Untitled Essay, Research Paper
By: Mike Dielman
Introduction
During a morning of blazing heat of the first July 1571 shouting of joy
everywhere in Barcelona could be heard. 47 galleys were about to weigh the
anchor in the port. The leading ship was the “Reale” and the supreme-commander
Juan d `Austria went on board. It was not his intention to inspect the fleet
but to make himself familiar with the ship. The “Reale” build in the shipyards
of Barcelona was kept in the colors of Don Juan: Red and Gold. The ship was
heavily decorated with splendid ornamentation which made it an impressive
flagship. At the quays people were congratulating the young prince of 23
years on leading one of the most important naval enterprises in European
history.
A beautiful day- but it ended with a humiliation for the hero. At the time
Don Juan returned to his domicile in the evening he found a letter of Philipp
II who was his royal half-brother. He prohibited him to carry the title of
sublimity because this status only should belong to one excellency. This
was also a rude reminder of his illegitimate origin. ( Jean Descola, Meilensteine
der Geschichte, 1990, Verlag Hersching)
2.The Supreme Commander
DON JUAN DE AUSTRIA, ENGLISH LORD JOHN OF AUSTRIA,
illegitimate son of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V and half brother of
King Philip II of Spain . Removed from his mother, a bourgeois daughter,
at an early age, he was brought up in concealment in Spain. After the death
of Charles V, Philip II of Spain recognized him as his half brother, provided
him with a substantial household, and gave him the name Don Juan de
Austria (1559). Though it was hoped that he would enter the church, the handsome
and spirited Don Juan expressed a desire to embark on a military career,
and Philip acceded to his
wishes. In the summer of 1568 Don Juan had his first brief experience in
warfare, fighting Moorish pirates in the Mediterranean, and he was then appointed
in March 1569 commander in chief of Spanish forces attempting to subdue the
rebellious Moors, or Christians of Moorish ancestry, in Granada. Philip then
appointed him in 1571 to head the naval forces of the Holy League of Spain,
Venice, and the pope against the Ottoman Turks in the eastern
Mediterranean.(Britannica Online ,1999, www.eb.co.uk:180)
Even though he left his mark in history as the winner of Lepanto, he surely
was not the only actor on the scene. Many others have played its part before,
during and after the battle, whose prologue began in Venice.
3.Venice
The only city which still could make independent politics remained Venice
which governed itself with changing luck since the 9th century. The story
of Venice could be compared to a trader epic. The streets of Venice were
shimmering of silk and scents of spices waving through the markets. The venetian
traders were the inventors of a solid trading ship and dominated the im-
and export business. Over centuries as a main supplier for products from
the east and ruler of a sea-empire it was partially only possible by force
of arms. The Venetian maritime territory reached over Istria the coast of
Dalmatia, the Ionic isles and Crete. In the 15th century Venice decided not
only to expand on sea but also on land.
The Venetian victory over Genoa took place under the threat of Turkish advance
in the East. The Venetian had to negotiate a state of neutrality with the
Turks and find another economic base to compensate for the smaller yield
now to be expected from trade with the East. So they turned to the Italian
mainland, first to rid themselves of neighboring lordships and then to defend
and exploit the rich lands they had acquired. Later Venice received from
the Turkish sultan in Istanbul the trade monopoly in the osmanic empire and
annexed 1489 the isle of Cyprus which has been a center of Christian, Latin
culture and major trading place since the conqueration of the crusaders.
Since this year Venice ruled over the whole east Mediterranean Sea through
and sent ambassadors to all European courts which its political fame increased.
( Jean Descola, Meilensteine der Geschichte, 1990, Verlag Hersching)
It can be said that Venetian policy in the 16th century was dictated by the
need to keep intact its political, economic, and territorial heritage against
the advance of the Turks on the one side and the pressure of the great western
European powers on the other. This need supplied the reason for Venice’s
intervention in the Italian crisis of the emperor Charles V; for its struggle
against the Turks, from the defeat of Prйveza in 1538 to the victory
of Lepanto and the loss of Cyprus in 1571; and for its tenacious resistance
to pressure from the pope.
(Britannica Online ,1999, www.eb.co.uk:180)
4.Philipp II
In the year of the battle of Lepanto PilippII came to the high point of his
power and Spain to highest fame. Even though he might not have inherited
the hegemony in Europe
which his father Karl V has conquered but lost again, so he didn`t recognize
his country as a part of the Holy Roman Empire but as self-dependent power.
The Netherlands, Mexico and Peru belonged to him. At the same time he ruled
over Naples and Sicily which gave him quite a big influence in Italy. ( Jean
Descola, Meilensteine der Geschichte, 1990, Verlag Hersching)
5.Political Situation in Turkey
In Turkey the place of Suleiman I was taken by his son Selim II, byname SARI
(”THE BLOND”), Ottoman sultan from 1566, whose reign saw peace in Europe
and Asia and the rise of the Ottomans to dominance in the Mediterranean but
marked the beginning of the decline in the power of the sultans. He was unable
to impose his authority over the Janissaries and was overruled by the women
of his harem. Selim, the son of Sьleyman I the Magnificent, came to
the throne in the wake of palace intrigues and bitter civil strife with his
brothers.
