Alright everyone, it is now time for me to unveil my new TL (and my first!). Thank you again to Cornelius, Jimbrock, Polish Eagle and Abdul Hadi Pasha for help on this TL. I hope you all enjoy and please comment and suggest on the TL and Future scenarios for it. I hope you all enjoy and again, this is my first TL so be gentle. Educated/productive comments are encouraged! (maps will be up soon but feel free to post some
)
A few footnotes:
• Venice allowed jews banished from Spain into their lands
• Heretics are allowed
• Croatia is never in union with Hungary
• Selim I has a complex about conquering Asia and is bored with Balkan affairs (except to the south)
• Venice’s military is considerably more powerful than OTL and its population is considerably larger
And we Begin…
After years of existence, Venice has become a massively wealthy and extravagant place. It has made a new “Mare Nostrum” of the Adriatic through trade and outposts and now has a military which can maintain its land against almost any power in the world. Venice is now eager to expand its borders and show all its true power. It is now the dawn of a new power.
Italian War: 1499-1504
France, Republic of Venice, Aragon (until 1501) vs. Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples, and Aragon (after 1501)
Louis XII in an attempt to press his claim on the thrones of Milan and Naples makes an alliance with the Republic of Venice and the Swiss and invades the Duchy of Milan.
Ludovico Sforza returns to Milan with an army of Swiss mercenaries but finds it in control of the French. Ludovico's army was soon scattered, and he himself imprisoned in France. The Treaty of Trente was signed on October 13, 1501 between Louis and Maximilian of Austria. Based on the terms of the agreement, Austria recognized all French conquests in the northern territories of Italy.
Louis offers Ferdinand I of Spain an alliance, proposing that they invade the Kingdom of Naples together and split it amongst themselves. Ferdinand agrees and the Treaty of Granada was signed on November 11, 1500. Based on the terms of the agreement, Ferdinand would support French claims over the Kingdom of Naples in return for acquiring territories from the division of the kingdom.
In 1501, French and Aragonese armies seized Naples. The two kings now quarrelled over the division of the spoils; Ferdinand's insistence that he be recognized as king of both Naples and Sicily soon led to war between France and Spain. The French were destroyed at Cerignola and, during the later battle of Garigliano, complications and a storm stop reinforcements coming from Naples getting to the Spaniards, causing the battle to end in a draw.
The Spanish and French continued fighting along the western coast of Italy with many small battles contributing to large sums of money and manpower lost. The Kingdom of Naples is soon in a turmoil split between Spanish and French Factions.
Spotting an opportunity, Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice, orders his navy to begin annexing territories belonging to the Kingdom of Naples along the Adriatic coast with the new Venetian Galeazza (for the day, a large warship with an even larger amount of firepower).
Venice takes Control of the strip of land from Trani to Bari and Brindisi, as well as Taranto.
1502: The Italian war is over as all factions either drop out or are being fought over (the Kingdom of Naples)
Prelude to a New War
After the First Italian War, Pope Alexander VI had moved to consolidate Papal control over central Italy by seizing the Romagna.
The dispossessed lords of the Romagna offered to submit to the Republic of Venice in exchange for aid in regaining their dominions; the Venetian Senate accepted and had taken full possession of Rimini, Faenza, and a number of other cities by the end of 1503.
Julius II, having secured his own control of the Papal armies by arresting and imprisoning Cesare, first in Rome and later in Madrid, quickly moved to re-establish Papal control over the Romagna by demanding that Venice return the cities she had seized; the Republic, although willing to acknowledge Papal sovereignty over them and pay Julius an annual tribute, refused to surrender the cities themselves. In response, Julius concluded an alliance with France and the Holy Roman Empire against Venice
The war between France and Spain, however, lead to a massive limit of resources from both powers devoted to the war, allowing Venice to claim other cities and states such as the Duchy of Ferrara, Mantua and the strip land from there to Rimini including Ravenna, Otranto, Lecce, and Monopoli. Julius, although furious with the increase of Venetian possessions, did not himself possess sufficient forces to fight the Republic; for the next two years he instead occupied himself with the reconquest of Bologna and Perugia, which, located between Papal and Venetian territory, had in the meantime assumed a state of quasi-independence.
