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Cretan War (1645–1669)
Encyclopedia
The Cretan War or War of Candia , as the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War is better known, was a conflict between the Republic of Venice
and her allies (chief among them the Knights of Malta
, the Papal States
and France
) against the Ottoman Empire
and the Barbary States, 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 and in numerous naval engagements and raids around the Aegean Sea
, with Dalmatia
providing a secondary theater of operations.
Although most of Crete was conquered by the Ottomans in the first few years of the war, the fortress of Candia (modern Heraklion
), the capital of Crete, resisted successfully. Its prolonged siege
, "Troy's
rival" as Lord Byron called it, forced both sides to focus their attention on the supply of their respective forces on the island. For the Venetians in particular, their only hope for victory over the larger Ottoman army in Crete lay in successfully starving it of supplies and reinforcements. Hence the war turned into a series of naval encounters between the two navies and their allies. Venice was aided by various Western European nations, who, exhorted by the Pope
and in a revival of crusading spirit
, sent men, ships and supplies "to defend Christendom". Throughout the war, Venice maintained overall naval superiority, winning most naval engagements, but the efforts to blockade the Dardanelles
were only partially successful, and the Republic never had enough ships to fully cut off the flow of supplies and reinforcements to Crete. The Ottomans were hampered in their efforts by domestic turmoil, as well as by the diversion of their forces north towards Transylvania
and the Habsburg Monarchy
.
The prolonged conflict exhausted the economy of the Republic, which relied on the lucrative trade with the Ottoman Empire. By the 1660s, despite increased aid from other Christian nations, war-weariness had set in. The Ottomans on the other hand, having managed to sustain their forces on Crete and reinvigorated under the capable leadership of the Köprülü family
, sent a final great expedition in 1666 under the direct supervision of the Grand Vizier
. This began the final and bloodiest stage of the Siege of Candia, which lasted for more than two years. It ended with the negotiated surrender of the fortress, sealing the fate of the island and ending the war in an Ottoman victory. In the final peace treaty, Venice retained a few isolated island fortresses off Crete, and made some territorial gains in Dalmatia. The Venetian desire for a revanche would lead, barely 15 years later, to a renewed war
, from which Venice would emerge victorious. Crete however was lost to the Serenissima
; it would remain under Ottoman control until united with Greece in 1913.
to the Ottomans in the fifth Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)
, the island of Crete (the "Kingdom of Candia
") was the last major overseas possession of Venice. Its important strategic position made it an obvious target for future Ottoman expansion, while its size and fertile ground, together with the bad state of its fortresses, made it a more tempting prize than Malta
. On the Venetian side, the Serenissima, with its weak military and great dependence on uninterrupted trade, was anxious not to provoke the Ottomans. Hence Venice scrupulously observed the terms of its treaty with the Ottomans, securing over sixty years of peaceful relations. By the early 17th century moreover, Venetian power had declined considerably. Its economy, which had once prospered because of its control over the Eastern spice trade
, had suffered as a result of the opening of the new Atlantic trade routes, and from the loss of the important German market because of the Thirty Years' War
. In addition, the Republic had become embroiled in a series of wars in northern Italy like the Mantuan War
and was further weakened by an outbreak of the plague in 1629–1631.
The potential for conflict between the Ottomans and Venice was still present, as evidenced in 1638, when a Venetian fleet attacked and destroyed a fleet of Barbary pirates that had sought protection in the Ottoman port of Valona
, bombarding the city in the process. Sultan Murad IV
was enraged: he threatened to execute all Venetians in the Empire, and put an embargo on Venetian trade. Eventually, and given that the Ottomans were still engaged in a war
with the Persians
, the situation was defused with the Republic paying the Ottomans an indemnity of 250,000 sequins
.
A similar episode however in 1644 had an entirely different outcome: on 28 September, the Knights of Malta attacked an Ottoman convoy
on its way from Constantinople
to Alexandria
, aboard which were a number of pilgrims
bound for Mecca
, including the exiled Kızlar Ağa (Chief Black Eunuch) Sünbül Ağa, the kadi
of Cairo and the nurse of the future sultan Mehmed IV
. During the fight, Sünbül Ağa and most of the important pilgrims were slain, while 350 men and 30 women were taken to be sold as slaves. The Knights loaded their loot on a ship, which then docked at a small harbor on the southern coast of Crete for a few days, where it disembarked a number of sailors and slaves. The Ottomans were enraged at the incident, and the Porte accused the Venetians of deliberate collusion with the Knights, something the Venetians vehemently denied. With the hawkish party being then dominant in the Ottoman court, the incident was seen as a perfect pretext for war with a weakened Venice. Despite a long period of negotiations, which lasted until well into 1645, and against the objections of the Grand Vizier Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha, war was decided upon. An expedition was quickly assembled with over 50,000 troops and reputedly 416 vessels, under Kapudan Pasha Silahdar Yusuf Pasha, the Sultan's son-in-law. The Ottoman armada sailed from the Dardanelles on 30 April, heading towards the harbor of Navarino
in the Peloponnese
, where it remained for three weeks. The fleet's target was not announced, but the Ottomans, to allay Venetian fears, implied that it would be Malta.
generale, Andrea Corner, the Venetian defenses were still in a bad state. The island's fortifications were substantial, but they had been long neglected, and much effort was put into repairing them. Anxious about Ottoman preparations, the Republic reinforced Crete in late 1644 with 2,500 troops and provisions, and began arming its fleet, while assistance was promised in the event of war by the Pope and Tuscany
. However, the local Greek population was not well-disposed towards the Venetians, something that would prove to be of critical importance. Not only were the Ottomans thus able to quickly establish control over the countryside, but in later years, when the Ottoman forces in the island were practically cut off from seaborne supplies, only the local produce, provided by the Greek population, sustained them.
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The Ottomans first landed 15 miles west of Canea (Chania
), where the local militia fled before them. They then attacked the small island fortress of St. Todero, the commander of which, the Istria
n Blasio Zulian, blew himself, the fortress and its garrison up rather than let it fall to the Ottomans. The Ottoman army next advanced to the city of Canea itself, which fell on 22 August, after a siege that lasted for 56 days. At the same time, however, the Venetians were strengthened, as the promised help started to arrive in the form of galleys from the Papal States, Tuscany, Malta and Naples. In September, the Ottoman fleet was in disarray, but the allied Christian fleet, under the cautious command of Niccolò Ludovisi
, the Pope's nephew, failed to exploit the opportunity for a decisive strike. When the Christian forces finally moved to retake Canea on 1 October, with a fleet of about 90 ships, the stout Turkish defense and the Allies' lack of cooperation doomed the attack. Soon thereafter, the Venetian allies returned to their bases.
In November, Silahdar Yusuf Pasha left behind a strong garrison and returned to Constantinople for the winter. There however, he fell foul of the Sultan and was executed. Nevertheless, Ottoman preparations continued in order to renew and expand the war, while the Venetians were frantically trying to raise money and men, and attempting to induce other European powers to join them against the Ottomans. However, as most of Europe was locked into the fierce antagonisms of the Thirty Years' War
, their pleas fell mostly on deaf ears. The Venetians were hard pressed by the financial demands of the war: besides placing taxes on the Italian mainland possessions (the Terraferma
), they resorted to the sale of nobility titles and state offices to fill their war coffer. To lead the effort against the Ottomans, the Senate initially appointed the 80 year-old doge
Francesco Erizzo
, but after his death in early 1646, he was replaced by Giovanni Cappello (73 years old) as Captain General of the Sea.
Cappello's performance in 1646 was distinctly lackluster: he failed to interdict the arrival of Ottoman reinforcements under Kara Musa Pasha in June (see below), and an attack on the Turkish fleet at Chania Bay in August failed, as did his attempt to break the Ottoman blockade of Rettimo (Rethymno
). As a result, the city fell on 20 October, while the citadel
held out until 13 November. During the winter of 1646-1647, both sides suffered from an outbreak of plague
, and throughout the spring of 1647, operations did not make much headway. In mid-June however, a small Ottoman force routed a larger body of Venetian mercenaries. This Ottoman success paved the way for Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
, the local commander, to conquer the eastern half of the island, except for the fortress of Siteia. The Venetians and the local population suffered some grievous losses: it is estimated that by 1648, almost 40% of the Cretan population had perished of disease or warfare, and in 1677, the island's pre-war population of ca. 260,000 had dropped to about 80,000. By the beginning of 1648, all of Crete, except Candia and a few strongholds like the island of Gramvousa
, was in Ottoman hands.
by the Moors
under Moulay Ismail (1694–1727). The Ottoman besiegers were adversely affected by the bad supply situation caused by the activity of the Christian fleets in the Aegean, who intercepted Ottoman convoys carrying supplies and reinforcements to the island. In addition, the overall Ottoman war effort was severely hampered by increased domestic instability caused by Sultan Ibrahim
's erratic policies and his summary execution of leading state officials. It ultimately led to his deposition in favor of his son Mehmed IV
, ushering in a further period of confusion within the Ottoman government.
