On the 1 May 1648, an Ottoman force
under the command of Gazi Hüzein Pasha arrived at the town of Candia, now
called Heraklion, on the island of Crete. The Ottoman arrival marks the beginning
of a war of attrition of epic proportion; it was to last for 21 long years. An entire
generation struggled for much of their lifetime in this siege. Later, it was later titled “Troy’s
Rival” by the famous English poet Lord Byron. It is considered to be the second
longest siege in all recorded history. The siege of Candia was characterized
by a struggle for supplies at sea, a war of attrition on land and an unprecedented
intensity of mine warfare. The siege was part of the Cretan War in which Candia was the last
major stronghold on the island to remain in the hands of the Venetian Republic. This is
how contemporary historiography recounts the staggering siege of Candia:
Chapter 1: The Wrong Ship In the decades leading up to the Cretan War, the
situation in the eastern Mediterranean was tense. The Venetian dominance in the region slowly
waned and after their loss of Cyprus in 1571, the island of Crete remained their
last major possession in the region. The Venetians were well aware of the weakness
of their position in the eastern Mediterranean and carefully avoided provoking the Ottomans.
However, in 1644, disaster struck as the Knights of Malta made a fatal mistake. They attacked
and captured an Ottoman convoy on its way from Alexandria to Constantinople. Aboard these
ships were several pilgrims, amongst them the exiled Chief Black Eunuch and the nurse of the
future Sultan Mehmed IV. During the attack, Sünbül Ağa and many other pilgrims were slain while
380 of them were abducted and sold into slavery. The ships of the knights of Malta and their loot
docked at a small harbor on the southern coast of Crete and allegedly disembarked some sailors and
slaves. The Ottomans, obviously, were enraged and accused the Venetians of supporting the abductors,
which the Venetians denied vehemently. However, the actions of the Knights offered a pretext for
confrontation and the Ottomans decided upon war. According to the expert on the relation
between Europe and the Ottoman empire, Kenneth M. Setton, the Ottomans
quickly assembled more than 50’000 men. These embarked on a fleet of more than 300
ships and sailed west on 30 April 1645, heading for the harbor of Pylos, which was called
Navarino at the time. The destination of the fleet had not been announced yet, because the Ottomans
tried to sooth Venetian fears by implying that the fleet was bound for Malta and not for Crete. This
deception worked out well. While the Venetians had sensed that something was looming over Crete and
had prepared themselves to some degree, they were still taken by surprise when this large Ottoman
fleet arrived at the island on 23 June 1645. The island’s fortifications were, in
principle, substantial but they were old and had been long neglected. The Venetians
appointed a provveditore generale di Candia, a commander only appointed in times of crisis
and bestowed with supreme power over both civil and military officials on the island. He put a lot
of effort into repairing the old fortifications. Venice had also sent 2’500 troops to reinforce the
island in 1644. On Italian soil the Venetians soon began to prepare their fleet for war and asked
their allies for help. The Pope and the Duke of Tuscany promised their support. The Venetians
on Crete were prepared for better or for worse. Chapter 2: The Cretan War
The Ottoman attack came in June 1645. They first set foot on Cretan ground 15
miles west of the harbor city of Canea. From this base they turned their attention to
the small offshore island fortress of San Todero. The commander of the fortress (Blasio Zulian)
soon saw himself and his men overwhelmed. He decided that it was better to blow up the
fortress and his men than to hand it over to the Ottomans. After this first significant success for
the Ottomans, their next target was Canea itself. The invaders advanced on the city
and laid siege to it from both land and sea. The siege lasted 56 days before Canea
finally surrendered. The Ottomans had now won a secure base on the island. Immediately,
they began to rebuild the defenses so that the venetian attempt to recapture
the town on 1. October was doomed, even though they were supported by the
Papal States, Tuscany, Malta and Naples. So now that you know a few things about the
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Stands, let’s jump back to the siege of Candia. In November 1645, the Ottomans
established a strong garrison and then retired to their winter quarters. During
the winter, both parties frantically prepared for resuming the war again next summer. Because
the Venetians struggled to raise money and men, they tried to convince other Christian nations
to join their side on the political stage. This was a difficult task since much of Europe
was still entangled in the quarrels of the Thirty Years War. According to Kenneth Setton no
help was to be expected even after the treaty of Westphalia for several reasons: England and
Holland for example had commercial agreements with the Ottoman empire and France was very keen
to honor its treaties with the eastern power. So, the Venetians hired mercenaries to fill their
rows — but these were incredibly expensive. To get the desperately needed funds, the Republic placed
higher taxes on its mainland possessions and even opened the so-called golden book for money.
