The world's leading conquerors : $b Alexander the Great, Cæsar, Charles the Great, the Ottoman sultans, the Spanish conquistadors, NapoleonBevan, Wilson Lloyd
History
The world's leading conquerors : $b Alexander the Great, Cæsar, Charles the Great, the Ottoman sultans, the Spanish conquistadors, Napoleon
Bevan, Wilson Lloyd
History; Kings and rulers
In 1463 the Morea was ravaged by the Turkish army, and five hundred
Venetian soldiers met death by being sawn apart. In 1467 the
island of Eubœa was attacked by both Ottoman fleet and land forces
simultaneously. Great preparation was made for the defense of the
Venetian citadel, but the plans were spoiled by the incapacity of the
commander of the Venetian fleet to defend the approach to the island
from the sea. The besieged garrison showed great heroism, and even
when they discovered that their leaders were preparing to betray them,
they stoutly held out and inflicted severe losses on the Ottomans. For
reasons which are inexplicable, the Venetian fleet made no attempt to
break down the bridge which connected the island with the continent;
the occupation of this passageway finally enabled the Janitschars to
enter the city. Its heroic defender, Paolo Erizzo, met the fate of
being sawn asunder, because, as a chronicle states, the Turks had
promised to save his head but not his thighs.
This heavy blow to Venice stirred the republic to a series of energetic
reprisals. With her allies, the Neapolitans and the Knights of Rhodes,
and aided by the Pope, she carried the war into Asia Minor. The town of
Smyrna was occupied by the Venetian fleet, and the Seldjouk emirates,
always ready to rebel against the Ottomans, were encouraged to revolt.
When Lepanto was successfully protected by the Venetian fleet, it was
felt that Mohammed had at last encountered a power that was ready
to contest the imperial ambitions of Ottoman rule. But that there
was no sufficient ground for over-confidence appeared when a Turkish
general, Omar-beg, invaded Friuli, and began to ravage territories
in the immediate neighborhood of Venice. A Venetian general fell
fighting the Turks on the banks of the Isonzo, and the citizens of the
republic could see with their own eyes the work of the Turks, as they
burnt the villages that lie between the Isonzo and the Taghliamento.
Scutari, however, withstood two Turkish sieges, though Mohammed himself
took part in the operations. Finally, in 1479, Venice, deserted by
her allies, was willing to arrange terms of peace. These involved
the cession of Lemnos and certain possessions in Albania; but more
significant of her humiliation was the payment of a war indemnity of
100,000 ducats, and the agreement to give an annual tribute of 110,000,
in return for which sacrifices certain commercial advantages were
conceded by the Turks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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