shall be my Sovereign and not they that shall pronounce my Doom He afterwards justified himself in all things alledged against him and shewed so clearly his Innocency that he obtained not only his Grace but Places of greater Trust These Ministers being jealous of the Favour and Credit which Mahomet enjoyed during the Peace earnestly desired War to secure themselves against so dangerous and potent a Rival Mahomet alarm'd by the Complaints of the Souldiers and Murmurs of the Janizaries which grew every day louder and more frequent believ'd he ought for the averting of this Storm to undertake some Military Exploit This being the only means for the quieting the Janizaries Spirits who thirsted after Mischief and Pillage and remove at the same time from the Court his Enemies in sending them away to expose their Lives in the Graâ—â— Signior's Service And thus the chief Ministers of the Port altho' with different Interests concurred in promoting a War. Miches whom we have already mentioned was one of Mustapha's Confidents by means of his frequent Access to the Grand Signior He was a Jew by Birth a wandring Nation eveâ— since their committing the worst of Murders namely that on the Son of God whose Blood is on them and their Children to this day These People are hated and distinguished by Marks of Infamy in all places where they traffick not being suffered to bear the least Office in any place whatsoever They were greatly multiplied in Spain and acquired great wealth there by their false Dealings and Usury Their way of lending Money appeared at first very profitable to the People but when it was perceived in the Sequel that this facility of borrowing gave occasion to Luxury and Prodigality and that People of Quality as well as the ordinary sort were near ruined by prodigious Sums of Interest-money the Kings of Spain thought it necessary to remedy so great an Abuse This People being exceedingly encreased as I afore mentioned by means of their Averseness to Celibacy esteeming Barrenness a Curse the Kings of Spain would suffer them no longer in their Territories commanding them to depart thence or abjure their Judaism The greatest part of them loving their Commerce better than their Religion chose rather to quit that than their Countrey and the rest withdrew themselves to Portugal which yet received them on condition They should remain their Slaves if they departed not the Kingdom after a certain time altho' they had given them a great deal of Money to be suffered amongst them They designed to pass over to Mauritania but finding no Vessels on the day mark'd for their Passage by the falsness of the Portugueses they lost their Liberty according to the Agreement made betwixt ' em After the Death of John the Second Emanuel who succeeded him drew them out of Slavery to obtain the Reputation of a merciful Prince But finding that kindness prevailed nothing on the hard-heartedness of these People he took from them their Children and caus'd them to be Baptiz'd driving out their Parents from his Dominions The horror of so cruel a Separation converted more than the Confiscation of their Estates did in Spain But the outward Profession of Christian Religion changed not their Minds practising no less secretly their Judaish Superstitions The King of Portugal set up a severe Inquisition against them The Relapsers convicted were burnt alive and their Posterity declared for ever infamous This Tribunal consists still in Portugal It s Rigour causes many to withdraw into several parts of the World who being privately brought up in the ancient Belief of their Fathers although born amongst Christians remain fix'd to the Dreams of their Rabbies by the horror they are inspired with from their Infancy against our Religion These People are called by the Spaniards Marani and Miches was one of the most considerable amongst them They had sent him to Venice to obtain if possible from the Republick an Habitation in some of the Neighbouring Islands But the Senate having refused to gratifie his Request he retired out of humor to Constantinople where he married a rich Widow by whose means he arrived from a miserable Condition to great Wealth and became the eminentest Jew in that Country Being a Person of great insinuation and address he soon found means by Presents and Flatteries to have access to Selim who was then Governour only of Cilicia Solyman his Father at that time reigning and by force of Presents was admitted by this Prince into a near familiarity and knowledge of his most private Occasions This man was no stranger to the State of Affairs in most Parts of Christendom but especially in the Interests of those of Venice and therefore employ'd all his Skill and Interest with the Grand Signior to be revenged on that Republick for the Denial he lately received from them He often entertained the Sultan with the Fertility of the Isle of Cyprus the Excellency of its Fruits and especially the Delicacy of its Wine which this Prince usually tasted to Excess He moreover asserted some kind of Right to this unjust Invasion that the Vâ—netians had usurped it that it belonged lawfully to his Highness seeing it made a part of the Kingdom of Egypt and that it was in quality of the Mameluc's Successor the Republick paid him an annual Tribute When the Wine Sugar and other Fruits which the Governors of Cyprus were wont to send every year to Selim were presented Miches derided these Presents telling the Emperor to set him against the Republick that they were more becoming the mean spiritedness of the Merchants that sent them than the greatness of the Prince that received them He added That the Venetians made continual infractions in the last Treaty of Peace in receiving into their Ports such as were Pyrates and Enemies to his Highness That the Spaniards and Knights of Malta made not a Prize on the Turks but under the intelligence of the Republick and That if he suffered the Mediterranean Sea to be infested with these Robbers all his Subjects must give over Trading which would be as disadvantageous to his Reputation as contrary to his Profit That the Mahometan Religion was no less interessed seeing by this means the Accesses to Meca were block'd up and all Liberty taken away of visiting Mahomet's Tomb whither so many devout Turks went on Pilgrimage That under pretence of chasing the Corsary's they pursued his Subjects with so great rage and fury that they cut the Throats of those who surrendred without fighting He at the end flattered him on the immense extent of his Power and assuring him that the Venetians would abandon to him the Island assoon as ever his Army should set footing in it he confirm'd this Prince who otherwise slighted the Republick of Venice in the Design of invading this Kingdom assoon as Solyman should leave him the Empire Some have affirmed he gave the possession of it to this Miches and that in the midst of a great Debauch he had call'd him King of
