Kemal Reis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1451 (1451) |
| Died | 1511 (aged 59–60) |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
| Branch | Ottoman Navy |
| Service years | c. 1470–1511 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Conflicts | Battle of Karpathos Battle of Zonchio Battle of Modon Fall of Navarino (1501) Ottoman raid on the Balearic Islands (1501) |
Kemal Reis (c. 1451 – 1511) was anOttomanprivateer andadmiral. He was also the paternal uncle of the famous Ottoman admiral and cartographerPiri Reis, who accompanied him in most of his important naval expeditions.
Kemal Reis was born inManisa on theAegean coast of theOttoman Empire in circa 1451.[1] His full name wasAhmed Kemaleddin (Ahmet Kemalettin). His ancestry is disputed; some sources claim that he was born into a Turkish family,[1][2][3] while other sources indicate that he was born into aGreek family which converted fromChristianity toIslam.[4][5][6] He became known in Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain, with names likeCamali andCamalicchio.[1]
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Kemal Reis started his career as the commander of the naval fleet belonging to theSanjak Bey (Provincial Governor) of Eğriboz (present-dayEuboea) which was underOttoman control. In 1487 theOttoman SultanBayezid II appointed Kemal Reis with the task of defending the lands of Emir Abu Abdullah, the ruler ofGranada, which was then one of the finalMuslim strongholds in Spain. Kemal Reis sailed to Spain and landed an expeditionary force of Ottoman troops atMálaga, capturing the city and the surrounding villages and taking many prisoners (seeGranada War). From there he sailed to theBalearic Islands andCorsica, where he raided the coastal settlements, before landing his troops nearPisa in Italy. From Pisa he once again went toAndalucia and in several occasions between 1490 and 1492 transported theMuslims andJews who wished to escape Spain to the provinces of theOttoman Empire which welcomed them. The Muslims and Jews of Spain contributed much to the rising power of the Ottoman Empire by introducing new ideas, methods and craftsmanship. Kemal Reis continued to land his troops in Andalucia and tried to stop the Spanish advance by bombarding the ports ofElche,Almeria andMálaga.
In 1495 Kemal Reis was made an admiral of the Ottoman Navy by SultanBayezid II who ordered the construction of his large flagship,Göke, which could carry 700 soldiers and was armed with the strongest cannons of that period. Two large galleys of this type were built, one for Kemal Reis and the other for Burak Reis. In October 1496, with a force of 5 galleys, 5 fustas, a barque and a smaller ship, Kemal Reis set sail fromConstantinople and raided theGulf of Taranto. In January 1497 he landed atModon and later captured severalVenetian ships at theIonian Sea and transported them, along with their cargo, toEuboea. In March 1497 Sultan Bayezid II appointed him with the task of protecting the ships which carried valuable goods belonging to the religious foundations ofMecca andMedina from the frequent raids of theKnights of St. John who were based in the island ofRhodes at that time (in 1522 the Ottomans captured Rhodes and allowed the Knights of St. John to peacefully leave the island, who first relocated their base toSicily and later toMalta in 1530.) Kemal Reis set sail towardsRhodes with a force of 2 barques and 3 fustas, and captured a barque of the knights near Montestrato. He later landed at Stalimene (Lemnos) and from there sailed towardsTenedos (Bozcaada) and returned toConstantinople. In June 1497 he was given two more large galleys and in July 1497 he made the island ofChios his base for operations in theAegean Sea against theVenetians and theKnights of St. John. In April 1498, commanding a fleet of 6 galleys, 12 fustas with large cannons, 4 barques and 4 smaller types of ships, he set sail from theDardanelles and headed south towards the Aegean islands that were controlled by theRepublic of Venice. In June 1498 he appeared in the island ofParos and later sailed towardsCrete where he landed his troops atSitia and captured the town along with the nearby villages before sending his Scout forces to examine the characteristics of the nearby Venetian castle. In July 1498 he sailed toRosetta (Rashid) inEgypt with a force of 5 galleys, 6 fustas and 2 barques for transporting 300 Muslim pilgrims heading forMecca, who also had with them 400,000 gold ducats which were sent to theMamluk sultan byBayezid II. Near the port of Abu Kabir he captured 2Portuguese ships (one galleon and one barque) after fierce fighting which lasted 2 days. From there Kemal Reis sailed towardsSantorini and captured a Venetian barque, before capturing another Portuguese ship in the Aegean Sea.
