The Battle of Adramyttion occurred in autumn 1334 between the fleets of a Christian naval league, headed 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, ...

and the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

, and of the Turkish beylik of

Karasi Karasi (born 1995) is an Australian Racing Hall of Fame champion steeplechase horse bred in Ireland. The horse is best known for winning the world's richest steeplechase race, the Nakayama Grand Jump at Nakayama Racecourse, Japan for three ...

. The battle was a Christian victory.

Background

The Naval League participants agreed to assemble a fleet of 40 galleys, of which 10 vessels each were contributed by Venice and the Hospitallers, six each by the Byzantines and Cyprus, and another eight jointly by the Pope and the King of France. The fleet would gather at the Venetian stronghold of Negroponte, and operate for a period of five months. In the event, the Byzantines did not send any ships, so the League fleet that sailed in 1334 comprised 34 galleys. The Venetian fleet began operations in winter 1333/1334, fighting the combined fleets of the Turkish beys Umur of Aydin and Suleyman of Sarukhan off the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman ...

, as well as the forces of a Slav pirate, Zassis.

Battle

The Franco-Papal squadron joined up with the other squadrons in summer 1334, and the joint fleet proceeded to raid the western coasts of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, belonging to the beyliks of Aydin,

, and Sarukhan. In autumn, the League fleet was confronted by the fleet of the Karasid bey Yakhshi. In a series of engagements, the Crusaders inflicted a major defeat on the Karasids. The details and exact chronology are disputed—according to a badly damaged letter by

Marino Sanudo Torsello Marino Sanuto (or Sanudo) Torsello (c. 1270–1343) was a Venetian statesman and geographer. He is best known for his lifelong attempts to revive the crusading spirit and movement; with this objective he wrote his '' Liber Secretorum Fidelium Cr ...

, fights took place on 8, 11, 14, and 17 September, when Yakhshi's son-in-law was killed—but according to Western reports, 150–200 ships were destroyed and 5,000 Turks were killed.

Aftermath

The Christian fleet proceeded to raid the coasts of Asia Minor, and launched an attack on

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, the main naval base of the

Aydinid The Aydinids or Aydinid dynasty (Modern Turkish: ''Aydınoğulları'', ''Aydınoğulları Beyliği'', ota, آیدین اوغوللاری بیلیغی), also known as the Principality of Aydin and Beylik of Aydin (), was one of the Anatolian ...

beylik. In the event, the Christian victory at Adramyttion was not followed up and proved fruitless; once the allied fleet departed from the Aegean, the Turkish raids resumed. King

Hugh IV of Cyprus Hugh IV (1293-1296 – 10 October 1359) was King of Cyprus from 31 March 1324 to his abdication, on 24 November 1358 and, nominally, King of Jerusalem, as Hugh II, until his death. The son of Guy, Constable of Cyprus (son of Hugh III of Cyprus), ...

scored two further victories, about which no details are known, in 1336–37, but plans for a landing in Asia Minor in 1336 in preparation for a full Crusade had to be shelved due to the renewed conflict between England and France, since King

Philip VI of France Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 ...

diverted the crusading fleet to the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. It was not until 1342 that a new league was formed, and the

Smyrniote Crusade The Smyrniote crusades (1343–1351) were two Crusades sent by Pope Clement VI against the Emirate of Aydin under Umur Bey which had as their principal target the coastal city of Smyrna in Asia Minor. The first Smyrniote crusade was the brainch ...

launched.

References

Sources

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Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References

Sources

Further reading