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==Background==
In December 1616, political tensions peaked between Spain and Venice due to the republic's alliances with Spain's enemies during the concurrent [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars]], the [[War of the Montferrat Succession]] and the [[Uskok War]], as well as their trade rivalry with [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]], by then in dynastic union with Spain. Venice claimed exclusivity over the [[Adriatic Sea]] and aggraviated Spanish merchants,{{sfnp|Fernández Duro|2012|p=115}} leading the Spanish viceroy of Naples, [[Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna|Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna]], to order his lieutenants Francisco de Rivera and Ottavio d'Aragona to engage in unlimited [[Privateer|privateering]] against Venice. Venetian merchant trade was disrupted, their ships were attacked and their allied ports in [[Zadar|Zara]] and [[Split|Espalatro]]{{dn|date=September 2024}} were bombarded by the Neapolitan navy.{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019}} Osuna ambitioned to destroy Venetian power permanently and make the Neapolitan city of [[Brindisi]] the new great Mediterranean port.{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019}}
Venice deployed their full armada under the command of Justo Antonio Belegno, but although they managed to force Rivera and his way smaller fleet retreat, reinforcements by d'Aragona turned the tables, making the Venetians return home even if they still outnumbered their enemies.{{sfnp|Fernández Duro|2012|p=123-124}}{{sfnp|San Juan Sánchez|2018}} Belegno was later demoted and replaced by Giacomo Zane, who also avoided the battle.{{sfnp|Fernández Duro|2012|p=128}}{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019|p=39}} As Osuna maintained alliances with the [[Uskoks]], the Venetian senate attempted to buy the services of the Ottoman navy in their favor, but the Venetian fleet carrying their payment of 400,000 [[ducat]]s was captured in route by the Spanish ships.{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019|p=38}}{{sfnp|San Juan Sánchez|2018}} Osuna also sent letters with the Ottoman Empire to further try to undo the alliance.{{sfnp|Fernández Duro|2012|p=118}} However, Philip III's court was not favorable to the viceroy and preferred the peace obtained in the finished War of the Monferrat, so Osuna was ordered to cease his privateering and give back all the captured Venetian ships.{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019|p=39-40}}{{sfnp|Fernández Duro|2012|p=134}} Venice celebrated this result as a political victory and returned to its previous claims over the Adriatic.{{sfnp|Canales|Rey|2019|p=39-40}}
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