In January 1499 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with a force of 10 galleys and 4 other types of ships, and in July 1499 met with the huge Ottoman fleet which was sent to him by Davud Pasha and took over its command in order to wage a large scale war against theRepublic of Venice. The Ottoman fleet consisted of 67 galleys, 20 galliots and circa 200 smaller vessels.In August 1499 Kemal Reis defeated theVenetian fleet under the command ofAntonio Grimani at theBattle of Zonchio which is also known as the Battle of Sapienza of 1499 or the First Battle of Lepanto and was a part of theOttoman-Venetian Wars of 1499–1503. It was the first naval battle in history with cannons used on ships, and took place on four separate days: on August 12, 20, 22 and 25, 1499. After reaching theIonian Sea with the large Ottoman fleet, Kemal Reis encountered the Venetian fleet of 47 galleys, 17 galliots and circa 100 smaller vessels under the command ofAntonio Grimani nearCape Zonchio and won an important victory. During the battle Kemal Reis sank the galley of Andrea Loredan, a member of the influential Loredan family of Venice. Antonio Grimani was arrested on September 29 but was eventually released. Grimani later became theDoge of Venice in 1521. The Ottoman SultanBayezid II gifted 10 of the captured Venetian galleys to Kemal Reis, who stationed his fleet at the island ofCefalonia between October and December, 1499.
In December 1499 the Venetians attackedLepanto with the hope of regaining their lost territories in theIonian Sea. Kemal Reis set sail from Cefalonia and retook Lepanto from the Venetians. He stayed in Lepanto between April and May 1500, where his ships were repaired by an army of 15,000 Ottoman craftsmen brought from the area. From there Kemal Reis set sail and bombarded the Venetian ports on the island ofCorfu, and in August 1500 he once again defeated the Venetian fleet at theBattle of Modon which is also known as the Second Battle of Lepanto. Kemal Reis bombarded the fortress ofModon from the sea and captured the town. He later engaged with the Venetian fleet off the coast ofCoron and captured the town along with a Venetian brigantine. From there Kemal Reis sailed towards the Island ofSapientza (Sapienza) and sank the Venetian galley"Lezza". In September 1500 Kemal Reis assaulted Voiussa and in October he appeared at Cape Santa Maria on the Island ofLefkada before ending the campaign and returning to Istanbul in November. With theBattle of Modon, the Ottoman fleet and army quickly overwhelmed most of the Venetian possessions in Greece.Modon andCoron, the "two eyes of the Republic", were lost. Ottoman cavalry raids reached Venetian territory in northern Italy, and, in 1503, Venice again had to seek peace, recognizing the Ottoman's gains.
In January 1501 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with a fleet of 36 galleys and fustas. In February 1501 he landed at the Island ofEuboea and atNafplion before heading towardsCorfu in March and from there to theTyrrhenian Sea where he captured the Island ofPianosa along with many prisoners. In April 1501 with a fleet of 60 ships he landed atNafplion andMonemvasia, causing the Venetian regional commander based at Corfu to call back the Venetian ships heading towardsLebanon and theLevant in order to strengthen the defenses of theRepubblica Serenissima's remaining strongholds onMorea. In May 1501, with a force of 8 galliots and 13 fustas, he escorted the cargo ships carrying construction material for strengthening the Ottoman fortresses on the islands ofChios andTinos, where he captured the galley of Girolamo Pisani, the local Venetian commander, including the official standard of San Marco (St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice) along with another Venetian galley named"Basadonna". From there he sailed to the port ofZonchio, nearNavarino, with a force of 5 galliots and 14 fustas. The Ottoman forces landed there and captured the Venetian castle and the nearby settlements after a siege which lasted less than 10 hours. Kemal Reis also captured 3 Venetian galleys, a Venetian caravelle and several other local ships which were docked at the port of Zonchio. He took these ships first toModon and later to the Island ofAegina, before sailing towardsEuboea. He later capturedNavarino from the Venetians, adding another important port to the Ottoman Empire. In June 1501 Kemal Reis sailed to theAdriatic Sea and strengthened the Ottoman defenses at Voiussa andVlorë.
