AnOttoman raid on theBalearic Islands occurred in 1501 under theOttoman admiralKemal Reis.[1] This raid was combined with attacks onSardinia andPianosa (near the island ofElba).[1]
The 1501 raid on the Balearics followed some of the earliest interventions of the Ottomans in the westernMediterranean. These interventions were in response to theFall of Granada and the help the last Muslim ruler there had requested from theOttoman Empire in his fight againstCastile.[1] Upon this request, the Ottoman sultanBayezid sent a fleet under Kemal Reis to attack the Spanish coast.[1] In 1487 and again in 1492 when Granada fell, the Ottoman fleet was used to rescue refugees and ferry them to the coast ofNorth Africa.[1]
A side effect of the raid seems to have been that a Spanish sailor was captured in possession of an early map ofColumbus.[2]