The Battle of Lepanto

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 Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories,
several independent Italian states, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta) 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 Naupactus – Greek Ναύπακτος, Turkish İnebahtı) 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.[10]

In the history of naval warfare, Lepanto marks the last major engagement in the Western
world to be fought almost entirely between rowing vessels,[11] namely the galleys and
galleasses which were the direct descendants of ancient trireme warships. The battle was in
essence an "infantry battle on floating platforms".[12] 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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

Background

Main articles: Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) and Holy League (1571)

1:16:40

Battle of Lepanto from Famous Sea Fights by John R Hale

 The Battle of Lepanto
The banner of the Holy League, flown by John of Austria on his flagship Real. It is made of blue
damask interwoven with gold thread, of a length of 7.3 m and a width of 4.4 m at the hoist. It
displays the crucified Christ above the coats of arms of Pius V, of Venice, of Charles V, and of
John of Austria. The coats of arms are linked by chains symbolizing the alliance.[16]

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,[17] 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.[citation needed]

The members of the Holy League were the Republic of Venice, the Spanish Empire (including
the Kingdom of Naples, the Habsburg monarchy, the Kingdoms of Sicily and Sardinia as part of
the Spanish possessions), the Papal States, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchies of Savoy,
Urbino and Tuscany, the Knights Hospitaller, and others.[18]

The banner for the fleet, blessed by the Pope, reached the Kingdom of Naples (then ruled by
Philip II of Spain) on 14 August 1571. There, in the Basilica of Santa Chiara, it was solemnly
consigned to John of Austria (Don Juan de 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.[citation needed]

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.[19][20] The combined Christian
fleet was placed under the command of John of 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.[21]

Deployment and order of battle

Further information: Battle of Lepanto order of battle

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).[22]
 The Battle of Lepanto
The Christian fleet consisted of 206 galleys and six galleasses (large new galleys with
substantial artillery, developed by the Venetians) and was commanded by Spanish Admiral
John of Austria, the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and half-brother of King Philip II of
Spain, supported by the Spanish commanders Don Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga and Don Álvaro
de Bazán, and Genoan commander Gianandrea Doria.[23][24] The Republic of Venice
contributed 109 galleys and six galleasses, 49 galleys came from the Spanish Empire (including
26 from the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sicily, and other Italian territories), 27 galleys
of the Genoese fleet, seven galleys from the Papal States, five galleys from the Order of Saint
Stephen and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, three galleys each from the Duchy of Savoy and the
Knights of Malta, and some privately owned galleys in Spanish service. This fleet of the
Christian alliance was manned by 40,000 sailors and oarsmen. In addition, it carried
approximately 30,000[25][26] fighting troops: 7,000 Spanish Empire regular infantry of
excellent quality, [27] (4,000 of the Spanish Empire's troops were drawn from the Kingdom of
Naples, mostly Calabria),[28] 7,000 Germans,[29] 6,000 Italian mercenaries in Spanish pay, all
good troops,[29] in addition to 5,000 professional Venetian soldiers.[30] Also, Venetian
oarsmen were mainly free citizens and able to bear arms, adding to the fighting power of their
ships, whereas convicts were used to row many of the galleys in other Holy League
squadrons.[31] Free oarsmen were generally acknowledged to be superior but were gradually
replaced in all galley fleets (including those of Venice from 1549) during the 16th century by
cheaper slaves, convicts, and prisoners-of-war owing to rapidly rising costs.[32]

Depiction of the Ottoman Navy, detail from the painting by Tommaso Dolabella (1632)

Ali Pasha, the Ottoman admiral (Kapudan-i Derya), supported by the corsairs Mehmed Sirocco
(natively Mehmed Şuluk) of Alexandria and Uluç Ali, commanded an Ottoman force of 222 war
galleys, 56 galliots, and some smaller vessels. The Turks had skilled and experienced crews of
sailors but were significantly deficient in their elite corps of Janissaries. The number of
oarsmen was about 37,000, virtually all of them slaves,[33] many of them Christians who had
been captured in previous conquests and engagements.[31] The Ottoman galleys were
manned by 13,000 experienced sailors—generally drawn from the maritime nations of the
Ottoman Empire—mainly Berbers, Greeks, Syrians, and Egyptians—and 25,000 soldiers from
Ottoman Empire as well as few thousands from their North African allies.[34][26]

