The Sack of Vieste was led by
Dragut
Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Turkish or Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extended ...
and took place on the 15th of July in 1554.
This sack resulted in the capture of the fortress, a massacre and the enslavement of thousands.
On July 15th in the year of 1554 Dragut landed in
Vieste
Vieste (; nap, label= Viestano, Vìst) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its wat ...
with 60 or 70
galleys
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 use ...
. Upon his arrival the inhabitants of Vieste took shelter between a cathedral and castle which they had barricaded. The Italians negotiated a surrender and delivered gold and silver hoping it would be enough to save Vieste.
They opened the doors on the 24th of July and the Turks entered and began sacking the town. They sacked churches and houses and slaughtered women, children and the elderly.
The archpriest of Vieste and his family were taken captive and ransomed.
5,000 to 7,000 inhabitants were enslaved and Dragut ordered the beheading of everyone he was unable to carry off in slavery resulting in 5,000 beheaded.
One source claims the entire population of Vieste was beheaded and this event has been described as a massacre.
Vito Salierno
Iqbal Academy Pakistan, Another raid occurred in Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
the same year where Algerians took 7,000 slaves.
See also
*Sack of Lipari
The Sack of Lipari took place in 1544 when Hayreddin Barbarossa sacked the island and enslaved all or almost all of the islands inhabitants.
Hayreddin Barbarossa had just captured Ischia and enslaved 4,000 inhabitants. He moved towards Lipari in t ...
References
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Vieste
Kingdom of Naples
Ottoman Empire