In 1507, Julius returned to the question of the cities in Venetian hands; once again rebuffed by the Senate, he encouraged the recently elected Emperor Maximilian I to attack the Republic. Maximilian, using his journey to Rome for the Imperial coronation as a pretext, entered Venetian territory with a large army in February 1508 and advanced on Vicenza, but was defeated by a Venetian army under Bartolomeo d'Alviano. A second assault by a Tyrolean force several weeks later was an even greater failure causing Venice to strike back and take the county of Tyrol along with Trieste and Fiume, forcing Maximilian to conclude a truce with Venice.
War of the League of Cambrai
Republic of Venice vs. Papal States, Holy Roman Empire, Duchy of Ferrara
Julius, humiliated by the failure of the Imperial invasion, turned to Louis XII of France (who, having been left in possession of Milan after the Second Italian War, was interested in further expansion into Italy) with an offer of alliance. In mid-March, the Republic provided a pretext for an attack on itself by appointing her own candidate to the vacant bishopric of Vicenza (an act in keeping with prevailing custom, though Julius considered it a personal provocation); the Pope proceeded to call for all Christian nations to join him in an expedition to subdue Venice. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Ferdinand I of Spain concluded the League of Cambrai against the Republic. The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment of Venice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories: Maximilian, in addition to regaining Istria, would receive Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and the Friuli; France would annex Brescia, Crema, Bergamo, and Cremona to its Milanese possessions; Ferdinand would seize Otranto; and the remainder, including Rimini and Ravenna, would be added to the Papal States. Even though France and Spain were still at war over the Kingdom of Naples, they agreed to work on the same side due to the rewards (however, one must remember that both countries are hugely financially and militarily drained from fighting eachother).
February 3, 1509: Battle of Diu; Kingdom of Portugal vs. Ottoman Empire and allies. It results in a Portuguese victory and large Portuguese naval power in the Indian Ocean.
On 15 April 1509, Louis left Milan at the head of a French army and moved slowly into Venetian territory, faced with large, well armed Venetian opposition. To oppose him, Venice had hired a condottiere army under the command of the Orsini cousins—Bartolomeo d'Alviano and Nicolo di Pitigliano. (In OTL, the Orsini cousins disagreed on how to handle the French, however, in this TL, they agree and in turn are successful)
The Battle of Agnadello was won by Venice on May 14, 1509 and the Pope and Venice made peace in January of 1510 ending the war of Cambrai. (In OTL, there was a later Papal- Venetian alliance, however, in this TL; the French withdrew from Italy completely as the Spanish were beginning to make gains in Frances far south west). Venice is now a major military power in the Mediterranean and on land (for the size of the country/ army) and a massive power in Italy.
1511: Naples Finally Falls to the Spanish. The Spanish demand that the Venetians give their holdings in southern Italy back but they refuse. Spain is low on military power and does not continue on their demands; however, this move is to be remembered.
1512: Selim I is crowned sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is quite uninterested in Europe but has an infatuation in the east. His first order of business: focus on conquering the Safavid Empire.
Leonardo Loredan realizes that the Spanish will hold his unwillingness to cooperate against Venice in the future and must now find a strong ally to keep Venice safe
Loredan meets with Selim I in Constantinople. Here, Loredan offers the Ottomans preferential trade status in exchange for special privileges in the empire. These include preferential treatment for carrying trade, the right for Venetians dwelling in the empire to be judged by their own laws, the right to maintain churches, and representatives in key locations. Selim agrees as this move makes money for his empire and (as he doesn’t care much for Europe and wants to concentrate his efforts east) he thinks a close Venetian ally would act as a buffer to other invading empires of Ottoman European positions. The partnership is very deep and both leaders take a true liking to each other, strengthening further this already strong newly formed alliance.
1513: A year after the Otto-Venetian alliance, Selim I and Leonardo meet in Venice to discuss the matter of the Portuguese. Selim wants revenge from the 1509 defeat of his empire at the battle of Diu in 1509. The Venetians want the destruction of the Portuguese trade empire in the Indian Ocean due to Portuguese trade hurting their own. They come up with a decision of both powers going to wrestle out Portuguese control of the Indian Ocean through the building of a new canal on the border of Egypt and the Sinai. They will call it, the Ptolemaic Channel.