This is to say that they sold nobility titles. The man to lead the Venetian fleet and army was
Giovanni Cappello who was assigned Captain General of the sea in 1646. He had a bad start to say the
least: He failed to prevent the arrival of Ottoman reinforcements, ordered an unsuccessful attack on
the Ottoman fleet at the Bay of Canea and failed to break the blockade of Rettimo (modern Rethymno)
which was one of the few remaining Venetian strongholds on the island. Rettimo fell on 13
November 1646 after a siege of several weeks. Soon after, fighting ceased because
the plague ravaged both sides until late spring 1647. In the summer of the
same year, the Ottoman commander Gazi Hüseyin Pasha carried on his conquest of the island
and by 1648 all of Crete except for Candia and a handful of other strongholds was in Ottoman
hands. The invaders now turned their attention to the last major Venetian stronghold: Candia.
Chapter 3: The Coming of a Storm The Ottomans began digging trenches at Candia on
1 May 1648. Their commander Gazi Hüseyin Pasha ordered his sappers to invest the city
completely. This took them about three months. At the same time, the Ottoman navy was cutting
off Venetian supply lines. The fight for Candia was bloody and gruesome from the first minute.
The Ottomans tested the defenders with several storm assaults and quickly installed a number
of batteries and exploded more than 30 mines. The defenders, on the other hand, launched
numerous sorties. As winter was approaching, the morale of the besieging soldiers ran low,
and their mood turned mutinous. They refused to continue the fight in the trenches and Deli Gazi
Hüseyin had no choice for the moment but to lift the siege. The siege for Candia started slow,
but rest assured: an Ottoman storm is coming. In the summer of 1649, the Ottomans renewed the
siege. They retook their positions before Candia on 30 August – and this time they would stay
longer. An enormous number of sappers was deployed and slowly but steadily drove the trenches towards
the city walls. Within the next two months, another 70 mines exploded and more than 1’000
Ottoman soldiers lost their lives. The Venetian defenders stood firm until another interruption
occurred in early winter. 1’500 Janissaries, the Ottoman elite infantry, were withdrawn from
the siege and further reinforcements were not to be expected soon. Because his army now lacked
the resources to engage in offensive actions, Hüseyin Pasha was restricted to blockading Candia.
Soon after, the Ottomans began to construct three strongholds in the area. Throughout the
next years a town grew around one of them. It was named Candia Nova, New Candia. This new
town symbolizes the Ottoman intention of staying where they were. Reinforcements arriving in 1650
allowed Hüseyin Pasha to keep old Candia confined. According to the historian Norman David Mason
the years leading up to 1667 were “more a test of perseverance and tenacity rather than a trial
of courage or cunning.“ Ottoman attacks alternated with Venetian sorties. The Candian defenders
focused on reconditioning damaged defenses quickly and they diverted the Ottomans by attacking
several of their strongholds on the island. Neither side won much ground but both sides
were struggling to provide the immense resources such a fight required. It was a war of attrition.
In this dire moment the Venetians came up with a unique plan. Scholars recently discovered
documents in the archives of the Venetian State which hint to an operation organized
by the Venetian Intelligence Service, the so-called Inquisitori di Stato di Venezia.
In 1649/50, Lunardo Foscolo the Provveditore Generale di Dalmazia et Albania proposed to
this intelligence service to lift the siege by infecting the Ottoman soldiers with the
plague. Soon after, a certain «Dr. Salamon» invented and prepared a liquid made from
the spleens and buboes of plague victims. The doctor and his dangerous invention were
already on the way to Candia. Although the plan was organized flawlessly and ready to be
implemented, it was never carried out . We do not know why, because the sources suddenly fall
silent on this topic. What we do know is that Candia remained under a firm blockade.
