Selim II and Limits of the Ottoman
Territorial Expansion
Selim II (May 28, 1524 – December 12, 1574) was the
sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death.
After gaining the throne as a consequence of palace
intrigues organized by his mother Hürrem as well as of
fraternal disputes, he was the first Ottoman Sultan
having no active political military interest in the state
affairs and willing to abandon power to his grand vizier.
Because of his heavy drinking habit, he became known as
Selim “the Drunkard (Mest)“.
During his reign, an able grand vizier, Sokollu Mehmed
Pasha (Sokolovitch), controlled much of state affairs, and
two years after Selim's accession succeeded in concluding
at Istanbul a treaty (February 17, 1568) with the
Austrian Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian
II, whereby the Emperor agreed to pay an annual
"present" of 30,000 ducats gold to the Ottoman state and
recognized the Ottoman control in Moldavia and
Walachia.
However, the able grand vizier was less fortunate versus
the rising Russian power in the north of the Black Sea,
and the first conflict between the Ottoman and Russian
empires was no success for the Ottomans.
A plan had been prepared in Istanbul by the orders of
Sokollu for uniting the Volga and Don rivers by a canal,
and in the summer of 1569 an expeditionary force of
Janissaries and cavalry together with a large number of
workmen were sent to Astrakhan and begin the canal
works. However, Russians troops’ continuous attacks
destroyed the labor force and their protectors and, finally,
the Ottoman fleet supplying the expeditionary corps was
devastated by a storm in the Black Sea.
Afterwards the ambassadors of the Russian Tsar Ivan
“the Terrible” concluded in Istanbul a treaty which ended
the state of war between the Sultan and the Tsar.
The Empire’s expeditions in Hedjaz and Yemen in the
Arabian peninsula as well as in Cyprus were more
successful.
However, the conquest of Cyprus in 1571, led to the
devastating naval defeat against the coalition of Spain,
Italian states, Vatican and the Malta Knights (the socalled “Holy League” or “La Sainte-Alliance”) at Lepanto
in the same year.
Battle of Lepanto (İnebahtı)
The naval Battle of Lepanto took place on October, 7,
1571, at the northern edge of the entrance to the Gulf of
Corinth (then called the Gulf of Lepanto), off western
Greece. A galley fleet of “the Holy League”, a coalition of
Pope Pius V, Spain, Venice, Genoa, Savoy, Naples, the
Knights of Malta and others, defeated the Ottoman war
fleet consisting of galleys.
Attention
It was the final major naval battle in world history to
take place between exclusively oared-galleys.
The Holy League's fleet consisted of 206 galleys and 6
galleasses, and was commanded by Don John of Austria
(Don Juan, who was an illegitimate son of Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor). Vessels had been contributed by
the various Christian factions who were supporting the
Habsburgs.
The various Christian squadrons met in July and August
1571 at Messina, Sicily, waiting for Don Juan, who
arrived on August, 23. The Venitian galleasses joined the
gathering fleet on July, 7.
This Habsburg-led fleet was manned by 13.000 sailors
and 43,000 rowers. In addition, it had almost 23,000
fighting troops - 10000 Spanish regular infantry from the
famous “tercios”, 7000 German and 6000 Italian
mercenary contingents from the various Habsburg
possessions under Spanish pay, and 5000 others. Many
Christian volunteers were also present in this naval
crusade.
During the course of the battle, the Ottoman commander's
flagship was boarded and the Spanish tercios from 3
galleys and the Turkish janissaries from 7 galleys fought
on the deck of the Turkish commander Müezzinzade Ali
Pasha’s vessel. Twice the Spanish were repelled with
great loss, but at the third attempt, with reinforcements
they invaded the Ottoman flagship. Müezzinzade Ali
Pasha was killed and beheaded, against the wishes of
Don Juan.
However, when his head was displayed on a pike from the
Spanish flagship, it contributed greatly to the destruction
of Ottoman morale. The battle concluded in the late
afternoon with the Christian fleet’s victory.
The Ottoman fleet suffered the loss of about 240 galleys.
130 of them were in serviceable condition for the
Christian coalition. On the Christian side only 15 galleys
were destroyed and but 30 other warships were damaged
so seriously that they had to be scuttled. One Venetian
galley was the only one kept by the Ottomans. The “Holy
League” had suffered around 9,000 casualties but at the
end of the battle, freed twice as many Christian prisoners.
Ottoman casualties were around 30,000 with 20.000 able
seamen. The disaster was total.
Attention
The naval battle of Lepanto was a crushing defeat for the
Ottomans, who lost all but about a flotilla led by Uluç
Ali Reis. It was one of the most decisive naval defeats in
the Mediterranean between the Battle of Actium (31 BC)
and the Battle of Aboukir (1798). Despite the massive
Ottoman defeat, European disunity prevented the Holy
League from pressing their victory or achieving supremacy
over the Ottomans at sea at this time.
The Ottoman Empire immediately began a massive effort
to rebuild their navy, and within six months was able to
reassert Ottoman naval supremacy in the Eastern
Mediterranean. But because of the Ottoman's rapid
rebuilding, their ships were made from unseaworthy
materials and of low quality and even more alarmingly
they were manned by inexperienced sailors. This was to
have more important consequences in the long term than
their numbers.
Attention
The Ottoman navy was never able again to replace its
20.000 experienced seamen (levend) from the corsair
tradition.
The defeat at Lepanto did not prevent the Ottomans'
capture of the forts around Tunis. Ultimately, however,
the Battle of Lepanto limited Ottoman ambitions in the
Mediterranean, just as the Battles of Diu (1509 and
1538) in Northwestern Indian coast had limited their
ambitions in the Indian Ocean and the Siege of Vienna
(1529) and the Battle of Vienna (1683) stopped their
advance into Europe.
In August 1574, months before the death of Selim II, the
Ottomans regained control of Tunisia from Spain which
had occupied it in 1572.