Cyprus But whether he really design'd to set the Crown on the Head of this profligate Jew which is very contrary to the usual Genius of the Turkish Policy and Customs or only to gratifie his Appetite to delicious Wines he in regard to this Project fortify'd that part of Cilicia which is over against the Island and divided only by a space of sixty Miles The pains the Turks took to fortifie a Place so long neglected gave great Suspicions to the Venetians But Selim being become Emperor forgat this Enterprize the remembrance of which was not to be offered to a Prince languishing in effeminate Pleasures Yet did Miches and Mustapha spend whole days and nights in projecting how to bring him handsomly to undertake the old Design and they thought no way could be better than to rouze him by the Murmurings of his Souldiers who loudly demanded a War. They made use also of some of the Women-Favourites who hated Mahomet to give him this Advice and Selim disturb'd with this troublesom Relation would know this Ministers Opinion Mahomet counselled him to yield to a War telling him what a happy opportunity offered it self for it the Moors of Spain having sent to intreat assistance from his Highness against the Tyranny of King Phillip the Second The Novelty of this Enterprize surpriz'd the more the Grand Signior being ignorant why the Moors would revolt against Spain and what Forces they were able to raise against their Soveraign But he willingly received the Proposition of turning his Arms on the side of Cyprus whereupon Mahomet having shewed him he could not declare a War against the Venetians without violating the Oath he had taken the Council thereupon broke up without determining any thing tho' Selim matter'd not much the Scruples which were offered him The Ottoman Emperors believe nothing so great nor magnificent whereby to eternize their Names as to be the Founders of Mosques and Places of Religious Worship These Edifices are lightned within by an infinite number of Lamps which are always burning during their Ceremonies and they have Priests and particular Ministers belonging to each of them the Porches and several other parts of these Churches are paved with Marble enriched with quantity of Precious Stones and wrought by several skilful Italian Architects who for Gain-sake make no scruple to be hired by these Heathens But this Magnificence reaches further they build Hospitals near these Mosques call'd Kervansarai of as beautiful Structure as the other in which are put all poor and sick People who are as neatly as carefully look'd after All Travellers may remain there three days without distinction of Country or Religion Slaves are therein received as well as those that are Free and the greatness of their Number makes no man refus'd There are also several Children brought up in them Selim had a Design to build one of these Hospitals with a Mosque which should surpass not only in Largeness and Richness the Kervansarai of Solyman his Father but likewise all those which had been raised by his Predecessors The Mufti who is as it were the High Priest amongst them shewed him 't was an ancient Custom established by God's Appointment to employ in these fort of Foundations the Booty gain'd from the Enemies of his Empire and especially from the Christians who most contemn the Prophet and his Law. Selim well pleas'd to hear the Mufti thus deliver himself resolv'd from that time on the Conquest of the Kingdom of Cyprus and determined the Revenues to the building of a new Hospital Mustapha whilst these things were in agitation found a seasonable time which he had long sought of enteraining the Sultan in private He remembred him That the Turkish Emperors began their Reign with some Military Enterprize and valued more the Respect and Submission paid them by their Subjects on the account of a Victory or some Conquest than from their Right of Sovereignty That Selim his Grandfather whose Memory will be precious to all Ages came no sooner to the Throne than he carried his Arms to Persia and having won a signal Victory in the Plains of Calderana from the Sophi Ismael a Prince renowned for his Valour he made himself Master of Tauris then the Capital City of that great and famous People and that this Advantage was only a Prelude to the Glory he afterwards acquired by the same Arms. That Solyman his Highness's Father burning with Zeal to his Religion made War with the Christians Enemies to the Alcoran and signaliz'd his first Campaign by the taking of Belgrade from which the Emperors Amurah and Mahomet had shamefully rais'd the Siege with considerable loss and by this Conquest bereaved the Hungarians of their Reputation of being the best Souldiers in Europe He afterwards took the Isle of Rhodes from the Jerusalem Knights the Turks sworn irreconcileable Enemies with the same valour and speed That the Venetians had likewise felt the effort of his victorious Arms and being straightned sometimes by Hunger otherwhiles by his Troops they were forced for the saving of the Isles of Zant Cephalonia and Corfou to consent to a shameful Peace and to yield him Naplousia and Malvasia Places of Consequence and great Strength with all the Morea That the Venetian State being destin'd to furnish the Ottoman Empire with Conquests they ought to reckon on a certain Victory in declaring War against this Republick That he justly drew it upon her by fortifying a Tributary Kingdom as if she would maintain by Force what she held only at his Highness's Pleasure That Solyman would not have suffered this Insolency but driven out