When Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in 1499 and established a sea route from Europe to the Far East, Venice began to decline. The city reeled under the consequences of a public panic that forced most major banks to close and a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague. The state became increasingly weak and vulnerable to outside attack.
By the late 1400s the once-powerful Venetian military was also in decline, struggling to man its formidable naval fleet. The increasingly wealthy and luxury-loving citizens of the city showed little appetite for risking their lives at war. Where once it had been considered a duty or honor to serve the state in battle, military involvement during these years became less appealing, and as a result the state was defended mainly by reluctant recruits, convicts, and debtors.
As Venetian defense capabilities waned, the Ottomans (Turkish rivals whose empire included the Middle East, Asia Minor, and North Africa) initiated attacks on Venetian territories in the Mediterranean in 1463. Venice suffered a series of humiliating defeats. In several instances, a majority of Venetian forces retreated or surrendered to the advancing enemy without engaging in combat. The Turks captured key Venetian outposts and by 1500 controlled virtually all of mainland Greece, territory that had previously belonged to Venice.
