ABSTRACT
T he inherent weakness in the defence of the V enetian em pire was that both of its extended flanks had to be protected, each from a different threat. T he Spanish H absburgs to the west, the Austrian Habsburgs to the north and east, and the Papal States to the south were all potentially hostile powers surrounding the republic in Italy. Venice once lost control of the T erraferm a briefly after the crushing defeat o f Agnadello in 1510, but soon reconquered it. Beyond the Adriatic, risk o f w ar w ith the O ttom an Em pire, the source of m uch of its lucrative trade, was a perm anen t risk. Venice retained the allegiance o f the Slovenes of Istria, the C roats o f the D alm atian coast and archipelago, and the Greeks in Corfu and Crete. In D alm atia the local elites spoke Italian and the Catholic population traditionally served in the V enetian arm y and fleet.
