Ottoman Raid on Otranto
July 28, 1480
Gedik Ahmed Pasha landed eighteen thousand Ottoman troops on the heel of Italy and stormed Otranto in a single day. The archbishop was sawn in half at the altar; eight hundred male civilians were beheaded on a nearby hill for refusing Islam. The pope briefly prepared to flee Rome. Mehmed II's death a year later saved Italy.
In context
Also in 1480 (3 other events on record)
- Great Stand on the Ugra River · Europe · War
- Siege of Rhodes · Middle East · War
- Leonardo Offers Sforza His Services · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in War
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.