This research paper discusses and chooses among various extant interpretations concerning the causes, course and consequences of the Battle of Lepanto which took place on October 7, 1571. That clash of arms was triggered by the invasion and eventual conquest of the Venetian colony of Cyprus by troops of the Ottoman Empire. Religious ideology was an important deeper cause of this battle which occurred at or near the peak of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and of Islamic (Turkish) dominion in Europe. However, fundamental conflicting national territorial, political and economic interests and ambitions on both sides also contributed to the outbreak of naval hostilities in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and influenced the outcome of the battle. The Battle of Lepanto itself proved to be a decisive victory for the Western Catholic powers involved over the Turks. However, the longer term consequences of that battle were in fact much less significant than has been claimed under many Western interpretations.
Ottoman Goals in the Mediterranean. The Battle of Lepanto occurred only six years after the death of the greatest of all Ottoman Sultans, Suleiman I (the Magnificent) (r. 1520-1566). Beeching said that as Caliph of all Islam, Suleiman had "the duty of spreading the True Faith at the point of his sword" (38). Under his leadership and that of his 15th and 16th century predecessors, Ottoman armies through a combination of able military tactics, political acumen and religious zeal had conquered most of Southeastern Europe. That tide crested first in 1529-1532 at the gates of Vienna which the Turks never succeeded in capturing. Propagation of the Islamic creed was an important element of this forward thrust, but the Ottomans also were quite adept at subordinating religious fervor to more practical considerations. According to Turkish historian Inalcik, "in the 16th and 17th centuries support for Protestants and Calvinists was one of the fun...