The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras. The Ottoman forces were sailing westward from their naval station in Lepanto (the Venetian name of ancient NaupactusΝαύπακτος, Ottomanİnebahtı) when they met the fleet of the Holy League which was sailing east from Messina, Sicily. The Spanish Empire and the Venetian Republic were the main powers of the coalition, as the league was largely financed by Philip II of Spain and Venice was the main contributor of ships.
In the history of naval warfare, Lepanto marks the last major engagement in the Western world to be fought almost entirely between rowing vessels, namely the galleys and galeasses which were the direct descendants of ancient trireme warships. The battle was in essence an "infantry battle on floating platforms". It was the largest naval battle in Western history since classical antiquity, involving more than 400 warships. Over the following decades, the increasing importance of the galleon and the line of battle tactic would displace the galley as the major warship of its era, marking the beginning of the "Age of Sail".
The victory of the Holy League is of great importance in the history of Europe and of the Ottoman Empire, marking the turning-point of Ottoman military expansion into the Mediterranean, although the Ottoman wars in Europe would continue for another century. It has long been compared to the Battle of Salamis, both for tactical parallels and for its crucial importance in the defense of Europe against imperial expansion. It was also of great symbolic importance in a period when Europe was torn by its own wars of religion following the Protestant Reformation. Pope Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory, and Philip II of Spain used the victory to strengthen his position as the "Most Catholic King" and defender of Christendom against Muslim incursion. Historian Paul K. Davis writes that, "More than a military victory, Lepanto was a moral one. For decades, the Ottoman Turks had terrified Europe, and the victories of Suleiman the Magnificent caused Christian Europe serious concern. The defeat at Lepanto further exemplified the rapid deterioration of Ottoman might under Selim II, and Christians rejoiced at this setback for the Ottomans. The mystique of Ottoman power was tarnished significantly by this battle, and Christian Europe was heartened."
The Battle of Lepanto by Paolo Veronese.
Depiction of the Ottoman Navy, detail from the painting by Tommaso Dolabella (1632).
Order of battle of the two fleets, with an allegory of the three powers of the Holy League in the foreground, fresco by Giorgio Vasari (1572, Sala Regia).
Felipe II offers Prince Fernando to Victory by Titian, c. 1572–1575, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Background
Papa Pio V.
The Christian coalition had been promoted by Pope Pius V to rescue the Venetian colony of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus, which was being besieged by the Turks in early 1571 subsequent to the fall of Nicosia and other Venetian possessions in Cyprus in the course of 1570. On 1 August the Venetians had surrendered after being reassured that they could leave Cyprus freely. However, the Ottoman commander, Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha, who had lost some 50,000 men in the siege, broke his word, imprisoning the Venetians. On 17 August Marco Antonio Bragadin was flayed alive and his corpse hung on Mustafa's galley together with the heads of the Venetian commanders, Astorre Baglioni, Alvise Martinengo and Gianantonio Querini.
The banner for the fleet, blessed by the Pope, reached the Kingdom of Naples (then ruled by the Philip II of Spain) on 14 August 1571. There, in the Basilica of Santa Chiara, it was solemnly consigned to John of Austria, who had been named the leader of the coalition after long discussions among the allies. The fleet moved to Sicily and, leaving Messina, reached (after several stops) the port of Viscardo in Cephalonia, where news arrived of the fall of Famagusta and of the torture inflicted by the Turks on the Venetian commander of the fortress, Marco Antonio Bragadin.
All members of the alliance viewed the Ottoman navy as a significant threat, both to the security of maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea and to the security of continental Europe itself. Spain was the largest financial contributor, though the Spaniards preferred to preserve most of their galleys for Spain's own wars against the nearby sultanates of the Barbary Coast rather than expend its naval strength for the benefit of Venice.The combined Christian fleet was placed under the command of John of Austria (Don Juan de Austria) with Marcantonio Colonna as his principal deputy. The various Christian contingents met the main force, that of Venice (under Sebastiano Venier, later Doge of Venice), in July and August 1571 at Messina,Sicily.
“The Battle of Lepanto,” by Johannes Lingelbach.