The lack of supplies had forced the Ottoman commander Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
to lift the siege in early 1649, but it was renewed for a short period of two months after the arrival of the Ottoman fleet in June. The Ottomans assailed the fortifications, exploding over 70 mines, but the defenders held firm. The Turks lost over 1,000 men, and the subsequent withdrawal of 1,500 Janissaries and the lack of any further reinforcements over the course of 1650 left Hüseyin Pasha with little option but to continue maintaining as tight a blockade as possible. The Ottomans strengthened their positions with the construction of three forts in the Canea area, and the arrival of reinforcements in late 1650 allowed them to keep up their tight blockade. Despite the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles and the political turmoil at the Ottoman court, the Ottoman forces were kept well supplied enough to sustain themselves, although too weak to engage in offensive actions against Candia itself. In 1653, the Ottomans took the island fortress of Selino in Suda Bay, and San Todero, captured a few years previously, was refortified. The Venetian naval successes over the next few years further reduced the offensive ability of the Ottoman army in Crete, but the blockade of Candia continued, and the Ottomans retained possession of their other conquests on the island, until the arrival of a new Ottoman expeditionary force in 1666.
Venice could not directly confront the large Ottoman expeditionary force on Crete, but it did possess a fine navy, that could intervene and cut the Ottoman supply routes. In 1645, the Venetians and their allies possessed a fleet of 60–70 galleys, 4 galleass
es and about 36 galleon
s. The Venetians were also superior in their use of a mixed fleet of both galleys and sailing ships, while initially, the Ottoman navy
relied almost exclusively on galleys. In order to bolster their forces, both opponents hired armed merchantmen from the Netherlands, and later from England (especially the Ottomans), to augment their forces.
The first Venetian operation was an attempt to blockade the Dardanelles
in 1646. To interdict the supplies headed to the Ottoman forces in Crete, a force of 23 Venetian ships under Tommaso Morosini scoured the Aegean for Ottoman shipping, and attempted to capture the strategically important island of Tenedos
at the entrance of the Dardanelles. The Kapudan Pasha Kara Musa
led a fleet of 80 warships against the Venetians, but his fleet was driven back into the Dardanelles on 26 May
. However, the blockading fleet was unable to stop the next exit of the Ottoman fleet on 4 June, when the lack of wind enabled the Ottoman galleys to evade the Venetian sailing ships. The Ottomans were thus able to land new troops and supplies on Crete unopposed. The efforts of the Venetian fleet to counter the Ottoman land operations in Crete likewise failed, through a combination of timidity on behalf of their commanders, the delays in payment for the crews, and the effects of a widespread plague.
On 27 January 1647, the Venetians lost Tommaso Morosini, when his ship was forced to face the entire Ottoman fleet of 45 galleys. In the ensuing fight, Morosini was killed, but managed to cause significant casualties to the Ottomans, including Kara Musa Pasha himself. The ship itself was rescued by the timely arrival of the Venetian fleet under the new Captain General, Giovanni Battista Grimani. This stand-off, where a single ship had caused such damage and casualties to the entire Ottoman fleet, was a major blow to Ottoman morale. Despite some successes like a raid in Çeşme
, the remainder of the year was a failure for the Venetians, as several attempts to blockade Turkish harbors failed to stem the flow of supplies and reinforcements to Crete.
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The Venetians returned to the Dardanelles in 1648. Despite losing many ships and admiral Grimani himself in a storm in mid-March, reinforcements under Giacomo da Riva brought the Venetian fleet back up to strength (some 65 vessels), and allowed them to successfully blockade the Straits for a whole year. The Ottomans countered this in part by building a new fleet at Çeşme, forcing the Venetians to divide their forces, and in 1649, a strengthened Ottoman fleet under Kapudan Pasha Voinok Ahmed broke the blockade. Despite scoring a victory
over the Ottoman fleet in its anchorage at Phocaea
on 12 May 1649, capturing or destroying several ships, da Riva was not able to prevent the Ottoman armada from eventually reaching Crete. This highlighted the weakness of the Venetian position: maintaining long blockades with galleys was an inherently difficult task, and the Republic did not have enough ships to control both the Dardanelles and the passage of Chios
at the same time.
For most of 1650, a Venetian fleet of 41 vessels maintained the blockade of the Dardanelles, prohibiting Haideragazade Mehmed Pasha from sailing for Crete. He was replaced late in the year by Hozamzade Ali Pasha, governor of Rhodes
, who used a clever ploy to get through the blockade: waiting until winter, when the Venetians withdrew their forces, he assembled a small number of ships and embarked several thousand troops with many provisions on them, and sailed unmolested to Crete.
On 10 July 1651, the first significant naval battle
of the war was fought south of Naxos
, a three-day engagement in which the Venetians with 58 ships under Alvise Mocenigo were victorious over the twice as large Ottoman fleet. The remainders of the Ottoman fleet withdrew to Rhodes, from where they were however able to reach Candia. Mocenigo was replaced soon after by Leonardo Foscolo, but both sides did not accomplish much in the next two years, although the Ottomans did succeed in supplying their forces on Crete while keeping their fleet intact.
For 1654, the Ottomans marshaled their strength: the Arsenal (Tersane-i Amire) in the Golden Horn
produced new warships, and squadrons from Tripolitania and Tunis arrived to strengthen the Ottoman fleet. The strengthened Ottoman fleet that sailed forth from the Dardanelles in early May numbered 79 ships (40 sailing ships, 33 galleys and 6 galleasses), and further 22 galleys from around the Aegean and 14 ships from Barbary stood by to reinforce it off the Straits. This force considerably outnumbered the 26 ships of the Venetian blockade fleet under Giuseppe Dolfin. Although the battle
that followed resulted in an Ottoman victory, for the Venetians, given the successful escape of their fleet from the superior Ottoman force, coupled with reports of large Ottomans casualties and the great bravery displayed by the Venetian crews, it counted as a moral victory. The Ottoman fleet, now reinforced by the Aegean and Barbary squadrons, plundered the Venetian island of Tinos
, but retreated after only a brief skirmish with the Venetians under Alvise Mocenigo on 21 June. Kara Murad Pasha
succeeded in evading the Venetians for the remainder of the year, with both fleets sailing back and forth in the Aegean, before returning to the Dardanelles in September due to agitation among the fleet's Janissaries. The final months of 1654 were marked by a significant change in the Venetian leadership: Mocenigo died at Candia, and was succeeded as acting Captain General of the Sea by Francesco Morosini
, who had distinguished himself in the previous battles.
Morosini initiated a more energetic approach in the Venetian pursuit of the war: in the spring of 1655, he raided the Ottoman supply depot at Aigina and razed the port town of Volos
in a night attack on 23 March. In early June, Morosini sailed to the Dardanelles, awaiting the sally of the Ottoman fleet, which was however delayed because of political upheaval in the Ottoman government. Leaving Lazzaro Mocenigo with half the fleet (36 ships) to keep watch at the Straits, Morosini returned to the Cyclades. A week after his departure however, on 21 June, the Ottoman fleet, numbering 143 ships under Mustapha Pasha, appeared. The resulting battle
was a clear Venetian victory. The Ottoman fleet avoided action for the remainder of the year, before it withdrew to winter quarters, leaving Morosini free to undertake an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the strategically important island fortress of Malvasia (Monemvasia
) off the south-eastern coast of the Peloponnese
. In September, Morosini was posted as the new provveditore of Crete, with Lorenzo Marcello as the new Captain General of the Sea.
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Although in the previous years the Venetians had generally held the upper hand against the Ottomans, largely controlling the Aegean and able to extract tribute and recruits from its islands, they had been unable to transform this superiority into concrete results. Despite their defeats, the Ottomans were still free to roam the Aegean and resupply their forces in Crete, in particular through the use of supply fleets from places like Alexandria
, Rhodes, Chios or Monemvasia in the Peloponnese. In June 1656 however, a combined Venetian–Maltese fleet of 67 ships under Marcello inflicted on the Ottomans, with 108 ships under Kenan Pasha, their "worst naval defeat
since Lepanto
": Sixty Ottoman ships were destroyed and 24 captured and 5,000 Christian galley slaves set free, although the Venetians and Maltese suffered some casualties too, including the loss of Captain General Marcello. Although in the aftermath of this victory the Maltese contingent departed, the scale of their success enabled the Venetians under Barbado Doer to seize Tenedos on 8 July and Lemnos
on 20 August. Using the two islands, strategically located near the entrance of the Straits, as forward bases, the Venetian blockade became much more effective. As a result, the resupply of Crete was effectively cut off, and Constantinople itself suffered a shortage of food during the following winter.
