The Battle of Lepanto

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2015

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, the last great sea battle between galleys, in which the Catholic fleet of the Holy League of principally Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Malta, Genoa, and Savoy defeated the Ottoman forces of Selim II. When much of Europe was divided over the Reformation, this was the first major victory of a Christian force over a Turkish fleet. The battle followed the Ottoman invasion of Venetian Cyprus and decades in which the Venetians had been trying to stop the broader westward expansion of the Ottomans into the Mediterranean. The outcome had a great impact on morale in Europe and Pope Pius V established a feast day of Our Lady of Victory. Some historians call it the most significant sea battle since Actium (31 BC). However, the Ottomans viewed the loss as less significant than their victory in Cyprus and, within two years, the Holy League had broken up. With Diarmaid MacCulloch Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford Kate Fleet Director of the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies and Fellow of Newnham College, University of Cambridge And Noel Malcolm A Senior Research Fellow in History at All Soul's College, University of Oxford Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time
0:04.0	and for our terms of use please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio for.
0:08.9	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:10.9	Hello, in 1571 the fleets of the Holy League and the Ottomans went into Batlet LePanto
0:16.1	in the Gulf of Patras on the western side of Greece.
0:18.9	It was one of the largest naval battles in history and the greatest sea battle in the Mediterranean
0:23.1	since ancient times and the last mighty clash between galley ships which had fought in
0:27.7	those seas for about 2,000 years.
0:30.0	It was a decisive victory for the Holy League of Venice, Spain and the Papal States, Genoa
0:34.7	and Malta which captured or sunk most of the Ottoman fleet.
0:38.3	There were triumphal processions in Rome and celebrations throughout Europe and Ottoman
0:41.9	described it as the worst disaster at sea since Noah's flood.
0:46.0	While the Pope claimed divine aid for the victory the Ottomans blamed the incompetence of their
0:50.2	admiral who they said you'd never have attacked.
0:52.8	The battle significance though is debated to this day for the Ottomans went on to rebuild
0:57.2	their fleet in a year.
0:58.3	The Venetians lost their treasure possession Cyprus and less than two years after the battle
1:02.4	the Holy League collapsed.
1:04.5	With me to discuss the Battle of LePanto our German McCulloch, Professor of the History
1:08.3	of the Church at the University of Oxford, Kate Fleet, Director of the Skilleter Centre
1:12.8	for Ottoman Studies and Fellow of Newham College Cambridge and Noel Malcolm, a senior
1:16.9	research fellow in history at also's College University of Oxford.
	...

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