Battle of Lepanto (1571)

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Battle of Lepanto
Part of the Turkish-Venetian Wars
The Battle of Lepanto artist unknown
Date 7 October 1571 Location Gulf of Patras, Ionian Sea Result Decisive Holy League victory
Combatants
Holy League: Republic of Venice Spain Papal States Republic of Genoa Duchy of Savoy Knights of Malta	Ottoman Empire
Commanders
Don John of Austria	Ali Pasha †
Strength
206 galleys 6 galleasses	220-230 galleys 50-60 galliots
Casualties
9,000 dead or wounded 12 galleys lost	30,000 dead or wounded 137 ships captured 50 ships sunk[1]

The Battle of Lepanto (Ναύπακτος in Greek, İnebahtı in Turkish) took place on 7 October 1571 when a galley fleet of the Holy League, a sometimes flimsy coalition of the Papacy (under Pope Pius V), Spain, Venice, Republic of Genoa, Duchy of Savoy, the Knights of Malta and others, defeated a force of Ottoman galleys. The 5-hour battle was fought at the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece, where the Ottoman forces sailing westwards from their naval station in Lepanto met the Holy League forces, which had come from Messina, in the morning of Sunday 7 October^[2]. It was the final major naval battle in world history solely between rowing vessels.

Contents 1 Forces 2 Deployment 3 The battle 4 Aftermath 5 Depictions in art 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Forces

See also: Battle of Lepanto order of battle for detailed list of each ship or commander involved in the battle.

The Holy League's fleet consisted of 206 galleys and six galleasses (converted merchant galleys), and was ably commanded by Don John (or Don Juan) of Austria, the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and his brother, Philip II of Spain. Vessels had been contributed by the various Christian factions who were supporting the Habsburgs: 105 galleys and six galleasses from Venice, 80 galleys from Spain, 12 Tuscan galleys hired by the Papal States, three galleys each from Genoa, Malta, and Savoy, and several privately owned galleys, most or all of whom viewed the Turkish navy as their maritime naval trade rival for the profitable Mediterranean Sea trade routes. The various Christian squadrons met Venice's main squadron (under Veniero) in July and August 1571 at Messina, Sicily, including the galleasses on 7 July. Don John arrived on 23 August.

This fleet of the Christian alliance was manned by 12,920 sailors and 43,000 rowers. In addition, it carried almost 28,000 fighting troops: 10,000 Spanish regular infantry of excellent quality, 7,000 German and 6,000 Italian mercenary contingents from the various Habsburg dominions, under Spanish pay, and 5,000 others. Volunteers were also generously represented.

Ali Pasha (turkish: "Kaptan-ı Derya Ali Paşa"), supported by the corsairs Chulouk Bey of Alexandria and Uluj Ali (Uluch Ali) was at the head of approximately 220-230 galleys, 50-60 galliots, and some smaller vessels belonging to the Ottomans and their vassals. The Turks enjoyed skilled and experienced crews of sailors, but were somewhat deficient in soldiers, having only 25,000 soldiers, including 2,500 Janissaries.

This deficiency in soldiers, especially of Janissary quality, who were the only warriors at that time the equal of the Spanish infantry, cost the Ottomans dearly. Some naval historians argue that this lack was one of the decisive factors in the Ottoman defeat at Lepanto, especially in that it led to the capture and execution of Ali Pasha.^[3] Other authorities^{[citation needed]} consider that the significant differences between the two sides amounted primarily to the larger, longer-ranged broadside cannon on the Venetian galleases, the thick armour of the Spanish infantry, and the large numbers of Muslim archers. Certainly the few galleases had an influence out of proportion to their numbers and only a few prominent Christians were lost to arrows.

One of the better-known participants in the battle was Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, who was wounded in the battle and effectively lost the use of his left hand. Several years later he was captured by the Turkish corsairs and spent five years in captivity as a slave in Algiers before being ransomed by the Trinitarian Order. This episode of his life is believed to be referenced in his masterpiece, Don Quixote (First Part, Chapters XXXIX-XLI).