the Venetians from the Isle of Cyprus as a punishment for putting themselves into a posture of Defence whilst he made War in Hungary and thus profiting by his Absence he having been often heard to say some time before his Death in a great Passion That if he return'd Conqueror to Constantinople he would turn all his Forces toward that Island attacking it both by Sea and Land That his Highness should the rather enter into this his Father's Resentment seeing God had permitted the Venetians to fail of their respect towards him at his coming to the Crown by protecting such as pillaged his Frontiers and exercis'd their Rapines as well by Land as Sea That the Ports of the Isle of Cyprus served for a shelter and place of Retreat to the Christian Pyrates who continually chased the Turkish Vessels and to have satisfaction for all this there needed only a Design to be undertaken whose Success tho' sufficiently honourable was neither perilous nor impossible What Consternation added he will it be to all Christendom to see the Venetians driven out of this Isle when they are most confident on their Strength having fortified the Capital City in the midst of the Country which notwithstanding its deep Ditches and new Ramparts cannot long hold out against an Army which has been ever successful That the Conjuncture was favourable by reason of the Christian Princes Divisions being
in Europe procured his being employed by the Infidels in several important Negotiations Barbaro caused him to be accompanied by Lewis Bonrici one of the Secretaries belonging to the Senate a Person skill'd and faithful in Business and also by his eldest Son under pretence of greater Credit and Security amongst the Venetians but in effect to inform the Senate of the present State of Affairs by Bonrici and to preserve his Son from that Servitude with which all the Venetians at Constantinople were threatned 'T is said the Prime Visier ordered the Chiaus when when he was to receive his Dispatches after he had declared the Grand Signior's Will to the Senate to give out privately some Words of Accommodation and promis'd him to second his Project with his Favour and Credit The Venetians receiv'd continually Advice as well from those whom they had sent to learn the Motions of the Infidels as the Governors of the Cities of Dalmatia and Illyria That the Turks not only prepared themselves for War but already began it and that these Barbarians thirsting after Spoyl knowing the Sultan's Design made every day Incursions on the Republick's Countreys having burnt and pillag'd several Villages and fill'd all the Country with Terror Great and considerable Garrisons were immediately sent to these Parts to hinder this Vastation and Savoriani was ordered to get into Zara the Capital Town of Dalmatia a Place of great Strength and Consequence by reason of its situation and which the Turks would certainly attack considering the advantages and Commotities they might draw thence in becoming Masters of it To this Magistrate was committed also the Care of preserving the whole Province Jerom de Martiningo of the Family of the ancient Lords of Bresse have heretofore exercis'd a Place of good Command in the Venetian Army came and offered his Service to the Senate He was ordered to transport himself with Three Thousand choice Men into the Isle of Cyprus a small Number in comparison of the dreadful Multitude of the Barbarians with which the Island was to be over-run but who might have valiantly defended it had they met with a happy Passage Martiningo had four Ships appointed him to conduct these Succours to Famagusta Savoriani advised the Senate to send over at least Eight Thousand Men into the Island which could not be kept with a less Force But Martiningo being jealous lest Savoriani envied his Reputation and desirous to shew his Capacity and Bravery would needs undertake to defend Famagusta with Three Thousand and the Senate approving his Zeal and Forwardness imprudently consented to so hardy a Proposal Those who are Chief Officers in a Commonwealth do many times manage the publick Treasury with the same Thrift and Sparingness they use in their own Domestick Affairs and think they thus mightily oblige the Republick But the Venetians perceived too late their Folly in sending Three Thousand Men against an innumerable Army In the Senate's Deliberations about the Conduct of this War some were for strengthening the Garrisons every where and keeping only on the Defensive side Others were for setting out as great a Naval Army as was possible and fight the Infidels on the first occasion and thereby decide at one stroke the Fate of the Kingdom of Cyprus This last Advice was approved as the most profitable and honourable The Senate hoped the King of Spain who was equipping a great Fleet would come to their assistance and likewise expected that Pope Pius V. whose Zeal and Courage were well known to them would assist them in so urgent an occasion Jerom Zani was made General of the Sea-Forces This Employ is of the number of those which have no Authority but out of Venice but the Power of it is then of Sovereign Extent and there is no Appeal allowed from the Sentence of this Supreme Magistrate The Senate made choice of several vigorous and resolute Gentlemen from amongst the Nobility to make Commanders of their Frigats and Galleys and Sea-men and Slaves were sent for from the other Cities of the Republick to Venice They proceeded on the setting forth fourscore and ten Galleys whose Furniture and Equipage could be supplied from the Arsenal They built twenty two at Candia which were joyned with thirty six others that were arm'd against Corsary's and to keep the Sea open along the sides of this Island They likewise equipp'd twelve Vessels called Galeasses by reason of their prodigious Greatness These are moved both with Sails and Oars and appear on the Sea like so many floating Castles The weight of these Bulky Vessels braves the violence of the Waves and fears no Storm nor Tempest They moreover equipp'd twenty Vessels laden with Men and Ammunition not to mention the Galliots and several other lesser Boats the Conduct of which they gave to Hermolaus Tripoli a careful and active Commander Such a considerable Fleet so soon made