Volta
Conflict7 October 1571

Battle of Lepanto

Also called: Battle of Lepanto (1571)

On 7 October 1571 the fleet of the Holy League of Spain, Venice and the Papal States crushed the Ottoman fleet off Lepanto in Greece — seen as the moment Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean was checked.

The Battle of Lepanto — late 16th-century painting by an unknown artist
The Battle of Lepanto — late 16th-century painting by an unknown artist

Unidentified painter · Public domain · Source

When the Ottoman Empire attacked Venetian Cyprus, Pope Pius V brought Spain, Venice, the Papal States and others together in a Holy League. On 7 October 1571 the League fleet under Don John of Austria, half-brother of Philip II, met Ali Pasha’s Ottoman fleet at the mouth of the Gulf of Patras, destroying or capturing most of it and freeing thousands of Christian galley slaves. Cervantes, the future author of Don Quixote, was wounded in the left hand in the battle.

The Ottomans rebuilt their fleet the following year and kept Cyprus, but the victory blocked their advance into the western Mediterranean. It was also the last great battle between oared galleys. Around the same time in Joseon, the literati split into Easterners and Westerners (1575).

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States at the time
Spain · victor
Republic of Venice · victor
Papal States · victor
Ottoman Empire · defeated

People

  • Philip II of Spain1527 – 1598

    monarch · King of Spain (r. 1556–1598), son of Charles V, who won at Lepanto and united Portugal with Spain but faced the Dutch Revolt and the defeat of his Armada

Before and after

Earlier
1545 Council of Trent
Later
1582 Introduction of the Gregorian Calendar

Themes that include this event

  • Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796

    From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states