Battle of Lepanto

[john sefton]

Lepanto, battle of (1571).
This was the largest ever sea battle in the Mediterranean, fought between the Ottoman Turks with about 275 ships and the Holy League of Venice, the Habsburg dominions, Malta, Genoa, and other Italian states led by the papacy, with about 210.
Sultan Selim ‘the Sot’ had a passion for Cyprus wine, and in 1570 the Turks captured the island. The west's reaction was unprecedented. A massive and well-appointed fleet was formed under the command of Don Juan of Austria, a bastard son of Charles V. He sighted the Ottoman fleet off Lepanto (Navpaktos) on the Gulf of Patras, in western Greece.
Almost all the ships were galleys but the League also had six galleasses, big hybrid ships between a galley and a galleon, with oars and guns along the broadside. The Turkish galleys were rowed by slaves: some of the Christian ships were rowed by volunteers. Whereas the Turks still favoured ramming, the Christian galleys had large guns pointing forward above the ram, and were well protected against the Turkish arrows.
In the ensuing carnage, up to 200 of the Turkish ships were sunk or captured, as against just 15 of the League's galleys, the Turks' first major defeat in two centuries and the largest number of sinkings in any sea battle. The near-complete destruction of the Ottoman fleet resounded round Europe.
Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was there and said it was the end of the myth of Turkish invincibility. But the western states reckoned without the efficiency of Ottoman administration. The Turks cut down a forest and rebuilt their fleet within a year, and held on to Cyprus when the war ended in 1573.
Lepanto was also an evolutionary dead end for naval warfare. The Turks had been slow to move with the naval innovations introduced by Atlantic states, the massive and heavily gunned Spanish, English, and Dutch sailing ships designed to ride the Spanish Main.
The naval museum in Madrid has a splendid gallery devoted to the victory of Lepanto. There is only a small display devoted to the ‘unsuccessful expedition against England’ in 1588.
Britannia Concise Encyclopedia
Monaco SG1028

[aukepalmhof]

Italy issued one stamp in 2021 on the occasion of the anniversary of the battle of Lepanto (1571). The stamps, celebrating the clash between the Holy League and the Sublime Porta - on the occasion of the 450th anniversary. - The stamp, reproduce 'La galena stefaniana a Lepanto' by Ernando Venanzi. In which the Stefania cross is reproduced. The postage stamp for the battle of Lepanto corresponds to the rate of priority mail direct to Italy.

The naval battle of Lepanto (in the Gulf of Corinth in Greece) took place in October 1571. The Republic of Venice (which headed most of the galleys employed), Spain, the Papal State, the Knights of Malta, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Republic of Genoa, and other states of the Italian peninsula; on the other front, the Turkish-Ottoman Empire was at the height of its military power (for example, the Venetian stronghold of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus had just been conquered).
Victory, as is well known, came to the fleet of the Holy League.

The order of Santo Stefano Pope and Martyr was founded in 1561 by Cosimo de Medici and participated with 12 galleys in the battle of Lepanto.

http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/media/ ... 4496a.html
Italy 2021 priority mail sg?, Scott?
Liberia 2000 $8 sg?, scott?
Spain 1938 50c sg 936, scott?

[Anatol]

Don Juan of Austria. Battle of Lepanto.
Spain 1971;2,0;5,0;SG2113;2114.

[aukepalmhof]

The famous naval conflict, known as the Battle of Lepanto, took place on October 7, 1571, near Naupaktos (Venetian Lepanto). The immediate cause of this conflict was the war between the Venetian Republic and the Holy League.
The conflict ended with the victory of the "Holy League" (united Christian fleets). This was the biggest and last battle of rowing boats.
A significant contribution to the victory at Lepanto was made by 8 galleys from the eastern Adriatic coast, including the Kotor galley "Sveti Tripun Kotorski" under the command of Admiral Jeronim Byzantium. Fifteen Perast gonfalonieri - guardians of the war flag on the Venetian command ship Sebastian Venier - also contributed to the victory. Petar Stjepkov Markovic from Perast was awarded by the Spanish king for his merits in the battle.
The Post of Montenegro, within the edition of the Maritime "Battle of Lepanto", publishes a commemorative stamp and envelope on the first day.

Design solution: Adela Zejnilović, graphic designer from Podgorica

https://postacg.me/filatelija/pomorstvo ... d-lepanta/ (Google translate)
Montenegro 2021 0.95 Euro and MS 8 x 0.95 Euro and a vignette.

[Anatol]

Battle of Lepanto
Spain 2021;5,15e.

[aukepalmhof]

Update on Anatol write up:

450th Anniversary Battle of Lepanto

On October 7, 1571, the greatest naval battle in modern history took place, a battle of giants between the powerful European artillery and the Ottoman navy.
Faced with the Turkish threat, Spain, Venice and the Papal States formed an alliance known as the Holy League, under the command of Don Juan of Austria.
That morning in early October, both armed forces approached head-on, amid chants, prayers, wine, and food, prepared for the cruelest fight.
It will be in the afternoon when the bombardments and the clashes between ships begin, a hand-to-hand fight between soldiers who fall wounded, dead, prisoners, or victors according to their fate.
It is precisely this moment that the main painting of the stamp that Correos dedicates to this anniversary reproduces.
Combate Naval de Lepanto is the work of the Philippine painter Juan Luna y Novicio, which recreates exactly the moment when the royal galley, in front of which was the illegitimate son of Carlos I of Spain, Juan de Austria, on behalf of the king and as general in chief of the Holy League, collides face to face with a Turkish galleon.
The block sheet also includes a curious image of this painting: between the strong waves, a small boat appears in which, among other fighters from the Christian side, one can recognize the figure of what is perhaps the most famous soldier of that battle, Miguel scored by Cervantes Saavedra when we have the information.
This pictorial work was commissioned by the Spanish-Filipino painter to decorate the Conference Room of the Senate Palace.
The artist's exacerbated realism transcends the senses, becoming a feast of sensations, where the rough waves represent the harshness of the moment, the sour and strident colors convey that instant of confusion and turbulence that such combat entails.
The Battle of Lepanto is undoubtedly one of the most important chapters in our history, although it also became one of the bloodiest events.

More on the painting is given by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battl ... _painting)

https://www.wopa-plus.com/en/stamps/product/&pgid=70469