Ottoman conquest of Otranto

1480–1481 invasion of southern Italy

"Battle of Otranto" redirects here. For the naval battles, see Battle of the Strait of Otranto.

Battle of Otranto

Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
and Ottoman–Hungarian Wars

Castle of Otranto
| Date| 28 July 1480 – 10 September 1481

|

Location|

Otranto, Kingdom of Naples

Result|

* Ottoman forces conquer Otranto[1][2]
* Christian forces recapture the city in September 1481

Belligerents
Ottoman Empire|

* Kingdom of Naples
* Papal States
* Crown of Aragon
* Kingdom of Sicily
* Hungary

Commanders and leaders
Gedik Ahmed Pasha|

* Paolo Fregoso
* Francesco Largo †
* Alfonso, Duke of Calabria
* Gaspare de Spes
* Balázs Magyar

Strength

* 18,000 infantry
* 700 cavalry
* 128 ships

* Kingdom of Naples: 20,000 infantry[3]
* Hungary: 2,100 Hungarian heavy infantry[4]

Casualties and losses
Garrisoned forces surrender, 300 captured[3]|

* 12,000 killed in action
* 5,000 enslaved

* v
* t
* e

Crusades

Ideology and institutions

* Crusading movement
* Military order (religious society)
* Crusade indulgence
* Papal income tax

In the Holy Land (1095-1291)

* First
* 1101
* Norwegian
* Venetian
* 1129
* Second
* Second Norwegian
* Third
* 1197
* Fourth
* Fifth
* Sixth
* Barons'
* Seventh
* 1267
* Catalan
* Eighth
* Lord Edward's
* Fall of Outremer

Later Crusades (1291-1717)

* Crusades after Acre, 1291–1399
* Smyrniote
* Alexandrian
* Savoyard
* Barbary
* 1390
* 1398
* 1399
* Nicopolis
* Varna
* Holy Leagues
* 1332
* 1495
* 1511
* 1526
* 1535
* 1538
* 1571
* 1594
* 1684
* 1717

Northern (1147-1410)

* Kalmar
* Wendish
* Swedish
* 1150
* 1249
* 1293
* Livonian
* Prussian
* Lithuanian
* Votian
* Ice
* Tatar

Against Christians (1204-1588)

* Dyrrhachium
* Constantinople
* Aragon
* Albigensian
* Colonna family
* Drenther
* Hohenstaufen
* Stedinger
* Bosnian
* Bohemian
* Despenser's
* Hussite
* Spanish Armada

Popular (1096-1320)

* People's (1096)
* Children's
* Shepherds' (1251)
* Crusade of the Poor
* Shepherds' (1320)

Reconquista (722–1492)

Crusader states (Site)

* v
* t
* e

Hungarian–Ottoman Wars

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1366–1367)
Hungarian–Ottoman War (1375–1377)
Hungarian–Ottoman War (1389–1396)

* Nicopolis (1396)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1415–1419)
War of the South Danube (1420–1432)

* Golubac (1428)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1437–1442)

* Smederevo (1437)
* Belgrade (1440)
* Smederevo (1441)
* Marosszentimre and Iron Gate (1442)
* Ialomita River (1442)

Long campaign and Crusade of Varna (1443–1444)

* Nish (1443)
* Zlatitsa (1443)
* Kunovica (1443)
* Varna (1444)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1445–1448)

* Kosovo (1448)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1449–1456)

* Kruševac (1454)
* Belgrade (1456)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1458–1490)

* Užice (1458)
* Smederevo (1459)
* Jajce (1464)
* Zvornik (1464)
* Vaslui (1475)
* Serbia Expedition (1477)
* Breadfield (1479)
* Otranto (1480–1481)
* Krbava Field (1493)

Hungarian–Ottoman War (1521–1526)

* Belgrade (1521)
* Šabac (1521)
* Mohács (1526)

Ottoman–Habsburg wars

Relics of the Martyrs of Otranto inside Otranto Cathedral

In the summer of 1480, the Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, and laid siege to Otranto, finally capturing it on 11 August. This was their first outpost in Italy.[5] According to a traditional account, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city had been captured.[6][7] The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later, the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city after a siege by Christian forces, bolstered by the intervention of papal forces that were led by Paolo Fregoso of Genoa, and amid uncertainty upon the death of sultan Mehmed II.