Chapter 4: War at Sea While the Ottoman grip on Candia remained
solid for the next years, the main theater of war was the sea. It was strategically very
demanding for both parties to wage war on Crete because the island was far from either sides’ home
territories. Both belligerents tried to supply their armies on the island while, at the same
time, they had to protect their own ships against enemy squadrons. Moreover, an Ottoman offensive
in the Balkans forced the Venetians to divide their resources even further. Although the senate
of Venice concentrated as much of their resources on the naval war as possible, the Venetian fleet
was smaller than the Ottoman’s naval force. Venice only kept up with the Ottomans
because their sailors were more experienced. The major Venetian strategy was to
blockade the egress of the Dardanelles, while a small squadron held post around
Candia and prevented a blockade from the sea. Although this worked out relatively
well, the Venetians never blockaded the Dardanelles completely. Frequently,
Ottoman squadrons made it through to Crete. From 1650 to 1665 numerous encounters at sea as
well as attacks on harbors and islands took place. Some of them were major sea battles, for example
at Naxos in 1651, at the Cyclades in 1655 or in the Dardanelles strait in 1656. In general,
the Venetians held the upper hand on sea, but they failed to transform their dominance into
concrete results. From 1658 to 1666 the war at sea was at stalemate. The Venetians successfully
attacked several Ottoman strongholds but lacked the forces to occupy these places. Soon, they
were also failing to maintain their sea blockade. The Ottoman Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed ordered
the construction of two new forts at the European shore of the entrance of the Dardanelles, Sedd el
Bahr ("Rampart of the Sea") and Kilid Bahr ("Key of the Sea"). This prevented the Venetians
from entering the straits. At this time the Ottomans were not only fighting the Venetians
but also heavily engaged with the Austrians in the Austro-Turkish war. Consequently, much
of their manpower was needed on this front. After 1666, the naval theater of war lost
its importance. Only one major encounter at sea took place between 1667 and 1669.
The focus of the war increasingly shifted towards the struggle for Candia.
Chapter 5: The Ottoman Storm A major development in the war occured when the
Ottomans concluded their war against Habsburg Austria with the peace of Vasvár in 1664. As
from now, the Ottomans had much more manpower and resources for the war against Venice at their
hands. The NEW grand vizier Ahmed Köprülü focused fully on this war. As the expert on siege warfare
Christopher Duffy emphasizes, Ahmed Köprülü was not only determined to reduce Candia, he also had
the military experience required to fulfill that intention. Kenneth Setton explains that the Grand
Vizier began his preparations in the winter of 1665/66 and dispatched some 9’000 men along with
ammunition and other siege equipment to Crete. Ahmed Köprülü himself arrived in Canea on 3
November 1666, from where he moved on to the camps before Candia at once. While his men speedily
prepared to rekindle the siege and increase the pressure on the town, additional troops and
volunteers poured into Crete. Despite all the efforts of the Venetian fleet, by May 1667 about
70’000 Ottoman troops had gathered at the gates of Candia. Although this was partially balanced out
by newly arriving Venetian mercenaries, historians estimate that the garrison of the defenders
numbered no more than 11’000 men of varying experience and training. On 25 May the Grand
Vizier held a council of war with his commanders to determine the dispositions for the siege. The
Ottoman storm was coming for Candia in full force. During the first relatively calm 15 years of
the conflict, the defenders of Candia had been anything but idle. Some of the most skillful
engineers of Europe had been brought to the city to improve its defenses and they
had made the town a tower of strength. While one side of the city faced the open sea, a
ditch ran along the city walls on the three other sides. The walls themselves consisted of seven
strong bastions on the landward side which were reinforced by cavaliers, that is, raised platforms
providing space for additional artillery. These bastions were connected by a curtain wall covered
by outworks such as ravelins, and several detached forts. The firepower of the defenders was
increased by numerous artillery positions and caponnieres running along the city walls,
while palisades hampered any enemy approach. The garrison, the city’s inhabitants and the
crews of the Venetian navy had all helped to make the ageing defenses of Candia a system of
defense which was deemed nearly impenetrable. Ahmed Köprülü realized this on first sight. He abandoned any attempt to take the town by a