ready notwithstanding the disadvantages the Senate then lay under surpriz'd with astonishment the neighbouring Nations 'T is certain the Pope permitted great Transportations of Corn from Anconia to Venice and a great Subsidy to be rais'd from the Clergy In the mean time the Senate read Bonrici's Letters by which they were informed of the coming of the Chiaus the occasion of his Voyage and all that past between Barbaro and the Chief Visier Bonrici having learnt at his Departure from Constantinople that Acts of Hostility were already began on the Frontiers became afraid lest Mahomet's Son who was Bassa of Epirus and had stopt those whom the Governour of Cataro had sent to carry Presents on his part should oblige the Envoy to return back the same way he came In this Apprehension he propos'd the dispatching of one of his People to Ragusa charged with Packets of Advice to Venice to the end they might have a Galley sent them for their readier and surer Passage The Envoy approving this Expedient Bonrici wrote his Sence in Characters lest his Packets should be intercepted The Senate well satisfied of the Care and Diligence of Bonrici ordered Francis Troni to attend them with a Galley at Ragusa They arrived after some days and returned safe but Troni was forbid to enter Venice which oblig'd him to lie at Anchor at the Ports Mouth till further Order In the mean while Bonrici Landed and having confirmed by word of Mouth what was contained in his Letters he was ordered the next day to fetch the Chiaus in a Gondollo and bring him to the Senate He was brought up the Channel and Landed at St. Mark 's which Place was so crouded that it was no small difficulty to make way for him The murmurings of the People who gnasht their Teeth with rage and indignation against the breaking of the Peace struck the Chiaus with such Terror that he took Bonrici by the hand the better to secure his Life for he saw himself in no small danger Assoon as he entred the Senate-House after a short Preamble he presented Selim's Letter and that also
to tell him of it The Venetians are in danger of their Lives at Rome The Popes Discourse in his Anger to the Cardinals His Holynesses Decree against the Venetians Tipoli 's Address to pacifie the Pope Nicholas Ponti extraordinary Embassadour from the Republick to Rome He reconciles the Republick with Gregory the Thirteenth THE HISTORY OF THE WAR of CYPRVS The Fifth Book THE Popes Sickness followed by his Death interrupted the Course of Affairs and stayed Colonni at Rome though all things were ready for his departure The Castles and other Lordships he held in the Ecclesiastical State too much interessed him in the next Election to let him absent himself during the holding of the Conclave But the Cardinals sending for him to the Consistory told him he must not abandon the common Cause in the present Conjuncture and oblig'd him to go and join the Fleet. They gave him Money out of the Churches Treasury to pay the Troops of the Holy See and having taken his Leave of the Sacred Colledge recommending to them his Interests he went immediately to Civita Vecchia where he found another occasion of delay The Great Duke of Tuscany not yet knowing how matters would go touching the Election made a Difficulty of furnishing out the Twelve Gallies the deceased Pope had already hired of him Cardinal Ferdinando de Medicis his Son seeing the other Cardinals highly disgusted at this Refusal cast the Blame on his Fathers Officers and undertook for the Performance of the Treaty made with Pius the Fifth which was no sooner satisfied but Colonni setting sail took his course for Naples thence to pass into Sicily The Cardinals having during the nine days destined to that Ceremony paid their last Duties to the departed Pope entred into the Conclave on the 11th of May and the next day notwithstanding the Powerful Competition of Cardinal Farnese who pretended to the Pontificat they at the solicitation of Cardinal Altemps chose Hugh Buoncompagno who took the Name of Gregory the Thirteenth He was born at Bononia of a very mean Family his Father whose Fortune was no greater than his Birth left nevertheless a great Estate which he got by his Industry and Frugality When Charles the Fifth received at Bononia the Imperial Crown from the Hands of Clement the Seventh this Man who had gotten into Trade made so considerable an advantage of abundance of Wares which the Concourse of Strangers drawn thither by the Pomp of this Ceremony had made dear that he was in a condition to build Stately Houses in a Quarter of the Town call'd The Street of Hell. He caused all his Children to be carefully brought up in Learning and engaged his Son Hugh in the Study of the Civil Law in which he made so great a Progress that having taken his Degree of Doctor he for several years taught publickly in the University of Bononia Being above Forty years of Age when he lost his Father he went soon after to Rome hoping to get there both Wealth and Reputation by following the Profession of the Bar. He there administred some publick Employs with so great Probity and such exact Justice that he successively enjoyed almost all the Chief Offices of the Town He passed several Years without rising to any great Height but his good Fortune in fine declaring it self he advanced much faster in his latter days and was at the Age of Threescore and Ten mounted upon the Papal Throne He was more indebted for his exaltation to the Esteem he had acquir'd of being an Upright Man and a great Justiciary than to Favor or Intrigue He was naturally sullen and slow of Speech but he knew so well how to make advantage of these Defects that his Silence was taken for a Mark of singular Prudence and his Sullenness for an admirable Strength of Wit. Colonni having by the way learnt the Election of the new Pope hasted back to Rome to Congratulate his Holyness who having given him his Orders sent him again to the Fleet. Don John had passed all the Winter in Feasting and Jollity and this Young Prince much more sensible of the Lustre than of the Benefit of his Victory had prepared for the Expedition in Africk not doubting but the Spaniards might engage the Pope and the Venetians in it by perswading them it would not take up much time But having