In honor of today's feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I am posting this paper on the Battle of Lepanto, which I previously wrote for School.
The battle of Lepanto was a most decisive Christian victory in the sixteenth century. Previous to this battle, the Muslims won victories at the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. After the battle, they did not try any naval combat for seventy years.
In the late sixteenth century the western Mediterranean was in danger of being attacked by the Turks. The Turks had just abandoned their siege at Malta in 1565, but in 1569 there was a destructive fire in the Arsenal Shipyard in Venice. By this event, the Turks were encouraged to attack by sea, as many ships of their Venetian enemy had been destroyed in the fire. The Christian countries were largely disunited due to various bickering. Also, England had turned Protestant, and France was being ravaged by Huguenots.When Pope Pius V preached a new crusade to defeat the Turkish fleet, he was only answered by Spain and Venice.
In 1570 the pope formed a Holy League- a fleet of ships from Spain, Venice, and the Papal States. The pope also asked the people of Rome to pray the rosary for the success of the battle.
The king of Spain, Phillip II, chose his half-brother, Don Juan of Austria to command the fleet. Don Juan was a brave young fellow, previously distinguished by putting down a rebellion of Moriscos in Spain in 1570. Don Juan helped to unite the various other countries in the fleet, as by being an Austrian he was considered an outsider. The other commanders of the fleet were Agostino Barbarigo, Gian Andrea Doria, and Doge Sebastiano Venerio.
The Holy League, after gathering at Messina, set out on September eighteenth, 1571. In the fleet there were about two hundred and ninety-three ships of various types. The most common types of ships were the galleys. Being propelled by sail or oars, these ships were maneuverable on account of having a shallow draft. For fighting purposes the galleys had at least a hundred soldiers on each, who were armed with various weapons. In the Holy League fleet there were six large ships entitled galleasses. These were larger than the galleys, some having more than forty cannons and five hundred soldiers. Also in the fleet were some smaller ships: shallops- long, low ships for making surprise attacks, and fregatas for scouting and relaying messages. The ships of the Turkish fleet were mostly galleys and smaller ships. They also had a type of corsair ship called a galliot, which was smaller than a galley. These were good for shallow-water raids.
Concerning the soldiers in the fleet, there were five thousand from Venice, twenty thousand from Spain, and two thousand from the Papal States. Also, there were various volunteers from other parts of Europe. In all there were around thirty thousand fighting men. On the other hand, the Turks had more than fifty thousand men and two hundred and seventy-four ships, the Christians having more ships but fewer men.
The weapons of the Holy League soldiers were crossbows, swords, pikes, and arquebuses, which were a type of matchlock firearm. The Turks had their traditional sabers and composite bows made of wood and horn, as well as spears and a few boughten European arquebuses.
The Turkish fleet gathered at Lepanto, as there were two Muslim forts there on either side of the gulf of Patras, one on the mainland of Greece, and the other on the Peloponnese. The Turks originally planned a crescent-shaped battle formation, but they found it too hard to maintain so they caused their formation to resemble that of the Holy League. Therefore shortly after the fleets met on October seventh, 1571, both were in three divisions in a line with reserves behind the center division. Don Juan, in his flagship entitled Real, was in command of the middle division of the Christian fleet. Opposite him was Ali Pasha in command of the center division of the Turkish fleet. The lighter galleys of the league left commanded by Agostino Barbarigo were pitted against the maneuverable Muslim right. The heavier lantern-class galleys commanded by Gian Andrea Doria were set against Uluj Ali, the more populated Turkish left.
As the fleets drew together, the Muslims raised a green banner written twenty-nine thousand times with the names of God. The Christians raised various crucifixes and banners, including the Pope’s banner, this banner being sky-blue and emblazoned with an image of the crucified Christ.
Four of the Christian galleasses were placed in front of the main fleet. These quickly sank seven of the first Turkish galleys. As the Turkish center came close the well-trained Christian gunners fired at point blank range, firing three times as frequently as their opponents. Gian Andrea Doria had had an interesting idea. He suggested removing the spurs from the front of their ships, which previously obstructed the gunners’ aim. Without them, the gunners could aim lower. Therefore, the Christian gunners could fire at closer range than the Turks.
Don Juan’s flagship attacked the Sultana. Four hundred arquebusiers boarded the Sultana, after which a fight ensued. Ali Pasha being killed by an arquebus, Don Juan captured the galley and also the fabulous green banner. By then the battle for the center of the line was won, many heavy galleys being captured.
The League left defeated the Muslim right although their commander Agostino Barbarigo was killed by a Turkish arrow. Mehmed Suluk, the commander of the Turkish right, was killed in an uprising of the Christian galley slaves in the Turkish fleet.
The corsairs on the left did not try to attack the center but they attacked on the right where there were better odds, as was the custom of pirates (they were also thinking to capture a ship for loot, and then return to Constantinople). Two galleasses which had been behind the fleet moved to the south to support the league right. Don Juan being victorious in the center also came to the aid of the right after which the Muslim left was defeated.
At this time in Rome, Pope Pius by divine inspiration knowing the battle was won, said to his secretary, “This is no time for business, but for giving thanks to God, for at this moment our fleet is victorious.” Afterwards he ordered the Te Deum to be sung in thanksgiving. The battle being ended there were seven thousand Christian dead, twenty-nine thousand Turkish dead. There were also twelve Christian galleys and thirty Turkish galleys sunk, as well as one hundred and eighty Turkish ships captured. Also there were ten thousand Turkish prisoners.
In conclusion, the Turks did not take the western Mediterranean. In 1572 they floated a fleet of 150 ships into the eastern Mediterranean, but it was a deception, as the fleet was made up of inferior and undermanned ships. The battle of Lepanto had totally devastated the Turkish navy. In thanksgiving, the Pope declared October seventh to be feast of our Lady of Victory, which was later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary.
The battle was a significant event often depicted in numerous paintings and poems. Here are the some lines from a poem entitled ‘Lepanto’, which was written by G.K. Chesterton in 1915:
White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
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