Lepanto 1571: Shattering the Idea of Ottoman Invincibility

at noon of the 7th of October 1571 an ottoman Fleet of more than 250 ships clashed with the fleet of the Holy league in the Gulf of Petros about 30 miles from the naval base of Lepanto to the fore of the Christian Armada were four heavy galliasis firing one volley after another thereby wreaking havoc among the ottoman galleys nonetheless the ottoman Grand Admiral we had seen Sade alipasha ordered his ships forward directly into the fire he was determined to win the battle no matter what the Battle of Lepanto had just begun foreign was one of the greatest naval battles of the Mediterranean and the last one to be fought almost exclusively by rowing vessels according to the maritime historians Lawrence Mott a staggering amount of 70 to 90 percent of all war galleys in the Basin participated in the fighting Lepanto was in some sense the naval counterpart of the 1683 Siege of Vienna contemporaries and historians long saw it as a climactic battle between east and west and mythologized it as the battle in which a Christian Fleet defeated the seemingly Unstoppable ottoman threat from the East in this video we're going to look at what exactly happened in the Gulf of Petros and look critically at the impact the battle really had just as critically should you look at your internet security for that we recommend you check out the dark web monitor of nordvpn the sponsor of today's video a lot of hacking could be prevented for example key loggers which is a type of malware that tracks every click on your keyboard and sends the info to the hacker so if you have entered your credential with a keylogger running in the background of your device it gets sent to the key logger owner an easy fix is using websites that list email addresses that have been listed on the dark web such as have I've beenpponed.com and tools such as nord's dark web monitor to get alerted in case your device or your email address might be compromised it is also recommended to use a password manager like nordpass to generate strong unique passwords using a password manager comes with a nice side effect that you don't have to remember them anymore nordvpn also comes with a threat protection feature that keeps malicious websites annoying trackers and irritating advertisements at Bay get Nord for the price of a cup of coffee per month by clicking on the link in the description below all of this is entirely risk-free thanks to nord's 30-day money-back guarantee in the 16th century the Ottoman Empire expanded Westward both on land and sea by the middle of the century it firmly controlled the Eastern Mediterranean and Barbary corsairs in ottoman service roamed the western part of the Mediterranean Sea riding the coast of Catalonia and Calabria for example the Catholic powers in Western Europe felt increasingly threatened but were unable to put an end to the ottoman Advance although they achieved minor successes here and there the Ottoman Empire seemed almost Unstoppable this belief was nurtured in 1560 when a Counter-Strike by Philip II of Spain and his allies failed miserably and their fleet was devastated near the island of jerba five years later an ottoman invasion of Malta a strategic stepping stone to Mainland Europe could be stopped which was perceived as averting a Calamity in the very last moment from then on Pope Pius V was relentlessly trying to Rally the Catholic powers to stop the ottoman threat with United forces as everyone was occupied with their own problems or was even at peace with the Eastern power he had little success this changed when the Ottomans broke their piece with Venice and invaded Cyprus in 1570. they quickly took control of the island and by 1571 only famagusta stood defiant Venice who had long hoped to preserve its trading empire by bargaining with the Ottomans now joined the Pope's effort and after much convincing and drawn-out negotiations Spain Venice Genoa and the Papal States alongside several other Catholic Powers formed the holy League they wanted to relieve amagusta reconquer Cyprus and end the ottoman advance in the Mediterranean Sultan Salim II called the salt meanwhile decided to use the momentum from conquering Cyprus to advance into the Adriatic for good while the forces of the Holy League were preparing slowly his Grand Admiral miats inside the Ali Pasha moved into the Adriatic quickly captured sopoto duratso and then proceeded North to lay Siege to kataro at the end of August the Ottomans who were well aware of the Holy League's preparations retreated to Corfu to regroup as would become clear later they were on their way to their Naval Base at Lepanto the fleet of the Catholic ships trickling into the harbor of Messina between the 20th of July and the 23rd of August was under the superior command of a young man who despite his inexperience was admired by his soldiers and was held in great esteem by his fellow commanders Don John of Austria the 24 year old illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and half-brother of Philip II of Spain dungeon's command had been one of the conditions of Spain who was contributing The Lion's Share of the funds the second in command was Marc Antonio Colona the admiral of the papal Fleet typical for Christian alliances the holy League's fleet was racked with this agreement this would prove the most significant issue for Jon of Austria on the 16th of September the fleet weighed anchor and left the harbor of Messina it arrived on korfu 10 days later even