Aftermath
The engagement was a significant defeat for the Ottomans, who had not lost a major naval battle since the fifteenth century. However, the Holy League failed to capitalize on the victory, and while the Ottoman defeat has often been cited as the historical turning-point initiating the eventual stagnation of Ottoman territorial expansion, this was by no means an immediate consequence; even though the Christian victory at Lepanto confirmed the de facto division of the Mediterranean, with the eastern half under firm Ottoman control and the western under the Habsburgs and their Italian allies, halting the Ottoman encroachment on Italian territories, the Holy League did not regain any territories that had been lost to the Ottomans prior to Lepanto. Historian Paul K. Davis synopsizes the importance of Lepanto this way: "This Turkish defeat stopped Ottomans' expansion into the Mediterranean, thus maintaining western dominance, and confidence grew in the west that Turks, previously unstoppable, could be beaten"
The Ottomans were quick to rebuild their navy. By 1572, about six months after the defeat, more than 150 galleys, 8 galleasses, and in total 250 ships had been built, including eight of the largest capital ships ever seen in the Mediterranean.With this new fleet the Ottoman Empire was able to reassert its supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sultan Selim II's Chief Minister, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokullu, even boasted to the Venetian emissary Marcantonio Barbaro that the Christian triumph at Lepanto caused no lasting harm to the Ottoman Empire, while the capture of Cyprus by the Ottomans in the same year was a significant blow, saying that:
“You come to see how we bear our misfortune. But I would have you know the difference between your loss and ours. In wrestling Cyprus from you, we deprived you of an arm; in defeating our fleet, you have only shaved our beard. An arm when cut off cannot grow again; but a shorn beard will grow all the better for the razor.”
In 1572, the allied Christian fleet resumed operations and faced a renewed Ottoman navy of 200 vessels under Kılıç Ali Pasha, but the Ottoman commander actively avoided engaging the allied fleet and headed for the safety of the fortress of Modon. The arrival of the Spanish squadron of 55 ships evened the numbers on both sides and opened the opportunity for a decisive blow, but friction among the Christian leaders and the reluctance of Don Juan squandered the opportunity.
Pius V died on 1 May 1572. The diverging interests of the League members began to show, and the alliance began to unravel. In 1573, the Holy League fleet failed to sail altogether; instead, Don Juan attacked and took Tunis, only for it to be retaken by the Ottomans in 1574. Venice, fearing the loss of her Dalmatian possessions and a possible invasion of Friuli, and eager to cut her losses and resume the trade with the Ottoman Empire, initiated unilateral negotiations with the Porte.
The Holy League was disbanded with the peace treaty of 7 March 1573, which concluded the War of Cyprus. Venice was forced to accept loser's terms in spite of the victory at Lepanto. Cyprus was formally ceded to the Ottoman Empire, and Venice agreed to pay an indemnity of 300,000 ducats. In addition, the border between the two powers in Dalmatia was modified by the Turkish occupation of small but important parts of the hinterland that included the most fertile agricultural areas near the cities, with adverse effects on the economy of the Venetian cities in Dalmatia. Peace would hold between the two states until the Cretan War of 1645.
In 1574, the Ottomans retook the strategic city of Tunis from the Spanish-supported Hafsid dynasty, which had been re-installed after John of Austria's forces reconquered the city from the Ottomans the year before. Thanks to the long-standing Franco-Ottoman alliance, the Ottomans were able to resume naval activity in the western Mediterranean. In 1576, the Ottomans assisted in Abdul Malik's capture of Fez — this reinforced the Ottoman indirect conquests in Morocco that had begun under Suleiman the Magnificent. The establishment of Ottoman suzerainty over the area placed the entire southern coast of the Mediterranean from the Straits of Gibraltar to Greece under Ottoman authority, with the exceptions of the Spanish-controlled trading city of Oran and strategic settlements such as Melilla and Ceuta. But after 1580, the Ottoman Empire could no longer compete with the advances in European naval technology, especially the development of the galleon and line of battle tactics used in the Spanish Navy. Spanish success in the Mediterranean continued into the first half of the 17th century. Spanish ships attacked the Anatolian coast, defeating larger Ottoman fleets at the Battle of Cape Celidoniaand the Battle of Cape Corvo. Larache and La Mamora, in the Moroccan Atlantic coast, and the island of Alhucemas, in the Mediterranean, were taken (although Larache and La Mamora were lost again later in the 17th century). Ottoman expansion in the 17th century shifted to land war with Austria on one hand, culminating in the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699, and to the war with Safavid Persia on the other.
