Editing Mehmed II (section)

===Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479)===
{{Main|Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)}}
[[File:"I Turchi respinti da Scutari" Gatteri's Etching of the Siege of Shkodra.jpg|thumb|right|Scene depicts the fifth and greatest assault upon the Shkodra Castle by Ottoman forces in the [[Siege of Shkodra]], 1478–79]]
According to the Byzantine historian [[Michael Critobulus]], hostilities broke out after an Albanian slave of the Ottoman commander of Athens fled to the Venetian fortress of Coron ([[Koroni]]) with 100,000 silver [[Aspron|aspers]] from his master's treasure. The fugitive then converted to Christianity, so Ottoman demands for his rendition were refused by the Venetian authorities.<ref name="Setton241">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=241}}</ref> Using this as a pretext in November 1462, the Ottoman commander in central Greece, [[Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey]], attacked and nearly succeeded in taking the strategically important Venetian fortress of Lepanto ([[Nafpaktos]]). On 3 April 1463, however, the governor of the Morea, Isa Beg, took the Venetian-held town of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] by treason.<ref name="Setton241"/>

The new alliance launched a two-pronged offensive against the Ottomans: a Venetian army, under the Captain General of the Sea [[Alvise Loredan]], landed in the Morea, while [[Matthias Corvinus]] invaded Bosnia.<ref name="Finkel63">{{harvnb|Finkel|2007|p=63}}</ref> At the same time, [[Pius II]] began assembling an army at [[Ancona]], hoping to lead it in person.<ref name="Shaw65">{{harvnb|Shaw|1976|p=65}}</ref> Negotiations were also begun with other rivals of the Ottomans, such as [[Karamanids]], [[Uzun Hassan]] and the [[Crimean Khanate]].<ref name="Shaw65"/>

In early August, the Venetians retook [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and refortified the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], restoring the [[Hexamilion wall]] and equipping it with many cannons.<ref name="Setton248">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=248}}</ref> They then proceeded to besiege the fortress of the [[Acrocorinth]], which controlled the northwestern Peloponnese. The Venetians engaged in repeated clashes with the defenders and with Ömer Bey's forces, until they suffered a major defeat on 20 October and were then forced to lift the siege and retreat to the Hexamilion and to Nauplia ([[Nafplion]]).<ref name="Setton248"/> In Bosnia, Matthias Corvinus seized over sixty fortified places and succeeded in taking its capital, [[Jajce]], [[Siege of Jajce|after a 3-month siege]], on 16 December.<ref name="Setton250">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=250}}</ref>

Ottoman reaction was swift and decisive: Mehmed II dispatched his [[Grand Vizier]], [[Mahmud Pasha Angelović]], with an army against the Venetians. To confront the Venetian fleet, which had taken station outside the entrance of the [[Dardanelles]] Straits, the Sultan further ordered the creation of the new shipyard of Kadirga Limani in the [[Golden Horn]] (named after the "kadirga" type of [[galley]]), and of two forts to guard the Straits, [[Kilitbahir Castle|Kilidulbahr]] and [[Çanakkale|Sultaniye]].<ref name="Crusades326">Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 326</ref> The Morean campaign was swiftly victorious for the Ottomans; they razed the Hexamilion, and advanced into the Morea. Argos fell, and several forts and localities that had recognized Venetian authority reverted to their Ottoman allegiance.

Sultan Mehmed II, who was following Mahmud Pasha with another army to reinforce him, had reached Zeitounion ([[Lamia (city)|Lamia]]) before being apprised of his Vizier's success. Immediately, he turned his men north, towards Bosnia.<ref name="Crusades326"/> However, the Sultan's attempt to retake Jajce in July and August 1464 failed, with the Ottomans retreating hastily in the face of Corvinus' approaching army. A new Ottoman army under Mahmud Pasha then forced Corvinus to withdraw, but Jajce was not retaken for many years after.<ref name="Setton250"/> However, the death of Pope Pius II on 15 August in Ancona spelled the end of the Crusade.<ref name="Shaw65"/><ref>{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=270}}</ref>

In the meantime, the Venetian Republic had appointed [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta|Sigismondo Malatesta]] for the upcoming campaign of 1464. He launched attacks against Ottoman forts and engaged in a failed siege of [[Mistra]] in August through October. Small-scale warfare continued on both sides, with raids and counter-raids, but a shortage of manpower and money meant that the Venetians remained largely confined to their fortified bases, while Ömer Bey's army roamed the countryside.