now a disagreement among the Allies almost led to a fight the venetians were contributing more ships than anybody else but had been badly affected by the war against the Ottomans in the previous year so they had to fill their ranks with Spanish soldiers the Venetian general of the sea Sebastiano veniere however felt embarrassed to accept Spanish help he also disagreed with Don John's proceedings and became increasingly disaffected on the 2nd of October this Tinderbox exploded John Andrea Doria a genuine's Admiral came to inspect the Venetian ships this made benir's blood boil because the venetians deeply the spice Doria who was in their opinion largely responsible for the failure of an attempt to relieve Cyprus the year before as if this had not been enough an argument between Spanish soldiers and the crew of a Venetian Galley escalated when the general of the sea sent some of his subordinates to resolve the dispute the response was so violent that two of his officers died from their wounds then yeah fuming and not intending to tolerate such things on his ships Hank the captain of the three responsible soldiers without consulting Don John of Austria after that tensions ran even higher Don John saw this as a severe interference with his powers he even wanted to attack the venetians seize Vanier and hang him on a yardarm right away if it wasn't for the sagacious Council of Marc Antonio Colona Meniere's galleys would be bitterly needed soon ultimately the Venetian Commander was punished by exclusion from the Council of War with this sorted out the fleet continued its journey and sailed to previza and then to Dante where they expected to find the ottoman Fleet on the 4th of October while anchoring in fiscardo they first heard of the shocking news Cyprus had fallen after a long Siege famagusta had surrendered to Lala Mustafa Pasha who had then broken the terms of surrender captured most of the Christian Soldiers as Galley slaves killed many and fled the leader of the defense Marc Antonio bragadin alive again quarreling broke out many believe the cause was lost and the fleet should return but Don John was Ardent to seek out the ottoman Armada and in the end the fleet continued in its Journey South on dawn of the 7th of October 1571 the Lookouts spotted armed vessels at the mouth of the Gulf of potros as the daylight brightened it revealed the ottoman Armada which had left their base at Le panto the last night neither of the fleet had a strategic objective there but both chose to engage probably because both expected an easy victory according to this story in gen gleet Ali Pasha had received an immediate order to attack and Don John wanted to fight before he squirreled some subordinates could again pounce at each other now it seems that the commanders of the Holy League finally decided to fight the Ottomans rather than each other had left the safety of the Gulf of Corinth and entered the arena of battle the Gulf of patras from the East the fleet of the league came from the Northwest entering the gulf between the island of oxia and the mainland Promontory of scrofa as soon as they caught sight of the Ottomans they drew up in Battle Order for once contemporary accounts pretty much agree on the size of the two fleets the Ottomans had about 250 to 275 ships most of them galleys but also some 50 to 60 smaller galliots all in all 30 000 ottoman soldiers were sailing to battle they were numerically Superior in regards to the number of ships but their ships were smaller and carried fewer cannons on average Don John had a total of about 35 000 soldiers on 206 galleys and six galliases which are larger ships combining the sea worthiness of the sailing ship with the Firepower of igali with guns on all four sides they resembled swimming fortresses these would become his trump card while the ottoman Navy was arrayed in a shallow Half Moon planning to outflank their enemy the ships of the Holy League only slowly passed around scrofa and spread out to full formation interestingly the Scouts of both parties had underestimated the enemy's strength Kenneth them satin an expert on ottoman European relations explains that the Ottomans expected no more than 150 galleys with quarreling leaders only when the Holy League Fleet had spread to full array at around 8 AM did they realize that the numbers estimated by karakoza Ali who had led the scouting Mission were far from accurate doubts were now arising but after some discussions the Ottomans decided to engage nevertheless the holy League's main Force commanded by John of Austria Colonna and Vanier moved into place first its 60 odd galleys faced off against the ottoman Center under murats in Saudi Ali Pasha and perthasha the commander of the soldiers next appeared John Andrea Doria who positioned himself to the south of the main Force forming the right wing facing Doria was uluch Ali A former Privateer who had quickly risen through the ranks at last Agostino barbarigo came around the Promontory to take the left wing close to the Albanian Shore and vis-a-vis magnetsiroko the governor of Alexandria each of the Holy League's divisions had two galliasis who would take the front and act as juggernauts to shoot breeches into the ottoman lines behind the center of both fleets weighted a reserve of some 30 galleys ready to fill in any Gap and strengthen the weakened segments in the lines of battle as is common at the time both fleets fought in line abreast that is side by side facing the enemy Don John had taken two very effective