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Spain and Europe 1556–98

The Mediterranean war with the Turks and the annexation of Portugal

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2

Overview

Malta and Cyprus, the Holy League and Lepanto, the truce of 1578 and the union of the crowns at Tomar.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

What happened to the Spanish expedition to Djerba in 1560?

Numbers

What provoked the formation of the Holy League in 1571?

Key term

Who commanded the Christian fleet at Lepanto?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What threat did the Ottomans and their allies pose to Spain?

    Model answer

    Ottoman fleets and the Barbary corsairs of North Africa raided the Spanish and Italian coasts, seized shipping and carried off captives, and could exploit Morisco discontent inside Spain.

  2. 2

    What happened to the Spanish expedition to Djerba in 1560?

    Model answer

    The Spanish and allied fleet sent to Djerba was caught and destroyed by an Ottoman fleet in 1560, one of the worst naval disasters of the reign.

  3. 3

    What was the significance of the siege of Malta in 1565?

    Model answer

    The Knights of St John held Malta through a siege of several months until relief arrived from Sicily, checking Ottoman expansion in the central Mediterranean.

  4. 4

    What provoked the formation of the Holy League in 1571?

    Model answer

    The Ottoman attack on Venetian Cyprus drove Venice, the papacy and Spain into the Holy League in 1571, brokered by Pope Pius V.

  5. 5

    Who commanded the Christian fleet at Lepanto?

    Model answer

    Don John of Austria, Philip II's illegitimate half-brother, commanded the combined fleet of the Holy League.

  6. 6

    What happened at Lepanto in October 1571?

    Model answer

    The Holy League's galleys destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Gulf of Patras, capturing or sinking most of its ships and freeing thousands of Christian galley slaves.

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