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Why did the Byzantine emperor Alexius I grant Venice special trading privileges in 1082?

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Venice Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, where the Grand Canal opens into the San Marco Basin.

In 1082, the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus granted Venice extensive trading privileges as a reward for their military assistance against the Normans.12

At the time, the Byzantine Empire was facing severe external threats on multiple fronts, including a Norman invasion that had captured Dyrrhachium and threatened to advance further into Byzantine territory. Alexius I sought Venetian naval aid to help drive the Normans out of the Adriatic Sea.23

In exchange for this support, Venice secured a charter that allowed them to trade throughout the Byzantine Empire without paying customs duties. These concessions, which included the establishment of a commercial quarter in Constantinople, provided Venice with a significant competitive advantage over local Byzantine merchants. This agreement served as the foundation for the Venetian commercial empire in the eastern Mediterranean, though it also fostered long-term resentment among the Byzantines toward the Venetians.12