frontal assault. Instead he was determined to work his way forward in a regular siege, that
is, to drive trenches up to the enemy walls. He choose this option because the low and thick
walls of bastion forts were designed to resist artillery from afar while covering all
angles of attack with their own cannons n the 28 May the preparations were finished, and
an army of sappers took to work in the trenches. The grand Vizier selected three bastions
on the southwestern side of the town as main targets of the attack, namely Panigra,
Betlehem and Martinengo. Because these points of attack were quite far from the sea, the
Venetian fleet could not provide fire support. Pioneers and sappers drove the trenches slowly
towards the city walls. While the labyrinth of trenches and saps advanced ever further, a
storm of shot and shell rained down on the city and caused immense casualties among both
the defenders and the remaining inhabitants. It was not long until the Ottomans
reached the slope of the glacis, which was intended to protect the walls from
direct artillery fire. Now the Ottomans began to install their breaching batteries, which put
them in a position to shoot directly at the walls. Their trenches and galleries, covered with earth
and woodworks, soon reached the counterscarp, the side of the trench further from the city.
Meanwhile, the defenders of the town were harassing the attacking Ottomans not only
by bombarding them continuously but also by sallying out from their defenses and meeting
the ottomans with their swords in the trenches. They also continued to divert them by way
of attacking places elsewhere on the island. Due to the superior numbers
of the besieging Ottoman force every attempt to end the siege was deemed to fail.
In this dire moment, the Venetian Captain-General Francesco Morosini entered the stage. Soon
after the first Ottoman attacks in late May 1667 he arrived together with reinforcements of the
knights of Malta and the Papal States. Fun fact: Morosini always dressed in red from top to toe and
never went into action without his cat beside him. Anyways, even more of a threat than the
Ottoman trenches and batteries above the ground were the mines which were dug foot by
foot by men armed with shovels and daggers. Within a few weeks a network of tunnels was dug
around the city. While the Ottoman miners tried to undermine and explode the Venetian defenses,
Venetian miners awaited them in countermines, ready to blow up approaches, saps and
mines and bury the men working in them. The conditions in these dark holes were terrible
and suffocation was an omnipresent threat. The explosives varied from relatively small
containers to dozens of barrels of gunpowder. Whenever possible the miners intruded the mines
of the enemy and exploded or sabotaged their explosives early. When enemy miners met each
other, a bloody struggle ensued in the dark, muddy, and narrow tunnels. The men, barely
able to stand upright fought each other eyeball to eyeball with daggers, clubs and similar
short weapons. As Christopher Duffy explains, mine warfare was actually a significant part of
most of the sieges at the time and extensively used by the Ottomans. As primary sources
show mines were exploding around the clock, causing at least as much terror as physical harm.
From late May to early September alone, a total of over 300 mines exploded in the Candian tunnel
network. The ground around the town was riddled with craters from these explosions.
Chapter 6: Crumbling Walls The Ottomans made their fastest progress near
the Panigra bastion. By October they had breached the walls of this defense and the Grand Vizir
ordered a general assault on the weakened point. At first this was very successful and after a
fierce struggle, Ottoman fighters stormed the bastion and mounted their standards on the walls.
But the Venetians were well prepared and countered the attack by exploding three mines under their
own bastion. The Ottoman soldiers were blown up, the walls crumbled, and everything
was at a standstill for just a moment. Then the defenders stormed forward and pushed the
attackers back over the walls. The Ottomans who had been hurled inside the walls by the explosion
were decapitated and their heads thrown out as a gruesome message. The Venetians were quick to
repair the ramparts of the bastion, but only a few weeks later, on 11 November four Ottoman
mines tore the walls apart for a second time. At this point the Ottomans had taken
the outworks of Betlehem and Martinengo but had failed to conquer a single bastion. As
they now tested the defenders of Panigra again, they suffered massive losses but managed
to lodge themselves in in the ruins of the bastion. But Francesco Morosini had ordered his
men to prepare for this. Working diligently, they had erected a new defensive
line behind the Panigra bastion. This section of the defenses was completely
cut off from the city by hardwearing walls. In mid-November the winter rains began.