“Die Seeschlacht von Lepanto,” unbekannter Künstler.
Battle of Lepanto, (October 7, 1571), naval engagement in the waters off southwestern Greece between the allied Christian forces of the Holy League and the Ottoman Turks during an Ottoman campaign to acquire the Venetian island of Cyprus. The battle marked the first significant victory for a Christian naval force over a Turkish fleet and the climax of the age of galley warfare in the Mediterranean.
The Battle of Lepanto, painting by an unknown artist.
The Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571, in which the fleets of Spain, Venice, and the Papal States defeated the Turks in the last great sea battle involving galleys; in the National Maritime Museum, London.
Venice had attempted to check Ottoman expansion in the eastern Mediterranean until 1540 but then, exhausted and despairing of support, made a humiliating peace with Süleyman I. His successor, Selim II, was determined to acquire the Venetian outpost of Cyprus and, when the Venetians refused to cede the island, invaded it in 1570. Venice appealed for help to Pope Pius V, who had tried since 1566 to form an alliance of Roman Catholic states. France and the Holy Roman Empire were preoccupied with the sweeping changes wrought by the Reformation. Spain offered hope, but Philip II, with an empty treasury, was faced with revolts in Andalusia and the Netherlands. Venice also deeply distrusted Spanish influence in Italy. Pius, however, was committed to drawing Spain, Venice, and the smaller Italian states into an alliance with himself, but he encountered a series of delays. Venice wished to save Cyprus; Philip wished to acquire Algiers and Tunis; and all parties argued over contributions and rewards. Meanwhile, the Turks had captured the town of Nicosia on Cyprus on September 9, 1570, before laying siege to the town of Famagusta and entering the Adriatic. Not until May 25, 1571, could the pope persuade Spain and Venice to agree to the terms of an offensive and defensive alliance. Don Juan de Austria, Philip’s young half brother, was to be commander in chief, and the papal general Marcantonio Colonna was to be his lieutenant.
The allied fleets assembled at Messina in Sicily, waiting until August 24, 1571, for the Spaniards. The combined fleets sailed on September 16 for Corfu, where they learned that Famagusta had fallen and that the Turkish fleet was in the Gulf of Patraikos, near Lepanto (modern Návpaktos), in Greece. Orders were given to engage on October 7. Estimates of the Christian force vary slightly; there were 6 large Venetian 44-gun galleasses (much larger than galleys), 207 oar-propelled galleys (105 Venetian, 81 Spanish, 12 papal, and 9 from Malta, Genoa, and Savoy) carrying 30,000 soldiers, and some auxiliary vessels. The Turkish force is said to have been larger but less well equipped and not so well disciplined. Behind the galleasses (employed to spread preliminary confusion), the Christian fleet advanced in four squadrons. Don Juan commanded the centre; the Venetian, Agostino Barbarigo, the left; Philip’s admiral, Giovanni Andrea Doria, the right; and the Spaniard Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de Santa Cruz, the reserve. The Turkish fleet, initially in a crescent across the bay, adopted a similar formation: Ali Pasha, the commander, in the centre; Mohammed Saulak, governor of Alexandria, the right; and Uluch Ali, pasha of Algiers, the left.
