In 1268, the Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Venice agreed to temporarily end hostilities which had erupted after the Byzantine recovery of Constantinople by Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261.
Venice had enjoyed a privileged position in the Constantinople-based Latin Empire established by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, while Palaiologos had allied with Venice's main commercial rival, the Republic of Genoa, against them. The loss of Constantinople to Palaiologos was a heavy blow to Venice's political and commercial position in the East, as it cut off access to the Black Sea, and gave the Genoese privileged access instead. A naval war against Genoa and Byzantium followed, but despite a significant Venetian victory at the Battle of Settepozzi in 1263, it failed to produce decisive results. Nevertheless, Palaiologos became dissatisfied with the Genoese military performance, and the two allies grew increasingly mistrustful towards each other, leading the Byzantine emperor to seek a rapprochement with Venice.
A first treaty was concluded in 1265 but not ratified by Venice. Finally, the rise of Charles of Anjou in Italy and his hegemonic ambitions in the wider region, which threatened both Venice and the Byzantines, provided additional incentive for both powers to seek an accommodation. A new treaty was concluded in April 1268, with terms and wording more favourable to the Byzantines. It provided for a mutual truce of five years, the release of prisoners, and readmitted and regulated the presence of Venetian merchants in the Empire. Many of the trading privileges they had previously enjoyed were restored, but on considerably less advantageous terms to Venice than what Palaiologos had been willing to concede in 1265. The Byzantines were forced to recognize the Venetian possession of Crete and other areas captured after the Fourth Crusade, but succeeded in avoiding a full rupture with Genoa, while removing for a time the threat of a Venetian fleet assisting Charles of Anjou in his plans to capture Constantinople.
Background
In the aftermath of the Sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Republic of Venice, which had provided the Crusaders with their fleet, received many of the spoils of the fallen Byzantine capital, plus three-eighths of the city, and numerous strategically positioned colonies, including Crete. This event opened the Black Sea to Venetian trade, while Venetian influence in Constantinople ensured that throughout the newly established Latin Empire, the Venetians gained a privileged position, which secured their ascendancy over their old commercial rivals, the fellow Italian maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa.
Byzantine–Genoese–Venetian relations after 1261
In 1261, the Nicaean emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos, recaptured Constantinople and re-established the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty. This represented a major blow to the position and interests of Venice. Furthermore, Palaiologos had allied with the Genoese in the Treaty of Nymphaeum; the Genoese were at war with Venice, and aimed to use their fleet to counter the mighty Venetian navy that threatened their designs on Constantinople. This agreement not only gave the Genoese great privileges, but also assigned them the former quarters and property of the Venetians in Constantinople and threatened to exclude the Venetians from the Black Sea trade.
Initially, the Venetians supported the exiled Latin Emperor, Baldwin II, in his efforts to assemble a new Crusade and reclaim his throne, and Venetian diplomacy henceforth "served to bind together Latin projects to retake the capital", in the words of Deno Geanakoplos. Barred from the Black Sea and Constantinople by her rival, Genoa, Venice now followed a two-pronged strategy of using the Papacy and the threat of excommunication to pry the Genoese away from the Byzantines, and of obtaining the assistance of other Western powers, like Manfred of Sicily, for a campaign against Palaiologos. In the meantime, Venetian naval activity in the Aegean Sea did not provide any concrete results. In the summer of 1262, the Venetians ordered a 37-galley fleet into the Aegean, which met the Genoese fleet of 60 ships at Thessalonica, but the Genoese refused to engage. A piratical foray by the nobles of Negroponte, allied with Venice, into the Marmara Sea was confronted and defeated by a Byzantine–Genoese squadron.
In 1263, however, the Battle of Settepozzi ended in a clear Venetian victory, and much diminished the value of the Genoese alliance in the eyes of Palaiologos. The Byzantine emperor was furthermore annoyed by the Genoese captains' preference for attacking Venetian shipping for booty rather than assisting in supplying his forces fighting in the Morea, and concerned at the growth of Genoese influence in his own capital, where they threatened to acquire even more of a stranglehold on commerce than the Venetians had ever possessed. Soon after the battle, Michael VIII dismissed sixty Genoese ships from his service. Both sides became increasingly mistrustful of each other, and the Emperor began to delay the payments for the crews of the Genoese ships. The Byzantine–Genoese rift widened further in 1264, when the Genoese podestà in Constantinople was implicated in a plot to surrender the city to Manfred of Sicily, whereupon the Emperor expelled the Genoese from the city to Heraclea Perinthus.
