Ottoman Seizure of Castro 1537



A.) Prehistory

In 1535, Emperor Charles V. had sent an expedition to Tunis to restore an exiled ruler. In 1536 France resumed her policy of fighting the Habsburg Dynasty; the Ottoman Empire was a traditional French ally.


B.) The Expedition

In 1537 an Ottoman fleet landed in Apulia (Kingdom of Naples) and seized the fortified city of Castro. The Ottomans did not hold on to their conquest for long - that may not have been the objective - but forced King Charles V. to maintain an armed force in the Kingdom of Naples, which he could not use against the French.


C.) The Legacy

Charles V. supported the Maltese Knights who undertook sporadic campaigns against Muslim North Africa. The Ottoman Empire undertook sporadic campains against Charles V.' Kingdom of Naples - Otranto 1480, Castro 1537, Castro 1575, Manfredonia 1620.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Storia di Terra d'Otranto, in Italian
I Castelli della Provincia di Lecce, from Salento Virtuale, in Italian
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on February 23rd 2004, last revised on November 17th 2004

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