The battle’s outcome was decided in the allied centre and left, where a Venetian force led by Sebastian Venier provided crucial support. The flagships of both fleets engaged each other directly, and Ali Pasha’s Sultana targeted Don Juan’s Real with a ramming attack that rendered the decks of both ships into a single battlefield. After hours of fierce fighting, the Ottoman centre collapsed when Ali Pasha was killed and the Sultana was taken in tow by the Real. Barbarigo was mortally wounded when an Ottoman arrow struck him in the eye, and Mohammed Saulak, seriously wounded in combat, was executed when he was captured by allied forces. The Christian victory was almost averted late in the battle when Uluch Ali, by threatening to outflank Doria’s squadron, drew it toward the open sea and then penetrated the gap that was thus formed. The Maltese force bore the brunt of the attack and suffered tremendous casualties, but disaster was averted by the timely intervention of Santa Cruz. Uluch Ali made off in good order with 30 or 40 galleys. Although the dead on each side were put at about 8,000, the Christian victory was complete. The allies captured 117 galleys and many thousands of men, liberated about 15,000 enslaved Christians, and sank or burned about 50 galleys. They lost 12 galleys and had about 8,000 wounded, among them Miguel de Cervantes. The battle was remarkable as the last and greatest engagement with oar-propelled vessels and the first great victory over a Turkish fleet.
The news reached Pius V early on October 22, and that morning he offered thanksgiving in St. Peter’s Basilica and spoke of his hopes of further success. Quarrels among the allies frustrated his ambitions, however. Pius V died in 1572, and Venice made peace in 1573, surrendering Cyprus to the Turks. Thus, the battle had little lasting impact on Ottoman expansion, but it exerted a great effect on European morale. It was the subject of paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese and of a ballad by G.K. Chesterton.
Our animated historical documentary series on the Ottoman history continues with the video on the sieges of the battle of Lepanto of 1571 - one of the most crucial naval engagements in history. The Holy League lead by Spain and Venice is trying to stem the tide of the Ottoman expansion after the fall of Cyprus.
These states were to have a force of 200 galleys, 100 other ships, 50,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry and adequate artillery ready by 1 April each year. Don Juan de Austria, illegitimate half-brother of King Philip II of Spain, was designated supreme commander. The League kept membership open for the Holy Roman Empire, France and Portugal, but none of them joined. The Empire preferred to maintain its truce with Istanbul, while France had an active anti-Spanish alliance with the Ottomans. Portugal had no forces to spare, owing to its heavy engagement in its own Moroccan campaign, its ongoing maritime confrontations with the Ottomans in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and colonial conflicts with the Malaccan and Johorean Sultanates.
The League initially assembled a fleet to aid the Venetian defenders of Cyprus which was invaded by Ottoman forces under the command of Lala Mustafain July 1570, but was too late to prevent the island's capture by the Ottomans.
On 7 October 1571, the League won a decisive victory over the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras. The fleet of the Holy League in this engagement consisted of 212 warships (206 galleys and 6 galleasses, the modern large galleys developed by Venice) with 1,815 guns and manned by 28,500 infantry. The majority of warships were Venetian (6 galleasses, 109 galleys), the next largest contingent were Spanish (49 galleys, including 26 galleys from Naples, Sicily and other Italian territories), and Genoese (27 galleys), with additional warships from the Papal States (seven galleys), the Order of Saint Stephen from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (five galleys), the Duchy of Savoy and the Knights of Malta (three galleys each), and some privately owned galleys in Spanish service.
The victory at Lepanto confirmed the de facto division of the Mediterranean, with the eastern half under firm Ottoman control and the western under the Habsburgs and their Italian allies.
The following year, as the allied Christian fleet resumed operations, it faced a renewed Ottoman navy of 200 vessels under Kılıç Ali Pasha, but the Ottoman commander actively avoided engaging the allied fleet and headed for the safety of the fortress of Modon. The arrival of the Spanish squadron of 55 ships evened the numbers on both sides and opened the opportunity for a decisive blow, but friction among the Christian leaders and the reluctance of Don John squandered the opportunity.
Pius V died on 1 May 1572. The diverging interests of the League members began to show, and the alliance began to unravel. In 1573, the Holy League fleet failed to sail altogether; instead, Don John attacked and took Tunis, only for it to be retaken by the Ottomans in 1574. Venice, fearing the loss of her Dalmatian possessions and a possible invasion of Friuli, and eager to cut her losses and resume the trade with the Ottoman Empire, initiated unilateral negotiations with the Porte. The Holy League was disbanded with the peace treaty of 7 March 1573, which concluded the War of Cyprus.
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