Unratified treaty of 1265
Palaiologos then sent a Venetian prisoner of war, Arrigo Trevisano, as his envoy to Venice. Doge Reniero Zeno sent Trevisano back to Constantinople, along with Benedetto Grillone, who in turn were replaced by Jacopo Dolfin and Jacopo Contarini. On 18 June 1265, a first treaty of truce was signed by Palaiologos and the Venetian envoys in Constantinople. Its terms were highly advantageous to the Venetians, and would, in the opinion of Geanakoplos, almost restore to her the position she had enjoyed before 1261. The Greek and Latin texts of the treaty are preserved in the collection of Venetian diplomatic documents compiled by Gottlieb Tafel and Georg Thomas and published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
Its main provisions were:
- The cession to Venice of designated quarters for her colonists in Constantinople, Thessalonica, and other Byzantine cities, with the recognition of a Venetian bailo as the chief Venetian official in the Empire
- Venetian merchants were exempted from all taxes in the Empire
- The Genoese were to be entirely expelled from the Empire, and any future Byzantine treaties with Genoa would require the consent of Venice
- Venice would remain at peace with the Byzantines even if a friendly power—the Papacy, France, Sicily, Castile, Aragon, England, Charles of Anjou, Pisa, and Ancona were explicitly mentioned—should attack Constantinople
- If the Genoese should attack Constantinople, Venice would come to the aid of the city with a fleet of equal size to that of Genoa
- Venetian possession of Crete, and the two outposts of Modon and Coron on the Morea, were recognized by Palaiologos
- Palaiologos received a free hand against the Latin lords of Negroponte, while the Venetian citizens there were prohibited from aiding them, in exchange for a guarantee of their own properties and position on the island
- The other Latin territories in the Aegean captured after the Fourth Crusade, including the feudatories of the Principality of Achaea, were to be returned to Palaiologos
The treaty was not ratified by the Doge, for reasons that are unclear: according to Geanakoplos, either the Venetians interpreted Palaiologos' concessions as a sign of weakness, or mistrusted his ultimate intentions, since his desire to restore the Byzantine Empire to its pre-1204 boundaries was obvious and directly affected their own possessions in the area. Furthermore, as Donald Nicol points out, Zeno still cherished the title, adopted after 1204, of 'Lord of one-quarter and one-eighth of the Empire of Romania' (Latin: dominus quartae partis et dimidiae totius Imperii Romaniae), and would be loath to accept a treaty that recognized him merely as 'Doge of Venice and Lord of Croatia, Dalmatia, and the other places and islands subject to his authority' (Dux Venetiarum et dominator Chroatiae et Dalmatiae et omnium aliarum terrarum et insularum suae, Greek: δοὺξ Βενετίας καὶ ἐξουσιαστὴς Χορβατίας, Δαλματίας καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ λοιπῶν χωρῶν τε καὶ νησίων) and that effectively diminished his standing and reverted the relations between Venice and Constantinople to the status quo before 1204. Venice may also have hoped to secure, or even augment, her position in the area with the aid of either Manfred of Sicily or the new and ambitious contender for supremacy in Italy, Charles of Anjou, whose ultimate designs on Constantinople were common knowledge—whence his inclusion in the draft treaty by Palaiologos.
Rise of Charles of Anjou
Following his decisive victory over Manfred of Sicily at the Battle of Benevento in February 1266, Charles of Anjou became the effective master of Italy, and began to plan for the realization of his ambitions against Constantinople. His plans were made public with the Treaty of Viterbo in May 1267, concluded between Charles, the exiled Latin emperor, Baldwin, the Papacy, and the Principality of Achaea. Charles pledged to assist Baldwin in recovering his capital and territories that had once belonged to the Latin Empire, in exchange for several territorial concessions in the Aegean and the western Balkans, and the suzerainty over Achaea. In an effort to lure the cautious Venetians into the pact, they were promised the full restoration of the rights they had enjoyed after 1204. Concerned over Charles' ambitions, and with his previous treaty with Venice rendered null and void, Palaiologos was forced to turn again to Genoa, allowing the establishment of a Genoese colony in the suburb of Galata, across the Golden Horn from Constantinople.
These developments disquietened the Venetians as well: their trade with the East had suffered considerably following the Byzantine alliance with Genoa, while Charles of Anjou's imperial ambitions in the Adriatic and Greece were a potential threat to Venice's own freedom of access to the Mediterranean. Consequently, on 1 November 1267, Doge Reniero Zeno sent two plenipotentiary ambassadors, Marco Bembo and Pietro Zeno, to negotiate a treaty with Michael VIII Palaiologos.
Treaty of 1268
The Byzantine–Venetian treaty was concluded on 4 April 1268 at Constantinople. Michael VIII Palaiologos' position vis-à-vis Venice had improved in the years since 1265. As a result, the terms of the new treaty were considerably less advantageous to the Venetians, who furthermore felt compelled to recognize Palaiologos with the title imperator et moderator Romanorum ('emperor and governor of the Romans'), rather than Graecorum ('of the Greeks') as in 1265, and with the flattering appellation 'the new Constantine', which Palaiologos had adopted after recovering Constantinople. The treaty was ratified by Doge Zeno on 30 June, but he died a few days later. Palaiologos quickly sent ambassadors to Venice, George Tzimiskes and George Kalodoukas, who were able to secure its recognition by Zeno's successor, Lorenzo Tiepolo, on 30 July.
Terms
The Latin text of the treaty is published in the collection of Venetian documents by Tafel and Thomas. The terms of the treaty were: