| Battle of Otranto | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman wars in Europe andHungarian–Ottoman Wars | |||||||
 Castle of Otranto | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ottoman Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gedik Ahmed Pasha | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Garrisoned forces surrender, 300 captured[3] |
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In the summer of 1480, theOttoman Empire invaded southern Italy, and laid siege toOtranto, 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.[6][7] TheMartyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later, the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city after a siege by Christian forces, bolstered by the intervention of papal forces that were led byPaolo Fregoso ofGenoa, and amid uncertainty upon the death of sultanMehmed II.
In 1479, the Ottomans proposed an alliance toVenice. TheSignoria declined the request. However from Venetian sources, it can be inferred that the Signoria, through Battista Gritti, its newbailo in Istanbul, gave the sultan to understand that it would be his rights in seizingBrindisi,Taranto, and Otranto. While it is impossible to say what extent such declarations contributed to Mehmed's decision to carry out his long-standing plan for a landing in Italy, he acted quickly and resolutely.[8]
Early in the summer of 1480,kapudan-i deryaGedik Ahmed Pasha received orders from Mehmed to cross theStrait of Otranto.[8]
On 28 July, an Ottoman fleet of 128 ships, including 28galleys, arrived near theNeapolitan city ofOtranto. Many of the troops had come from the 1480Siege of Rhodes. Thegarrison and the citizens of Otranto retreated to the city's castle. On 11 August, after a 15-day siege, Gedik Ahmed ordered the final assault. When the walls were breached, the Ottomans methodically passed to house to house and sacked, looted and set it on fire. Upon reaching the cathedral, "they found Archbishop Stefano Agricolo, fully vested and crucifix in hand" to be awaiting them with Count Francesco Largo, the garrison commander, and BishopStefano Pendinelli, who distributed theEucharist and sat with the women and children of Otranto while aDominican friar led the faithful in prayer. A total of 12,000 were killed and 5,000 were enslaved, including victims from the territories of theSalentine Peninsula around the city, and the cathedral was turned into a mosque.[9][verification needed]
In August, 70 ships of the fleet attackedVieste. On 12 September, the Monastero di San Nicholas di Casole, which had accommodated one of the richer libraries of Europe, was destroyed. By October, attacks had been conducted against the coastal cities ofLecce,Taranto andBrindisi.
However, the lack of supplies made the Ottoman commander, Gedik Ahmed Pasha, unable to consolidate his force's advance. Instead, he returned with most of his troops toAlbania and left a garrison of 800 infantry and 500sipahi behind to defend Otranto. It was assumed that he would return with his army after the winter.
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Since only 27 years had passed since theFall of Constantinople, there was some fear thatRome would suffer the same fate. Plans were made for thePope and the citizens to evacuate the city. PopeSixtus IV repeated his 1471 call for acrusade. Several Italian city-states, along withHungary andFrance, responded positively. TheRepublic of Venice did not do so, as it had signed an expensive peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1479.
In April 1481, Sixtus IV called for an Italian crusade to liberate the city, andChristian forces besieged Otranto in May. An army was raised by KingFerdinand I of Naples, to be led by his sonAlfonso, Duke of Calabria. A contingent of troops was provided by KingMatthias Corvinus of Hungary.
Between August and September, King Ferdinand of Naples, with the help of his cousinFerdinand the Catholic and the Kingdom of Sicily, attempted to recapture Otranto.[10] The Christian forces besieged the city on 1 May 1481.Mehmed II was preparing for a new campaign in Italy, but died on 3 May. The succession issues prevented the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Otranto. After negotiation with the Christian forces, the Ottomans surrendered in August, leaving Otranto in September 1481.
The number of citizens, which is said to have been nearly 20,000, had decreased to 8,000 by the end of the century.[11]
The Ottomans also briefly held Otranto once more after they conquered it in 1537.[12][13]