While soldiers on board of the ships were roughly evenly matched in numbers,[35] an
advantage for the Christians was the numerical superiority in guns and cannon aboard their
ships. It is estimated that the Christians had 1,815 guns, while the Turks had only 750 with
insufficient ammunition.[5] The Christians embarked with their much improved arquebusier
and musketeer forces, while the Ottomans trusted in their greatly feared composite
bowmen.[36]

The Christian fleet started from Messina on 16 September, crossing the Adriatic and creeping
along the coast, arriving at the group of rocky islets lying just north of the opening of the Gulf
of Corinth on 6 October. Serious conflict had broken out between Venetian and Spanish
 The Battle of Lepanto
soldiers, and Venier enraged Don Juan by hanging a Spanish soldier for impudence.[37] Despite
bad weather, the Christian ships sailed south and, on 6 October, reached the port of Sami,
Cephalonia (then also called Val d'Alessandria), where they remained for a while.

Early on 7 October, they sailed toward the Gulf of Patras, where they encountered the
Ottoman fleet. While neither fleet had immediate strategic resources or objectives in the gulf,
both chose to engage. The Ottoman fleet had an express order from the Sultan to fight, and
John of Austria found it necessary to attack in order to maintain the integrity of the expedition
in the face of personal and political disagreements within the Holy League.[38] On the morning
of 7 October, after the decision to offer battle was made, the Christian fleet formed up in four
divisions in a north–south line:

At the northern end, closest to the coast, was the Left Division of 53 galleys, mainly Venetian,
led by Agostino Barbarigo, with Marco Querini and Antonio da Canale in support.

The Centre Division consisted of 62 galleys under John of Austria himself in his Real, along with
Marcantonio Colonna commanding the papal flagship, Venier commanding the Venetian
flagship, Paolo Giordano I Orsini and Pietro Giustiniani, prior of Messina, commanding the
flagship of the Knights of Malta.

The Right Division to the south consisted of another 53 galleys under the Genoese Giovanni
Andrea Doria, great-nephew of admiral Andrea Doria.

A Reserve Division was stationed behind (that is, to the west of) the main fleet, to lend support
wherever it might be needed, commanded by Álvaro de Bazán.

One of the Venetian Galleasses at Lepanto (1851 drawing, after a 1570s painting).

Two galleasses, which had side-mounted cannon, were positioned in front of each main
division for the purpose, according to Miguel de Cervantes (who served on the galley
Marquesa during the battle), of preventing the Turks from sneaking in small boats and sapping,
sabotaging, or boarding the Christian vessels. This reserve division consisted of 38 galleys—30
behind the Centre Division and four behind each wing. A scouting group was formed, from two
Right Wing and six Reserve Division galleys. As the Christian fleet was slowly turning around
Point Scropha, Doria's Right Division, at the offshore side, was delayed at the start of the battle
and the Right's galleasses did not get into position.[citation needed]

The Ottoman fleet consisted of 57 galleys and two galliots on its right under Mehmed Siroco,
61 galleys and 32 galliots in the centre under Ali Pasha in the Sultana, and about 63 galleys and
30 galliots in the south offshore under Uluç Ali. A small reserve consisted of eight galleys, 22
galliots, and 64 fustas, behind the centre body. Ali Pasha is supposed to have told his Christian
galley slaves, "If I win the battle, I promise you your liberty. If the day is yours, then God has
given it to you." John of Austria, more laconically, warned his crew, "There is no paradise for
cowards."[39]
 The Battle of Lepanto
Battle

The lookout on the Real sighted the Turkish van at dawn of 7 October. Don Juan called a
council of war and decided to offer battle. He travelled through his fleet in a swift sailing
vessel, exhorting his officers and men to do their utmost. The Sacrament was administered to
all, the galley slaves were freed from their chains, and the standard of the Holy League was
raised to the truck of the flagship.[37]

Plan of the Battle (formation of the fleets just before contact)[40]

