Building a Boundary: the First Venetian-Ottoman Border in Dalmatia, 1573-1576

The establishment of a precise borderline between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice on the Dalmatian mainland fi rst became an issue as a consequence of the third Venetian-Ottoman War (1537–1540). The issue arose again after the War of Cyprus (1570–1573). The victories of the Turkish army forced the Venetians to sue for a favourable interpretation of the 1573 peace treaty, under which they envisaged a ful handover of their pre-war Dalmatian territories. The lengthy negotiations involved the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu and his counsellor Solomon Ashkenazi, the Venetian Senate and its ambassadors. Only once Sultan Murad III had agreed to a settlement did both the Ottoman Empire and Venice send a special commission to Dalmatia, led respectively by Ferhat Sokolovic, Sanjak-bey of Bosnia, and by the Venetian nobleman Giacomo Soranzo. The negotiations took place in pavilions erected in Biljane, near Zadar; they were later moved to Skradin and fi nally to Solin during the summer of 1576. The Venetian government was highly satisfi ed with the new borderline, which led to relatively improved relations between the two states that lasted until the War of Candia (1645–69). One major achievement of these relations was the revival of trade between Venice and the Balkan area, which resulted in the establishment of the Freeport of Split in 1590.