In 1657, the Ottomans reversed the situation. A new and energetic Grand Vizier
, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha
, armed with almost dictatorial authority, had been appointed in September 1656, and reinvigorated the Ottoman war effort. The fleet was strengthened under the new Kapudan Pasha, Topal Mehmed, and in March, the Ottomans succeeded in evading the Venetian blockade of the Straits and sailed towards Tenedos. They did not attack the island however, because the Venetian garrison was too strong. In May, the Venetians under Lazzaro Mocenigo achieved some minor victories, on 3 May
and two weeks later at Suazich
. Reinforced by Papal and Maltese ships, Mocenigo sailed to the Dardanelles, awaiting the renewed sally of the Ottoman fleet, which came on 17 July. Due to disagreements among the Christian commanders, the allied battle line had not been completely formed, and the Ottoman fleet was able to exit the Narrows before battle was joined. The battle consisted of a series of actions over three days, with both fleets drifting south and west out of the Dardanelles into the Aegean. The battle ended in the evening of 19 July, when an explosion destroyed the Venetian flagship and killed Mocenigo, forcing the allied fleet to withdraw. In this battle, the Venetians had inflicted heavier casualties on the Ottomans than they had suffered, but the Ottomans had achieved their goal: the blockade was broken. Under the personal direction of the Grand Vizier and strengthened by men and ships from the Barbary states, the Ottoman fleet proceeded to recover Lemnos, on 31 August, and Tenedos, on 12 November, thus removing any hope the Venetians may have had of re-establishing the blockade as firmly as before.
, Prince of Transylvania, which evolved into a long conflict with the Habsburgs
. For the next few years, the Venetian fleet, again under the command of Morosini, unsuccessfully attempted to maintain the blockade of the Straits of the Dardanelles. Morosini also resumed his tactic of attacking Ottoman strongholds: a siege of the island of Santa Maura (Lefkada
) in August 1658 failed, but in 1659, the Venetians, aided by the Maniots
, sacked Kalamata
in the Peloponnese, followed by Torone in the Chalcidice
, Karystos
in Euboea
, and Çeşme
. However, since Venice could not spare forces to occupy these places, these raids gained the Republic nothing of substance. On the Ottoman side, Köprülü Mehmed ordered the construction of two new forts, Sedd el Bahr ("Rampart of the Sea") and Kilid Bahr ("Key of the Sea"), at the European shore of the entrance of the Dardanelles, to prohibit the Venetians from entering the Straits again.
In the meantime, war-weariness had set in among the Venetians, who suffered from the disruption in trade. Peace feelers were sent to the Ottomans, but their demand for the full concession of Crete as a condition for peace was unacceptable to the Republic. With the end of the war
between France
and Spain
however, the Venetians became encouraged, hoping to receive increased assistance in money and men, especially from the French, whose traditionally good relations with the Porte had soured of late.
This support did indeed soon develop, when individuals or whole companies of men from across Western Europe volunteered for the Republic's army, while Christian rulers also felt obliged to provide men, supplies and ships. The first French contingent of 4,200 men under Prince Almerigo d'Este arrived in April 1660, along with further contingents of German mercenaries, troops from Savoy, and Maltese, Tuscan and French ships. Despite this increase in strength, Morosini's operations in 1660 were a failure: an assault on Canea in August succeeded in taking the outlying fortifications but failed to retake the city itself; similarly, an attack against the Ottoman siege lines at Candia in September achieved some success, but did not break the Ottoman siege. Following the death of Prince d'Este at Naxos
shortly after, the French contingent returned home, followed soon after by a disheartened Morosini, who was succeeded by his kinsman Giorgio. In 1661, Giorgio Morosini scored a few minor successes: he broke an Ottoman blockade of Tinos, and, pursuing the Ottoman fleet, defeated it off Milos
. The next few years however were relatively idle. Although the Ottomans were heavily engaged with the Austrians in Hungary, and that their fleet rarely sallied forth, the Venetians failed to make use of this opportunity, and, except for the intercept of a supply convoy from Alexandria off Kos in 1662
, there was little action.
If the Venetians were idle, the Ottomans were not: with the signing of the Peace of Vasvár
in 1664, they were able to focus their strength against Crete. Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed
initiated large preparations in the winter of 1665/66, and dispatched 9,000 men to bolster the Ottoman forces in Crete. An Ottoman peace proposal, which would have allowed Venice to keep Candia against an annual payment of tribute was rejected, and in May 1666, the Ottoman army, under the personal leadership of the Grand Vizier, departed from Thrace for southern Greece, whence it would embark for Crete during the winter. In February 1667, the Venetians received significant reinforcements from France and Savoy, totaling 21 warships and some 6,000 men, but, as in past years, disagreements among the leaders of the various contingents over precedence (France, the Papal States, Malta, Naples
, Sicily
contributed ships and men) hampered operations. Francesco Morosini, now again Captain General, sought to engage the Ottomans, but they avoided battle, and using their superior resources and bases, they steadily kept their forces on Crete supplied. The only allied success in 1667 was the repulsion of an Ottoman raid on Cerigo (Kythera).
On 8 March 1668, the Venetians were victorious in a hard-fought night battle off the island of St Pelagia, where 2,000 Ottoman troops and 12 galleys attempted to seize a small Venetian galley squadron. Forewarned of their intentions Morosini reinforced it, and won a costly victory, which was to be Venice's last victory at sea in this war. Reinforced again with Papal and Hospitaller ships, the Venetians maintained a blockade of Canea, the Ottomans' main supply base, during summer. To secure their anchorage off St Todero island, the allied forces seized the fortress island of St Marina, a minor success which did not in the end prevent the Kapudan pasha's fleet, bearing fresh troops and supplies, from reaching Canea in September, after the Maltese–Papal squadron had departed.
The new Ottoman army arrived on the island during the winter of 1666/1667, and in May, the final phase of the siege, overseen by the Grand Vizier himself, began. It would last for 28 months and cost the lives of 70,000 Turks, 38,000 Cretans and slaves who labored in the siege works and 29,088 of the city's Christian defenders. Faced with the renewed Ottoman assault and a struggling economy, despite the prospect of considerable reinforcements from Western Europe, in 1668 the Signoria
hoped to end the war by striking a peace settlement with the Ottomans. Indeed, the Venetians hoped to use the imminent arrival of reinforcements to secure concessions from the Ottomans. Admiral Andrea Valier was at first appointed as envoy, but fell ill and was quickly replaced by the elderly nobleman Alvise da Molin. Molin and his embassy traveled to Larissa
, where the Ottoman court resided during one of the Sultan's hunting expeditions. The Ottomans proposed that Venice keep one half of Crete, but the Signoria, emboldened by further pledges of reinforcements, especially from France, and renewed turmoil at the Ottoman court and within the Empire, refused the offer. Molin, in the meantime transported by the Ottomans to Canea in Crete, was ordered to continue negotiations and to continue observing the Ottomans' strength and intentions, but not commit himself or the Republic.
On 19 June, the first part of the long-awaited French contingent (in total some 6,000 soldiers and 31 ships), under the command of François, Duke of Beaufort
, arrived at Candia. The second part, comprising the galley fleet, would arrive on 3 July. The Ottomans had been making steady progress over the past years, having reached the outer bastions of the fortress; the defenders were in dire straits, while most of the city of Candia lay ruined. The French staged their first sally on 25 June. Caught by surprise, the Ottomans were quickly routed, but the French became disorganized among the siege trenches, and an Ottoman counter-attack drove them back. The attack thus ended in disaster, costing the French some 800 dead, including the Duke of Beaufort himself, who was hit by a bullet and left on the field. The arrival of the second half of the French expeditionary force revived the defenders' morale, and a combined attack was agreed upon, involving bombardment of the Ottoman siege lines by the powerful allied fleet. The attack was launched on 25 July, in an impressive display of firepower: up to 15,000 cannon balls were said to have been fired by the fleet alone. The Ottomans however were well-protected by their deep earthworks, and suffered comparatively little damage, while things went awry for the Christian fleet, as an accident caused the explosion of the French ship Thérèse, which in turn caused significant casualties among the surrounding French and Venetian ships.