The wind was at first against the Christians, and it was feared that the Turks would be able to
make contact before a line of battle could be formed. But around noon, shortly before contact,
the wind shifted to favour the Christians, enabling most of the squadrons to reach their
assigned position before contact. Four galeasses stationed in front of the Christian battle line
opened fire at close quarters at the foremost Turkish galleys, confusing their battle array in the
crucial moment of contact. Around noon, first contact was made between the squadrons of
Barbarigo and Sirocco, close to the northern shore of the Gulf. Barbarigo had attempted to
stay so close to the shore as to prevent Sirocco from surrounding him, but Sirocco, knowing
the depth of the waters, managed to still insert galleys between Barbarigo's line and the coast.
In the ensuing mêlée, the ships came so close to each other as to form an almost continuous
platform of hand-to-hand fighting in which both leaders were killed. The Christian galley slaves
freed from the Turkish ships were supplied with arms and joined in the fighting, turning the
battle in favour of the Christian side.[41]

Fresco in the Vatican's Gallery of Maps

Meanwhile, the centres clashed with such force that Ali Pasha's galley drove into the Real as
far as the fourth rowing bench, and hand-to-hand fighting commenced around the two
flagships, between the Spanish Tercio infantry and the Turkish janissaries. When the Real was
nearly taken, Colonna came alongside, with the bow of his galley, and mounted a counter-
attack. With the help of Colonna, the Turks were pushed off the Real and the Turkish flagship
was boarded and swept. The entire crew of Ali Pasha's flagship was killed, including Ali Pasha
himself. The banner of the Holy League was hoisted on the captured ship, breaking the morale
of the Turkish galleys nearby. After two hours of fighting, the Turks were beaten left and
centre, although fighting continued for another two hours.[42] A flag taken at Lepanto by the
Knights of Saint Stephen, said to be the standard of the Turkish commander, is still on display,
in the Church of the seat of the Order in Pisa.[43][44]

On the Christian right, the situation was different, as Doria continued sailing towards the south
instead of taking his assigned position. He would explain his conduct after the battle by saying
that he was trying to prevent an enveloping manoeuvre by the Turkish left. But Doria's
captains were enraged, interpreting their commander's signals as a sign of treachery. When
Doria had opened a wide gap with the Christian centre, Uluç Ali swung around and fell on
 The Battle of Lepanto
Colonna's southern flank, with Doria too far away to interfere. Ali attacked a group of some
fifteen galleys around the flagship of the Knights of Malta, threatening to break into the
Christian centre and still turn the tide of the battle. This was prevented by the arrival of the
reserve squadron of Santa Cruz. Uluç Ali was forced to retreat, escaping the battle with the
captured flag of the Knights of Malta.[45]

Isolated fighting continued until the evening. Even after the battle had clearly turned against
the Turks, groups of janissaries kept fighting to the last. It is said that at some point the
Janissaries ran out of weapons and started throwing oranges and lemons at their Christian
adversaries, leading to awkward scenes of laughter among the general misery of battle.[5] At
the end of the battle, the Christians had taken 117 galleys and 20 galliots, and sunk or
destroyed some 50 other ships. Around ten thousand Turks were taken prisoner, and many
thousands of Christian slaves were rescued. The Christian side suffered around 7,500 deaths,
the Turkish side about 30,000.[8]

Aftermath

Further information: Territorial evolution of the Ottoman Empire

The Victors of Lepanto, John of Austria, Marcantonio Colonna and Sebastiano Venier
(anonymous oil painting, c. 1575, formerly in Ambras Castle, now Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna)

The engagement was a significant defeat for the Ottomans, who had not lost a major naval
battle since the fifteenth century.[46] 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. 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.[47] 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."[48]

The Ottomans were quick to rebuild their navy.[49] 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.[50] With this new fleet the
Ottoman Empire was able to reassert its supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean.[51] 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:
 The Battle of Lepanto

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.[52]

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.[53]

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 its Dalmatian possessions and a possible invasion of Friuli, and eager to cut
its losses and resume the trade with the Ottoman Empire, initiated unilateral negotiations with
the Porte.[54]

Jacopo Ligozzi, The Return of the Knights of Saint Stephen from the Battle of Lepanto (c. 1610,
Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, Pisa)

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.[55] Peace would hold between the two states until the Cretan War of
1645.[56]

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
 The Battle of Lepanto
technology, especially the development of the galleon and line of battle tactics used in the
Spanish Navy.[57] 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 Celidonia and 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.[citation
needed]