He was more inclined to a life of pleasure than to the difficult task of
governing, and he entrusted the affairs of state to his able grand vizier
(chief minister) and son-in-law, Mehmed Sokollu.
6.The Ultimatum
The fact that Cyprus was occupied by Christians bothered the ruler of Turkey
because it was an obstacle for Turkish shipping. He send an Ultimatum to
Venice and requested them to clear the island. If they wouldn`t do it voluntarily
he threatened them with war. In Venice this request was considered to be
outrageous, impudent and rejected the claim with reference to the peace agreement
made years before. In July 1570 turkey lead a squadron to attack Cyprus which
commenced hostilities.
How did Spain react? While Venice was only interested to keep its territorial
property under control, Philip II intended to conquer the coast lines of
North-Africa. Despite Spain and
Venice were not well-disposed, mistrusted each other and had followed different
principles, the occasion was enough to form a community of common interests
against the Islamic world.
To make it a military pact a moral justification was needed which should
be announced by a neutral and unquestioned party. Pope Pius V whose original
name was ANTONIO GHISLIERI, Italian ascetic, reformer, and relentless persecutor
of heretics, whose papacy (1566-72) marked one of the most austere periods
in Roman Catholic church history.
During his reign, the Inquisition was successful in eliminating Protestantism
in Italy, and the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-63) were put into
effect.
Pope Pius V gave them the induce . He increased the value of a possible war
as crusade against the infidels. The zealot Philip II and Venice founded
the Holy League.
7.The Holy League
The Holy League- the contract between Spain and Venice- approved by the pope
contained a declaration of war to the Os manic Empire as well as to the
“Barbary”-States of North-Africa, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli. The contract contained
the regulations for the military stake as well as agreements From splitting
the costs. The campaign was guided by three commanders, one venetian, one
Spanish and a substitute of the papal court.
The holy father’s emphasized wish was to make Juan d`Austria the supreme
commander
as ” Dux Generalis”. ( Jean Descola, Meilensteine der Geschichte, 1990, Verlag
Hersching)
8.The Preparations
At the 20 of May 1571 the alliance was put into action and two month later
the galleys consisting out of two groups of 11 and 37 ships left the harbor.
They headed to Genoa and then further to Messina on Sicily which was the
melting pot for the squadrons.
Don John of Austria met his fleet off Messina and saw that he had 300 ships,
great and small, under his command. The Pope himself had outfitted twelve
galleys and the depth of his war chest had paid for many more. Don John’s
eye must have gazed with pride on the 80 galleys and 22 other ships that
had been provided by his half-brother Philip II of Spain. Each of these Spanish
galleys held a hundred soldiers on top of the 50-200 rowers who propelled
the ship through the water and no less than 30,000 men in the service of
Spain would fight at Lepanto. The next largest contingent was that of Venice.
No longer the dominating power of yesteryear the Venetian could still assemble
a fleet of more than a hundred vessels beneath the winged Lion of St. Mark
standard. The Venetian ships were poorly manned, however, and the necessity
of stationing Spanish soldiers on Venetian ships led to friction and in some
cases blows. It was the Venetian, however, who provided the technological
cutting edge that was to win the battle. In the Venetian fleet were six
galleasses. Broader in the beam than regular galleys and with a deeper draught
they were so difficult to maneuver that they had to be towed into battle
by speedier vessels. Despite their lethargy of movement, they were the most
powerful ships in the Mediterranean. Their broad beam and deeper draught
gave them a stability as a gun platform hitherto unknown. On their prow was
constructed a kind of walled platform mounted with swivel guns that presaged
the armored turrets of later battleships by almost 300 years. The sides and
the stern of the galleass were also heavily armed and a wooden deck protected
the rowers. On its bow there was a long point that could effectively crush
any smaller vessel that was unfortunate enough to be in the galleass’ way.
A total of 80,000 men manned the ships of the Holy League. Of these 50,000
toiled at the oars and the remaining 30,000 were soldiers. On September 17th
1571, Don John moved his fleet eastwards and at Corfu they heard that the
Turks had recently landed and terrorized the Christian population. They then
moved on and as they lay anchored off the coast of Cephalonia, bad news reached
them. Famagusta, the last Christian stronghold on Cyprus had fallen to the
Turks. The news enraged the men of Don John’s fleet and stiffened the resolve
of the commanders to engage the Muslims as quickly as possible. There was
one other piece of disturbing news: the Turkish fleet under the command of
Ali Pasha had been reinforced by a Calabrian fisherman turned Moslem and
corsair. His name was Uluch Ali and he was now the Bey of Algiers, that notorious
nest of the Moslem corsairs feared by all Christian ships plying their trade
in the Mediterranean. Don John moved his force towards the anchorage of Lepanto
where he knew the Turks to be waiting and during the night of October 6th,
with a favorable wind behind him, Ali Pasha moved his fleet westward toward
the mouth of the Gulf of Patras and theapproaching ships of them Holy League.
