LEPANTO: A FINAL CLASH?

The Holy League of 1571 was not the first to band Christian forces against the increasingly powerful Ottoman Empire, and would not be the last. The alliance, composed of Spanish, Papal, Venetian, Genoese, Tuscan, Maltese, Savoyard and Urbinese ships, was the first to register a notable success against Ottoman seapower at Lepanto. It was also the last to ever consist of so many states, which included former bitter rivals.

The battle was far from being a break in history that started the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The devastated Ottoman fleet was rebuilt within years. But one tactical decision created a linear status quo in the Mediterranean. Rather than enslaving the Ottoman sailors, a large part of the Christian fleet was ordered to kill or execute them. That they did: up to 25,000 may have been killed for this very reason within hours. It was a logistical expedient, more than anything else. In essence, the Ottoman Navy lost more than an entire generation of skilled mariners. It held on to the Eastern Mediterranean, but the two clashing faiths had finally and successfully polarised the Great Sea.

For the Order of St John and Malta, the two golden centuries of policing the Christian West against the incursions of the Maghreb and the Sublime Porte had begun in earnest.

ArtEfacts

Ex-Voto Painting of the Battle Of Lepanto

Size

208 x 133cm

Date

1500-1599

Location

Malta Maritime Museum, Ground Floor

Creator

Antonello Ricci

Reference Code

MMM 000591

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