This failure, coupled with the disaster of the previous month, further soured the relations between the French and the Venetians. Cooperation was distinctly lacking in the few operations attempted during the next few weeks, while the bad supply situation, the spread of sickness among their troops and the continuous attrition of their forces in the everyday fighting at Candia made the French commanders especially keen to depart. The French contingent eventually departed on 20 August. Two Ottoman assaults on the 25th were repulsed, but to Morosini, it was clear that the city could no longer be held. After a council of war on 27 August, but without first consulting Venice, it was decided to capitulate. On 5 September 1669, the city was surrendered to the Ottomans, while the survivors of the garrison, the citizens and their treasures were evacuated. On his own initiative, Morosini concluded a permanent peace agreement with the Ottomans, which, under the circumstances, was relatively generous: Venice would retain the Aegean islands of Tinos
and Kythera and the isolated island fortresses of Spinalonga
, Gramvousa
and Souda
off the Cretan coast, as well as the gains made in Dalmatia.
The Dalmatia
n front was a separate theater of operations, which was involved in the early phase of the war. The conditions there were almost reverse to those in Crete: for the Ottomans, it was too far away and relatively insignificant, while the Venetians operated near their own bases of supply and had undisputed control of the sea, being thus able to easily reinforce their coastal strongholds. In addition, and again unlike Crete, the Venetians enjoyed the support of much of the local population, particularly the Morlacchi
. The Ottomans launched a large-scale attack in 1646, and made some significant gains, including the capture of the islands of Krk
, Pag
and Cres
, and most importantly, the supposedly impregnable fortress of Novigrad
, which surrendered on 4 July, after only two days of bombardment. The Turks were now able to threaten the two main Venetian strongholds in Dalmatia, Zadar
and Split
. In the next year however, the tide turned, as the Venetian commander Leonardo Foscolo
seized several forts, retook Novigrad, temporarily captured the fortress of Knin
and took Klis
, while a month-long siege of the fortress of Šibenik
by the Ottomans in August and September failed. During the next few years, military operations stalled because of an outbreak of famine and plague amongst the Venetians at Zadar, while both sides focused their resources in the Aegean area. As other fronts took priority for the Ottomans, no further operations occurred in the Dalmatian theater. Peace in 1669 found the Republic of Venice
with significant gains in Dalmatia, its territory tripled, and its control of the Adriatic thus secured.
, where the Republic attempted, for the last time, to reverse its losses and reestablish itself as one of the major powers of the Eastern Mediterranean. During that war, in 1692, a Venetian fleet attempted to retake Candia, but failed. The last Venetian strongholds off Crete fell in the last Turkish–Venetian War
in 1715. Crete would remain under Ottoman control until 1897, when it became an autonomous state
. The island continued under Ottoman suzerainty until the Balkan Wars
. In their aftermath, on 1 December 1913 it was formally united to Greece.
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
and her allies (chief among them the Knights of Malta
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
and France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
) against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the Barbary States, fought over the island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Venice's largest and richest overseas possession
Stato da Màr
The Stato da Màr or Domini da Màr was the name given to the Republic of Venice's maritime and overseas possessions, including Istria, Dalmatia, Negroponte, the Morea , the Aegean islands of the Duchy of the Archipelago, and the islands of Crete and Cyprus...
. The war lasted from 1645 to 1669 and was fought in Crete and in numerous naval engagements and raids around the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, with Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
providing a secondary theater of operations.
Although most of Crete was conquered by the Ottomans in the first few years of the war, the fortress of Candia (modern Heraklion
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
), the capital of Crete, resisted successfully. Its prolonged siege
Siege of Candia
The Siege of Candia was a military conflict in which Ottoman forces besieged the Venetian-ruled city and were ultimately victorious. Lasting from 1648 to 1669, it was the longest siege in history.-Background:...
, "Troy's
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
rival" as Lord Byron called it, forced both sides to focus their attention on the supply of their respective forces on the island. For the Venetians in particular, their only hope for victory over the larger Ottoman army in Crete lay in successfully starving it of supplies and reinforcements. Hence the war turned into a series of naval encounters between the two navies and their allies. Venice was aided by various Western European nations, who, exhorted by the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
and in a revival of crusading spirit
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, sent men, ships and supplies "to defend Christendom". Throughout the war, Venice maintained overall naval superiority, winning most naval engagements, but the efforts to blockade the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
were only partially successful, and the Republic never had enough ships to fully cut off the flow of supplies and reinforcements to Crete. The Ottomans were hampered in their efforts by domestic turmoil, as well as by the diversion of their forces north towards Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
.
The prolonged conflict exhausted the economy of the Republic, which relied on the lucrative trade with the Ottoman Empire. By the 1660s, despite increased aid from other Christian nations, war-weariness had set in. The Ottomans on the other hand, having managed to sustain their forces on Crete and reinvigorated under the capable leadership of the Köprülü family
Köprülü era
The Köprülü era was the period which Ottoman Empire's politics were set by the Grand Viziers, mainly the Köprülü family, which was a notable family of imperial bureaucrats of Albanian origin. Köprülü family generated grand viziers to the Empire, combining ambition with genuine talent...
, sent a final great expedition in 1666 under the direct supervision of the Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
. This began the final and bloodiest stage of the Siege of Candia, which lasted for more than two years. It ended with the negotiated surrender of the fortress, sealing the fate of the island and ending the war in an Ottoman victory. In the final peace treaty, Venice retained a few isolated island fortresses off Crete, and made some territorial gains in Dalmatia. The Venetian desire for a revanche would lead, barely 15 years later, to a renewed war
Morean War
The Morean War is the better known name for the Sixth Ottoman–Venetian War. The war was fought between 1684–1699, as part of the wider conflict known as the "Great Turkish War", between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire...
, from which Venice would emerge victorious. Crete however was lost to the Serenissima
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
; it would remain under Ottoman control until united with Greece in 1913.
Background
After the loss of CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
to the Ottomans in the fifth Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)
Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)
The Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War, also known as the War of Cyprus was fought between 1570–1573. 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 under the auspices of the Pope, which included Spain , the...
, the island of Crete (the "Kingdom of Candia
Kingdom of Candia
The Kingdom of Candia or Duchy of Candia was the official name of Crete during the island's period as an overseas colony of the Republic of Venice, from the initial Venetian conquest in 1205–1212 to its fall to the Ottoman Empire during the Cretan War...
") was the last major overseas possession of Venice. Its important strategic position made it an obvious target for future Ottoman expansion, while its size and fertile ground, together with the bad state of its fortresses, made it a more tempting prize than Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. On the Venetian side, the Serenissima, with its weak military and great dependence on uninterrupted trade, was anxious not to provoke the Ottomans. Hence Venice scrupulously observed the terms of its treaty with the Ottomans, securing over sixty years of peaceful relations. By the early 17th century moreover, Venetian power had declined considerably. Its economy, which had once prospered because of its control over the Eastern spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
, had suffered as a result of the opening of the new Atlantic trade routes, and from the loss of the important German market because of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. In addition, the Republic had become embroiled in a series of wars in northern Italy like the Mantuan War
War of the Mantuan Succession
The War of the Mantuan Succession was a peripheral part of the Thirty Years' War. Its casus belli was the extinction of the direct male line of the House of Gonzaga in December 1627. Brothers Francesco IV , Ferdinando and Vincenzo II , the last three dukes of Gonzaga, had all died leaving no...
and was further weakened by an outbreak of the plague in 1629–1631.
The potential for conflict between the Ottomans and Venice was still present, as evidenced in 1638, when a Venetian fleet attacked and destroyed a fleet of Barbary pirates that had sought protection in the Ottoman port of Valona
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
, bombarding the city in the process. Sultan Murad IV
Murad IV
Murad IV Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods...
was enraged: he threatened to execute all Venetians in the Empire, and put an embargo on Venetian trade. Eventually, and given that the Ottomans were still engaged in a war
Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639)
The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 was the last of a series of conflicts fought between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia, then the two major powers of the Near East, over control of Mesopotamia...
with the Persians
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
, the situation was defused with the Republic paying the Ottomans an indemnity of 250,000 sequins
Sequin (coin)
The sequin is a gold coin weighing of .986 gold, minted by the Republic of Venice from the 13th century onwards.The design of the Venetian gold ducat, or zecchino, remained unchanged for over 500 years, from its introduction in 1284 to the takeover of Venice by Napoleon in 1797...
.
