Otranto campaign
The Otranto campaign was a military undertaking by the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire on the Apennine Peninsula in 1480/81, with the city of Otranto at its center . This was conquered by the Ottomans, but finally evacuated again.
background
The goals of the expedition to the Italian mainland initiated by Sultan Mehmed II are no longer comprehensible today. Due to the sultan's early death, one can only speculate about his plans. One goal of the campaign could have been to gain a foothold in southern Italy. It is obvious, however, that Mehmed II wanted to control the access to the Adriatic Sea from this base in order to damage the Republic of Venice , against which he had only recently fought a lengthy war (→ Second Venetian Turkish War ). Another possible explanation is that the Ottoman Empire received a cry for help from the emirate of Granada, which was attacked by the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon , and therefore only launched a diversionary attack on the Spanish possessions in southern Italy . But Rome , too, may have been a distant target for the advance. Other authors even assume an attempt to conquer Italy.
In 1537 an Ottoman fleet tried again to capture Otranto, without success.
Military history
In the summer of 1480 an Ottoman fleet gathered in the Albanian ports and set out to sea in July. The information on the size of the fleet fluctuates. Helmut Pemsel assumes 90 galleys and 20 transport ships. The figures for the size of the Ottoman army also vary between 18,000 and 100,000 men. These forces, under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha, landed in Apulia on July 28, 1480 . There they moved to the city of Otranto and demanded its surrender. When the population refused to surrender and withdrew to the citadel , the siege of the city began, which ended on August 11, 1480 with their capture. The Ottomans did not take advantage of their victory to expand the bridgehead they had won . Instead, they resorted to raids on Italian coastal cities such as Vieste , Lecce , Taranto and Brindisi with the help of their fleet until October . Afterwards, most of the Ottoman troops returned to Albania, apparently because of the precarious food situation. Only about 1,300 men remained in Otranto. In the years that followed, the city was supplied with grain from the sea.
The city of Otranto belonged to the Kingdom of Naples , where King Ferrante I (1423-1494) ruled. He gathered a small army and moved with them to Apulia on September 8th. Although Ferrante dared not attack because of the weakness of his troops, but hoped to be able to keep the Ottomans busy at least until the onset of winter. Although fear spread among the population of Italy that the target of the Ottoman attack was Rome, little help arrived for the beleaguered Neapolitans. Pope Sixtus IV. (1414–1484) sent 14 galleys. Spain under Ferdinand of Aragón (1452–1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451–1504) sent 3,000 men. More troops arrived from Hungary . In contrast, rumors spread that the following year Sultan Mehmed II (1432–1481) would arrive with an army of 120,000 men.
In the spring, the Neapolitans and their allies finally counter-attacked. On May 1, 1481, they began the formal siege of Otranto. The Ottomans defended themselves successfully until news of the Sultan's death arrived on May 3rd. This resulted in internal political turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, which prevented the arrival of reinforcements. After an unsuccessful assault on the city on August 23, negotiations between the warring parties began. The Ottomans were allowed to leave the city. When the Neapolitan troops marched into the city on September 10th, they nevertheless captured several hundred Ottoman soldiers who were then forced to serve as galley slaves .
Cultural factors
After taking Otranto, the Ottomans sacked the city. Large numbers of residents were killed, including Archbishop Stefano Pendinelli, who was murdered in the cathedral . The church bells were then melted down by the occupiers to make weapons from them. Later, San Nicola di Casole , famous for its great library , was also destroyed.
In Christian historiography, special attention was paid to the events after the capture. The Ottomans allegedly set about forcing Christians to renounce their faith. 800 local men refused and preferred to be beheaded . These men were on 14 August 1480 at the nearby Minerva -Hügel executed and left. Legend has it that their undamaged bodies were found by the Neapolitan army a year later. The church finally recognized the victims as the martyrs of Otranto , whereupon a chapel was built for them on the spot , which still stands today.
literature
- Ferenc Majoros / Bernd Rill: The Ottoman Empire 1300-1922 , Bechtermünz-Verlag, Augsburg 2002. ISBN 3-8289-0336-3 .
- Salvatore Panareo, Ettore Rossi: Trattative con i Turchi: durante la guerra d'Otranto; 1480-81 , 1931 (Italian), accessed March 9, 2017.
- Ernst Werner / Walter Markov: History of the Turks (2nd edition), Akademie-Verlag, Berlin (East) 1979.
- Vito Bianchi: Otranto (il sultano, la strage, la conquista) 1480 (2nd edition 2016 Italian)
Web links
- Sandro Magister: How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome (as of November 27, 2008)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ferenc Majoros / Bernd Rill: The Ottoman Empire 1300–1922. The story of a great power
- ↑ Ernst Werner / Walter Markov: History of the Turks , Berlin (East) 1979, p. 62
- ↑ Helmut Pemsel: Seeherrschaft - A maritime world history from the beginnings to 1850 , vol. 1, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Augsburg 1996, p. 140
- ↑ Ferenc Majoros / Bernd Rill: The Ottoman Empire 1300-1922 , Augsburg 2002, p. 175
- ^ Ferenc Majoros / Bernd Rill: Das Ottmanische Reich 1300-1922 , Augsburg 2002, p. 176
- ↑ This traditional tradition is massively questioned by recent research; compare for example: * Hubert Houben (Ed.), La conquista turca di Otranto (1480) tra storia e mito. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio Otranto - Muro Leccese, 28-31 March 2007 , 2 volumes, Congedo, Galatina 2008, ISBN 9788880868309 and ISBN 9788880868293
- ^ Sandro Magister: How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome