The Battle of Lepanto marked the decisive end of the
Ottoman expansion into the Mediterranean—and the
beginning of the Empire’s slow but inexorable decline.
In the second half of the 16th century, the ascendant
Ottoman Empire looked to bring all of Europe under
its Muslim yoke—the dar al-Islam, or House of
Submission. To this end, the sultan set his sights on
the region’s most vital waterway: the Mediterranean
Sea. In 1571, his vaunted fleet met the combined naval
forces of the Catholic maritime states at Lepanto in
one of the most important naval battles of all time.
The prelude to the fighting was the grisly sort of stuff one expects of tales of the Midde Ages. In 1570, the Papal States and
the Knights of Malta teamed with the Habsburg states of Spain, Naples, and Sicily, as well as Genoa, Tuscany, Savoy,
Parma, and Urbino, to help the Venetians defend Cyprus from the Turks. The so-called Holy League failed in this quest.
Not only that, but the Ottoman commander, Mustafa Pasha, reneged on his promise to allow the captured Venetians to
leave. He had one of the Holy League commanders flayed alive, displaying the mutilated corpse on his galley with the heads
of three other Venetian generals. The Holy League was determined to have its revenge.
Led by John of Austria, a mighty fleet of 212 ships, conveying some 28,500 soldiers and 1,815 guns, sailed south, where it
met an even larger Ottoman force of 251 ships in the Gulf of Patras, near the Ottoman port city of Lepanto. The Christians
had six warships called galleasses, the likes of which the Turks had never seen. Unlike regular galleys, which only fired from
the bow, galleasses were equipped with guns on the side of the ship. Almost immediately, the Turks made a tactical
blunder. Believing the galleasses to be supply ships, they attacked them—and suffered heavy losses. This paved the way for
a rout by the Holy League. Before retreating, the Ottomans lost 210 ships—most of its vaunted navy. Fifteen thousand
Turks were killed, and 3,500 captured.
It took the Ottomans years to recover from what some historians consider the most decisive naval defeat in 1500 years.
Worse than the loss of ships was the casualties. Among the dead were its best sailors, oarsmen, soldiers and especially
composite bowmen, the most feared component of its military. While the Turks built their own version of galleasses fairly
quickly, they could not replace a generation’s worth of fighters in a few years. They never again achieved the level of success
they had enjoyed on the high seas.
Data:The Coins in this set
Sicily billon denaro
Weight : 0.6-1.1g
Diameter: 15-17mm
Venice silver grosso
Weight: 2-2.2g
Diameter:19-21mm
Savoy billon quarter soldo
Weight: 0.6-1.1g
Diameter: 14-16mm
Genoa billon minuto
Weight: 0.5-0.7g
Diameter: 13-14mm
Spanish bronze 4-cornados
Weight: 0.8-1.1g
Diameter: 11.9-14.5mm
Ottoman bronze mangir
Weight:1.3-2.5g
Diameter:18.5-19.5mm
The Battle that Saved Europe
The Holy League Annihilates the Ottoman Fleet
Order code: LEPANTOBOX
Coin type and grade may vary somewhat from image
All coins in each set are protected in an
archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a
mahogany-like box.
The box set is accompanied with a story card,
certificate of authenticity, and a black
embossed gift box.
Box measures: 7.25” x 5.5”