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E - 155b : Barbarossa vs Star-shaped Cities 0:1

Updated: Apr 16, 2021


Otranto with its reinforced walls after the Turks conquered it in 1480


I know, I know. The title is fictitious. The Turkish Admiral lived from 1478 to 1546 and could not have raided starshaped cities. They did not exist in his lifetime. Was this the reason he was so successful when operating in the Western Mediterranean? There was almost no island or harbor he did not attack or take.

The Turkish Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa (1478 - 1546)


Barbarossa usually had about 100 galleys under his command. Each galley was manned with 150 rowers, 50 soldiers and had 5 guns, one or two of them heavy. This gave him a force of 20’000 men and 100 guns he could use for sieges. The force would sneak over the horizon at almost no notice and could easily overwhelm local defenders who had only thin medieval walls for protection. External help always arrived too late. Would Barbarossa have succeeded one hundred years later as well?


Gun technology was invented in China in the 10th century and slowly made its way west. By the early 15thcentury, it was incorporated in many European armies. The French King Charles VII used it with devastating effect against English strongholds in France and thus won the 100 Years-War in the 1440s. The Ottomans had perfected the use of siege guns as well and breached the walls of Constantinople in 1453 by firing stone balls at the base of the Theodosian Walls. After a few days of bombardment, they crumbled. But it took a while for armies to figure out the effective use of guns. In 1476, Swiss Infantry in Morat near Bern overrun and slaughtered the forces of the Duke of Burgundy who had plenty of guns.


The first to work on countermeasures against the new weapons were the ones most exposed – the Knights of St John in Rhodes who were besieged in 1480 already but could repulse the attack. Unlucky Otranto - far less well defended - could not. It was taken in late summer 1480. Of its 17’000 inhabitants, 12’000 were put to the “sword” (genocide in today's terms). 5’000 were sold as slaves - probably the young women and children. Everybody took notice.

The impressive sunk double walls of Rhodes - we were there in 2016


The solution to check siege guns was to lower walls into the ground and take them out of sight. Attackers could not destroy them from far away any more. Then, bastions protruding from the walls were built to lay counter fire on the siege guns and to cover the defensive walls with cross-fire. Nobody could approach them without crossing a hail of fire. The bastions were filled with rubble or sand to absorb the kinetic energy of cannon balls. The same principle is still applied today. Modern military check-points are protected by sandbags. The sand does the same as the rubble in the bastions – disperse kinetic energy.

Towns with star-shaped defence walls in Southern Italy, Malta and Corfu - the Turks in Red


During the second siege of Rhodes in 1522, the new bastions were so effective that the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had to let the Knights depart with their weapons and colours. He was not able to take the town by force. If you want to learn more about 16th and 17th century siege techniques, have a look at this animated German YouTube video (I love the German accent of the makers!):



The constant raiding of Barbarossa, the Turkish Admiral, convinced the Spanish Crown that a massive fortification program was necessary to protect the ports in Italy and Sicily. Nobody wanted the Ottomans to command a permanent harbor on the Italian pensinsula or in Sicily. This was far too dangerous. Bastions were added to existing walls (Cortone, Otranto), entirely new town defenses built (Syracuse, Catania, Messina, Galipoli) or the artillery forts of existing structures upgraded (Taranto). Malta was fortified by its Knights.

The impressive Fortifications of La Valetta in Malta - run by the Knights of St John but formally still part of the Spanish Empire


The Spanish efforts tipped the balance in favour of the defenders. 20’000 men and 100 guns were insufficient to force a well-built fortress into surrender. Suleiman the Magnificent had to learn it the hard way in 1537 when he attacked Corfu after the joint French – Ottoman invasion of Italy did not materialise. His force of 25’000 men with several hundred heavy guns could not take the Venetian town despite incessant bombardments for 2 months.

Fortified Syracuse - not the best photo but very illustrative


Most of these Spanish fortifications, many upgraded and “decorated” during the Baroque in the 17th century, are still visible. They are the background to the scenic sun set photos taken by tourists, dominate the entrance of harbors or guard the gates to the towns. They are everywhere. Not all of them are as well maintained as the Baroque churches we will see this summer but they are sturdy and seem to be made for eternity. You all know my desire for climbing on top of fortresses. There will be many opportunities to do so.

Catania in Sicily with its new Walls


Whether the brilliant Admiral Barbarossa could have found a way to tip the balance in his favor again is anybody’s guess. He was a brilliant warrior with a canny eye for the weakness of his opponents. But in 1571 the Ottomans lost the sea battle of Lepanto (we will cross these waters during our last week) and with it the appetite for further large scale expeditions into the western Mediterranean. We thus will never know.

The heavily fortified Galipoli in Apulia, just south of Taranto




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jennya1027
Feb 06, 2021

Ooooo I’m climbing all fortresses!!!

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