Ottoman conquest of Otranto

Battle of Otranto
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe and Ottoman–Hungarian Wars
Castle of Otranto
Date 28 July 1480 – 10 September 1481 Location Otranto, Kingdom of Naples Result Ottoman forces conquer Otranto[1][2] Christian forces recapture the city in September 1481
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Kingdom of Naples Crown of Aragon Kingdom of Sicily Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Gedik Ahmed Pasha	Paolo Fregoso Francesco Largo † Alfonso, Duke of Calabria Gaspare de Spes Balázs Magyar
Strength
18,000 infantry 700 cavalry 128 ships	Unknown Hungary: 2,100 Hungarian heavy infantry[3]
Casualties and losses
Garrisoned forces surrender	12,000 killed in action 5,000 enslaved

In the summer of 1480, the Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, and laid siege to Otranto, finally capturing it on 11 August. This was their first outpost in Italy.^[4] According to a traditional account, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city had been captured.^[5][6] The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later, the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city after a siege by Christian forces, uncertainty upon the death of sultan Mehmed II and the intervention of papal forces that were led by Paolo Fregoso of Genoa.