The Venetians start an inquiry into expanding the Galeazza into an ocean-going vessel. This new ship will be called the Galeone.
1513: Work starts on a joint Otto-Venetian built Ptolemaic Channel
1514: The Ottomans declare war on the Safavid Empire. They are defeated at Chaldiran on August 23.
Results on the inquiry into the Galleone result in the ship being feasible and Venice orders 32 of them to be built. These ships are just over 1000 tons and are purpose built warships. They are to be the pinnacle of Mediterranean naval power
Leonardo Loredan approaches Selim I with an enquiry about invading Bosnia and Croatia. Selim agrees as he wants his ally to act as a buffer between the Bohemian-Hungarian Empire. He sends an army of 35,000 to aid the Venetians.
June 9th 1515: A Venetian force of 52 Galleys, 22 Galliots and 200 small vessels (a total force of about 30,000) invades the Aegean cost of the Kingdom of Croatia. The Venetians penetrate deep into Croatian lines after one week.
June 21st 1515: Peter Berislavic, King of Croatia, knowing that he is to be at the losing end and not wanting to have his men die for a lost cause, makes a deal with Venice. Loredan agrees and allows Berislavic to remain King of Venetian Croatia. Most Croatian nobility is allowed to keep their lands
Having lost few men to the initial invasion, the Venetian army moved through its newly acquired land and south to Bosnia.
July 9th 1515: The first wave of the Venetian army marches into western Bosnia. Bosnian forces scramble to try and hold back this threat however their bombards (cannons) are too heavy and too few to hold back the Venetian assault.
July 17th 1515: Just as Bosnians from all around the country are headed or are already out west to counter the Venetian offensive, the regiment of 35,000 Ottomans sent from Selim I to aid the Venetians attacks from the east in the hammer and anvil Concept (planned out by Venetian commanders).
July 30th 1515: Bosnia falls to the Venetians. The newly taken Ottoman east is ceded to the Venetians.
August 3rd 1515: The 32 Galleones are built and start sea trials.
August 12th 1515: The Ottomans and Safavids clash outside of Baghdad resulting in a massive defeat for both sides
August 25th 1515: The 32 Venetian Galleones are ready for battle and 50 more are put into production. Loredan sends an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire with a message: “We are ready, what now to do with the Portuguese?”
)A few footnotes:
• Venice allowed jews banished from Spain into their lands
• Heretics are allowed
• Croatia is never in union with Hungary
• Selim I has a complex about conquering Asia and is bored with Balkan affairs (except to the south)
• Venice’s military is considerably more powerful than OTL and its population is considerably larger
And we Begin…
After years of existence, Venice has become a massively wealthy and extravagant place. It has made a new “Mare Nostrum” of the Adriatic through trade and outposts and now has a military which can maintain its land against almost any power in the world. Venice is now eager to expand its borders and show all its true power. It is now the dawn of a new power.
Italian War: 1499-1504
France, Republic of Venice, Aragon (until 1501) vs. Duchy of Milan, Kingdom of Naples, and Aragon (after 1501)
Louis XII in an attempt to press his claim on the thrones of Milan and Naples makes an alliance with the Republic of Venice and the Swiss and invades the Duchy of Milan.
Ludovico Sforza returns to Milan with an army of Swiss mercenaries but finds it in control of the French. Ludovico's army was soon scattered, and he himself imprisoned in France. The Treaty of Trente was signed on October 13, 1501 between Louis and Maximilian of Austria. Based on the terms of the agreement, Austria recognized all French conquests in the northern territories of Italy.
Louis offers Ferdinand I of Spain an alliance, proposing that they invade the Kingdom of Naples together and split it amongst themselves. Ferdinand agrees and the Treaty of Granada was signed on November 11, 1500. Based on the terms of the agreement, Ferdinand would support French claims over the Kingdom of Naples in return for acquiring territories from the division of the kingdom.
In 1501, French and Aragonese armies seized Naples. The two kings now quarrelled over the division of the spoils; Ferdinand's insistence that he be recognized as king of both Naples and Sicily soon led to war between France and Spain. The French were destroyed at Cerignola and, during the later battle of Garigliano, complications and a storm stop reinforcements coming from Naples getting to the Spaniards, causing the battle to end in a draw.