In the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], the Venetians tried to take Lesbos in the spring of 1464, and besieged the capital [[Mytilene]] for six weeks, until the arrival of an Ottoman fleet under Mahmud Pasha on 18 May forced them to withdraw.<ref name="Setton251">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=251}}</ref> Another attempt to capture the island shortly after also failed. The Venetian navy spent the remainder of the year in ultimately fruitless demonstrations of force before the Dardanelles.<ref name="Setton251"/> In early 1465, Mehmed II sent peace feelers to the Venetian Senate; distrusting the Sultan's motives, these were rejected.<ref>{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=273}}</ref>

In April 1466, the Venetian war effort was reinvigorated under [[Vettore Cappello]]: the fleet took the northern Aegean islands of [[Imbros]], [[Thasos]], and [[Samothrace]], and then sailed into the [[Saronic Gulf]].<ref name="Setton283"/> On 12 July, Cappello landed at [[Piraeus]] and marched against [[Athens]], the Ottomans' major regional base. He failed to take the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]] and was forced to retreat to [[Patras]], the capital of Peloponnese and the seat of the Ottoman [[bey]], which was being besieged by a joint force of Venetians and [[Greeks]].<ref>[[Spyridon Trikoupis]], ''Istoria tis Ellinikis Epanastaseos'' (London, 1853–1857) Vol 2, pp. 84–85</ref> Before Cappello could arrive, and as the city seemed on the verge of falling, Ömer Bey suddenly appeared with 12,000 cavalry and drove the outnumbered besiegers off. Six hundred Venetians and a hundred Greeks were taken prisoner out of a force of 2,000, while Barbarigo himself was killed.<ref name="Setton284">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=284}}</ref> Cappello, who arrived some days later, attacked the Ottomans but was heavily defeated. Demoralized, he returned to Negroponte with the remains of his army. There Cappello fell ill and died on 13 March 1467.<ref>Setton (1978), pp. 284–285</ref> In 1470 Mehmed personally led an Ottoman army to [[Siege of Negroponte (1470)|besiege Negroponte]]. The Venetian relief navy was defeated, and Negroponte was captured.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against the Albanians. Under their leader, [[Skanderbeg]], they had long resisted the Ottomans, and had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy.<ref name="Finkel63"/> Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania but [[Third Siege of Krujë|was unsuccessful]]. The winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.<ref name="Setton283">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=283}}</ref> Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus ([[Lezhë]]), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.<ref name="Finkel64"/> After Skanderbeg died, some Venetian-controlled northern Albanian garrisons continued to hold territories coveted by the Ottomans, such as [[Žabljak Crnojevića]], [[Drisht]], Lezhë, and [[Shkodra]]&nbsp;– the most significant. Mehmed II sent his armies to take Shkodra in 1474<ref name="albanianhistory1">{{cite web|url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts15/AH1474.html |title=1474 &#124; George Merula: The Siege of Shkodra |publisher=Albanianhistory.net |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000842/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts15/AH1474.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> but failed. Then he went personally to lead the [[siege of Shkodra]] of 1478–79. The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1479)|Treaty of Constantinople]] as a condition of ending the war.

The agreement was established as a result of the Ottomans having reached the outskirts of [[Venice]]. Based on the terms of the treaty, the Venetians were allowed to keep [[Ulcinj]], Antivan, and [[Durrës]]. However, they ceded [[Shkodra]], which had been [[Siege of Shkodra|under Ottoman siege]] for many months, as well as other territories on the [[Dalmatia]]n coastline, and they relinquished control of the Greek islands of [[Lordship of Negroponte|Negroponte]] ([[Euboea]]) and [[Lemnos]]. Moreover, the Venetians were forced to pay 100,000 ducat [[indemnity]]<ref>''Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World'': [[Alexander Mikaberidze]], p. 917, 2011</ref> and agreed to a tribute of around 10,000 [[ducat]]s per year in order to acquire trading privileges in the [[Black Sea]]. As a result of this treaty, Venice acquired a weakened position in the [[Levant]].<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html ''The Encyclopedia of World History'' (2001) – Venice] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705062303/http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html |date=5 July 2007 }} "The great war against the Turks (See 1463–79). Negroponte was lost (1470). The Turks throughout maintained the upper hand and at times raided to the very outskirts of Venice. In the Treaty of Constantinople (1479), the Venetians gave up Scutari and other Albanian stations, as well as Negroponte and Lemnos. Thenceforth the Venetians paid an annual tribute for permission to trade in the Black Sea."</ref>