Byzantine Empire 1430

The year 1430 saw the fall of Thessalonika to the Ottoman Empire after eight years of fighting between the Byzantines, the Venetians and the Ottomans. As pressure from the Ottomans increased and Thessalonika was surrounded, the city’s government asked for assistance from the Venetians in return for increased economic privileges in the city. The Venetians agreed to assist the Thessalonika but also aimed to pursue their own colonial expansion in the region. The Venetians arrived with a large naval force in 1425 and took control of the city but were immediately besieged by the Ottomans and drained of supplies. Under Venetian control, the Byzantine residents of the city reported rampant abuses and were eager to give in to the Ottomans by the time they finally took the city in 1430. The city was ransacked and its population either converted to Islam or was sold into slavery elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire.