Treaty of Selymbria
The Treaty of Selymbria was an agreement concluded on 3 September 1411 between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman prince Musa Çelebi, ruler of the European portion of the Ottoman Empire (Rumelia), at Selymbria. The treaty largely repeated previous agreements between Venice and Ottoman rulers, and recognized the possessions of the Republic in Greece and Albania. Background Venice had been among the signatories of the Treaty of Gallipoli in 1403 with Süleyman Çelebi, ruler of the European part of the Ottoman Empire. Renewed in 1409, it ensured a period of peaceful relations between the Republic and the Ottomans, in exchange for the payment of an annual tribute by Venice. In 1410–11 however, Süleyman was defeated and overthrown by his brother, Musa Çelebi. Unlike Süleyman, Musa, who relied greatly on the akinji raiders, followed a policy extremely hostile to his Christian neighbours. The attacks against both the Byzantine Empire and Serbia, that had stopped after 1403, resumed. Following Süleyman's defeat and death, the Venetians initially prevaricated; their payments to the Ottomans were allowed to lapse, but the bailo (permanent envoy) in the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, was ordered to contact Musa and assure him of the Republic's peaceful intentions, while Venice debated on the proper course of action. A motion to take advantage of the occasion and try to seize Gallipoli was defeated at the Venetian Senate, and finally, on 4 June 1411, the Senate appointed Giacomo Trevisan as its ambassador to Musa. While acknowledging that due to ongoing developments he should exercise his own judgment as needed, the Senate provided Trevisan with detailed instructions—according to historian Dimitris Kastritsis, "a rare glimpse into the complex situation in Rumeli as perceived by Venice in late spring and early summer of 1411, a time about which little is otherwise known." Trevisan's instructions Trevisan was instructed to repeat the customary congratulations and assurances of the Republic's good will. In order to gain Musa's favour, he was also to hint that other "princes and communities" had offered to join Venice against Musa, but that the Republic had rebuffed them, preferring to renew with Musa the good relations she had enjoyed with his predecessors. Trevisan was to ensure that any treaty included the Venetian possessions and protectorates in Greece: the cities and fortresses of Pteleos, Argos, Nauplia, Lepanto, Coron and Modon, the islands of Crete, Negroponte (Euboea), Lepanto, Tinos, and Mykonos. The peaceful and unmolested navigation in the Dardanelles and the vicinity of Tenedos was to be guaranteed, and the provision of the 1403 treaty for the cession of a strip of land five miles wide on the mainland shore across Euboea reaffirmed. Trevisan was also to raise the issue of the city of Patras, which Venice had been leasing since 1408 from its Latin Archbishop, Stephen Zaccaria. In 1409 the Venetians had agreed to pay 500 ducats per annum for the city and its environs, but Trevisan was instructed to ensure that henceforth the tribute would be levied on the Prince of Achaea, Centurione II