measures before the battle firstly he had the prowse removed or reduced so that they could shoot at a flatter angle this added to the fact that the holy League generally outguns the Ottomans secondly and more importantly he had not assigned all the ships according to their origin so the right wing was for example made up mostly of doria's ship from Genoa Naples and Sicily but also several vessels from Venice Scandia Corfu and the Papal States this was meant to weld the Armada together soon both fleets had taken Battle Order only Doria and the two galliases which accompanied him were somewhat behind because they had the longest way to go now preparations aboard were beginning decks were cleared arms prepared along the gangways and cannons checked one last time while the ottoman ships were almost exclusively rowed by slaves the fleet of the Holy League had mostly professionals or Christian convicts aboard the former were known as Valiant Fighters and the latter now turned into such their shackles were removed and they were promised freedom in case of victory now that they had a common enemy all hostilities between the men of the Holy League vanished to the beat of the drum the rowers pulled their oars and side by side the Galax advanced [Music] around noon the fronts of the two centers were within shooting distance the Ottomans still hoping to achieve quick Victory opened fire first it was returned by four of the galliases which were by now in position about a mile in front of Don John's line they founded one Hall breaking volley after another at the lighter armed ottoman vessels wreaking havoc in their first lines according to the military historian Joffrey Parker this opening barrage alone sank more than 70 ottoman galleys the pashas now must have certainly been cursing karakuza Ali who had assured them there would be no such heavy gunfire but they had no choice the only way other than backward was forward through the fire of the galiasis to get the Christian ships and Andrew melee this they hoped would be more promising however the wind that had restricted the formation of the Holy league in the morning shifted around noon and now chantly blew to the east slowing down the ottoman advance and giving the galliasis ample time to continue their bombardment the brutal resistance where none had been expected for they blow to the Ottomans already the sea was fully covered with ship parts all kinds of armament and rounding men at this point in time magnetsiroko tried to outflank the left wing of the Holy League Fleet Agostino barbarigo seeing what his opponent was planning made sure that there was no gap between his ships and the shore in perfect order his galleys blocked away but still some of sirocco's men almost made it past them by venturing into dangerously shallow Waters soon the two opposing wings were interlocked with their ships so tightly packed together that they formed almost one single platform the fighting was fierce and barbarigo's squadrons probably would have had to give in if ships from the reserve wouldn't have come to his Aid Sirocco was determined to break through and allegedly still pushed his men forward between broken masts and shattered benches they however were already leaving the severely damaged ships trying to save themselves by swimming to the shore hundreds of unnamed soldiers died in The Fray after a while barbarico's meant for all over the ottoman ships counting those who offered resistance to pieces and freeing the Christian slaves on board of the captured ships iroko himself was wounded captured and beheaded while Agostino barbarigo took an arrow to the eye at the southern end of the battle the two remaining galliases had in the meantime passed doria's line and taken position ulujali a very considerate Commander regarded by some as the most formidable Seaman of his time held back his ships when he saw what the galliases were doing to the ships of the center as Doria knew how skilled an opponent he was facing the southern wings were both holding back for now under heavy losses the Ottomans had finally made it past the galliases in the center they reformed and pressed ahead according to the historian Lawrence Mott quote there was no maneuvering by either party and the battle became one of had on grinding attrition end quote Don John's galleys fired at point-blank range exploiting the advantage of the removed prowse which allowed them to shoot at the halls of the Ottoman galleys from close while the enemies could only aim at their rigging and the decks despite this Ali Pasha and his men weren't discouraged they sent hails of arrows and gunshots Advanced through the fire and rushed into close combat as soon as the two lines of ships clashed Naval encounters like this had their very own rules it was common to try to weaken the enemy from afar and then enter melee to try to board the enemy vessel this is what happened now in the center section and had happened in the North earlier the anime galleys locked to Gathering groups of two or more and their Crews went for each other it became as one historian once called it quote an infantry battle on floating platforms and group if the crew of one ship succeeded to board an enemy vassal brutal fights ensued fighting in this manner in the extremely confined space of the ship's Deck with rowing Banks sails and other obstacles was vicious the dead and wounded were tossed into the sea where the living joined the lifeless according to a primary account the water was soon quote thick and red