Ottoman conquest of Otranto

In the summer of 1480, the Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, and laid siege to Otranto (Kingdom of Naples), finally capturing it on 11 August. This was their first outpost in Italy.^[5] According to a traditional account, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city had been captured, because they would not renounce their Christian faith.^[6][7] The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later, Otranto was surrendered by the Ottomans to Duke Alfonso of Calabria after a siege by Neapolitan troops, supported by a Papal fleet (under Paolo Fregoso of Genoa) and Hungarian forces, and amid uncertainty upon the death of sultan Mehmed II.

Background and motive

In 1479, the Ottomans proposed an alliance to Venice. The Signoria declined the request, however, the terms with which the Venetians declined the request could suggest that they were secretly in favour of the Ottomans. Adding to this, Venetian sources infer that the Signoria, through its new bailo in Istanbul Battista Gritti, told the sultan that he would be within his rights to seize Brindisi, Taranto, and Otranto, since he was the conqueror of Constantinople and these were former outposts of the Byzantine Empire. It is unknown whether these assurances contributed much, if at all, to Mehmed's decision to invade Italy.^[8]

Early in the Summer of 1480, Kapudan-i Derya Gedik Ahmed Pasha received orders from Mehmed to cross the Strait of Otranto. The Ottoman fleet gathered near Vlorë and set off across the straight. A Venetian fleet stationed near Corfu apparently followed the Ottomans to the coast of Puglia before returning to Corfu.^[8]

Siege and capture

Pasha had originally planned to land near Brindisi, however, a captured merchant had told him there were fewer defences further South, so the course was redirected to Otranto. On Friday 28 July, an Ottoman fleet of 140 ships, including 40 galleys, arrived near the city. The Ottomans sent out a force of cavalry to land at Roca and they quickly made their way to Otranto. However, a local garrison countered the force just north of the city at Alimini. When an offer of surrender was rejected by the city, the Ottomans laid siege with canon and took the city on the 11th August. Of a total population of 22,000, 12,000 were killed and 8,000 were taken as slaves. On the 14th, 800 citizens who refused to convert to Islam were killed on a nearby hill. The victims would be later declared martyrs by Pope Clement XIV.^[8]

Once the Ottomans had secured Otranto, they began raiding the surrounding area. However, the Ottomans' situation deteriorated as their provisions ran out and the locals refused to co-operate.^[8]

Response and Recapture

In September, King Ferdinand I of Naples, set out to Otranto; his son, Alfonso, following him later that month. They set up near the city, preventing Ottoman expanse to the West, with the Ottomans eventually retreating behind the walls of Otranto in October. The Ottomans flatly refused to negociate, rejecting Ferdinand's offer for surrender of 800,000 gold ducats, and instead demanding to keep Otranto, as well as being given several other cities in the region. The Ottomans then threatened that, if their demands were not met, the sultan would invade Italy.^[8]

The threat was enough to scare the Pope into action, sending money to Naples and negotiating a treaty between the Holy See, Naples, Hungary, Genoa, Milan, Ferrara, and Florence in order to defend the Papacy. Venice were also asked to join, but they declined.^[8]Ottoman resistance to the Hungarians and Neapolitans waned and eventually broke completely on 10th September 1481. The planned attack on Vlorë never came to fruition.^[8]

Aftermath

The number of citizens, which is said to have been nearly 20,000, had decreased to 8,000 by the end of the century.^[9]

The Ottomans also briefly held Otranto once more after they conquered it in 1537.^[10][11]

See also

• History of Islam in southern Italy
• Martyrs of Otranto
• Da Vinci's Demons (fictional work, part of which portrays the invasion)

References

1. ^ Encyclopædia Americana, Volume 9 via books.google.com
2. ^ The Ottoman Empire: A Short History Page 44 via books.google.com
3. ^ Köse, Metin Ziya (2016). Otranto Seferi (in Turkish). İstanbul: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (EK-2 Cilt). pp. 386–388. Archived 2 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
4. ^ Csaba Csorba; János Estók; Konrád Salamon (1999). Magyarország Képes Története. Budapest, Hungary: Magyar Könyvklub. p. 62. ISBN 963-548-961-7.
5. ^ Savvides, Alexios, and Photeine Perra. "Hospitallers and Ottomans Between the Two Great Sieges of Rhodes (1480–1522/1523) 1." Archived 13 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine In The 1522 Siege of Rhodes, pp. 11-39. Routledge, 2022.
6. ^ "Pope canonises 800 Italian Ottoman victims of Otranto". BBC News. 2013-05-12. Archived 31 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
7. ^ "Homily of Pope Francis". vatican.va. 12 May 2013. Archived 17 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
8. ^ Babinger (1978). Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 390–395. ISBN 978-0-691-01078-6.
9. ^ Andrews, Robert.; Belford, Ros; Buckley, Jonathan Buckley; Dunford, Martin; Jepson, Tim; Ratcliffe, Lucy; Woolfrey, Celia (2012). Puglia Rough Guides Snapshot Italy. United Kingdom: Rough Guides. ISBN 9781409362333. – via books.google.com.
10. ^ GÜNDOĞDU, Doç Dr Raşit (2020-03-11). The Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Rumuz Yayınları. ISBN 978-605-5112-15-8.
11. ^ Mango, Andrew (1972). Discovering Turkey. Hastings House. ISBN 978-0-8038-7111-3.

Further reading

• Hubert Houben, ed. La conquista turca di Otranto (1480) tra storia e mito: atti del convegno internazionale di studio, Otranto–Muro Leccese, 28–31 marzo 2007. 2 vols. Galatina, 2008.

External links

• En.otrantopoint.com
• Zum.de
• Castellipuglia.org
• Uni-mannheim.de
• Cronologia.leonardo.it
• How the Eight Hundred Men of Otranto Saved Rome