Battle of Lepanto

Battle of Lepanto
Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars and the Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War
The Battle of Lepanto, Laureys a Castro
Date 7 October 1571 Location Gulf of Patras, Ionian Sea 38°15′N 21°15′E / 38.250°N 21.250°E / 38.250; 21.250 Result Holy League victory
Belligerents
Holy League：  Republic of Venice  Spanish Empire Kingdom of Naples  Kingdom of Sicily Kingdom of Sardinia  Duchy of Parma  Republic of Genoa  Duchy of Savoy Grand Duchy of Tuscany  Order of St. John Papal States Greek rebels	Ottoman Empire Regency of Algiers
Commanders and leaders
John of Austria Álvaro de Bazán Luis de Requesens Carlo d'Aragona Tagliavia Sebastiano Venier Agostino Barbarigo † Gianandrea Doria Marcantonio Colonna	Ali Pasha † Mahomet Sirocco † Occhiali
Strength
65,000 men: 30,000 sailors and oarsmen 35,000 soldiers[1] 206 galleys 6 galleasses[2][3][4]	67,000 men: 37,000 sailors and oarsmen 30,000 soldiers 222 galleys 56 galliots[4]
Casualties and losses
7,500–10,000 killed[5] and 15,000 wounded[6] 13 galleys sunk or destroyed[7]	20,000[6]–25,000 killed[8] 117 galleys captured 20 galliots captured 50 galleys and galliots sunk or destroyed
15,000 Christian slaves freed[6]
class=notpageimage| Location within Greece Show map of Greece Battle of Lepanto (Peloponnese) Show map of Peloponnese

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 (the Venetian name of ancient Naupactus – Greek Ναύπακτος, Turkish İnebahtı) when they met the fleet of the Holy League which was sailing east from Messina, Sicily.^[9]

The fleet of the Holy League consisted of 109 galleys and six galleasses from the Republic of Venice, 49 galleys from the Spanish Empire, 27 galleys from the Republic of Genoa, seven galleys from the Papal States, five galleys from the Order of Saint Stephen and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, three galleys from the Duchy of Savoy, three galleys from the Knights of Malta and some private ships.^[9] John of Austria, half-brother of Philip II of Spain, was named by Pope Pius V as overall commander of the fleet and led the centre division along with Papal captain Marcantonio Colonna and the Venetian Sebastiano Venier; the wings were commanded by the Venetian Agostino Barbarigo and the Genoese Gianandrea Doria. The Ottoman fleet consisted of 222 galleys and 56 galliots and was led by Müezzinzade Ali Pasha, Mahomet Sirocco and Occhiali.

In the history of naval warfare, Lepanto marks the last major engagement in the Western world to be fought almost entirely between rowing vessels,^[10] namely the galleys and galleasses which were the direct descendants of ancient trireme warships. The battle was in essence an "infantry battle on floating platforms".^[11] It was the largest naval battle in Western history since classical antiquity, involving more than 450 warships. Over the following decades, the increasing importance of the galleon and the line of battle tactic would displace the galley as the major warship of its era, marking the beginning of the "Age of Sail".

The victory of the Holy League is of great importance in the history of Europe and of the Ottoman Empire, with the Ottoman fleet almost completely destroyed.^[12] However, the battle had no lasting impact on the Ottoman navy as the Ottomans rapidly rebuilt their fleet in under 6 months.^[13][14] The battle has long been compared to the Battle of Salamis, both for tactical parallels and for its crucial importance in the defense of Europe against imperial expansion.^[15] It was also of great symbolic importance in a period when Europe was torn by its own wars of religion following the Protestant Reformation. Pope Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory, and Philip II of Spain used the victory to strengthen his position as the "Most Catholic King" and defender of Christendom against Muslim incursion.^[16] Historian Paul K. Davis writes that

More than a military victory, Lepanto was a moral one. For decades, the Ottoman Turks had terrified Europe, and the victories of Suleiman the Magnificent caused Christian Europe serious concern. The defeat at Lepanto further exemplified the rapid deterioration of Ottoman might under Selim II, and Christians rejoiced at this setback for the Ottomans. The mystique of Ottoman power was tarnished significantly by this battle, and Christian Europe was heartened.^[17]