A similar episode however in 1644 had an entirely different outcome: on 28 September, the Knights of Malta attacked an Ottoman convoy
Action of 28 September 1644
The Action of 28 September 1644 refers to a battle that took place on 28 September 1644 about from Rhodes, when 6 Maltese galleys under Boisbaudran defeated an Ottoman convoy of sailing ships.-The battle:...
on its way from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, aboard which were a number of pilgrims
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
bound for Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, including the exiled Kızlar Ağa (Chief Black Eunuch) Sünbül Ağa, the kadi
Kadi
Kadi may refer to:*Kadi, Gujarat, a city and municipality in Mehsana district, Gujarat, India*Kadhi, an Indian dish*Kadı, an official in the Ottoman empire*Qadi or kadi, Islamic judge*Al-Qadi, an Arabic surname*Quadi, an ancient Germanic tribe...
of Cairo and the nurse of the future sultan Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...
. During the fight, Sünbül Ağa and most of the important pilgrims were slain, while 350 men and 30 women were taken to be sold as slaves. The Knights loaded their loot on a ship, which then docked at a small harbor on the southern coast of Crete for a few days, where it disembarked a number of sailors and slaves. The Ottomans were enraged at the incident, and the Porte accused the Venetians of deliberate collusion with the Knights, something the Venetians vehemently denied. With the hawkish party being then dominant in the Ottoman court, the incident was seen as a perfect pretext for war with a weakened Venice. Despite a long period of negotiations, which lasted until well into 1645, and against the objections of the Grand Vizier Sultanzade Mehmed Pasha, war was decided upon. An expedition was quickly assembled with over 50,000 troops and reputedly 416 vessels, under Kapudan Pasha Silahdar Yusuf Pasha, the Sultan's son-in-law. The Ottoman armada sailed from the Dardanelles on 30 April, heading towards the harbor of Navarino
Pylos
Pylos , historically known under its Italian name Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former...
in the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, where it remained for three weeks. The fleet's target was not announced, but the Ottomans, to allay Venetian fears, implied that it would be Malta.
Early operations in Crete
The Venetians were indeed fooled by the Ottoman subterfuge and were taken by surprise at the arrival of the Ottoman fleet at Crete on 23 June 1645. Despite the efforts of the recently appointed provveditoreProvveditore
The Italian title provveditore or proveditore , "he who sees to things", was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Venetian dogal republic...
generale, Andrea Corner, the Venetian defenses were still in a bad state. The island's fortifications were substantial, but they had been long neglected, and much effort was put into repairing them. Anxious about Ottoman preparations, the Republic reinforced Crete in late 1644 with 2,500 troops and provisions, and began arming its fleet, while assistance was promised in the event of war by the Pope and Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. However, the local Greek population was not well-disposed towards the Venetians, something that would prove to be of critical importance. Not only were the Ottomans thus able to quickly establish control over the countryside, but in later years, when the Ottoman forces in the island were practically cut off from seaborne supplies, only the local produce, provided by the Greek population, sustained them.
Chania
Chaniá , , also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish خانيه Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
), where the local militia fled before them. They then attacked the small island fortress of St. Todero, the commander of which, the Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n Blasio Zulian, blew himself, the fortress and its garrison up rather than let it fall to the Ottomans. The Ottoman army next advanced to the city of Canea itself, which fell on 22 August, after a siege that lasted for 56 days. At the same time, however, the Venetians were strengthened, as the promised help started to arrive in the form of galleys from the Papal States, Tuscany, Malta and Naples. In September, the Ottoman fleet was in disarray, but the allied Christian fleet, under the cautious command of Niccolò Ludovisi
Niccolò Ludovisi
Niccolò I Ludovisi was Prince of Piombino from 1634 until his death.-Family:He was the son of Orazio Ludovisi, patrician of Bologna and commander-in-chief of the Papal Army , and Lavinia Albergati. He was the nephew of later-Cardinal Niccolò Albergati-Ludovisi...
, the Pope's nephew, failed to exploit the opportunity for a decisive strike. When the Christian forces finally moved to retake Canea on 1 October, with a fleet of about 90 ships, the stout Turkish defense and the Allies' lack of cooperation doomed the attack. Soon thereafter, the Venetian allies returned to their bases.
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, their pleas fell mostly on deaf ears. The Venetians were hard pressed by the financial demands of the war: besides placing taxes on the Italian mainland possessions (the Terraferma
Domini di Terraferma
The Domini di Terraferma or Stato da Tera was the name given to the territories of the Republic of Venice conquered in the Padano–Veneto hinterland....
), they resorted to the sale of nobility titles and state offices to fill their war coffer. To lead the effort against the Ottomans, the Senate initially appointed the 80 year-old doge
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
Francesco Erizzo
Francesco Erizzo
Francesco Erizzo was the 98th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on April 10, 1631 until his death fifteen years later...
, but after his death in early 1646, he was replaced by Giovanni Cappello (73 years old) as Captain General of the Sea.
Cappello's performance in 1646 was distinctly lackluster: he failed to interdict the arrival of Ottoman reinforcements under Kara Musa Pasha in June (see below), and an attack on the Turkish fleet at Chania Bay in August failed, as did his attempt to break the Ottoman blockade of Rettimo (Rethymno
Rethymno
Rethymno is a city of approximately 40,000 people in Greece, the capital of Rethymno peripheral unit in the island of Crete. It was built in antiquity , even though was never a competitive Minoan centre...
). As a result, the city fell on 20 October, while the citadel
Fortezza Castle
The Fortezza Castle is the Venetian-era citadel of the city of Rethymno in Crete, Greece.In the aftermath of the fall of Cyprus to the Ottoman Empire in 1571, the Venetians began fortifying Crete, their largest remaining overseas possession. Construction began on 13 September 1573. The fortress...
held out until 13 November. During the winter of 1646-1647, both sides suffered from an outbreak of plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, and throughout the spring of 1647, operations did not make much headway. In mid-June however, a small Ottoman force routed a larger body of Venetian mercenaries. This Ottoman success paved the way for Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
Ghazi Husain Pasha or Deli Husain Pasha was an Ottoman military officer and stateman. He was Kapudan Pasha in the 1630s and briefly Grand Vizier in the late 1650s.- Early years :...
, the local commander, to conquer the eastern half of the island, except for the fortress of Siteia. The Venetians and the local population suffered some grievous losses: it is estimated that by 1648, almost 40% of the Cretan population had perished of disease or warfare, and in 1677, the island's pre-war population of ca. 260,000 had dropped to about 80,000. By the beginning of 1648, all of Crete, except Candia and a few strongholds like the island of Gramvousa
Gramvousa
Gramvousa, also Grambousa, Grampousa or Krampouza , further names include Akra, Cavo Buso, Cavo Bouza, Garabusa and Grabusa, are names used for two small uninhabited islands off the coast of north-western Crete in the prefecture of Chania...
, was in Ottoman hands.
Siege of Candia begins
The siege began in May 1648. The Turks spent three months investing the city, which included cutting off the water supply. Eventually, it would last until 1669, the second longest siege in history after the siege of CeutaCeuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
under Moulay Ismail (1694–1727). The Ottoman besiegers were adversely affected by the bad supply situation caused by the activity of the Christian fleets in the Aegean, who intercepted Ottoman convoys carrying supplies and reinforcements to the island. In addition, the overall Ottoman war effort was severely hampered by increased domestic instability caused by Sultan Ibrahim
Ibrahim I
Ibrahim I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Istanbul the son of Ahmed I by Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia...
's erratic policies and his summary execution of leading state officials. It ultimately led to his deposition in favor of his son Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV
Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...
, ushering in a further period of confusion within the Ottoman government.
The lack of supplies had forced the Ottoman commander Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
Gazi Hüseyin Pasha
Ghazi Husain Pasha or Deli Husain Pasha was an Ottoman military officer and stateman. He was Kapudan Pasha in the 1630s and briefly Grand Vizier in the late 1650s.- Early years :...
to lift the siege in early 1649, but it was renewed for a short period of two months after the arrival of the Ottoman fleet in June. The Ottomans assailed the fortifications, exploding over 70 mines, but the defenders held firm. The Turks lost over 1,000 men, and the subsequent withdrawal of 1,500 Janissaries and the lack of any further reinforcements over the course of 1650 left Hüseyin Pasha with little option but to continue maintaining as tight a blockade as possible. The Ottomans strengthened their positions with the construction of three forts in the Canea area, and the arrival of reinforcements in late 1650 allowed them to keep up their tight blockade. Despite the Venetian blockade of the Dardanelles and the political turmoil at the Ottoman court, the Ottoman forces were kept well supplied enough to sustain themselves, although too weak to engage in offensive actions against Candia itself. In 1653, the Ottomans took the island fortress of Selino in Suda Bay, and San Todero, captured a few years previously, was refortified. The Venetian naval successes over the next few years further reduced the offensive ability of the Ottoman army in Crete, but the blockade of Candia continued, and the Ottomans retained possession of their other conquests on the island, until the arrival of a new Ottoman expeditionary force in 1666.