received Advice that it had been resolved at Rome to attack the Infidels in Greece he departed with all his Fleet from Palermo and came before Messina He sent some Vessels of Burden to Corfou and making a shew of no small Impatience at Colonni's stay without whom he could not go against the Enemies he would oblige Leonardo Contareni who was sent to him from the Republick with order to stay there and see the Navy set forth to go and assure the Senate that he would weigh Anchor as soon as ever Colonni whom he daily expected should have join'd him with the Popes Fleet. Colonni being in fine arrived the Venetians under pretence of shewing greater Honour to Don John or to hasten his Departure sent from Corfou into Sicily Five and Twenty Gallies commanded by James Sorancio to meet him and represented to him that his delay was highly prejudicial to the Good of the Common Cause and his own Glory Don John one while shewing an extream Desire to second the Republicks Intentions and other whiles excusing himself upon some Preparatives that were yet wanting to the Fleet. Sorancio in vain redoubled his Instances for Don John had a secret order from the King of Spain not to make War upon the Infidels this year but to keep his Fleet along the Coasts of Sicily This he had imparted to Colonni desiring him to favour his Catholick Majesties Designs and amuse the Venetians Sorancio whom a long experience had rendred very quick-sighted discovered this Mystery through all these Disguises and gave notice to his Holyness who complaining of it to the Spanish Embassador that Minister presented to him a Letter from the King his Master in which Philip the Second represented to the Pope that all France was in Arms. That the Admiral de Coligni Head of the Protestants in that Kingdom had got the chief place in the Young Kings Favour that he had procured a League Offensive and Defensive between France and England That the Admiral sollicited the Flemings to a Rovolt and made at his own charge great Levies in Germany And that his Catholick Majesty was perswaded that the Admiral abus'd the French Kings Weakness and set all manner of Engins at Work to cause Insurrections in the Neighbouring States for no other end than with the greater Facility to attack his That his Holyness ought not to be displeased at the Kings calling back his Fleet for his own particular security besides that it concerned all Christendom as much as himself to oppose the aggrandizing of so Pernicious a Sect. 'T is manifest the Admiral had used all his Endeavours with Charles the Ninth to induce
practice Hamanity you who so barbarously and cruelly treat our Christian Prisoners To which Mahomet made him this witty Answer Your Excellency will be pleased to pardon our Ignorance since we have been hitherto only used to take Prisoners not having yet been such our selves in the Christians School The Pope in the mean time solicited the Crowns to join their Arms to those of the Confederates and the Cardinal of Lorrain who came to Rome to assist at the last Conclave had given Gregory Hopes that the Allyance between France and the Grand Seignior might be broken This Cardinals Esteem amongst the French having giv'n him an entire Knowledge of that Kingdoms Affairs and the Kings true Sentiments His Holiness on such good assurance believed he might successfully endeavour this Dis-union He writ about it to Charles the Ninth who answered him He should willingly enter into the League but the great Revolutions which had happened in his Kingdom permitted him not to join with the Confederates France broken and shattered into different Factions was exposed to the Plunder of the Germans and the Invasions of her other Neighbors The Lorrain Princes and other Principal Persons in the Court retired into the Country being neither able to suffer the Imperious Humour of the Queen nor submit themselves to the King of Navarre But these Princes being a little after reconciled with Annas de Mommorency Constable of France drew the King of Navarre into their Party by giving him new hopes of recovering his Kingdom and of diminishing the over-great Authority of Queen Catherine and ruining the Projects of the Prince of Conde they entred Paris guarded by their Friends and Creatures and drove all those of the opposite Faction from Court. Thus France becoming the Stage of a Civil War saw more Blood shed in most of her Towns than in the Famousest Sieges and Battels of the last Age. They no longer amused themselves with Disputes and Controversies the divided Families deciding Questions of Religion by the Sword. The first Battel was fought near the Town of Dreux the Kings Army being commanded by the Constable and the Duke of Guise and the other by the Prince of Conde and the Admiral de Coligni The Success was equal on both sides the Prince of Conde and the Constable being boht taken Prisoners The Duke of Guise laid Siege to Orleans and pressed it so close that it was upon the point of yielding when a Villain came to the Camp and watching an opportunity for the execution of his Design he slew this Prince with a Shot from a Carbine as he was returning from visiting the Works attended only by Three Horsemen The Duke of Guise's Death was extreamly prejudicial to France besides his Military Perfections which rendred this Duke the greatest Captain in the Kingdom he had gain'd the Peoples Hearts by such a Charming Sweetness such admirable Liberality and Sincerity and such Courteous and Familiar Behaviour that one could not forbear loving him His Death almost ruin'd the Fortune of his House A Peace was afterwards concluded but 't was only to give both Parties leisure to make Preparation for beginning the War afresh The Prince of Conde freed out of Prison made great Levies in Germany and soon got a new Army on Foot. He endeavoured to surprize and carry away the King as he was returning from Meaux to Paris but a Battalion of Six Thousand Switzers which guarded the Court in its March and repulsed several Attacks by the way ruin'd this Audacious Design Some time after the Constable displeased with his Nephews whom he accused of Ingratitude and Revolt gave them Battel in the Plain of St. Denis routed them and raised the Siege from before Paris The Constable