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Ottoman Conquest Of Otranto
In the summer of 1480, the Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, and laid siege to Otranto, finally capturing it on 11 August. This was their first outpost in Italy. According to a traditional account, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city had been captured. The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later, the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city after a siege by Christian forces, uncertainty upon the death of sultan Mehmed II and the intervention of papal forces that were led by Paolo Fregoso of Genoa. Background and motive In 1479, the Ottomans proposed an alliance to Venice. The Signoria declined the request. However from Venetian sources, it can be inferred that the Signoria, through Battista Gritti, its new '' bailo'' in Istanbul, gave the sultan to understand that it would be his rights in seizing Brindisi, Taranto, and Otranto. While, it is impossible to say what extent such declarations contributed to Mehmed's decision to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otranto Castello
Otranto (, , ; scn, label=Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label= Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and '' comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is located on the east coast of the Salento peninsula. The Strait of Otranto, to which the city gives its name, connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. The harbour is small and has little trade. The lighthouse ''Faro della Palascìa'', at approximately southeast of Otranto, marks the most easterly point of the Italian mainland. About south lies the promontory of Santa Maria di Leuca (so called since ancient times from its white cliffs, ''leukos'' being Greek for white), the southeastern extremity of Italy, the ancient ''Promontorium Iapygium'' or ''Sallentinum''. The district between this promontory and Otranto is thickly populated and very f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martyrs Of Otranto
The Martyrs of Otranto, also known as Saints Antonio Primaldo and his Companions ( it, I Santi Antonio Primaldo e compagni martiri), were 813 inhabitants of the Salentine city of Otranto in southern Italy who were killed on 14 August 1480 when the city fell to an Ottoman force under Gedik Ahmed Pasha. According to a traditional account, the killings took place after the Otrantins refused to convert to Islam. Background The Ottoman ambitions in Italy were ended. Had Otranto surrendered to the Turks, the history of Italy might have been very different. But the heroism of the people of Otranto was more than a strategically decisive stand. What made the sacrifice of Otranto so remarkable was the willingness to die for the faith rather than reject Christ. The siege of Otranto – with the martyrdom of the inhabitants – was the last significant military attempt by a Muslim force to conquer southern Italy. The slaughter was remembered by historians of the Risorgimento (like Girolam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stefano Pendinelli
Stefano Pendinelli (also Stefano Argercolo de Pendinellis; 1403 – 11 August 1480) was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Otranto, Italy. He was slain in 1480, along with all his priests, by the Ottoman force that invaded Otranto. He is among the 813 martyrs of Otranto canonized by Pope Francis in 2013. Life Stefano Argercolo de Pendinellis was born in 1403 in Galatina and studied in Nardò, where he became bishop on 8 February 1436, shortly after the death of his uncle, a Franciscan friar. In 1451, he was appointed archbishop of Otranto. He assumed the archbishopric on 16 June. Martyrdom On 28 July 1480 an Ottoman force commanded by Gedik Ahmed Pasha, consisting of 90 galleys, 40 galiots and other ships carrying a total of around 150 crew and 18,000 troops, landed beneath the walls of Otranto. The city strongly resisted the Ottoman assaults, but the garrison was unable to resist the bombardment for long. The garrison and all the townsfolk thus abandoned the main part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city, town, fort, castle, ship, or similar site. "Garrison town" is a common expression for any town that has a military base nearby. "Garrison towns" ( ar, أمصار, amsar) were used during the Arab Islamic conquests of Middle Eastern lands by Arab-Muslim armies to increase their dominance over indigenous populations. In order to occupy non-Arab, non-Islamic areas, nomadic Arab tribesmen were taken from the desert by the ruling Arab elite, conscripted into Islamic armies, and settled into garrison towns as well as given a share in the spoils of war. The primary utility of the Arab-Islamic garrisons was to control the indigenous non-Arab peoples of these conque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Rhodes (1480)
In 1480 the small Knights Hospitaller garrison of Rhodes withstood an attack of the Ottoman Empire. Attack On 23 May 1480 an Ottoman fleet of 160 ships appeared before Rhodes, at the gulf of Trianda, along with an army of 70,000 men under the command of Mesih Pasha.L. Kinross, ''The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire'', 137 The Knights Hospitaller garrison was led by Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson. The Ottomans' first goal was to capture the Tower of St Nicholas, a strategic point for the knights' defence of the two harbours: Mandraki, and the one to the east bay of Akandia. The Turkish artillery kept up an unbroken bombardment and, from 9 June on, the infantry made a series of attacks. Grand Master d'Aubusson himself sped to the aid of the garrison and the enemy was repelled after a fierce struggle. A second attack on the town occurred on the eastern sector of the wall near the Jewish quarter, towards the bay of Akandia, which was the battle station of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galley
