Siege of Otranto

Battle of Otranto

Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe
and Ottoman-Hungarian Wars

Date	July 1480–1481
Location	Otranto, Kingdom of Naples
Result	Ottoman forces seize the city; Christian forces recapture the city

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Gedik Ahmed Pasha

Francesco Largo †

Alfonso, Duke of Calabria

Balázs Magyar

Strength

18,000 infantry
700 cavalry
128 ships

Unknown
Hungary: 2,100 Hungarian heavy infantry

Casualties and losses

Garrisoned forces surrender

Unknown

Civilian casualties:
12,000
approx. 1,600 Hungarians (mostly servants)

The Ottoman invasion of Otranto occurred between 1480 and 1481 at the Italian city of Otranto in Apulia, southern Italy. Forces of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and its citadel. After capture, more than 800 of its inhabitants were supposedly executed. The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces.

The attack on Otranto was part of an abortive attempt by the Ottomans to invade and conquer Italy. In the summer of 1480, a force of nearly 20,000 Ottoman Turks under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha invaded southern Italy. The first part of the plan was to capture the port city of Otranto.

On July 28, 1480, an Ottoman fleet of 128 ships -including 28 galleys – arrived near the Neapolitan city of Otranto. Many of these troops had come from the siege of Rhodes. The garrison and citizens of Otranto retreated to the Castle of Otranto. On 11 August, after a 15-day siege, Gedik Ahmed ordered the final assault. When the walls were breached the Turkish army methodically passed from house to house, sacking, looting and setting them on fire. Upon reaching the cathedral, "they found Archbishop Stefano Agricolo, fully vested and crucifix in hand" awaiting them with Count Francesco Largo, the garrison commander and Bishop Stefano Pendinelli, who distributed the Eucharist and sat with the women and children of Otranto while a Dominican friar led the faithful in prayer. A total of 12,000 were killed and 5,000 enslaved, including victims from the territories of the Salentine peninsula around the city, and the cathedral turned into a mosque.

According to a traditional account, a small group of 800 were left alive, whom the Turks tried to forcibly convert. Eight hundred men chained together, who had lost home and family, were given the option of Islam or death, and chose death. One man, a textile worker named Antonio Primaldo Pezzula, turned to his fellow citizens and declared: "My brothers, we have fought to save our city; now it is time to battle for our souls!" The 800 men, aged 15 and older, unanimously decided to follow Antonio's example and offered their lives to Christ.

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Wikipedia