ABSTRACT
From the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, the Ottoman peril hung over Europe. The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 had cemented the status of the empire as the dominant power in south-eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. In the face of its policy of conquest and aggression Venice felt particularly vulnerable as its seagoing trade routes were contested and its possessions occupied one after the other. In 1570 the Ottomans attacked Cyprus and Crete, the last Venetian outposts in the eastern Mediterranean, from where they could now launch attacks upon the Italian coast. To challenge Ottoman naval strength in the Mediterranean, in the spring of 1571, on the initiative of the Papacy, a Holy League was formed between Venice, Rome and Spain. The victory of the allied fleet under the command of Don Juan of Austria at the battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571 was a startling blow to the myth of Ottoman invincibility. It gave fresh hopes that its continental and Mediterranean expansion could be stopped and also that Islam would finally be defeated. This enthusiasm however was short-lived. Within six months the Turks had rebuilt their navy and resumed their policy of expansion on land, while disagreement and disunion prevailed amongst the victors of Lepanto.
