Holy League

Last updated

Commencing in 1332 the numerous Holy Leagues were a new manifestation of the Crusading movement in the form of temporary alliances between interested Christian powers. Successful campaigns included the capture of Smyrna in 1344, at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the recovery of some parts of the Balkans between 1684 and 1697. [1]

Contents

According to Arnaud Blin, "the Holy Leagues retained both the spirit and the language of the Crusades" while in practical terms being quite different. The initiative for a holy league often came from a secular power, not the pope, but papal involvement was inevitable if it was to have the same spiritual benefits to participants as a crusade. Several factors encouraged the transition away from supranational crusades to state alliances, including the rise of the great powers in Europe and the unification of the Muslim enemy in the form of the Ottoman Empire. [2]

Holy Leagues

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Innocent IX</span> Head of the Catholic Church in 1591

Pope Innocent IX, born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 October to 30 December 1591.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourth Crusade</span> 1204 Crusade that captured Constantinople rather than Jerusalem

The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. However, a sequence of economic and political events culminated in the Crusader army's 1202 siege of Zara and the 1204 sack of Constantinople, rather than the conquest of Egypt as originally planned. This led to the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae or the partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Crusaders and their Venetian allies leading to a period known as Frankokratia, or "Rule of the Franks" in Greek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Lepanto</span> 1571 naval battle of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars

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 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 when they met the fleet of the Holy League which was sailing east from Messina, Sicily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Preveza</span> 1538 battle of the Third Ottoman–Venetian War

The Battle of Preveza was a naval engagement that took place on 28 September 1538 near Preveza in the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece between an Ottoman fleet and that of a Holy League. The battle was an Ottoman victory which occurred in the same area in the Ionian Sea as the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. It was one of the three largest sea battles that took place in the sixteenth century Mediterranean, along with the Battle of Djerba and the Battle of Lepanto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crusading movement</span> Framework of Christian holy war

The crusading movement was a framework of ideologies and institutions that described, regulated, and promoted the Crusades. These were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the Middle Ages. Members of the Church defined the movement in legal and theological terms based on the concepts of holy war and pilgrimage. Theologically, the movement merged ideas of Old Testament wars that were instigated and assisted by God with New Testament ideas of forming personal relationships with Christ. Crusading was a paradigm that grew from the encouragement of the Gregorian Reform of the 11th century and the movement declined after the Reformation. The ideology continued after the 16th century, but in practical terms dwindled in competition with other forms of religious war and new ideologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy League (1571)</span>

The Holy League of 1571 was arranged by Pope Pius V and included the major Catholic powers of southern Europe, specifically the Spanish Empire as well as the Italian maritime powers. It was intended to break the Ottoman Empire’s control of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and was formally concluded on 25 May 1571. Its members were:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Venice</span> Sovereign state in Italy (697–1797)

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and maritime republic in parts of the present-day Italian Republic that existed for 1,100 years from 697 until 1797. Centered on the lagoon communities of the prosperous city of Venice, it incorporated numerous overseas possessions in modern Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Greece, Albania and Cyprus. The republic grew into a trading power during the Middle Ages and strengthened this position during the Renaissance. Most citizens spoke the Venetian language, although publishing in Italian became the norm during the Renaissance, alongside Latin and Medieval Greek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman wars in Europe</span> Series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states

A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in the late 13th century before entering Europe in the mid-14th century with the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars. The mid-15th century saw the Serbian–Ottoman wars and the Albanian-Ottoman wars. Much of this period was characterized by Ottoman expansion into the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire made further inroads into Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the peak of Ottoman territorial claims in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Turkish War</span> Military conflicts between Ottomans and Holy League (1683–1699)

The Great Turkish War, also called the Wars of the Holy League, was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Venice, Russia, and the Kingdom of Hungary. Intensive fighting began in 1683 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. The war was a defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost substantial territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in part of the western Balkans. The war was significant also for being the first instance of Russia joining an alliance with Western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Rosary</span> Title of the Virgin Mary

Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Republic of Venice</span> Overview of Venice from the 8th century to 1797

The Republic of Venice was a sovereign state and maritime republic in Northeast Italy, which existed for a millennium between the 8th century and 1797.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy League (1684)</span> Anti-Ottoman alliance formed in 1684 in Europe

The Holy Leagueof 1684 was a coalition of European nations formed during the Great Turkish War. Born out of the Treaty of Warsaw, it was founded as a means to prevent further Ottoman expansion into Europe. This consolidation of a large portion of Europe's military might led to unprecedented military successes, with large areas of previously ceded land recovered in Morea, Dalmatia and Danubia in what has been dubbed a "14th crusade".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)</span> Conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League

The Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War, also known as the War of Cyprus was fought between 1570 and 1573. It was waged between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, the latter joined by the Holy League, a coalition of Christian states formed under the auspices of the Pope, which included Spain, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and other Italian states.

François de Noailles, Papal Prothonotary, made Bishop of Dax in 1556, was French ambassador in Venice in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX to the Ottoman Empire from 1571 to 1575.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historiography of the Crusades</span> Study of history-writing of the crusades

The historiography of the Crusades is the study of history-writing and the written history, especially as an academic discipline, regarding the military expeditions initially undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, or 13th centuries to the Holy Land. This scope was later extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Roman Catholic Church. The subject has involved competing and evolving interpretations since the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 until the present day. The religious idealism, use of martial force and pragmatic compromises made by those involved in crusading were controversial, both at the time and subsequently. Crusading was integral to Western European culture, with the ideas that shaped behaviour in the Late Middle Ages retaining currency beyond the 15th century in attitude rather than action.

<i>Religion saved by Spain</i> Painting by Titian

Religion saved by Spain is an oil on canvas painting produced between 1572 and 1575 by Titian, an Italian master of the Venetian school, commemorating the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. It is one of his later works, and is considered to be an outstanding piece. Other titles are Spain succoring Religion or Religion assisted by Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navy of the Order of Saint John</span> Military unit

The navy of the Order of Saint John, also known as the Maltese Navy after 1530, was the first navy of a chivalric order. It was established in the Middle Ages, around the late 12th century. The navy reached its peak in the 1680s, during the reign of Grand Master Gregorio Carafa. It was disbanded following the French invasion of Malta in 1798, and its ships were taken over by the French Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genoese navy</span> Military unit

The Genoese navy was the naval contingent of the Republic of Genoa's military. From the 11th century onward the Genoese navy protected the interests of the republic and projected its power throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It played a crucial role in the history of the republic as a thalassocracy and a maritime trading power.

The anti-Ottoman revolts of 1567-1572 were a series of conflicts between Albanian, Greek and other rebels and the Ottoman Empire during the early period 16th century. Social tensions intensified at this time by the debilitation of the Ottoman administration, the chronic economic crisis, and arbitrary conduct of the Ottoman state authorities. The leaders of the uprisings were initially successful and controlled several strategic locations and fortresses, especially in Epirus, Central Greece, and the Peloponnese. However, the movement lacked the necessary organization. They were instigated and assisted by western powers; mainly by the Republic of Venice, and the victory of the Holy League against the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto, in November 1571, triggered further revolutionary activity. However, Venice withdrew its support to the rebels and signed a unilateral peace with the Ottomans. As such the rebellions were doomed to end and the Ottoman forces committed a number of massacres in the aftermath of the revolt during the suppression of the uprising. Throughout the pacification process, various primarily isolated areas were still out of Ottoman control and new rebellions erupted, like that of Dionysios Skylosophos in 1611.

References

  1. Riley-Smith 1995, p. 4.
  2. Blin 2019, pp. 224–225.

Bibliography