The trenches were regularly flooded. The same goes for mine tunnels. This forced
Ahmed Köprülü to suspend operations. On top of that the plague ravaged the Turkish
lines so that most of the Ottoman army had to retreat to the safety of Candia Nova. Despite
the attackers being reduced to a skeleton army, the Venetians failed to push them back from
the positions they had won in the summer. During the winter of 1667/68 Ahmed Köprülü had his
men raise additional batteries along the shore. From these positions the Ottoman
cannons severely hampered vessels entering the harbor of Candia – but they
never succeeded to fully block naval traffic. In addition, the Ottomans fortified the small
anchorage nearby?, which allowed their navy to sail much closer to Candia instead of
having to land in Canea. To prevent this, Francesco Morosini ordered his ships to
patrol the area. The 20 patrolling Venetian Galleys were successful at first and defeated a
fleet with Ottoman reinforcements from Rhodes. Soon after, however, they were defeated by a large
Ottoman fleet in a sea battle near the Island of Ios. Following this battle, the Ottomans brought
reinforcements and supplies to the anchorage. The third Ottoman achievement of this winter was
a cannon foundry established near Candia Nova. Because of the excessive firing and
the exceptional duration of the siege, the guns of the besiegers were
worn out and had to be recast. On top of that new cannons, mortars and artillery
of the caliber the Venetians used were produced so that the Ottoman gunners could
reuse the balls fired from Candia. The Venetian defenders had been using the
winter break as well. They had repaired the damage of the last year as far as possible
and additionally strengthened the eastern walls near the Sabionera bastion. There were signs of
attrition such as shortages of food and powder but, all in all, the situation was not too bad
for the 5’000 to 6’000 remaining defenders. The Ottomans, on the other hand, were much fewer
in 1668 than in the year before. The pressure on the city, however, was still immense and according
to an eyewitness “every day there remained dead fifty or sixty Christians...” Among mercenaries,
Candia soon gained the reputation of a venture without return and recruitment became increasingly
difficult. However, pope Clement IX was almost as eager to hold Candia as the Venetians
themselves. Not only did he make enormous personal contributions but he also undertook massive
diplomatic efforts to organize help from other European states. He created an aura of Crusade
around the Cretan war. In 1668, his efforts yielded first results, probably because the Thirty
Years was over and the Spanish-French contest for northern Italy was in a relatively quiet phase.
Venice was receiving more help in form of money and troops from European states than ever.
Chapter 7: Candia in a Pinch It was not until June 1668 that
the Ottomans revived the siege. This time, however, the bastions near the sea
became their main targets – Sant’ Andrea and Sabionera. At Sant’ Andrea they did not dig but
pile up the earth. The ground between the bastion and the Gioffiro River consisted of bog-like
marshes and solid rock (closer to the bastion) and the Turkish sappers thus had no choice but to
bring immense amounts of earth from elsewhere to build up their approaches. They built a network of
sandbags strengthened with gabions and fascines. From their already advanced positions
the attackers fought their way forward step by step. After weeks of struggle they were
threatening the whole western front of Candia. Morosini resolved to more drastic measures. He
ordered his cavalry to sally forth and clear the trenches. The mounted men met firm resistance but
then, in a desperate fight, managed to push the Ottomans back from their most advanced positions.
However, the besiegers continued their efforts at Sant’ Andrea and only the flanking fire
from the bastions of San Spirito and Panigra stopped them. Simultaneous to the attack on Sant’
Andrea, the Ottomans advanced toward Sabionera, where the ground was very sandy, as the name of
the place suggests. Because of this the miners of the attackers were much more efficient and they
had reached the walls of the bastion quickly. Then, a mine under the walls opened a breach
of 60 paces in the bastion’s main wall. Disaster was avoided once more only
by a newly constructed inner bulwark. For the Ottoman Grand Vizier the sorties of the
Venetian garrison soon proved to be the least of his problems. Sultan Mehmed IV was getting
impatient and complained about the drawn-out siege and the enormous expenses in a letter.
