Astorre Baglioni (March 1526 – 4 August 1571) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

condottiero and military commander.

Biography

He was born in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

, the son of Gentile Baglioni, a member of a condottieri family of central Italy. At the death of his father, he was first at

Tagliacozzo Tagliacozzo ( Marsicano: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy. History Tagliacozzo lies in an area inhabited in early historic times by the Aequi and the Marsi, although the first mentions of the town ...

under Ascanio Colonna, and then to

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

where he was introduced to the military career by his uncle Alessandro Vitelli. In 1540 he fought under the latter at Pest against the Turks. In 1550 he was on a frigate in a Christian fleet led by Carlo Sforza, to fight against the northern African raider

Dragut Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman Empire, Ottoman naval commander, governor, and Pasha, noble, of Turkic peoples, Turkish or Greek people, Greek descent. Under his comman ...

. In August Baglioni was at the siege of

Mahdia Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

with . In 1556-1558 he was hired by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, for which he supervised building of fortifications in the Venetian mainland and was governor of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. In 1569 he was named governor of Nicosia in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

.Astorre Baglioni named governor of Venetian Cyprus
/ref> In 1570, when a war between Venice and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

was upcoming, he revised the fortifications of Cerines and Famagusta, of which Baglioni became governor, in collaboration with the city's rector Marcantonio Bragadin. In the same year the island was

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

by the Turks. Baglioni launched several counterattacks but was finally forced with his troops in the walls of Famagusta. After the fall of Nicosia, the Turks laid siege to Famagusta, and Baglioni launched a series of successful raids against the besiegers. The Turks lost some 52,000 men in five major assaults until, in late July, the Venetians, despairing to receive any rescue from the homeland, decided to surrender. The Turk commander,

Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha Lala Mustafa Pasha ( – 7 August 1580), also known by the additional epithet ''Kara'', was an Ottoman Bosnian general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia. Life He was born around 1500, near the Glasinac in Sokolac Plateau in Bosnia t ...

, accorded the survivors to safely return to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, but he did not keep his word: Bragadin, Baglioni and other Venetian commanders were imprisoned, beaten and

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

Notes

Sources

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External links

Astorre Baglioni biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baglioni, Astorre 1526 births 1571 deaths 16th-century condottieri People from Perugia Republic of Venice military personnel 16th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire Executed Italian people People executed by the Ottoman Empire by decapitation Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Venetian governors Venetian Cyprus

Biography

See also

Notes

Sources

External links