From the Peace of Brussels in 1516 to the peace with the Turks in 1573 there is little to record to the glory of the Republic. In the war of the Valtelline and in that of the Spanish succession she simply strove to preserve her neutrality, and succeeded, but at the expense of having her territory overrun by both armies and submitting to humiliation in silence. In 1537 a third war broke out with the Turks, and was concluded by a peace in 1540, which was ruinous to Venice in the further loss of territory in the Levant. This treaty was made with Suleiman the Magnificent; and when at his death, in 1566, Selim the Drunkard became Sultan, he at once determined to seize on Cyprus, and demanded its surrender on the plea that it was a dependency of Mecca. In its weakness the Republic appealed for help to the Pope, who promised that all Europe should give its support. But the usual disappointment was repeated,--the assistance was meagre, {283} and the delay in sending it was such that although the cities of Nicosia and Famagosta made a stout resistance, and the Venetian commandants did all that brave men could do, hoping for relief from day to day, yet Cyprus was conquered by the Turks without a Venetian fleet coming within sight of the island. The details of the defence, and of the sufferings of the Italians at the hands of the barbarous Turks, are too heart-sickening for repetition. At length the allied fleet of the Venetians, Spaniards, and Papal forces, when all too late to save Cyprus, encountered the Ottoman fleet off Lepanto, and a desperate battle for five hours resulted in a splendid victory for the allies. The Turks lost thirty thousand men and one hundred and seventeen galleys, while the Christians lost eight thousand. Sebastian Venier won great renown for himself and the Republic; and Venice had the supreme joy of once again celebrating a victory and hearing a _Te Deum_ in San Marco. The Venetians desired to press on at once to Constantinople, having a reasonable hope, after such a defeat, of crushing the power of the infidel; but the allies would not consent, and Don John of Austria took his ships into winter quarters. By spring the Turks were ready with a fleet of two hundred and ten sail. Venice could not contend with them alone, and in the end made a peace which, together with Cyprus, contented the Turk for a time.