who was near Fourscore years old received a Mortal Wound in his Reins by a Pistol Shot as he was in the midst of the Fight charging the Enemies with a Vigour worthy his Name and his Office. The Hugonots though vanquisht made Peace on what Terms they pleased the Queen being obliged to accept them as frighted with the great Number of Forreign and Domestick Forces that filled the Kingdom This Second Accommodation was also but a Cessation of Arms the War breaking forth again with more Fury than before The Hugonots lost a Third Battel at Jarnac gain'd by the Duke of Anjou who commanded the King his Bothers Army where the Prince of Conde was slain upon the Place Gaspar de Coligny was a Gentleman of a good Family but much more considerable by that of his Mother who was Sister to the Constable de Mommorency His Unkle whom â—ecause of his singular Merit King Henry the Second honoured with his Favour had procur'd him the Office of Admiral one of the first of the Crown Coligny had serv'd under him during the Reigns of Francis the First and Henry the Second with no little Reputation He had been employed in several Important Negotiations by which he had acquired a perfect Understanding of Affairs He was a Man of a thorow Experience but close full of Address naturally Eloquent and no less a Statesman than a Soldier tho' far more cautious than advent'rous In the Year 1522. France being almost ruined there was a new Agreement made The Admiral at the same time negotiated a Marriage between the Princess Margaret the Kings Sister and Henry King of Navarre Anthony his Father dyed some years before of a Wound receiv'd at the Siege of Roan The Admiral came to Paris to assist at the Marriage followed by so great a number of Gentlemen and Vassals that the King himself could scarce have found so Magnificent a Train He was received with extraordinary Testimonies of Confidence and Friendship He had often private Conferences with the King in which 't was known they treated of making War upon Flanders and this we have since understood obliged Philip the Second to stay in Italy for fear of some Surprize from the French. In the mean time there was a Rumour whether grounded on Reallity or invented by the Queen who was laying a Snare for the Admiral as her Enemies would have it that the People he had without any Order or Permission brought to Paris under pretence of being present at the King of Navarre's Marriage conspired against the Royal Family The Queen whether the better to conceal her Design or really fearing some secret Plot caused the Guards of the Louvre to be doubled Whilst these things ware doing the Admiral returning from the King to his own House was wounded in the Right hand by a Shot from an Arquebush which was by some People said to have been done by the Procurement of the Queen or the Duke of Guise The Duke of Guise was accused because the House in which the Assassin had planted himself belonged to one of his Creatures who had some time before left it empty to prevent the discovery of this Action These Suspitions were strengthned by the irreconcilable Hatred there was between the Prince and the Admiral and
THE HISTORY of y e WAR of CYPRUS THE HISTORY OF THE WAR OF CYPRUS Written Originally in Latin. With a New Map of the Island LONDON Printed by J. Rawlins and sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers-Hall 1687. Licensed November 26. 1686. RO. L'ESTRANGE TO THE Right Honourable GEORGE Lord JEFFREYS Baron of WEM Lord High Chancellor of ENGLAND and One of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council My Lord YOur Lordship I hope will pardon the Boldness of this Dedication and permit the Presenter of it to pay that Honor and Veneration which is due from All to your Lordship's Eminent Character and most Illustrious Merits To which nothing can do greater Right than what has come from the Mouths of the late flagitious Rebels themselves who were so highly sensible of your Lordship's Wisdom and Courage in opposing their Hellish and Damnable Designs that their Principal Leaders were us'd to please themselves with nothing more than with the Thoughts and Wishes of making your Lordship a Sacrifice to their Malice and Revenge I will not attempt to speak here of what you suffer'd for your Inflexible Loyalty from a Seditious Cabal nor of our Obligations to your Auspicious Conduct which nipt the growing Faction in the Bud and stopt the Torrent of Enthusiastick Frenzy and by a bold Stroke of Justice set at Liberty those who were condemn'd unheard to a perpetual Confinement It were a Task too hard for me to undertake a particular Description of these and other Instances of your Lordship's Goodness and Courage which will be the chief Subject of the most lasting History of our Times All that I pretend to is to make some publick Acknowledgement of the just Sense I have of your Lordship's Great and Exemplary Virtues and to testifie in all Sincerity that I am My Lord Your Lordships most Obedient and humbly Devoted Servant Robert Midgley TO THE READER THE Title of this Book seems to promise but a narrow History and those that only like great Revolutions and variety of several Events which have happened in a long Sequel of Time will not perhaps be much prepossessed in its Favour The Conquest of an Island altho' honour'd with the Title of a Kingdom which was compleated in the second Campaign will appear to them too short to furnish an Historian with choice Materials But supposing the Interest which all Europe had in this Affair did not make it as indeed it did one of the most famous Accidents of the preceding Age yet the taking of Nicosia and desolation thereof being the Capital City of the Island of Cyprus the Siege and Surrender of Famagusta which capitulated not till after a four Months vigorous Resistance and the memorable Victory of Lepanto deserve the exact Care which the Bishop of Amelia has taken in Publishing them The Republick of Venice never saw her self so threatned by the Ottoman Empire as when Selim the Second form'd the Design of snatching from her this Kingdom and never Enterprize was carried on in the Divan with more dexterity and secrecy The Church then govern'd by Pope Pius the Fifth who was since Canoniz'd was at the same time