(Alex`s Military History Homepage, 1999,
geocities/Broadway/Alley/5443/lepanto3.htm)
9.The Batlle
The action that was to follow was the biggest naval engagement anywhere on
the globe since the Battle of Actium in 30 B.C. at which Octavian and Antonius
once fought for the survival of the Roman Empire. And the tactics had changed
little since then. Both commanders hoped to rapidly come to grips with their
enemy, board them and let the soldiers fight it out to the end. The only
major difference was that in 1571 the ships carried guns and those on the
galleasses in particular would have a crucial effect. When the Turkish fleet
was sighted Don John split his force into three sections. On the right of
the Christian line he
placed the Venetian under Barbarrigo, on the left Andrea Doria leading the
Genoese and papal galleys. The center he took for himself. In reserve was
Santa Cruz with a force of 35 Spanish and Venetian ships. He also ordered
the iron rams to be removed from his ships as he knew that gunfire and close
quarter fighting would be of more use than attempts to ram. Two galleasses
were towed into position in front of each Christian division. The Turks,
initially arrayed in a giant crescent-shaped formation, quickly separated
into three sections also.
The centre, under Ali Pasha, pushed forward and the action opened when the
cannon of
Don John’s two center galleasses began to do great execution among Ali
Pasha’s advancing ships. The engagement had lasted for more than four hours
and when the smoke finally cleared it became apparent that this was a major
victory for the Holy League and a bitter defeat for the Turk. Almost 8,000
of the men who had sailed with Don
John were dead and another 16,000 wounded. On the brighter side 12,000 Christian
galley slaves had been released from their servitude to the Ottomans. The
Turks and Uluch Ali’s
Algerines had suffered more grievously: 25,000 of them had been killed. (Alex`s
Military History
Homepage,1999,geocities/Broadway/Alley/5443/lepanto3.htm)
10.The Outcome
Even though the victory was evident and spectacular it should be mentioned
that not all of the Turkish fleet was destroyed. The Algerian Uludsch Ali
managed to escape with a group of 40 ships. And one of his fellows put the
victory as following: They only cropped the Sultan`s beard.” Indeed, how
fast they would recover could be seen in the Turkish shipyards. Still the
7th of October was a memorable date but in its effects changing and quite
different for everyone.
Venice felt the liberation of the Turkish threat directly. It could keep
ist political independence but lost its dominating position in trade. In
the year after the battle the driven out ships from Levante stopped running
into the ports of the north. In a medium-term it supported the expansion
of England`s trade with the osmanic empire. Ten years after the battle, British
trade fleets crossed regularly the Mediterranean Sea under its flag of the
Levante Company, to trade with the Turks.
With regard to Spain it could be said they were freed from the Turkish threat
for a long term and the feared engagement of the French and Turkish fleet
was made impossible due to the battle.
Despite all assumptions Philipp II was not upset with the break-up of the
Holy League. He may have wanted to save Venice from the Turkish threat but
the victory was not supposed to be so devastating for the Turks. This way
some balance could be reached and prevented to make Venice politically too
strong for Philipp’s plans. He hoped to incorporate his Italian properties
into his empire at a later time. Furthermore, his worry was not be involved
into the Holy League too much but at the end the Spanish finances were exhausted
and loans from Genuese Banks were a burden on its treasury. In his zeal to
fight the infidels and being convenient for its finances he confiscated the
property of Jews and Moors driven out of Spain at these times. ( Jean Descola,
Meilensteine der Geschichte, 1990, Verlag Hersching)
The strategic effects of this great victory were negligible, but its moral
effects were
immense. It confirmed the Spaniards in their chosen role as champions of
Christendom and explains much of their continued willingness to support their
king’s religious and imperial policies, even in the face of ruinous costs
and mounting disasters. After Lepanto, however, it
became clear that the stalemate in the Mediterranean could not be broken.
Although the Ottoman navy was destroyed by the fleet of the Holy League at
the Battle of Lepanto (1571), it was able to rebuild and regain naval mastery
in the eastern Mediterranean through the rest of the 16th and most of the
17th century, taking Tunis from the Spanish Habsburgs (1574), Fez from the
Portuguese (1578), and Crete from Venice (1669). In
consequence, as long as Europe continued to fear the Ottomans, no one tried
to upset the precarious peace treaties concluded in Sьleyman’s later
years, and the Ottomans were shielded from their own weakness for quite some
time. (Britannica Online ,1999, www.eb.co.uk:180)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Supreme Commander
3. Venice
4. The Political Situation in Turkey
5. Philipp II
6. The Ultimatum
7. The Holy League
8. The Preparations
9. The Battle
10. The Outcome