Ottoman–Venetian War (1537–1540)

Third Ottoman–Venetian War

The "Battle of Preveza" (1538) by Ohannes Umed Behzad, painted in 1866.

Date	1537-1540
Location	Mediterranean Sea
Result	Ottoman victory

Belligerents

Holy League:

Spain

France (until 1538)

Commanders and leaders

Andrea Doria

Hayreddin Barbarossa

The Third Ottoman Venetian War (1537–1540) was the second of three Ottoman Venetian wars which took place during the 16th century. The war arose out of the Franco-Ottoman alliance between Francis I of France and Süleyman I of the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The initial plan between the two had been to jointly invade Italy, Françis through Lombardy in the North and Süleyman through Apulia to the South. However, the proposed invasion failed to take place.

In what became known as the Italian War of 1536–1538, Françis’s invasion of Piedmont, having made modest territorial gains, was halted by Genoa, an ally of Charles V. Furthermore, he was not able to put all his resources against the city as he also had to fend off Charles V’s invasion of Provence. At the same time, Süleyman was not yet ready to engage in a large-scale invasion of the Kingdom of Naples thus not giving Françis any relief. Ottoman troops were landed in Otranto from their encampment in Valona on July 23, 1537 but these were pulled out within a month when it became clear that Françis was not going to invade Lombardy. However, the landing and raiding of Ottoman soldiers in Apulia and the presence of the large Ottoman fleet in the Strait of Otranto did generate considerable fear in Rome that a large-scale invasion would follow.

This fear was further strengthened when following a skirmish with Andrea Doria, the Ottomans suddenly laid siege to the Venetian Island of Corfu in the Adriatic (Siege of Corfu 1537), thus breaking the peace treaty signed with Venice in 1502. On Corfu, the Ottomans faced formidable resistance and defenses specifically designed to counter Ottoman artillery. The siege lasted less than two weeks at which time Süleyman withdrew his forces and returned east to spend the winter in Adrianople.

...
Wikipedia