He urged Ahmed Köprülü to finish it at once. Much to the dismay of the Grand Vizier the content
of Sultan’s letter leaked out to the troops, who were themselves worn out by the
hardships of the protracted siege. Some of the troops mutinied and soon after,
the Ottoman soldiers rallied around the tent of the Grand Vizier and threw stones at him as he
stepped out of his tent. His officers were just about able to push the men back and forced them to
return to their duty. Worst for the Grand Vizier, winter soon arrived and the siege operations had
to be suspended again. The Grand Vizier felt a lot of pressure now and made sure the trenches were
guarded strictly and the campaign of the next year was prepared carefully. He wrote to the
Sultan, assuring him Candia was about to fall. The Ottoman empire would not succumb to the
westerners after a contest of twenty years. The costs of the war, meanwhile, were
absolutely staggering on both sides. Mason Norman Davis estimates that, in 1668, Venice
had invested 4’400’000 ducats and lost about 7’000 men while Ottoman casualties are estimated about
five times higher. In spite of this, neither side was willing to give in. With little prospect
of success the Venetians sent Luigi Molini, an experienced diplomat, to Constantinople to
discuss peace conditions. He offered to pay a tribute and compensations, but also to restore
all the formerly Turkish lands in Dalmatia if the Ottomans abandoned the siege. However, the Sultan
and his Grand Vizier made it very clear that there would be no negotiations as long as Venice didn’t
cede the complete island of Crete to the Ottomans. In early 1669 negotiations were suddenly
suspended. This was mainly because of the influence of the pope who wasn’t willing to accept
a defeat in a war, he had given the aura of a crusade and because of a change on the diplomatic
stage in mainland Europe. Under the influence of the Pope Clement, France and Spain finally
agreed to abstain from waging war against each other for the duration of the Cretan war. This
was beneficial to the Venetian efforts in Candia because both of these European powers had promised
support only if there was peace in western Europe. This was a major triumph in the Pope’s diplomatic
quest to unite the strength of Christendom. During the winter months the Ottomans just
kept up the blockade of Candia, but once the reinvigorating sun of spring began to warm the
Cretan soil, they returned to their shovels. On 31 March, the janissaries launched a storm-assault
on the Sabionera bastion and successfully overran it. But as soon as they had lodged themselves in,
the Venetians again blew up a mine under their own bastion. In the ensuing confusion they took the
bastion back. Only one week later, on 7 April, another mine exploded under Sabionera, this
time carefully prepared by the attackers. It was extremely effective, and a large part of
the bastion fell into the ditch. At this point, though, the low morale of the besiegers
became a problem for Ahmed Köprülü. He ordered his men to storm the breach, but they
refused to take the risk of another assault and confined themselves to a massive hail of fire
on anything that moved on and near the walls. In the meantime, the Venetians had
dug a mine tunnel under the plate of rock on which the Ottomans
constructed their approaches. In arduous efforts they placed a mine of
exceptional dimensions and carefully sealed it. The explosion, allegedly, shook the ground
for miles around and shattered the solid rock into fragments, so that the ground engulfed
the helpless attackers and their trenches. This was another severe blow to the morale
of the Ottomans and their commanders barely managed to keep their troops fighting.
Subterranean encounters took place daily and both parties fiercely fought for the
domination of this gigantic rabbit warren underneath the trenches and defenses.