attack'd by several Reformers authoriz'd by Secular Powers and the Infidels who always make advantage of the Disunion of Christians improved so favourable an opportunity to the enlargement of their Territories and Religion The Pope alarm'd by the foresight of these Misfortunes dispatch'd Nuncio's sent Legates to all the Princes of Europe and not content with these his good Endeavours set out a Fleet at his own Charge and offered to conduct it in Person for the Venetians Every Prince consented or refused to enter into the League propos'd by his Holiness according as he was interessed to break off or keep in with the Port and the Advantage he found in the Ruine or Preservation of the Republick But the Course which the King of Spain Philip the Second held is a Piece of the most refined Policy The Legate had no sooner represented him with the danger wherein the Republick lay but he undertook to send a great Force to its Assistance and gave Orders at the same time for the equipping of a considerable Fleet. All Christendom could expect no less from a Monarch who wore so many Crowns and honour'd himself with the Title of Most Catholick King. But his Design was only to merit this Title in appearance seeing the slowness which he used in making ready this Fleet and the secret Orders he gave to Requiescens Chief of the Council to Don John of Austria tended only to ruine the Republick and by this means reduce Italy under his Power The Ministers and Venetian Generals happily penetrated into the secret Designs of Philip and gave speedy Notice to their Masters The Venetians justly grieved to find how unsincerely they were dealt with made no scruple to accommodate themselves with the Turk without the participation of the Confederates altho' this was expresly forbidden by the Treaty they made with the Christian Princes It is in the summing up of this variety of Interests that our Author dives into and discovers the Intrigues and Motions of the principal Courts of Europe and we may well credit his Abilities and Faithfulness from the Part which Cardinal Commendon gives him in all these important Mysteries of State. THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST BOOK A Description of the Isle of Cyprus The Manners of its Inhabitants The Dryness of the Territory It s Abundance Malignity of Ayr. Its different Possessors Conquered by the Romans from the Kings of Egypt King Peter massacred by his Subjects The Genoeses take Famagusta Catharine Cornaro espouses King James Demits his Crown to her at his Death She retires to Venice and delivers the Kingdom into the hand of the Senate who fortifie Nicosia the Capital City of the Island Solyman the Father of five Children Selim the youngest succeeds him His Inclinations Mahomet Chief Visier Jealousie of Mustapha and Piali touching the Favour of Mahomet Selim despis'd by the Souldiers Blind Obedience of the Musulmans Vnhappy State of the Jews They retire from Spain into Portugal Their Obstinacy Selim excites the taking of the Isle of Cyprus Hospitals and Moscs built by the Sultans with the Spoyls taken from the Christians Selim designs the Conquest of Cyprus for the building of an Hospital and a Mosc Discourse of Mustapha to engage him in this Enterprize Mahomet endeavours to divert him from it He advises him to succour the Moors in Spain A great Dearth in Italy The Arsenal of Venice is burnt The Disorder which this Fire causes The Senate mistrust some Conspiracy A Jew call'd Miches is suspected The News of this Fire carried to Constantinople The Artifice of Mahomet to deceive the Venetians The Ambassador of Venice discovers this Minister's Secret. The Grand Signior sends a Denunciation of War to the Republick The Doge returns his Answer in Writing The sudden Death of Lauredon Doge of Venice Mocenigo succeeds him The Epirots treat with the Venetians
had made himself the Tyrant of it and drove him thence for refusing the use of his Havens to the Fleet which he conducted to the Recovery of Jerusalem He sold it sometime after to the Templers whose Order was then most rich and flourishing But their Establishment in this Island having excited several Seditions they yielded their Purchace to Guy de Lusignan King of Jerusalem whom the Infidels had despoyled of his Crown Guy died two years after his Possession and left the Isle to his Brother Amaury under whose Government she was re-peopled and rendred more fertil than heretofore having drawn thither several Families of Strangers by virtue of Immunities Exemptions and Priviledges He sent a famous Embassie to Rome to obtain of the Pope the Title of King. Hugo his Son succeeded him who left his Crown to his Son Henry He was the Father of Hugo the Second who died young and without Children Another Hugo his Cousin-German Son to the Prince of Pouille and Isabella Henry's Sister was placed on the Throne as his nearest Relation and took the Sirname of Lusignan to make himself more agreeable to the Cypriots John his Son inherited his Crown and likewise left it to his Son Henry the Second This Prince being troubled with the Falling-Sickness was declared unfit to succeed and his Brother Amaury having caused him to be taken by force sent him to Aiton the King of Armenia his Brother-in-Law who shut him up in Prison This Treason remained not long unpunish'd for the Usurper was assassinated in his Bed by one of the Officers of his Chamber named Simonnet Henry was afterwards establish'd to whom succeeded Hugo his Nephew This Hugo the Third of that Name was Father of Peter who merited by his rare Valour the Sirname of Couragious This Kingdom had never been so flourishing as it was under the Reign of this brave Prince He setled a Commerce in the City of Famagusta with all the Neighbouring States which enriched his Subjects and yielded him also an infinite Treasure He set out a Fleet of Fifty Gallies with which the King of Spain and those of the Isle of Rhodes having joyned their Forces he took the City of Alexandria and carried his Conquests as far as Syria After these glorious Exploits he intended to go to Rome to pay his Respects to that See but during his Absence the Count de Rocas to whom he had left the Government of his State debauch'd the Queen his Wife and usurped the Sovereign