Legacy

Accounts

Giovanni Pietro Contarini's History of the Events, which occurred from the Beginning of the
War Brought against the Venetians by Selim the Ottoman, to the Day of the Great and
Victorious Battle against the Turks was published in 1572, a few months after Lepanto. It was
the first comprehensive account of the war, and the only one to attempt a concise but
complete overview of its course and the Holy League's triumph. Contarini's account went
beyond effusive praise and mere factual reporting to examine the meaning and importance of
these events. It is also the only full historical account by an immediate commentator, blending
his straightforward narrative with keen and consistent reflections on the political philosophy of
conflict in the context of the Ottoman-Catholic confrontation in the early modern
Mediterranean.[58]

Commemoration

Battle of Lepanto by Martin Rota, 1572 print, Venice

The Holy League credited the victory to the Virgin Mary, whose intercession with God they had
implored for victory through the use of the Rosary. Andrea Doria had kept a copy of the
miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe given to him by King Philip II of Spain in his ship's
state room.[59] Pope Pius V instituted a new Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Victory to
commemorate the battle, which is now celebrated by the Catholic Church as the feast of Our
Lady of the Rosary.[60] Dominican friar Juan Lopez in his 1584 book on the rosary states that
the feast of the rosary was offered

"in memory and in perpetual gratitude of the miraculous victory that the Lord gave to his
Christian people that day against the Turkish armada".[61]

A piece of commemorative music composed after the victory is the motet Canticum Moysis
(Song of Moses Exodus 15) Pro victoria navali contra Turcas by the Spanish composer based in
Rome Fernando de las Infantas.[62] The other piece of music is Jacobus de Kerle's "Cantio octo
vocum de sacro foedere contra Turcas" 1572 (Song in Eight Voices on the Holy League Against
 The Battle of Lepanto
the Turks), in the opinion of Pettitt (2006) an "exuberantly militaristic" piece celebrating the
victory.[63] There were celebrations and festivities with triumphs and pageants at Rome and
Venice with Turkish slaves in chains.[64]

The fortress of Palmanova in Italy originally called Palma was built by the Republic of Venice on
7 October 1593 to commemorate the victory.[citation needed]

Paintings

Felipe II offers Prince Fernando to Victory by Titian, c. 1572–1575, Museo del Prado, Madrid

There are many pictorial representations of the battle. Prints of the order of battle appeared in
Venice and Rome in 1571,[65] and numerous paintings were commissioned, including one in
the Doge's Palace, Venice, by Andrea Vicentino on the walls of the Sala dello Scrutinio, which
replaced Tintoretto's Victory of Lepanto, destroyed by fire in 1577. Titian painted the battle in
the background of an allegorical work showing Philip II of Spain holding his infant son, Don
Fernando, his male heir born shortly after the victory, on 4 December 1571. An angel descends
from heaven bearing a palm branch with a motto for Fernando, who is held up by Philip:
"Majora tibi" (may you achieve greater deeds; Fernando died as a child, in 1578).[66]

The Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto (c. 1572, oil on canvas, 169 x 137 cm, Gallerie
dell'Accademia, Venice) is a painting by Paolo Veronese. The lower half of the painting shows
the events of the battle, whilst at the top a female personification of Venice is presented to
the Virgin Mary, with Saint Roch, Saint Peter, Saint Justina, Saint Mark and a group of angels in
attendance.[citation needed]

A painting by Wenceslas Cobergher, dated to the end of the 16th century, now in San
Domenico Maggiore, shows what is interpreted as a victory procession in Rome on the return
of admiral Colonna. On the stairs of Saint Peter's Basilica, Pius V is visible in front of a kneeling
figure, identified as Marcantonio Colonna returning the standard of the Holy League to the
pope. On high is the Madonna and child with victory palms.[67]

Tommaso Dolabella painted his The Battle of Lepanto in c. 1625–1630 on the commission of
Stanisław Lubomirski, commander of the Polish left wing in the Battle of Khotyn (1621). The
monumental painting (3.05 m × 6.35 m) combines the Polish victory procession following this
battle with the backdrop of the Battle of Lepanto. It was later owned by the Dominicans of
Poznań and since 1927 has been on display in Wawel Castle, Cracow.[68]

The Battle of Lepanto by Juan Luna (1887) is displayed at the Spanish Senate in Madrid.