre.<ref name="www.studenti.it" />