Naval war
- For a complete list of naval engagements, see Naval battles of the Cretan War
Early clashes, 1645–1654
Galleass
The galleass developed from large merchant galleys.Converted for military use they were higher and larger than regular galleys. They had up to 32 oars, each worked by up to 5 men. They usually had three masts and a forecastle and aftcastle. Much effort was made in Venice to make these galleasses...
es and about 36 galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
s. The Venetians were also superior in their use of a mixed fleet of both galleys and sailing ships, while initially, the Ottoman navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
relied almost exclusively on galleys. In order to bolster their forces, both opponents hired armed merchantmen from the Netherlands, and later from England (especially the Ottomans), to augment their forces.
The first Venetian operation was an attempt to blockade the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
in 1646. To interdict the supplies headed to the Ottoman forces in Crete, a force of 23 Venetian ships under Tommaso Morosini scoured the Aegean for Ottoman shipping, and attempted to capture the strategically important island of Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
at the entrance of the Dardanelles. The Kapudan Pasha Kara Musa
Kara Musa Pasha
Kara Musa Pasha was an Ottoman soldier and statesman who was named grand vizier by Sultan Ibrahim I on 16 September 1647 after Nevesinli Salih Pasha's execution. Kara Musa-paša was born in the village Vikoča in the vecinity of Foča, now Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was born to the family of...
led a fleet of 80 warships against the Venetians, but his fleet was driven back into the Dardanelles on 26 May
Action of 26 May 1646
This battle took place on 26 May 1646 at the mouth of the Dardanelles Strait. The Ottoman fleet under Kapudan Pasha Kara Musa Pasha, tried to defeat the Venetian fleet, under Tommaso Morosini, that was blockading the Dardanelles. After seven hours, the Ottoman fleet withdrew back into the Strait....
. However, the blockading fleet was unable to stop the next exit of the Ottoman fleet on 4 June, when the lack of wind enabled the Ottoman galleys to evade the Venetian sailing ships. The Ottomans were thus able to land new troops and supplies on Crete unopposed. The efforts of the Venetian fleet to counter the Ottoman land operations in Crete likewise failed, through a combination of timidity on behalf of their commanders, the delays in payment for the crews, and the effects of a widespread plague.
On 27 January 1647, the Venetians lost Tommaso Morosini, when his ship was forced to face the entire Ottoman fleet of 45 galleys. In the ensuing fight, Morosini was killed, but managed to cause significant casualties to the Ottomans, including Kara Musa Pasha himself. The ship itself was rescued by the timely arrival of the Venetian fleet under the new Captain General, Giovanni Battista Grimani. This stand-off, where a single ship had caused such damage and casualties to the entire Ottoman fleet, was a major blow to Ottoman morale. Despite some successes like a raid in Çeşme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
, the remainder of the year was a failure for the Venetians, as several attempts to blockade Turkish harbors failed to stem the flow of supplies and reinforcements to Crete.
Battle of Focchies
The naval Battle of Focchies took place on 12 May 1649, during the Cretan War, off Focchies, near Smyrna in western Turkey, when a Venetian fleet of 19 ships, under Giacomo Riva, defeated an Ottoman fleet of 11 ships, 10 galleasses and 72 galleys....
over the Ottoman fleet in its anchorage at Phocaea
Phocaea
Phocaea, or Phokaia, was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia in 600 BC, Emporion in 575 BC and Elea in 540 BC.-Geography:Phocaea was the northernmost...
on 12 May 1649, capturing or destroying several ships, da Riva was not able to prevent the Ottoman armada from eventually reaching Crete. This highlighted the weakness of the Venetian position: maintaining long blockades with galleys was an inherently difficult task, and the Republic did not have enough ships to control both the Dardanelles and the passage of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
at the same time.
For most of 1650, a Venetian fleet of 41 vessels maintained the blockade of the Dardanelles, prohibiting Haideragazade Mehmed Pasha from sailing for Crete. He was replaced late in the year by Hozamzade Ali Pasha, governor of Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, who used a clever ploy to get through the blockade: waiting until winter, when the Venetians withdrew their forces, he assembled a small number of ships and embarked several thousand troops with many provisions on them, and sailed unmolested to Crete.
On 10 July 1651, the first significant naval battle
Action of 10 July 1651
This battle was fought on 10 July 1651, with some minor fighting on 8 July, south of Naxos in the Greek Islands, between Venetian and Turkish sailing ship/galley forces. It was a Venetian victory.- Background :...
of the war was fought south of Naxos
Naxos (island)
Naxos is a Greek island, the largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture....
, a three-day engagement in which the Venetians with 58 ships under Alvise Mocenigo were victorious over the twice as large Ottoman fleet. The remainders of the Ottoman fleet withdrew to Rhodes, from where they were however able to reach Candia. Mocenigo was replaced soon after by Leonardo Foscolo, but both sides did not accomplish much in the next two years, although the Ottomans did succeed in supplying their forces on Crete while keeping their fleet intact.
Battles of the Dardanelles, 1654–1657
Golden Horn
The Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of...
produced new warships, and squadrons from Tripolitania and Tunis arrived to strengthen the Ottoman fleet. The strengthened Ottoman fleet that sailed forth from the Dardanelles in early May numbered 79 ships (40 sailing ships, 33 galleys and 6 galleasses), and further 22 galleys from around the Aegean and 14 ships from Barbary stood by to reinforce it off the Straits. This force considerably outnumbered the 26 ships of the Venetian blockade fleet under Giuseppe Dolfin. Although the battle
Action of 16 May 1654
This battle, which took place on 16 May 1654, was the first of a series of tough battles just inside the mouth of the Dardanelles Strait, as Venice and sometimes the other Christian forces attempted to hold the Turks back from their invasion of Crete by attacking them early.Venetian commander...
that followed resulted in an Ottoman victory, for the Venetians, given the successful escape of their fleet from the superior Ottoman force, coupled with reports of large Ottomans casualties and the great bravery displayed by the Venetian crews, it counted as a moral victory. The Ottoman fleet, now reinforced by the Aegean and Barbary squadrons, plundered the Venetian island of Tinos
Tinos
Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...
, but retreated after only a brief skirmish with the Venetians under Alvise Mocenigo on 21 June. Kara Murad Pasha
Kara Murad Pasha
Kara Murad Pasha or Kara Dev Murad Pasha was a mid-17th century Ottoman statesman and military officer. He served as Kapudan Pasha and twice as Grand Vizier. His epithets refer to his courage and to his size....
succeeded in evading the Venetians for the remainder of the year, with both fleets sailing back and forth in the Aegean, before returning to the Dardanelles in September due to agitation among the fleet's Janissaries. The final months of 1654 were marked by a significant change in the Venetian leadership: Mocenigo died at Candia, and was succeeded as acting Captain General of the Sea by Francesco Morosini
Francesco Morosini
Francesco Morosini was the Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War...
, who had distinguished himself in the previous battles.
Morosini initiated a more energetic approach in the Venetian pursuit of the war: in the spring of 1655, he raided the Ottoman supply depot at Aigina and razed the port town of Volos
Volos
Volos is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 326 km north of Athens and 215 km south of Thessaloniki...
in a night attack on 23 March. In early June, Morosini sailed to the Dardanelles, awaiting the sally of the Ottoman fleet, which was however delayed because of political upheaval in the Ottoman government. Leaving Lazzaro Mocenigo with half the fleet (36 ships) to keep watch at the Straits, Morosini returned to the Cyclades. A week after his departure however, on 21 June, the Ottoman fleet, numbering 143 ships under Mustapha Pasha, appeared. The resulting battle
Action of 21 June 1655
This battle took place on 21 June 1655 inside the mouth of the Dardanelles Strait. It was a clear victory for Venice over the Ottoman Empire.The Venetians, under Lazzaro Mocenigo, continued their strategy of blockading the Dardanelles, to prevent the Ottomans from resupplying their forces in the...
was a clear Venetian victory. The Ottoman fleet avoided action for the remainder of the year, before it withdrew to winter quarters, leaving Morosini free to undertake an ultimately unsuccessful siege of the strategically important island fortress of Malvasia (Monemvasia
Monemvasia
Monemvasia is a town and a municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small peninsula off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The peninsula is linked to the mainland by a short causeway 200m in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 metres above sea level, up to...