In July 1501 Kemal Reis, accompanied by his nephewPiri Reis, set sail from the port ofModon with a force of 3 galleys and 16 fustas and went to theTyrrhenian Sea, where he took advantage of the war betweenJacopo d'Appiano, ruler ofPiombino, and thePapal forces under the command ofCesare Borgia. The Ottoman troops landed at the Island ofPianosa and quickly captured it, taking many prisoners. From there Kemal Reis sailed to the Channel ofPiombino and the Ottomans raided the coastal settlements in that area. In August 1501 Kemal Reis and his troops landed atSardinia and captured several coastal settlements while taking around 1,050 prisoners during fights against the local forces. He engaged severalGenoese warships off the coast of Sardinia, which later escaped northwards after being damaged by cannon fire. Still in August 1501 Kemal Reis sailed to theBalearic Islands and the Ottomans landed atMajorca, where bitter fighting against the localSpanish forces took place. From there Kemal Reis sailed to Spain and captured 7 Spanish ships off the coast ofValencia. Aboard these ships he found a strange feather headdress and an unfamiliar black stone. He was told by one of his prisoners that both came from newly discovered lands to the west, beyond the Atlantic Ocean. The prisoner claimed to have visited these lands three times, under the command of a man namedColombo, and that he had in his possession a chart, drawn by this Colombo himself, which showed the newly discovered lands beyond theSea of Darkness. This map was to become one of the main source charts of the famousPiri Reis map of 1513 which was drawn by the Ottoman admiral and cartographerPiri Reis who was the nephew of Kemal Reis.
After leaving Valencia, still in August 1501, Kemal Reis headed south and bombarded the coastal defenses ofAndalucia before landing his troops, where the Ottomans raided several ports and towns. Kemal Reis later sailed westwards and passed theStrait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean, where he and his men raided the Atlantic coasts of theIberian Peninsula. From there Kemal Reis sailed southwest and landed on several of theCanary Islands, where the Ottomans faced moderate opposition from the Spanish forces.Piri Reis used the occasion, as in other voyages with his uncle, to draw his famous portolan charts which were later to become a part of the renownedKitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation). Kemal Reis later turned eastwards, where he followed theAtlantic coastline ofMorocco and re-entered theMediterranean Sea through theStrait of Gibraltar, landing on several ports ofMorocco andAlgeria on the way. From there Kemal Reis headed further east and captured severalGenoese ships off the coast ofTripoli inLibya. He also intercepted severalVenetian galleys in the area before sailing back to Constantinople.
In May 1502 Kemal Reis set sail fromIstanbul with a fleet of 50 ships and headed towardsEuboea. In June 1502 he captured the Island ofKos along with the Castle of San Pietro which belonged to theKnights of St. John. From there he sailed toNafplion and bombarded its port until being called for assisting the defense ofMytilene which was sieged by a jointVenetian-French fleet. In July 1502 he landed his forces onLesbos and fought against theFrench soldiers in Mytilene which the Ottomans had earlier taken from the Genoese in 1462. In August 1502 Kemal Reis made the Island ofLefkada his new base for operations in theIonian andAdriatic Seas, where he raided the coastal settlements belonging to theRepublic of Venice and theRepublic of Ragusa, capturing several of them on behalf of theOttoman Empire. However, the strategic importance of theIsland of Santa Maura (as the Venetians called Lefkada) prompted theRepubblica Serenissima to organize a huge fleet under the command of Benedetto Pesaro, which consisted of 50 galleys and numerous other smaller ships. The Venetians were joined by 13Papal galleys under the command of Giacomo Pesaro, the brother of Benedetto who was the Bishop ofPaphos, as well as 3 galleys belonging to theKnights of St. John inRhodes and 4 French galleys under the command of the Prégent de Bidoux. Overwhelmed by the size of the enemy fleet, Kemal Reis was forced to abandon Lefkada and sailed back first toGallipoli and later to Constantinople, where, in October 1502, he ordered the construction of new ships at the Imperial Naval Arsenal of theGolden Horn.