[edit] Deployment

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 Agustino Barbarigo, with Marco Querini and Antonio da Canale in support. The Centre Division consisted of 62 galleys under Don Juan himself in his Real, along with Sebastiano Veniero, later Doge of Venice, and Marcantonio Colonna. The Right Division to the south, consisted of another 53 galleys under the Genoese Giovanni Andrea Doria. Two galleasses, which had side-mounted cannon, were positioned in front of each main division, for the purpose, according to Cervantes (who served on the galleass Marquesa during the battle), of preventing the Turks from sneaking in small boats and sapping, sabotaging or boarding the Habsburg vessels. A further Reserve Division was stationed behind (that is, to the west of) the main fleet, to lend support wherever it might be needed. This reserve division consisted of 38 galleys - 30 behind the Centre Division commanded by Alvaro de Bazán, and four behind each wing. A scouting group was formed, from two Right and six Reserve galleys. As the Christian fleet was slowly turning around Point Scropha, Doria's Right Division, at the off-shore side, was delayed at the start of the battle and the Right's galleasses did not get into position.

The Turkish fleet consisted of 54 galleys and 2 galliots on its Right under Chulouk Bey; 61 galleys and 32 galliots in the Centre under Ali Pasha in the Sultana, and about 63 galleys and 30 galliots in the South off-shore; under Uluj Ali. A small reserve existed of 8 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."

[edit] The battle

The Left and Centre galleasses had been towed half a mile ahead of the Christian line, and were able to sink two Turkish galleys, and damage some more, before the Turkish fleet left them behind. Their attacks also disrupted the Ottoman formations. As the battle started, Doria found that Uluj Ali's galleys extended further to the south than his own, and so headed south to avoid being out-flanked. This meant he was even later coming into action. He ended up being outmanœuvered by Ali, who turned back and attacked the southern end of the Centre Division, taking advantage of the big gap that Doria had left.

In the north, Chulouk Bey had managed to get between the shore and the Christian North Division, with six galleys in an outflanking move, and initially the Christian fleet suffered. Barbarigo was killed by an arrow, but the Venetians, turning to face the threat, held their line. The return of a galleass saved the Christian North Division. The Christian Centre also held the line with the help of the Reserve, after taking a great deal of damage, and caused great damage to the Muslim Centre. In the south, off-shore side, Doria was engaged in a melee with Uluj Ali's ships, taking the worse part. Meanwhile Uluj Ali himself commanded 16 galleys in a fast attack on the Christian Centre, taking six galleys - amongst them the Maltese Capitana, killing everyone on board, including its commander, Giustiniani, Prior of the Order of St. John, felled by five arrows. The arrival of the Andalusian Alvaro de Bazán and the Catalan Joan de Cardona with the reserve was able to turn the battle, both in the Centre and in Doria's South Wing. Uluj Ali was forced to flee with 16 galleys and 24 galliots, abandoning all but one of his captures. During the course of the battle, the Ottoman Commander's ship was boarded and the Spanish tercios from 3 galleys and the Turkish janissaries from seven galleys fought on the deck of the Sultana. Twice the Spanish were repelled with great loss, but at the third attempt, with reinforcements from Alvaro de Bazán's galley, they prevailed. Müezzenzade Ali Pasha was killed and beheaded, against the wishes of Don Juan. However, when his head was displayed on a pike from the Spanish flagship, it contributed greatly to the destruction of Turkish morale. The battle concluded around 4 pm.

The Turkish fleet suffered the loss of about 180 galleys and 60 galliots. However, only 117 galleys and 13 galliots were in good enough condition for the Christians to keep. On the Christian side 15 galleys were destroyed and 30 damaged so seriously that they had to be scuttled. One Venetian galley was the only one kept by the Turks. All others were abandoned by them and recaptured.

Uluj Ali, who had captured the flagship of the Maltese Knights, succeeded in extricating his ships from the battle when defeat was certain. He sailed to Istanbul, where he presented the huge Maltese flag to Sultan Selim who thereupon bestowed upon Uluj the honorary title of "kilic" (Sword); Uluj thius became known as Kilic Ali Pasha.

The Holy League had suffered around 9,000 casualties but freed twice as many Christian prisoners. Turkish casualties were around 30,000. 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. 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. [1]

This page gives extensive details of tactics and galley designs used during this battle.

[edit] Aftermath

The engagement was a crushing defeat for the Ottomans, who had not lost a major naval battle since the fifteenth century. To half of Christendom, this event encouraged hope for the downfall of "the Turk", whom they regarded as the "Sempiternal Enemy of the Christian". Indeed, the Empire lost all but 30 of its ships and as many as 30,000 men, and some Western historians have held it to be the most decisive naval battle anywhere on the globe since the Battle of Actium of 31 BC.