The Spanish and French continued fighting along the western coast of Italy with many small battles contributing to large sums of money and manpower lost. The Kingdom of Naples is soon in a turmoil split between Spanish and French Factions.
Spotting an opportunity, Leonardo Loredan, Doge of Venice, orders his navy to begin annexing territories belonging to the Kingdom of Naples along the Adriatic coast with the new Venetian Galeazza (for the day, a large warship with an even larger amount of firepower).
Venice takes Control of the strip of land from Trani to Bari and Brindisi, as well as Taranto.
1502: The Italian war is over as all factions either drop out or are being fought over (the Kingdom of Naples)
Prelude to a New War
After the First Italian War, Pope Alexander VI had moved to consolidate Papal control over central Italy by seizing the Romagna.
The dispossessed lords of the Romagna offered to submit to the Republic of Venice in exchange for aid in regaining their dominions; the Venetian Senate accepted and had taken full possession of Rimini, Faenza, and a number of other cities by the end of 1503.
Julius II, having secured his own control of the Papal armies by arresting and imprisoning Cesare, first in Rome and later in Madrid, quickly moved to re-establish Papal control over the Romagna by demanding that Venice return the cities she had seized; the Republic, although willing to acknowledge Papal sovereignty over them and pay Julius an annual tribute, refused to surrender the cities themselves. In response, Julius concluded an alliance with France and the Holy Roman Empire against Venice
The war between France and Spain, however, lead to a massive limit of resources from both powers devoted to the war, allowing Venice to claim other cities and states such as the Duchy of Ferrara, Mantua and the strip land from there to Rimini including Ravenna, Otranto, Lecce, and Monopoli. Julius, although furious with the increase of Venetian possessions, did not himself possess sufficient forces to fight the Republic; for the next two years he instead occupied himself with the reconquest of Bologna and Perugia, which, located between Papal and Venetian territory, had in the meantime assumed a state of quasi-independence.
In 1507, Julius returned to the question of the cities in Venetian hands; once again rebuffed by the Senate, he encouraged the recently elected Emperor Maximilian I to attack the Republic. Maximilian, using his journey to Rome for the Imperial coronation as a pretext, entered Venetian territory with a large army in February 1508 and advanced on Vicenza, but was defeated by a Venetian army under Bartolomeo d'Alviano. A second assault by a Tyrolean force several weeks later was an even greater failure causing Venice to strike back and take the county of Tyrol along with Trieste and Fiume, forcing Maximilian to conclude a truce with Venice.
War of the League of Cambrai
Republic of Venice vs. Papal States, Holy Roman Empire, Duchy of Ferrara
Julius, humiliated by the failure of the Imperial invasion, turned to Louis XII of France (who, having been left in possession of Milan after the Second Italian War, was interested in further expansion into Italy) with an offer of alliance. In mid-March, the Republic provided a pretext for an attack on itself by appointing her own candidate to the vacant bishopric of Vicenza (an act in keeping with prevailing custom, though Julius considered it a personal provocation); the Pope proceeded to call for all Christian nations to join him in an expedition to subdue Venice. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Ferdinand I of Spain concluded the League of Cambrai against the Republic. The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment of Venice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories: Maximilian, in addition to regaining Istria, would receive Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and the Friuli; France would annex Brescia, Crema, Bergamo, and Cremona to its Milanese possessions; Ferdinand would seize Otranto; and the remainder, including Rimini and Ravenna, would be added to the Papal States. Even though France and Spain were still at war over the Kingdom of Naples, they agreed to work on the same side due to the rewards (however, one must remember that both countries are hugely financially and militarily drained from fighting eachother).
February 3, 1509: Battle of Diu; Kingdom of Portugal vs. Ottoman Empire and allies. It results in a Portuguese victory and large Portuguese naval power in the Indian Ocean.
On 15 April 1509, Louis left Milan at the head of a French army and moved slowly into Venetian territory, faced with large, well armed Venetian opposition. To oppose him, Venice had hired a condottiere army under the command of the Orsini cousins—Bartolomeo d'Alviano and Nicolo di Pitigliano. (In OTL, the Orsini cousins disagreed on how to handle the French, however, in this TL, they agree and in turn are successful)
The Battle of Agnadello was won by Venice on May 14, 1509 and the Pope and Venice made peace in January of 1510 ending the war of Cambrai. (In OTL, there was a later Papal- Venetian alliance, however, in this TL; the French withdrew from Italy completely as the Spanish were beginning to make gains in Frances far south west). Venice is now a major military power in the Mediterranean and on land (for the size of the country/ army) and a massive power in Italy.