) off the south-eastern coast of the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. In September, Morosini was posted as the new provveditore of Crete, with Lorenzo Marcello as the new Captain General of the Sea.
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Rhodes, Chios or Monemvasia in the Peloponnese. In June 1656 however, a combined Venetian–Maltese fleet of 67 ships under Marcello inflicted on the Ottomans, with 108 ships under Kenan Pasha, their "worst naval defeat
Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)
The Action of 26 June 1656 or Third Battle of the Dardanelles in the Sixth Ottoman-Venetian War took place on 26 and 27 June 1656 inside the Dardanelles Strait...
since Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece...
": Sixty Ottoman ships were destroyed and 24 captured and 5,000 Christian galley slaves set free, although the Venetians and Maltese suffered some casualties too, including the loss of Captain General Marcello. Although in the aftermath of this victory the Maltese contingent departed, the scale of their success enabled the Venetians under Barbado Doer to seize Tenedos on 8 July and Lemnos
Lemnos
Lemnos is an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina...
on 20 August. Using the two islands, strategically located near the entrance of the Straits, as forward bases, the Venetian blockade became much more effective. As a result, the resupply of Crete was effectively cut off, and Constantinople itself suffered a shortage of food during the following winter.
In 1657, the Ottomans reversed the situation. A new and energetic Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha
Köprülü Mehmed Pasha , was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1656 until his death. He was the first leader and founder of the Albanian Köprülü noble dynasty/family.- Life :He was recruited as a part of the devshirmeh system and was trained in the palace school...
, armed with almost dictatorial authority, had been appointed in September 1656, and reinvigorated the Ottoman war effort. The fleet was strengthened under the new Kapudan Pasha, Topal Mehmed, and in March, the Ottomans succeeded in evading the Venetian blockade of the Straits and sailed towards Tenedos. They did not attack the island however, because the Venetian garrison was too strong. In May, the Venetians under Lazzaro Mocenigo achieved some minor victories, on 3 May
Action of 3 May 1657
The Action of 3 May 1657 was a battle that took place on 3 May 1657 and was a victory for Venice over Algeria. Venetian casualties were 117 killed and 346 wounded...
and two weeks later at Suazich
Action of 18 May 1657
This battle took place on 18 May 1657 and was a victory for Venice over Turkey and Algeria. Not many details are known.-Venice:Capitana d'Algeri Arma di MidelborgoPomerlanArma di Colognia...
. Reinforced by Papal and Maltese ships, Mocenigo sailed to the Dardanelles, awaiting the renewed sally of the Ottoman fleet, which came on 17 July. Due to disagreements among the Christian commanders, the allied battle line had not been completely formed, and the Ottoman fleet was able to exit the Narrows before battle was joined. The battle consisted of a series of actions over three days, with both fleets drifting south and west out of the Dardanelles into the Aegean. The battle ended in the evening of 19 July, when an explosion destroyed the Venetian flagship and killed Mocenigo, forcing the allied fleet to withdraw. In this battle, the Venetians had inflicted heavier casualties on the Ottomans than they had suffered, but the Ottomans had achieved their goal: the blockade was broken. Under the personal direction of the Grand Vizier and strengthened by men and ships from the Barbary states, the Ottoman fleet proceeded to recover Lemnos, on 31 August, and Tenedos, on 12 November, thus removing any hope the Venetians may have had of re-establishing the blockade as firmly as before.
Stalemate, 1658–1666
In 1658, Ottoman power was redirected north in a campaign against George II RákócziGeorge II Rákóczi
György Rákóczi II , a Transylvanian Hungarian ruler, was the eldest son of George I and Susanna Lorantffy....
, Prince of Transylvania, which evolved into a long conflict with the Habsburgs
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. For the next few years, the Venetian fleet, again under the command of Morosini, unsuccessfully attempted to maintain the blockade of the Straits of the Dardanelles. Morosini also resumed his tactic of attacking Ottoman strongholds: a siege of the island of Santa Maura (Lefkada
Lefkada
Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...
) in August 1658 failed, but in 1659, the Venetians, aided by the Maniots
Maniots
The Maniots or Maniates are the Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula located in the southern Peloponnese in the Greek prefecture of Laconia and prefecture of Messinia. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as Maina. The Maniots are the direct descendants of the Spartans...
, sacked Kalamata
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
in the Peloponnese, followed by Torone in the Chalcidice
Chalcidice
Chalkidiki, also Halkidiki, Chalcidice or Chalkidike , is a peninsula in northern Greece, and one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Macedonia. The autonomous Mount Athos region is part of the peninsula, but not of the regional unit...
, Karystos
Karystos
Karystos is a small coastal town on the Greek island of Euboea. It has about 7,000 inhabitants. It lies 129 km south of Chalkis. From Athens it is accessible by ferry via Marmari from the Rafina port...
in Euboea
Euboea
Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...
, and Çeşme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
. However, since Venice could not spare forces to occupy these places, these raids gained the Republic nothing of substance. On the Ottoman side, Köprülü Mehmed ordered the construction of two new forts, Sedd el Bahr ("Rampart of the Sea") and Kilid Bahr ("Key of the Sea"), at the European shore of the entrance of the Dardanelles, to prohibit the Venetians from entering the Straits again.
In the meantime, war-weariness had set in among the Venetians, who suffered from the disruption in trade. Peace feelers were sent to the Ottomans, but their demand for the full concession of Crete as a condition for peace was unacceptable to the Republic. With the end of the war
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
between France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
and Spain
Habsburg Spain
Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries , when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty...
however, the Venetians became encouraged, hoping to receive increased assistance in money and men, especially from the French, whose traditionally good relations with the Porte had soured of late.
This support did indeed soon develop, when individuals or whole companies of men from across Western Europe volunteered for the Republic's army, while Christian rulers also felt obliged to provide men, supplies and ships. The first French contingent of 4,200 men under Prince Almerigo d'Este arrived in April 1660, along with further contingents of German mercenaries, troops from Savoy, and Maltese, Tuscan and French ships. Despite this increase in strength, Morosini's operations in 1660 were a failure: an assault on Canea in August succeeded in taking the outlying fortifications but failed to retake the city itself; similarly, an attack against the Ottoman siege lines at Candia in September achieved some success, but did not break the Ottoman siege. Following the death of Prince d'Este at Naxos
Naxos (island)
Naxos is a Greek island, the largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture....
shortly after, the French contingent returned home, followed soon after by a disheartened Morosini, who was succeeded by his kinsman Giorgio. In 1661, Giorgio Morosini scored a few minor successes: he broke an Ottoman blockade of Tinos, and, pursuing the Ottoman fleet, defeated it off Milos
Action of 27 August 1661
Action of 27 August 1661 is a term that describes a battle took place on 27 August 1661 near Milos, Greece, and was a victory for Venice and Malta over Turkey.-References:*Naval wars in the Levant 1559-1853 - R. C. Anderson ISBN 1-57898-538-2...
. The next few years however were relatively idle. Although the Ottomans were heavily engaged with the Austrians in Hungary, and that their fleet rarely sallied forth, the Venetians failed to make use of this opportunity, and, except for the intercept of a supply convoy from Alexandria off Kos in 1662
Action of 29 September 1662
The Action of 29 September 1662 took place between Kos and Kalimnos, Greece, when a Venetian fleet attacked and defeated the regular Turkish cargo fleet and its escort which were on their way to Alexandria.-Turkey:Tre Naranceri 40 - Burnt...
, there was little action.
Final phase of the war, 1666–1669
Peace of Vasvár
The Peace of Vasvár was a treaty between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire which followed the Battle of Saint Gotthard of August 1, 1664, and concluded the Austro-Turkish War...
in 1664, they were able to focus their strength against Crete. Grand Vizier Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed
Köprülü Fazil Ahmed
Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha Was a member of the renowned Köprülü family originated from Albania, that had given three grand viziers to the Ottoman Empire. He served as a Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from...
initiated large preparations in the winter of 1665/66, and dispatched 9,000 men to bolster the Ottoman forces in Crete. An Ottoman peace proposal, which would have allowed Venice to keep Candia against an annual payment of tribute was rejected, and in May 1666, the Ottoman army, under the personal leadership of the Grand Vizier, departed from Thrace for southern Greece, whence it would embark for Crete during the winter. In February 1667, the Venetians received significant reinforcements from France and Savoy, totaling 21 warships and some 6,000 men, but, as in past years, disagreements among the leaders of the various contingents over precedence (France, the Papal States, Malta, Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
contributed ships and men) hampered operations. Francesco Morosini, now again Captain General, sought to engage the Ottomans, but they avoided battle, and using their superior resources and bases, they steadily kept their forces on Crete supplied. The only allied success in 1667 was the repulsion of an Ottoman raid on Cerigo (Kythera).