Despite the massive defeat, however, the Holy League's disunity prevented the victors from capitalizing on their triumph. Plans to seize the Dardanelles as a step towards recovering Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, for Christendom, were scuppered by bickering amongst the allies. With a massive effort, the Empire rebuilt its navy, adding eight of the largest capital ships ever seen in the Mediterranean. Within six months this new fleet was able to reassert Ottoman naval supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean. On 7 March 1573 the Venetians thus recognized by treaty the Ottoman possession of Cyprus, which had fallen to the Turks under Piyale Pasha on 3 August 1571, just two months before Lepanto, and remained Turkish for the next three centuries, and that summer the Ottoman navy ravaged the geographically vulnerable coasts of Sicily and southern Italy. A Turkish Grand Vizier famously said "In wresting 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 1574 the Ottomans retook the strategic city of Tunis from the Spanish supported Hafsid dynasty, that had been re-installed when Don Juan's forces reconquered the city from the Ottomans the year before. With their long-standing alliance with the French coming into play they were able to resume naval activity in the western Mediterranean. In 1579 the capture of Fez completed Ottoman conquests in Morocco that had begun under Süleyman the Magnificent. The establishment of Ottoman suzerainty over the area placed the entire coast of the Mediterranean from the Straits of Gibraltar to Croatia and Slovenia (with the exceptions of the Spanish controlled trading city of Oran and strategic settlements such as Melilla and Ceuta) – under Ottoman authority. However the loss of so many of its experienced sailors at Lepanto sapped the fighting effectiveness of the Ottoman navy, a fact underlined by their minimizing confrontations with Christian navies in the years immediately after.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Depictions in art

The immense import of Lepanto has led it to inspire many artists in various fields.

There are many pictorial representations of the battle, including two in the Doge's Palace in Venice: by Paolo Veronese (above) in the Sala del Collegio and by Andrea Vicentino on the walls of the Sala dello Scrutinio, which replaced Tintoretto's Victory of Lepanto, destroyed by fire in 1577. Titian's Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto, using the battle as a backgound, hangs in the Prado in Madrid. The picture at the top of this article is the work of an unknown artist.

The American abstract painter Cy Twombly refers with 12 big pictures ('Lepanto', 2001) to the battle, one of his main works.

The English author G. K. Chesterton wrote a poem Lepanto, first published in 1911 and republished many times since. It provides a series of poetic visions of the major characters in the battle, particularly the leader of the Christian forces, Don Juan of Austria (John of Austria). It closes with verses linking Miguel de Cervantes, who fought in the battle, with the "lean and foolish knight" he would later immortalize in Don Quixote.

Playwright Howard Barker refers to the Battle of Lepanto in his play Scenes from an Execution, which premiered in 1986. In it, a fictional Venetian painter named Galactia, a character who bears much in common with the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, has been commissioned by the doge to paint a commemorative depiction of the battle. Her refusal to make the scene one which will inspire patriotism and pride in the Venetian people leads to conflict with state officials.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Anderson, R. C. Naval Wars in the Levant 1559-1853 (2006), ISBN 1578985382
• Chesterton, G. K. Lepanto with Explanatory Notes and Commentary, Dale Ahlquist, ed. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003). ISBN 1-58617-030-9
• Cook, M.A. (ed.), "A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730", Cambridge University Press, 1976; ISBN 0-521-20891-2
• Currey, E. Hamilton, "Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean", John Murrey, 1910
• Hanson, Victor D.. Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power, Anchor Books, 2001. Published in the UK as Why the West has Won, Faber and Faber, 2001. ISBN 0571216404. Includes a chapter about the battle of Lepanto
• Hess, Andrew C. "The Battle of Lepanto and Its Place in Mediterranean History", Past and Present, No. 57. (Nov., 1972), pp. 53–73
• Stevens, William Oliver. A History of Sea Power New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1942
• Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles, third revision by George Bruce, 1979
• Oliver Warner's Great Sea Battles (1968) has "Lepanto 1571" as its opening chapter. ISBN 0896731006.
• The New Cambridge Modern History, Volume I - The Renaissance 1493-1520, edited by G. R. Potter, Cambridge University Press 1964

[edit] External links

• Overview of the battle
• Very detailed background and description

Coordinates: 38°12′N 21°18′E