1511: Naples Finally Falls to the Spanish. The Spanish demand that the Venetians give their holdings in southern Italy back but they refuse. Spain is low on military power and does not continue on their demands; however, this move is to be remembered.
1512: Selim I is crowned sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is quite uninterested in Europe but has an infatuation in the east. His first order of business: focus on conquering the Safavid Empire.
Leonardo Loredan realizes that the Spanish will hold his unwillingness to cooperate against Venice in the future and must now find a strong ally to keep Venice safe
Loredan meets with Selim I in Constantinople. Here, Loredan offers the Ottomans preferential trade status in exchange for special privileges in the empire. These include preferential treatment for carrying trade, the right for Venetians dwelling in the empire to be judged by their own laws, the right to maintain churches, and representatives in key locations. Selim agrees as this move makes money for his empire and (as he doesn’t care much for Europe and wants to concentrate his efforts east) he thinks a close Venetian ally would act as a buffer to other invading empires of Ottoman European positions. The partnership is very deep and both leaders take a true liking to each other, strengthening further this already strong newly formed alliance.
1513: A year after the Otto-Venetian alliance, Selim I and Leonardo meet in Venice to discuss the matter of the Portuguese. Selim wants revenge from the 1509 defeat of his empire at the battle of Diu in 1509. The Venetians want the destruction of the Portuguese trade empire in the Indian Ocean due to Portuguese trade hurting their own. They come up with a decision of both powers going to wrestle out Portuguese control of the Indian Ocean through the building of a new canal on the border of Egypt and the Sinai. They will call it, the Ptolemaic Channel.
The Venetians start an inquiry into expanding the Galeazza into an ocean-going vessel. This new ship will be called the Galeone.
1513: Work starts on a joint Otto-Venetian built Ptolemaic Channel
1514: The Ottomans declare war on the Safavid Empire. They are defeated at Chaldiran on August 23.
Results on the inquiry into the Galleone result in the ship being feasible and Venice orders 32 of them to be built. These ships are just over 1000 tons and are purpose built warships. They are to be the pinnacle of Mediterranean naval power
Leonardo Loredan approaches Selim I with an enquiry about invading Bosnia and Croatia. Selim agrees as he wants his ally to act as a buffer between the Bohemian-Hungarian Empire. He sends an army of 35,000 to aid the Venetians.
June 9th 1515: A Venetian force of 52 Galleys, 22 Galliots and 200 small vessels (a total force of about 30,000) invades the Aegean cost of the Kingdom of Croatia. The Venetians penetrate deep into Croatian lines after one week.
June 21st 1515: Peter Berislavic, King of Croatia, knowing that he is to be at the losing end and not wanting to have his men die for a lost cause, makes a deal with Venice. Loredan agrees and allows Berislavic to remain King of Venetian Croatia. Most Croatian nobility is allowed to keep their lands
Having lost few men to the initial invasion, the Venetian army moved through its newly acquired land and south to Bosnia.
July 9th 1515: The first wave of the Venetian army marches into western Bosnia. Bosnian forces scramble to try and hold back this threat however their bombards (cannons) are too heavy and too few to hold back the Venetian assault.
July 17th 1515: Just as Bosnians from all around the country are headed or are already out west to counter the Venetian offensive, the regiment of 35,000 Ottomans sent from Selim I to aid the Venetians attacks from the east in the hammer and anvil Concept (planned out by Venetian commanders).
July 30th 1515: Bosnia falls to the Venetians. The newly taken Ottoman east is ceded to the Venetians.
August 3rd 1515: The 32 Galleones are built and start sea trials.
August 12th 1515: The Ottomans and Safavids clash outside of Baghdad resulting in a massive defeat for both sides
August 25th 1515: The 32 Venetian Galleones are ready for battle and 50 more are put into production. Loredan sends an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire with a message: “We are ready, what now to do with the Portuguese?”