## Background and motive

[edit]

In 1479, the Ottomans proposed an alliance to Venice. The Signoria declined the request. However from Venetian sources, it can be inferred that the Signoria, through Battista Gritti, its new bailo in Istanbul, gave the sultan to understand that it would be his rights in seizing Brindisi, Taranto, and Otranto. While it is impossible to say what extent such declarations contributed to Mehmed's decision to carry out his long-standing plan for a landing in Italy, he acted quickly and resolutely.[8]

Early in the summer of 1480, kapudan-i derya Gedik Ahmed Pasha received orders from Mehmed to cross the Strait of Otranto.[8]

## Siege and capture

[edit]

On 28 July, an Ottoman fleet of 128 ships, including 28 galleys, arrived near the Neapolitan city of Otranto. Many of the troops had come from the 1480 Siege of Rhodes. The garrison and the citizens of Otranto retreated to the city's castle. On 11 August, after a 15-day siege, Gedik Ahmed ordered the final assault. When the walls were breached the Ottomans methodically passed to house to house and sacked, looted and set it on fire. Upon reaching the cathedral, "they found Archbishop Stefano Agricolo, fully vested and crucifix in hand" to be awaiting them with Count Francesco Largo, the garrison commander, and Bishop Stefano Pendinelli, who distributed the Eucharist and sat with the women and children of Otranto while a Dominican friar led the faithful in prayer. A total of 12,000 were killed and 5,000 were enslaved, including victims from the territories of the Salentine Peninsula around the city, and the cathedral was turned into a mosque.[9][verification needed]

## Stalled advance

[edit]

In August, 70 ships of the fleet attacked Vieste. On 12 September, the Monastero di San Nicholas di Casole, which had accommodated one of the richer libraries of Europe, was destroyed. By October, attacks had been conducted against the coastal cities of Lecce, Taranto and Brindisi.

However, the lack of supplies made the Ottoman commander, Gedik Ahmed Pasha, unable to consolidate his force's advance. Instead he returned with most of his troops to Albania and left a garrison of 800 infantry and 500 sipahi behind to defend Otranto. It was assumed that he would return with his army after the winter.

## Catholic response

[edit]

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|

See also: Portuguese expedition to Otranto

Since only 27 years had passed since the Fall of Constantinople, there was some fear that Rome would suffer the same fate. Plans were made for the Pope and the citizens to evacuate the city. Pope Sixtus IV repeated his 1471 call for a crusade. Several Italian city-states, Hungary and France responded positively. The Republic of Venice did not do so, as it had signed an expensive peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1479.

In April 1481, Sixtus IV called for an Italian crusade to liberate the city, and Christian forces besieged Otranto in May. An army was raised by King Ferdinand I of Naples, to be led by his son Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. A contingent of troops was provided by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.

## Recapture

[edit]

Between August and September, King Ferdinand of Naples, with the help of his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic and the Kingdom of Sicily, attempted to recapture Otranto.[10] The Christian forces besieged the city on 1 May 1481. Mehmed II was preparing for a new campaign in Italy, but died on 3 May. The succession issues prevented the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Otranto. After negotiation with the Christian forces, the Ottomans surrendered in August, leaving Otranto in September 1481.

## Aftermath

[edit]

The number of citizens, which is said to have been nearly 20,000, had decreased to 8,000 by the end of the century.[11]

The Ottomans also briefly held Otranto once more after they conquered it in 1537.[12][13]

## See also

[edit]

* History of Islam in southern Italy
* Martyrs of Otranto
* Da Vinci's Demons (fictional work, part of which portrays the invasion)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Encyclopædia Americana, Volume 9 via books.google.com
2. ^ The Ottoman Empire: A Short History Page 44 via books.google.com
3. ^ a b Köse, Metin Ziya (2016). Otranto Seferi (in Turkish). İstanbul: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (EK-2 Cilt). pp. 386–388\. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.386-388&rft.pub=TDV+İslâm+Ansiklopedisi+(EK-2+Cilt)&rft.date=2016&rft.aulast=Köse&rft.aufirst=Metin+Ziya&rft_id=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/otranto-seferi&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Ottoman+conquest+of+Otranto" class="Z3988">
4. ^ Csaba Csorba; János Estók; Konrád Salamon (1999). Magyarország Képes Története. Budapest, Hungary: Magyar Könyvklub. p. 62\. ISBN 963-548-961-7.
5. ^ Savvides, Alexios, and Photeine Perra. "Hospitallers and Ottomans Between the Two Great Sieges of Rhodes (1480–1522/1523) 1." Archived 13 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine In The 1522 Siege of Rhodes, pp. 11-39. Routledge, 2022.
6. ^ "Pope canonises 800 Italian Ottoman victims of Otranto". BBC News. 12 May 2013. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
7. ^ "HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS". www.vatican.va. 12 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
8. ^ a b Franz Babinger (1978). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Princeton University Press. p. 690\. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.
9. ^ Paolo Ricciardi, Gli Eroi della Patria e i Martiri della Fede: Otranto 1480–1481, Vol. 1, Editrice Salentina, 2009
10. ^ G. Conte, Una flotta siciliana ad Otranto (1480), in "Archivio Storico Pugliese", a. LXVII, 2014
11. ^ Andrews, Robert.; Belford, Ros; Buckley, Jonathan Buckley; Dunford, Martin; Jepson, Tim; Ratcliffe, Lucy; Woolfrey, Celia (2012). Puglia Rough Guides Snapshot Italy. United Kingdom: Rough Guides. ISBN 9781409362333 - via books.google.com.
12. ^ The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire By Doç. Dr. Raşit GÜNDOĞDU via books.google.com
13. ^ Discovering Turkey Page 63 via books.google.com