A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used in favorable winds, but human effort was always the primary method of propulsion. This allowed galleys to navigate independently of winds and currents. The galley originated among the seafaring civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea in the late second millennium BC and remained in use in various forms until the early 19th century in warfare, trade, and piracy. Galleys were the warships used by the early Mediterranean naval powers, including the Greeks, Illyrians, Phoenicians, and Romans. They remained the dominant types of vessels used for war and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea until the last decades of the 16th century. As warships, galleys carried various types of weapons throughout their long existence, including rams, catapults ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strait Of Otranto
The Strait of Otranto ( sq, Ngushtica e Otrantos; it, Canale d'Otranto; hr, Otrantska Vrata) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto. History Since ancient times, the Strait of Otranto was of vital strategic importance. The Romans used it to transport their troops eastwards. The legions marched to Brundisium (now Brindisi), had only a one-day sea voyage to modern Albania territory and then could move eastwards following the Via Egnatia. World War I During World War I, the strait was of strategic significance. The Allied navies of Italy, France, and Great Britain, by blockading the strait, mostly with light naval forces and lightly armed fishing vessels known as drifters, hindered the cautious Austro-Hungarian Navy from freely entering the Mediterranean Sea, and effectively kept them out of the naval theatre of wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kapudan Pasha
The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was based at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and charged with annual sailings during the summer months. The title of ''Kapudan Pasha'' itself is only attested from 1567 onwards; earlier designations for the supreme commander of the fleet include ("bey of the sea") and ("head captain"). The title ''Derya Bey'' was first granted during the reign of Bayezid I as an official rank within the state structure. Following the Conquest of Constantinople, Mehmet II raised Baltaoğlu Süleyman Bey to the status of sanjak bey for his efforts against the Byzantines in the Golden Horn.Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey', Vol. 1, pp. 131 ff. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge), 1976. Accessed 12 Sept 2011. Baltaoğlu re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonisation, Taranto was among the most important in Magna Graecia, becoming a cultural, economic and military power that gave birth to philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes such as Archytas, Aristoxenus, Livius Andronicus, Heracleides, Iccus, Cleinias, Leonidas, Lysis and Sosibius. By 500 BC, the city was among the largest in the world, with a population estimated up to 300,000 people. The seven-year rule of Archytas marked the apex of its development and recognition of its hegemony over other Greek colonies of southern Italy. During the Norman period, it became the capital of the Principality of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an important role in trade and culture, due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city remains a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East. Its industries include agriculture, chemical works, and the generation of electricity. The city of Brindisi was the provisional government seat of the Kingdom of Italy from September 1943 to February 1944. Geography Brindisi is situated on a natural harbour, that penetrates deeply into the Adriatic coast of Apulia. Within the arms of the outer harbour islands are Pedagne, a tiny archipelago, currently not open and in use for military purposes (United Nations Group Schools used it during the interventio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bailo Of Constantinople
A bailo, also spelled baylo (pl. / ) was a diplomat who oversaw the affairs of the Republic of Venice in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and was a permanent fixture in the city around 1454. The traumatic outcomes of Venice's wars with the Ottomans made it clear to its rulers that in the Ottoman case the city would have to rely chiefly on diplomatic and political means rather than offensive military efforts to maintain and defend its position in the eastern Mediterranean. The bailo's job was very extensive because he was both Venice's political and foreign ambassador. He was very important in maintaining a good relationship between the Ottoman Sultan and the Venetian government. He was also there to represent and protect Venetian political interests. In Constantinople the ''bailo'' worked to solve any misunderstandings between the Ottomans and Venetians. To do this they established contacts and friendships with influential Ottomans and by doing this, they were a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signoria Of Venice
The Signoria of Venice (''Serenissima Signoria'') was the supreme body of government of the Republic of Venice. The older Commune of Venice was replaced by the Signoria from 1423 on, being later officially adopted in the ''Promissione Ducale'' by Cristoforo Moro (12 May 1462). It constituted a center of power which included the Doge of Venice, doge's power. The Signoria can be thought of as the combination of the Doge and the other persons commissioned to collaborate and to rule with him. With the passage of time these functionaries became copartners. The members of the Signoria of Venice The Signoria of Venice consisted of: * the Doge of Venice, Doge, head of the Republic * the Minor Council (''Minor Consiglio''), created in 1175, which was composed of the Doge's 6 advisors. * the 3 leaders of the Quarantia, the supreme tribunal, created in 1179. The Doge (from Latin ''dux'' "leader") was the chief magistrate in the republics of Venice (until 1797) and Genoa (until 1805). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
