The Raid on Constantinople of 1616 was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

raid on

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, the capital city of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. It was performed by Ottavio d'Aragona on the orders of Viceroy of Naples Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna.

Background

After the success of the battle of Cape Gelidonya in July 1616, as well as the defeat of the Ottoman privateer Arzan in August, Osuna arranged for his lieutenant Ottavio d'Aragona to launch a raiding action in Turkish waters. Instead of Osuna's private galleon fleet employed in Gelidonya, Ottavio sailed off with nine galleys from the royal fleet on October 12, trusting on their already experienced crews. The expedition was chronicled by captain Diego Duque de Estrada.

Battle

d'Aragona disguised the galleys as Ottoman vessels and crossed the

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without being detected. Around the same time, the remnants of the Ottoman fleet engaged in Cape Gelidonya were returning to their bases in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

, so it's possible his fleet was mistaken by some of these ships. They cruised through

Candia The name Candia can refer to: People * The House of Candia, a noble family from Savoy (14th-16th) * Alfredo Ovando Candía, 56th president of Bolivia * Antoinette Candia-Bailey, American academic administrator * Cecilia Maria de Candia, British-It ...

, Corone, Modon and Negroponte, eventually leaving the

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and coming to the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

in front of Constantinople. The fleet entered the city's port still without raising alarms, and once inside they dropped the disguise and starting firing their artillery against the city. After some bombardment, d'Aragona received word the Ottomans had recovered from the surprise and deployed 60 galleys (possibly not as many in reality, given the state of the Ottoman navy at the time) in order to block the Dardanelles and cut their retreat. After consulting with his captains, Ottavio waited for nightfall to order the fleet to ram one of the two wings of Ottoman galleys. Confusion rose among the Ottoman, who failed at identify the Spanish due to the darkness and the high number of ships. Free from the blockade and with favorable wind, d'Aragona had the fleet turn off their lanterns and navigate in darkness, while his own ship acted as a decoy with a light on. After eight hours of being chased, he turned his light off as well and escaped in the darkness to their rendezvous point. The ruse was successful, causing the Turkish fleet to head for Candia when the Spaniards had actually sailed off towards

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. Capitalizing on the chance, d'Aragona sacked the Egyptian coast, and upon finding ten Ottoman ships, he attacked them without allowing them to use their superior size and artillery. The resultant booty was a million and half

ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

s. Sultan

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

became so indignant at the events that he had many Christians in Constantinople arrested on suspicions of having served as spies. Ottavio decided then to return to Naples, opting to properly brief Osuna before further diplomatic consequences.

Aftermath

The bombardment caused only minor damage, but its political and strategical resonance was huge. The fleets of the Duke of Osuna were reputed to be fearless and able to back it up. The conflict between the Viceroyalty of Naples and the Ottoman Empire was joined in 1617 by the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

, which claimed exclusivity of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

and kept association with Ottoman, French and Dutch enemies of Spain. The Duke of Osuna proposed the court of Philip III to conquer Venice at the same time he sent letters trying to drive a wedge between Venice and Turkey. Osuna dealt defeats to both opponents throughout 1617. Fleets captained by d'Aragona and Francisco de Ribera chased off the Venetian armada commanded by Justo Antonio Belegno, and a patrol of three galleys by Pedro Pimentel defeated and killed Mahomed Arzan, son of the previous Arzan and a former captive of Spain himself, whom the new Sultan

Osman II Osman II ( ''‘Osmān-i sānī''; ; 3 November 1604 – 20 May 1622), also known as Osman the Young (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 26 February 1618 until his regicide on 20 May 1622. Early life Osman II was born at Topkapı Pa ...

had sent with six galleys to sack

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. Belegno's successor Giacomo Zane obtained the same result as him, after which Pedro de Gamboa captured a Turkish merchant fleet for another million and half ducats. In response, Venetians and Ottomans planned to attack Naples with an armada of 48 Ottoman galleys, similar in size to tat deployed in Gelidonya, but a storm forced it to return. Around this time, Osuna also had the Pasha of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

captured in route, and Ribera fought and defeated the Venetians in

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References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bombardment of Constantinople

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Turkey 1616 Turkey 1616

1616 in the Ottoman Empire 16th century in Istanbul

Military raids