with blood end quote amidst burning ships ship parts and wrecked sails floated the bodies of Fallen Soldiers while the wounded struggled with their lost strength it was a scene of mayhem as was customary the two flagships sought each other out after struggling through the other ships the real ran alongside alipasha's Sultana and their very own battle began alipasha had 300 janissaries 100 crossbowmen and some are capaziers on his ship while Don John brought 400 archiviziers other galleys constantly tried to help their flagships while the fighting was going back and forth at first the Ottomans made it onto the real but after a bloody struggle donjon's man threw them back and followed them onto the Sultana the janissaries known for their unparalleled close combat skills put up Fierce resistance only when Marc Antonio Colona with his Flagship arrived and joined the fight did the Europeans pushed through one step after another they drove to janistari's back and swept them off the deck alipasha himself was killed in the thick of the Malay and then beheaded when his head was mounted on a pike and a Christian flag raised on the Sultana an outcry went through the fighting men the men of the Holy League cheered the Ottomans were stunned while the fighting in the center and North went on for about two hours in the South uluchali had turned away from the battle he was carefully avoiding contact with the galliasis John andreadoria also sailed South thanks to the galliases Doria succeeded to keep ULU jalis numerically Superior Force at a distance while they were both carefully avoiding being outflanked the two commanders slowly drifted South however Doria realized too late that this had a drawback too as he was drifting South he haphazardly exposed the right flank of the center unujali saw his chance turned his ships around and quickly fell in the side of the Holy League Center suddenly there was a chance the tits would turn in the last minute attacked some 15 galleys near the flagship of the Knight of Malta between the holy League Center and the right wing heavily outnumbered and not covered by Doria these galleys were quickly overwhelmed Doria now realized the adventure too far but it was too late by the time he was back and the reserve arrived the Ottomans had already killed the crews of several galleys and were rounding up more fortunately for Doria the ottoman resistance in the center had collapsed by now so that Don John Vanier and Colonna could turn South ulujali himself was now behind the holy league with a part of his ships while about 60 found themselves attacked from all sides despite fighting a lost fight they bravely resisted and gave the Holy League a hard time but ulujali had realized it was time to leave by cutting the towing ropes and leaving his booty behind he got away through the channels between kutsilaris and oxia later in the afternoon the ottoman fleet was entirely shattered or conquered although isolated resistance continued until the evening almost 100 ships were sunk 117 galleys captured and 3 000 prisoners taken the holy League had lost about 8 000 men the Ottomans about 25 000. only few got away Don John abstained from pursuing them as the day was already coming to an end and bad weather was on the horizon hours after the battle the holy League retreated to the port of petala just in time because now a violent storm mixed up the sea and swept away the glory traces of the battle the victory over the ottoman Fleet didn't hold together the short Unison of the League's commanders only days after penier sent a galley with the news of the victory to Venice without asking Don John and the hard feelings were back due to the Discord the need to care for the wounded and the lasting bad weather the holy League fleets didn't follow up on its Victory but returns to Messina most historians agree that the Battle of Lepanto was mainly won by the holy League because of the favorable circumstances and their Superior Firepower contemporaries in contrast saw the victory as a miracle in their eyes Don John and his Fleet had triumphed over an undefeatable enemy and saved the west from certain Doom modern historians are more critical the mythical and symbolic significance of Lepanto are much greater than the actual historical impact indeed the ottoman Advance was stopped indeed an ottoman Navy had suffered a total defeat and indeed the Nimbus of Ottoman invincibility was broken but the holy League didn't capitalize on its success it fell apart only two years later and the Ottomans recovered quickly sure they didn't dominate the Mediterranean after Lepanto as before but generally speaking Lepanto had altered the balance of power in the Mediterranean only little the grand vizier sokolu mehmed Pasha allegedly said to the Venetian Ambassador a month after the battle quote you may have trimmed our beards at Lepanto but we have taken an arm from you by conquering Cyprus a chopped off arm is lost forever but a shaved beard grows back even stronger [Music] oh

Channel: SandRhoman History

Views: 454,579

Keywords: lepanto, history, 1571, education, educational, documentary, historical, ottoman, venice, holy league, john of austria, don john of austria, sebastiano venier, müezzinzade ali pasha, battle of lepanto, ottoman venetian wars, don juan of austria, venetian history, history of venice, ottoman history, ottoman venetian history, historiography, history myths

Id: TjCXogk64DU

Length: 23min 29sec (1409 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023