On 8 March 1668, the Venetians were victorious in a hard-fought night battle off the island of St Pelagia, where 2,000 Ottoman troops and 12 galleys attempted to seize a small Venetian galley squadron. Forewarned of their intentions Morosini reinforced it, and won a costly victory, which was to be Venice's last victory at sea in this war. Reinforced again with Papal and Hospitaller ships, the Venetians maintained a blockade of Canea, the Ottomans' main supply base, during summer. To secure their anchorage off St Todero island, the allied forces seized the fortress island of St Marina, a minor success which did not in the end prevent the Kapudan pasha's fleet, bearing fresh troops and supplies, from reaching Canea in September, after the Maltese–Papal squadron had departed.
Fall of Candia
Signoria of Venice
The Signoria of Venice was the supreme body of government of the Republic of Venice. The original Greek name of the family was Spandounes...
hoped to end the war by striking a peace settlement with the Ottomans. Indeed, the Venetians hoped to use the imminent arrival of reinforcements to secure concessions from the Ottomans. Admiral Andrea Valier was at first appointed as envoy, but fell ill and was quickly replaced by the elderly nobleman Alvise da Molin. Molin and his embassy traveled to Larissa
Larissa
Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...
, where the Ottoman court resided during one of the Sultan's hunting expeditions. The Ottomans proposed that Venice keep one half of Crete, but the Signoria, emboldened by further pledges of reinforcements, especially from France, and renewed turmoil at the Ottoman court and within the Empire, refused the offer. Molin, in the meantime transported by the Ottomans to Canea in Crete, was ordered to continue negotiations and to continue observing the Ottomans' strength and intentions, but not commit himself or the Republic.
François, Duke of Beaufort
François de Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort was the illegitimate grandson of Henry IV of France. He was also cousin to Louis XIV. He was a prominent figure in the Fronde, and later went on to fight in the Mediterranean. His mother was the heiress Françoise de Lorraine...
, arrived at Candia. The second part, comprising the galley fleet, would arrive on 3 July. The Ottomans had been making steady progress over the past years, having reached the outer bastions of the fortress; the defenders were in dire straits, while most of the city of Candia lay ruined. The French staged their first sally on 25 June. Caught by surprise, the Ottomans were quickly routed, but the French became disorganized among the siege trenches, and an Ottoman counter-attack drove them back. The attack thus ended in disaster, costing the French some 800 dead, including the Duke of Beaufort himself, who was hit by a bullet and left on the field. The arrival of the second half of the French expeditionary force revived the defenders' morale, and a combined attack was agreed upon, involving bombardment of the Ottoman siege lines by the powerful allied fleet. The attack was launched on 25 July, in an impressive display of firepower: up to 15,000 cannon balls were said to have been fired by the fleet alone. The Ottomans however were well-protected by their deep earthworks, and suffered comparatively little damage, while things went awry for the Christian fleet, as an accident caused the explosion of the French ship Thérèse, which in turn caused significant casualties among the surrounding French and Venetian ships.
This failure, coupled with the disaster of the previous month, further soured the relations between the French and the Venetians. Cooperation was distinctly lacking in the few operations attempted during the next few weeks, while the bad supply situation, the spread of sickness among their troops and the continuous attrition of their forces in the everyday fighting at Candia made the French commanders especially keen to depart. The French contingent eventually departed on 20 August. Two Ottoman assaults on the 25th were repulsed, but to Morosini, it was clear that the city could no longer be held. After a council of war on 27 August, but without first consulting Venice, it was decided to capitulate. On 5 September 1669, the city was surrendered to the Ottomans, while the survivors of the garrison, the citizens and their treasures were evacuated. On his own initiative, Morosini concluded a permanent peace agreement with the Ottomans, which, under the circumstances, was relatively generous: Venice would retain the Aegean islands of Tinos
Tinos
Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...
and Kythera and the isolated island fortresses of Spinalonga
Spinalonga
The island of Spinalonga , officially known as Kalydon , is located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi prefecture, next to the town of Elounda....
, Gramvousa
Gramvousa
Gramvousa, also Grambousa, Grampousa or Krampouza , further names include Akra, Cavo Buso, Cavo Bouza, Garabusa and Grabusa, are names used for two small uninhabited islands off the coast of north-western Crete in the prefecture of Chania...
and Souda
Souda (island)
Souda is an islet in Souda Bay on the northwest coast of Crete. In ancient times this islet was one of two islets that were referred to as Leukai . The second islet is known today as Leon.-History:...
off the Cretan coast, as well as the gains made in Dalmatia.
War in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n front was a separate theater of operations, which was involved in the early phase of the war. The conditions there were almost reverse to those in Crete: for the Ottomans, it was too far away and relatively insignificant, while the Venetians operated near their own bases of supply and had undisputed control of the sea, being thus able to easily reinforce their coastal strongholds. In addition, and again unlike Crete, the Venetians enjoyed the support of much of the local population, particularly the Morlacchi
Morlachs
Morlachs were a population of Vlachs. In another version their name comes from the slavic terms of "morski-Vlasi" or Sea Vlachs...
. The Ottomans launched a large-scale attack in 1646, and made some significant gains, including the capture of the islands of Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
, Pag
Pag (island)
Pag is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea. It is the fifth-largest island of the Croatian coast, and the one with the longest coastline....
and Cres
Cres
Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern island in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula ....
, and most importantly, the supposedly impregnable fortress of Novigrad
Novigrad Castle
Novigrad Castle is a castle above Novigrad in Zadar County, Croatia....
, which surrendered on 4 July, after only two days of bombardment. The Turks were now able to threaten the two main Venetian strongholds in Dalmatia, Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
and Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
. In the next year however, the tide turned, as the Venetian commander Leonardo Foscolo
Leonardo Foscolo
Leonardo Foscolo was a Venetian commander.During the Candian War , Leonardo Foscolo seized several forts, retook Novigrad, temporarily captured the Knin Fortress, and managed to compel the garrison of Klis Fortress to surrender.-Bibliography:...
seized several forts, retook Novigrad, temporarily captured the fortress of Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
and took Klis
Klis
Klis is a village located around a mountain fortress bearing the same name. It is located in central Dalmatia, Croatia, located just northeast of Solin and Split near the eponymous mountain pass...
, while a month-long siege of the fortress of Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
by the Ottomans in August and September failed. During the next few years, military operations stalled because of an outbreak of famine and plague amongst the Venetians at Zadar, while both sides focused their resources in the Aegean area. As other fronts took priority for the Ottomans, no further operations occurred in the Dalmatian theater. Peace in 1669 found the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
with significant gains in Dalmatia, its territory tripled, and its control of the Adriatic thus secured.
Aftermath
The surrender of Candia ended the four and a half centuries of Venetian rule in Crete, and brought the Ottoman Empire to its temporary territorial zenith. At the same time however, the cost and casualties incurred during this prolonged war contributed greatly to the decline of the Ottoman state during the latter 17th century. On the other hand, Venice had lost its greatest and most prosperous colony, its pre-eminent trading position in the Mediterranean had diminished, and its treasury was exhausted, having spent some 4,253,000 ducats on the defense of Candia alone. To all this, the Dalmatian gains were insufficient compensation. Upon his return to Venice in 1670, Morosini was tried on charges of insubordination and treason, but was acquitted. Fifteen years later, he would lead the Venetian forces in the Morean WarMorean War
The Morean War is the better known name for the Sixth Ottoman–Venetian War. The war was fought between 1684–1699, as part of the wider conflict known as the "Great Turkish War", between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire...
, where the Republic attempted, for the last time, to reverse its losses and reestablish itself as one of the major powers of the Eastern Mediterranean. During that war, in 1692, a Venetian fleet attempted to retake Candia, but failed. The last Venetian strongholds off Crete fell in the last Turkish–Venetian War
Turkish–Venetian War (1714–1718)
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 . Venice was...
in 1715. Crete would remain under Ottoman control until 1897, when it became an autonomous state
Cretan State
The Cretan State was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers on the island of Crete. In 1897 an insurrection in Crete led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece, which led the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia to intervene on the grounds that the Ottoman...
. The island continued under Ottoman suzerainty until the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
. In their aftermath, on 1 December 1913 it was formally united to Greece.
Sources
External links
- Municipality of Heraklion: The Cretan War
- Venice and the Sea, by the VENIVA consortium (in English, Greek, Italian).
- Venice Republic: Renaissance, 1645–69