Siege of Navarino (1572) | |||||||
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Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars and Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War | |||||||
Depiction of the Holy League campaign in Morea | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Papal States Republic of Venice | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John of Austria Álvaro de Bazán Alexander Farnese | Occhiali | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
253 ships
| >35 ships | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
750 killed | 1 ship lost |
The siege of Navarino was a military engagement between the Holy League fleet led by John of Austria who besieged the Ottoman garrison in Navarino. The siege ended in failure and the withdrawal of the Christian armada.
On September 9, having learned about the newly built Ottoman fleet stationed at Navarino, Don John led the armada of 253 ships, with the Spanish in the center and the Venetian and papal fleets on either side. [1] Don John called the council on how to deal with the Turkish admiral, it was then resolved to force their way to Modon and besiege it. [2] On September 18 the fleet anchored at Sapienza to fetch some water, the Turks attacked them but withdrew upon landing reinforcements. [3]
The fleet made plans and several efforts to enter the harbor of Modon, but all efforts ended in vain due to the Ottoman's solid defenses. The fleet arrived in Navarino to keep an eye on the Ottoman fleet at Modon, on 20 September, some 30 Ottoman galleys from Modon arrived to find out what the armada of the league was up to but Álvaro de Bazán forced them to withdraw. [4]
On 21 September, the Turks, occupying the castle which overlooked the bay of Navarino fired their cannons at the armada. Don John dispatched 20 galleys to Zakynthos for German infantry reinforcements. On 27 September, they sailed into the bay of Navarino, however, the channel was too narrow to enter and the Turkish guns were mounted on the shore, preventing them from entering. [5]
On October 2, Don John landed 5,000 troops led by Alexander Farnese ashore to capture the castle at Navarino. During the night, they climbed the steep slope to the Turkish castle. The allied troops made several attempts to capture the castle, but the garrison was enforced by detachments from Modon, and the siege ended in failure, resulting in the death of 750 men. Upon learning the news of reinforcements of 20,000 cavalry from the Beylerbey of Greece, the allies re-embarked on October 7, the first anniversary of Lepanto, and Don John announced the end of the campaign to the distress of the Venetians. [6] [7]
As the galleys paid their last visit to Modon, they discovered that twenty Ottoman galleys were chasing a ship. The Christians quickened their pace to meet the Ottoman galleys trying to cut them off from re-entering Modon, and the Ottomans gave up their attempt to capture the ship. However, Occhiali sent 15 galleys to reinforce the rest of the galleys and bombard the Christian fleet. All of the Ottoman galleys successfully reached Modon except one, which Alvaro de Bazen captured. [8]
Miguel de Cervantes, the famous Spanish writer participated in the siege of Navarino. [9] [10]
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.
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.
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Methoni, formerly Methone or Modon, is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Pylos-Nestor, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 97.202 km2. Its name may be derived from Mothona, a mythical rock. It is located 11 km south of Pylos and 11 km west of Foinikounta. The municipal unit of Methoni includes the nearby villages of Grizokampos, Foinikounta, Foiniki, Lachanada, Varakes, Kainourgio Chorio, Kamaria, Evangelismos, and the Oinnoussai Islands. The islands are Sapientza, Schiza, and Santa Marina; they form a natural protection for Methoni harbour.
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The Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War was fought between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire between 1714 and 1718. It was the last conflict between the two powers, and ended with an Ottoman victory and the loss of Venice's major possession in the Greek peninsula, the Peloponnese (Morea). Venice was saved from a greater defeat by the intervention of Austria in 1716. The Austrian victories led to the signing of the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, which ended the war.
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.
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