| Raid of the Balearic islands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||
 Historic map of Menorca by Piri Reis. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spain |  Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Philip II | Dragut | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
800 men [1] 40–100 soldiers | 150 ships 15,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4,000 inhabitants enslaved | Unknown | ||||||
An Ottoman raid of the Balearic islands was accomplished by the Ottoman Empire in 1558, against the Spanish Habsburg territory of the Balearic islands.
The Ottomans had already attacked the Balearic Islands many times previously, as in the 1501 Ottoman raid on the Balearic islands. Then followed the sacks of Pollença (in 1531 and 1550), the Sack of Mahon in 1535, Alcúdia (1551), Valldemossa (1552), Andratx (1553), and Sóller (1561). Ottoman attacks only decreased after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, although they continued until the 17th century. [2] [3]
On 30 December 1557, Henry II of France, who was in conflict with the Habsburgs in the Italian War of 1551–1559, wrote a letter to Suleiman, asking him for money, saltpeter, and 150 galleys to be stationed in the West. Through the services of his ambassador Jean Cavenac de la Vigne, Henry II obtained the dispatch of an Ottoman fleet in 1558. [4]
Suleyman the Magnificent sent his fleet as a diversion to help his French allies against the Habsburgs. The Ottoman armada left Constantinople in April 1558. On 13 June 1558 the Ottoman fleet ravaged Italy, with little effect however apart from the sack of Sorrento, then part of the possessions of Spain in southern Italy, where they took 3,000 captives. [5]
In July, the fleet then started to ravage the Balearic islands. [6] The Ottoman force consisted of 15,000 soldiers on 150 warships. The Ottomans, after repulsing an attack on Mahón, attacked the citadel of Ciutadella in Menorca, which was only garrisoned with 40 soldiers. [7]
On 9 July 1558, the Ottomans under Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis put the town under siege for eight days, then entered and decimated the town. After the fall of the citadel, the city was ravaged and the population enslaved. [7] All of Ciutadella's 3,099 inhabitants who survived the siege were sold into slavery in the Ottoman Empire, along with people from surrounding villages. In total, 3,452 locals were sold at the slave markets of Constantinople. The Balearic islands were ravaged, and 4,000 people were taken as prisoners. [8]
An obelisk was set up in the 19th century by Josep Quadrado in the Plaza d'es Born in memory of the offensive, with the following inscription:
Here we fought until death for our religion and our country in the year 1558. [7]
Every year on 9 July a commemoration takes place in Ciutadella, remembering "l’Any de sa Desgràcia", or "the Year of the Disaster". [1]
As a later consequence of the 1553 Franco-Ottoman Invasion of Corsica, the same Ottoman fleet was delayed from joining a French fleet in Corsica near Bastia, possibly due to the failure of the commander Dragut to honour Suleiman's orders. Suleiman apologized in a letter to Henry at the end of 1558. [9] [10]
The Italian War of 1551–1559 began when Henry II of France declared war against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with the intent of recapturing parts of Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs. The war ended following the signing of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis between the monarchs of Spain, England and France in 1559. Historians have emphasized the importance of gunpowder technology, new styles of fortification to resist cannon fire, and the increased professionalization of the soldiers.
Ciutadella de Menorca or simply Ciutadella is a town and a municipality in the western end of Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands (Spain). It is one of the two primary cities in the island, along with Maó.
Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis, was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid-16th century.
Piali Pasha was an Ottoman Grand Admiral between 1553 and 1567, and a Vizier (minister) after 1568. He is also known as Piale Pasha in English.
Salah Rais was the 7th King of Algiers, an Ottoman privateer and admiral. He is alternatively referred to as Sala Reis, Salih Rais, Salek Rais and Cale Arraez in several European sources, particularly in Spain, France and Italy.
The conquest of Tunis occurred in 1535 when the Habsburg Emperor Charles V and his allies wrestled the city away from the control of the Ottoman Empire.
The Cathedral Basilica of Ciutadella de Menorca is a Roman Catholic church in Ciutadella de Menorca, in the island of Menorca, in Balearic Islands, Spain. It was constructed on the orders of King Alfonso III of Aragon "the Liberal", the conqueror of the island, in 1287 on the site of an old mosque.
The siege of Nice occurred in 1543 and was part of the Italian War of 1542–46 in which Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent collaborated as part of the Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII of England. At that time, Nice was under the control of Charles III, Duke of Savoy, an ally of Charles V. This is part of the 1543–1544 Mediterranean campaign of Barbarossa.
The Cretan War, also known as the War of Candia or the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice and her allies against the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary States, because it was largely fought over the island of Crete, Venice's largest and richest overseas possession. The war lasted from 1645 to 1669 and was fought in Crete, especially in the city of Candia, and in numerous naval engagements and raids around the Aegean Sea, with Dalmatia providing a secondary theater of operations.
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 by the pope which included Spain, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and sometimes tactical alliance was one of the longest-lasting and most important foreign alliances of France, and was particularly influential during the Italian Wars. The Franco-Ottoman military alliance reached its peak with the Invasion of Corsica of 1553 during the reign of Henry II of France.
Gabriel de Luetz, Baron et Seigneur d'Aramon et de Vallabregues, often also abbreviated to Gabriel d'Aramon, was the French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1546 to 1553, in the service first of Francis I, who dispatched him to the Ottoman Empire, and then of the French king Henry II. Gabriel de Luetz was accompanied by a vast suite of scientists, Jean de Monluc, philosopher Guillaume Postel, botanist Pierre Belon, naturalist Pierre Gilles d'Albi, the future cosmographer André Thévet, traveler Nicolas de Nicolay who would publish their findings upon their return to France and contribute greatly to the development of early science in France.
Antoine Escalin des Aimars (1516–1578), also known as Captain Polin or Captain Paulin, later Baron de La Garde, was French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1547, and "Général des Galères" from 1544.
The siege of Tripoli occurred in 1551 when the Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates besieged and vanquished the Knights of Malta in the Red Castle of Tripoli, modern Libya. The Spanish had established an outpost in Tripoli in 1510, and Charles V remitted it to the Knights in 1530. The siege culminated in a six-day bombardment and the surrender of the city on 15 August.
The Invasion of Corsica of 1553 occurred when French, Ottoman, and Corsican exile forces combined to capture the island of Corsica from the Republic of Genoa.
The siege of Corfu in 1537 was led by the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent, against the Republic of Venice-held island of Corfu. It is part of the Ottoman–Venetian War (1537–1540), one of the numerous Ottoman–Venetian Wars of the period.
Michel de Codignac was French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1553 to 1556, and successor to Gabriel de Luetz d'Aramon.
Jean Cavenac de la Vigne, seigneur d'Auvilliers, was French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1556 to 1566. He was the successor of Michel de Codignac, who had returned to Europe in 1558, passing through Venice in July 1558, and betrayed the French cause by entering in the service of Philip II of Spain.
Dragut was an Ottoman corsair, naval commander, governor, and noble. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended across North Africa. Recognized for his military genius, and as being among "the most dangerous" of corsairs, Dragut has been referred to as "the greatest pirate warrior of all time", "undoubtedly the most able of all the Turkish leaders", and "the uncrowned king of the Mediterranean". He was nicknamed "the Drawn Sword of Islam". He was described by a French admiral as "a living chart of the Mediterranean, skillful enough on land to be compared to the finest generals of the time" and that "no one was more worthy than he to bear the name of king". Hayreddin Barbarossa, who was his mentor, stated that Dragut was ahead of him "both in fishing and bravery".