## Further reading

[edit]

* Hubert Houben, ed. La conquista turca di Otranto (1480) tra storia e mito: atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Otranto–Muro Leccese, 28–31 marzo 2007. 2 vols. Galatina, 2008.

## External links

[edit]

* En.otrantopoint.com
* Zum.de
* Castellipuglia.org
* Uni-mannheim.de
* Cronologia.leonardo.it
* How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome

* v
* t
* e

Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century

13th-14th|

* 1285 Kulaca Hisar
* 1326 Bursa
* 1328–1331 Nicaea
* 1333–1337 Nicomedia
* 1360s Adrianople
* 1385 Sofia
* 1393 Tarnovo
* 1394–1402 Constantinople

15th|

* 1411 Constantinople
* 1422 Constantinople
* 1422–1430 Thessalonica
* 1428 Golubac
* 1440 Belgrade
* 1440–41 Novo Brdo
* 1448 Svetigrad
* 1450 Krujë
* 1453 Constantinople
* 1455 Berat
* 1456 Belgrade
* 1461 Trebizond
* 1462 Mytilene
* 1463 Jajce
* 1464 Jajce
* 1466–67 Krujë
* 1467 Krujë
* 1470 Negroponte
* 1474 Scutari
* 1477–78 Krujë
* 1478–79 Scutari
* 1480 Rhodes
* 1481 Otranto
* 1484 Chilia

16th|

* 1500 Cephalonia
* 1517 Cairo
* 1521 Belgrade
* 1522 Knin
* 1522 Rhodes
* 1529 Peñón of Algiers
* 1529 Vienna
* 1531 Diu
* 1532 Güns (Kőszeg)
* 1532 Maribor
* 1533–34 Coron
* 1534 Tunis
* 1534 Baghdad
* 1537 Klis
* 1537 Corfu
* 1538 Diu
* 1539 Castelnuovo
* 1541 Buda
* 1543 Nice
* 1543 Esztergom
* 1548 Aden
* 1548 Van
* 1551 Tripoli
* 1552 Muscat
* 1552 Hormuz
* 1552 Temesvár
* 1552 Eger
* 1556 Oran
* 1559 Bahrain
* 1563 Oran
* 1565 Malta
* 1566 Szigetvar
* 1570–71 Famagusta
* 1574 Tunis
* 1578 Gvozdansko
* 1592 Bihać
* 1593 Sisak
* 1596 Eger

17th|

* 1601 Nagykanizsa
* 1621 Khotyn
* 1603 Tabriz
* 1606 Ganja
* 1607 Shamakhi
* 1616 Erivan
* 1624 Baghdad
* 1625–1626 Baghdad
* 1630 Baghdad
* 1635 Erivan
* 1636 Erivan
* 1638 Baghdad
* 1663 Uyvar
* 1664 Novi Zrin
* 1648–1669 Candia
* 1672 Kamenets
* 1683 Vienna
* 1684 Buda
* 1684 Santa Maura
* 1685 Érsekújvár
* 1686 Buda
* 1686 Pécs
* 1688 Negroponte
* 1688 Belgrade
* 1690 Belgrade
* 1695 Azov
* 1696 Azov

18th|

* 1711 Brăila
* 1715 Nauplia
* 1716 Corfu
* 1716 Temeşvar
* 1717 Belgrade
* 1733 Baghdad
* 1734–35 Ganja
* 1737 Ochakov
* 1739 Belgrade
* 1788 Ochakov
* 1788 Khotin
* 1789 Belgrade
* 1789–90 Izmail
* 1799 El Arish
* 1799 Jaffa
* 1799 Acre

19th|

* 1801 Cairo
* 1806 Belgrade
* 1821 Patras
* 1821–22 Acropolis
* 1821 Tripolitsa
* 1822 Missolonghi
* 1823 Missolonghi
* 1825–26 Missolonghi
* 1826–27 Acropolis
* 1828 Kars
* 1828 Varna
* 1854 Calafat
* 1854 Silistra
* 1854–55 Sevastopol
* 1855 Kars
* 1877 Plevna

20th|

* 1912–13 Scutari
* 1912–13 Adrianople
* 1915 Van
* 1915–16 Kut
* 1916–1919 Medina

Ottoman defeats shown in italics.
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