In March 1503 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with his new ships and reachedGallipoli where he took over the command of the Ottoman fleet that was based there. However, he was caught by a severe illness and had to return to Constantinople for treatment, which lasted a long time and caused him to remain inactive between November 1503 and March 1505.
In March 1505 Kemal Reis was appointed with the task of intercepting theKnights of St. John inRhodes who caused serious damage onOttoman shipping routes off the coasts ofAnatolia, and he set sail fromGallipoli with a force of 3 galleys and 17 fustas, heading first towards the Island ofKos, which he had earlier captured from the Knights, with the aim of organizing an assault on their base in nearbyRhodes. In May 1505 Kemal Reis assaulted the coasts ofRhodes and landed a large number of Ottoman troops on the island, where they bombarded the castle of the Knights from land and took control of several settlements. From there Kemal Reis sailed to the islands ofTilos andNisyros where he bombarded the fortresses of the Knights from the sea. Still in May 1505 Kemal Reis captured the Island ofLemnos and assaulted the Island ofChios, before returning toModon in July 1505.
In September 1505 Kemal Reis assaultedSicily and captured 3 ships (one from theRepublic of Ragusa, the other two from Sicily) off the Sicilian coast.
In January 1506 he made the Island ofDjerba his new base and sailed to Spain, where he once again landed at the coasts ofAndalucia and bombarded the ports ofAlmeria andMálaga. He also transportedMuslims andJews and took them to Constantinople.
In May 1506 Kemal Reis, commanding a force of 8 galliots and fustas, returned to theAegean Sea, and in June 1506 landed at the Island ofLeros with a force of 500janissaries. There he assaulted the Venetian castle under the command of Paolo Simeoni. Throughout June 1506 he raided theDodecanese Islands before sailing back to the West Mediterranean with a fleet of 22 ships (including 3 large galleys and 11 fustas) where he landed onSicily and assaulted the coastal settlements. There he was confronted by the forces of the Viceroy of Sicily who was an ally of Spain. In September 1506 Kemal Reis confronted aSpanish fleet for defendingDjerba and captured a Spanish galley during combat. In October 1506 he landed atTrapani inSicily and burned theGenoese ships at the port, whose crewmen were however released because they had no experience of naval warfare and were not deemed useful. He later bombarded the Venetian galley under the command of Benedetto Priuli. He responded to the cannon fire from the fortress of Trapani with the cannons on his ships. He later sailed to the Island ofCerigo in theIonian Sea with a force of 3 galleys and 2 fustas, and exchanged fire with the Venetian fleet under the command of Girolamo Contarini. He later sailed back to Constantinople.
