The fleet of the Holy League had 253 ships and 90,000 men, most of them Spanish. The Ottomans had 300 ships and more than a hundred thousand soldiers. But the victory was not achieved by the ships or the warriors, nor by the kings, princes or the Father, but by the galley slaves… yes, the slaves, the thousands of oarsmen who pushed the ships by force of muscle and sweat.
The slaves and convicted criminals made the difference, because they were chained and if the ship sank, they irremediably lost their lives in the most heinous way: drowned, burned, tied to their fate of misfortune. In the Holy League there were more than 20,000 galley slaves and before the battle they were promised freedom and pardon if they defeated the Turks. What more could they ask for? They were freed from their chains, and when the time came, many joined the battle, fighting bare-handed.
On the other hand, the Ottomans promised nothing to their slaves, who, for the most part, were Christians who, most likely, would go to the opposite side if they were not in chains. It was so when those 500 ships got tangled up in a head-on collision, Christians had more fists to face the enemy.
The first cannon shot sounded at noon and in four hours the victory was for the Europeans. It was not only the most famous naval battle in history, it was also the bloodiest: 40,000 dead and at least 70,000 wounded.
Juan de Austria returned with glory to embrace his half brother and was blessed by the Supreme Pontiff. The image of him was synonymous with courage directing the boarding of the infidel ships invoking Spain and Santiago. Others, the majority, returned without eyes, without legs, invalids condemned to a life of alms or maimed like the one called to write what he saw and lived that day.
For Miguel de Cervantes and Saavedra, Lepanto was “The highest occasion that past centuries saw, those present do not even expect to see those to come” and, so far, he has been right.
Source: Ambito
