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Byzantine-Venetian Tensions
In the late 1330s the Republic of Venice held long-standing trading privileges in Palaiologan Byzantium but fiercely competed with Genoa over Black S…
Timeline
- 1335–1337Constantinople harbor district · ByzantineVenetian merchants enjoyed privileges such as tariff reductions in the capital, competing asymmetrically with Genoese and local Byzantine merchants; imperial finances grew ever tighter due to war and lost tariff revenue, and discontent over Venetian economic penetration accumulated at court and among the citizenry.
- 1336–1338Black Sea and Aegean trade routes · Black SeaAfter controlling the Galata customs house, Genoa further monopolized Black Sea access, and Venetian merchant ships faced higher costs and entry restrictions; the two states' competition within Byzantium made it hard for the emperor to concede to one side without angering the other.
- 1339Constantinople · ByzantineIn 1339 the emperor was preoccupied with military operations in Epirus and unable to push new negotiations on Venetian privileges; Venice focused on expansion in mainland Italy (such as Treviso), but its demands regarding Constantinople and eastern routes did not diminish, foreshadowing Byzantium's alliance with Venice against Genoa after 1350.
Sources
- Byzantium and Venice — Donald M. Nicol (1988) https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/byzantium-and-venice/6C902B4059FF4CAF646980569CAE6249
- Venetian Commercial Privileges Under the Palaeologi — J. Chrysostomides (1970)
- Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–1349) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine%E2%80%93Genoese_War_(1348%E2%80%931349)