Battle of Zonchio
August 12, 1499
The first large naval battle where cannons fired from ships played the decisive role. Ottoman galleys under Kemal Reis destroyed a Venetian fleet near Sapienza, killing its admiral Antonio Grimani. Gunpowder was transforming Mediterranean warfare, and Venice's two centuries of naval supremacy were ending in smoke and splinters. The engagement foreshadowed the broadside tactics that would dominate Mediterranean and Atlantic naval warfare for three centuries.
In context
Also in 1499 (5 other events on record)
- Amerigo Vespucci's First Voyage · South America · Exploration
- Swiss Win Independence at Dornach · Europe · War
- Ludovico Sforza Loses Milan · Europe · War
- Second Ottoman-Venetian War Begins · Europe · War
- Alonso de Ojeda Maps Venezuelan Coast · South America · Exploration
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.
Sources