In January 1507 Kemal Reis was appointed byBayezid II with the task of hunting theKnights of St. John and set sail fromGallipoli with a large fleet of 15 galleys and 25 fustas that were heavily armed with cannons. He engaged with the Knights in several occasions until August 1507, when he returned to Constantinople. In August 1507 he sailed toAlexandria with a cargo of 8,000 sets of oars and 50 cannons that were donated to theMamluk sultan byBayezid II for helping him in his fight against thePortuguese fleet which often ventured into theRed Sea and damaged Mameluke interests. Kemal Reis stayed inEgypt until February 1508, and was back in Constantinople in May 1508, where he personally coordinated the reparation and modification of his ships at the Imperial Naval Arsenal of theGolden Horn before setting sail once again towards theAegean Sea for confronting the Venetians and the Knights of St. John. In August 1508 he arrived atEuboea with 2 galleys, 3 barques and numerous fustas. From there he sailed toTenedos where he repulsed an attack of the Knights and sank a ship near the port of Sizia. In November 1508 he captured aGenoese galleass fromSavona off the island ofTenedos. In January 1509, commanding a force of 13 ships, he assaulted the Castle of Coo nearRhodes which belonged to the Knights of St. John. In February 1509, accompanied by the Ottoman privateerKurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis (known asCurtogoli in the West) and commanding a larger fleet of 20 ships (4 galleys, 1 galleass, 2 galliots, 3 barques and 10 fustas) he assaulted theCity of Rhodes and landed a large number ofjanissaries at the port. In only a few days 4 large assaults are made on the Castle of Rhodes as well as the walls of the citadel that surrounds the city. Towards mid February, in command of 3 galleys and 3 fustas, he chased the ships belonging to Knights that were escaping Rhodes for the safety of nearby islands, and captured 3 galleons and 9 other types of ships.
Still in 1509 Kemal Reis sailed to theTyrrhenian Sea and landed at the coasts ofLiguria. He continued operating in the West Mediterranean for some time, until returning toGallipoli. In September 1510 he set sail from Gallipoli with 2 galleys, 1 galliot and several fustas, and joined the Ottoman fleet of cargo ships in Constantinople which were heading toAlexandria and carried wood for building ships, sets of oars and cannons that were sent to theMamluks for their fight against thePortuguese in theIndian Ocean. The cargo fleet that Kemal Reis was to escort amounted to a total of 40 ships, 8 of which were galleys.
In early 1511, after passing the lands of theDuchy of Naxos and being sighted for the last time in December 1510, 27 ships of the Ottoman cargo fleet were wrecked by a severe storm in theMediterranean Sea, including the ship of Kemal Reis, who died with his men. According to the Venetian Marino Sanudo (I Diarii, vol. 11, 663), the news of his death reached Edirne on 8 November 1511.
Several warships of theTurkish Navy have been named after Kemal Reis.
Piri Reis wrote this poem for his uncle, from whom he learned so much about theOttoman Navy, in the opening section of his famousKitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation):
Good friend, I want you
To remember us in your prayers,
And remember Kemal Reis, our master,
May his soul be content!
He had perfect knowledge of the seas
And knew the science of navigation.
He knew innumerable seas;
No one could stop him...
We sailed the Mediterranean together
And saw all its great cities.
We went to Frankish lands
And defeated the infidel.
One day an order from
SultanBayezid arrived.
"Tell Kemal Reis to come to me,"
It said, "and advise me on affairs of the sea."
So in 1495, the year of this command,
We returned to our country.
By the sultan's command we set out
And won many victories...
Kemal Reis sailed hoping to come back,
But was lost at sea.
Everyone once spoke of him;
Now even his name is forgotten...
The angel of death caught him
While he was serving Sultan Bayezid.
May Allah give peace to those
Who remember Kemal Reis with a prayer.
Kemal died and went to the next world
And we found ourselves alone in this.
Turkish: Izmir körfezi Karaburun kökenli bir Türk ailede doğmuş bulunan Kemal Reis [...] (English: Kemal Reis, who was born in a Turkish family of Karaburun origin in the Gulf of Izmir [...])
Turkish: Kemal ve Piri Reislerin Karaman'dan Gelibolu'ya gelen bir Türk ailesinin [...] (English: Kemal and Piri Reiss belong to a Turkish family who came to Gallipoli from Karaman [...])
Piri Reis – the real name of Haci Ahmed Muhiddin Piri (between 1465 to 1470—c. 1553). The Turkish Fleet commander, geographer... He is thought to be of the Greek origin.
PİRİ MUJYI'L - DİN REIS, Osmanlı denizcisi (navigatör) ve kartograf, muhtemelen Hıristiyan (Yunan) kökenli idi.
Ὑπὸ τὸν Βαρβαρόσσα ὑπηρέτησε καὶ ὁ ἑλληνικῆς πιθανῶς καταγωγῆς ναύαρχος Piri Reis...
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