Chapter 8: The Straw to Cling on In June 1669 an allied armada of
Papal, Maltese and French vessels set sail for Candia. This was one of the largest
fleets ever assembled to support the town. The King of France had armed 6’000 men and sent them
to Candia. On 19 June, almost two weeks before the heavy warships arrived, some of the lighter
ships already made it to Candia. A board were mainly French soldiers who entered
the city under the cover of night. Only the musketeers of the King refused such a
cowardly entrance and disembarked the next day in plain sight of the enemy. The result of their
chivalric landing were several dead musketeers. With this addition to the Garrison, the
Candian forces were stronger than ever. The arrival of these reinforcements didn’t
lessen the Ottoman soldier’s dismay. But at the same time, Sultan Mehmed IV gave a blank check to
proceed with the siege to the Grand Vizier. After a short and decisive council of war the Ottomans
reinvigorated their efforts to take Candia. Meanwhile, the French in candia grew increasingly
inpatient., their commander, Philippe II., duke of Navailles insisted on immediate
action. In the early morning of 25 June, the French assembled along the eastern defenses of
San Demetri and stormed forward in a hasty sortie, without being adequately familiar with the
terrain or the enemy. They successfully carried several batteries and cleared a good
deal of the trenches in the area. But then, an Ottoman powder magazine caught fire and exploded
amidst the forward-pushing French. Panic spread quickly among them so that they turned around and
fled back to the town, leaving about 1200 dead and wounded on the field and in the hands of the
Ottomans. The rich booty taken from the bodies of the French noblemen and the head money the Grand
Vizier set out made the Ottoman camp a thriving market for precious goods for some time.
Chapter 9: A last ditch attempt On 3 July, the sails of the allied
armada finally appeared on the horizon. A joint assault by land and by sea was launched
near the Sant’ Andrea Bastion. On the morning of 24 July, the galleys began to bombard the
Ottoman batteries. But after three hours of fighting the French flagship Thérèse exploded
as its powder magazine was hit by a cannonball. This spread massive confusion in the attacking
fleet and disrupted the whole enterprise which ended in disaster. Simultaneously, the
land attack failed due to the resistance of the janissaries and a lack of coordination between
the allied troops. This was a welcome relief for the Ottomans, who immediately returned to their
approaches and who were striving for retaliation. Francesco Morosini's cautious proceeding
was mistaken for cowardice by the French who consequently refused to take part
in the construction of new defenses. The Duke of Navailles declared he had
been tricked into thinking the town was defendable by the Venetian commander while
it was, in fact, untenable. The blood between the allies turned bad. During the next weeks,
the allied commanders discussed over and over again what they should do — while the mood
got worse and worse. They came to no clear decision while the Ottoman assaults branded
against the city walls in short intervals. Finally, on 20 August the duke of Navailles left
the city with all but 500 of the French soldiers. This was a severe blow to the morale of the
garrison and most troops soon followed the French example. Only the Germans agreed to
remain at their posts. On 31 August 1669, the last of the allied squadrons set sail and left
Candia to its fate. Francesco Morosini and his men – by now less than 4’000– remained to defend
the town. The Ottomans were pushing hard from all sides, the defenses were badly damaged and the
men were burnt out. The situation was hopeless. On 6 September Morosini had no
choice but to hoist the white flag. After long deliberation Candia was
surrendered on condition that the garrison and all inhabitants were allowed to depart with
all military honors, their property and artillery. The Venetians were to retain their conquests
in Dalmatia, Bosnia and Albania. Despite these highly favourable terms for Venice, Morosini
was criticised harshly in the aftermath, because he had surrendered Candia and
negotiated peace without receiving permission from the Venetian senate. On 27 September the
Grand Vizier made a triumphal entry into the town and the last of the garrison embarked for Venice.
At last, Venice ceded Crete to the Ottomans. This put an end to one of the longest and
bloodiest sieges in history. It became a lesson for a new generation of engineers.
Candia seemed like a pile of stone with only the innermost parts of the city fairly intact,
when the Grand Vizier entered the town. The garrison had made nearly one hundred sorties and
faced about sixty direct assaults on their walls. More than 1100 Venetian mines exploded while
the Ottomans’ counted three times as many. The Venetians alone had used more than
forty-eight thousand shells and over 100’000 grenades. During the 21 years of the siege about
120’000 Ottomans and 30’000 Venetians lost their lives — not to mention civilian casualties. For
about one generation Venice and the Ottoman Empire struggled for Candia and many spent the best part
of their lives at, on or underneath its walls. If you like the way we present history, please
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Dope siege but I’m more of a LindyBeige man myself
Dude. This documentary ruled. I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of this guys vids. Thanks for the heads up!!