Authority Peter advertiz'd of this on his way returns speedily to Cyprus seizeth on the Traytor and delivers him into the Hands of his Justices to be punish'd according to the Laws of the Country But his great Estate his Credit and the Protection of the Queen having corrupted his Judges he was discharged as innocent and Visconti Master of the King's Houshold his Accuser condemn'd to a perpetual Banishment This Prince being rendred furious and cruel by the unjustice of this Proceeding extended his Revenge so far as made all the Cypriots suffer He loaded 'em with Irons and condemned 'em to die on the least complaint and meanest appearance of the smallest Crime He ravish'd the Honour of their Wives and Daughters and expos'd them moreover to the Brutality of the Ministers of his Passion not suffering them to spare any To encrease the Terror and Confusion of his Subjects he caused a new Prison to be built in the most publick part of the City and forced whom he pleased of the Inhabitants of both Sexes to work at it But a couragious bold Woman animated them to a Revolt in this manner Being a Gentlewoman born and finding her self forced to serve Brick-layers and Masons held up her Coats and Shift to her knees and remained in this immodest posture in expectation of the King who was to come to see the Workmen attended by all his Court. So soon as he was over against her she let down her Coats and sate on the ground but she arose presently after he was past with such Impudence as scandalized the Beholders Every one surpriz'd with this Spectacle and being not able to guess at the Reason some ask'd her why she was not ashamed of her Nakedness save only in the presence of the King She answered coldly that she and the Women with her did not look so exactly about 'em for having seen no Man but the King she thought she should not offend against Modesty but only in regard of him These People netled by this sharp Reproach fell on the Prince and massacred him His Son named Petrin or Petrote was set up in his place This new King having done the Ambassadors of Venice and Genoa the honour to eat at his Table these Ministers could not agree about Precedency but he decided it in favour of the Venetians The Genoeses to be reveng'd of the Affront which they pretended to have received conspired against him But their Conspiracy being detected all the Genoeses about the Palace were seiz'd on who were thrown immediatly down from an high Tower on the points of the Halberts All of that Nation were used throughout the whole Island in the same manner The Republick of Genoa concern'd at this Usage declared War against the King of Cyprus and for that end set forth a Fleet of Ships under the Command of Peter Fregosa This Captain made himself Master of Famagusta being of intelligence with the Queen-Mother whose Treason reduc'd her Son to such an extremity that he consented to yield the Place to the Genoeses and pay them a yearly Tribute and for the surer Payment thereof gave Prince James his Uncle and his Cousin-Germans for Hostages His Death put his Uncle in possession of the Crown being then a Prisoner at Genoa but he demitted it into the hands of his Son John the Second otherwise Janus being thus call'd from the City of Genoa where he was born the Mamelucs made War against him and overthrew him in a Combat wherein he was taken Prisoner and thence carried into Egypt These Barbarians restor'd him not to his Liberty till they had drawn great Sums from him and engaged him to pay eight thousand Crowns yearly Tribute whereunto his Successors should be also bound for ever to the Kings of Egypt This Tribute was punctually paid and the Venetians become Masters of the Place thought themselves oblig'd to send it every year to Constantinople since the extinction of the Mamelucs from whom Selim conquered Egypt Janus had only one Son nam'd John a Prince of a weak Constitution both of Body and Mind whom the Queen his Wife govern'd at her Will Their only Daughter nam'd Charlotta was first married to a Prince of the Family of Portugal who having been poysoned she espoused Lewis Son to the Duke of Savoy He reigned not long after the Decease of John his Father-in-Law James Bastard-Brother to the Queen who was design'd for the Arch-Bishoprick of Nicosia could not suffer a Stranger to bereave him of the Crown so renouncing
this offer to hinder this Princess from espousing Henry King of Navar who was a Calvinist Sebastian answered the Legat who prest him on this Affair that in Complyance with the Popes desires he would espouse Marguerit without demanding of the King her Brother any other Conditions than to break off with the Grand Seignior and enter into the League against the Common Enemy of Christendom The Legat was order'd to pass over into France in his return from Spain to exhort his most Christian Majesty to joyn himself to the Confederates tho' the Pope could not expect he would declare himself against an Empire with which he had made Peace the Civil Wars which disturbed his Countries not permitting him to make so considerable an Ally his Enemy but he thought it might be taken ill if he was the only Christian Prince whose Assistance the Holy See should omit imploring and at the same time drew a promise from him to undertake nothing against the Spaniards while their Forces were employed in the Venetians Service 'T is thought the French could not rest quiet and seeing Spain without Troops and Defence they would amuse the Calvinists by turning the brunt of their Forces on that side Gaspar de Coligny Admiral of France a Person of great Courage and Conduct saw this a favourable Conjuncture for the executing those great Designs which he had projected against Spain This King answered according to the Formal Sayings of his Predecessors That if the Emperor and other Princes would enter into the League he would also enter therein as well to testifie the Esteem and Consideration he had for the Holy Father as to follow the Zeal and Piety of his Predecessors to the Church That he would not break the Peace which was lately confirmed by a new Allyance his Queen being Sister to the Catholick Kings but as to the Marriage of Don Sebastian King of Portugal he was already engaged to give the Princess Margurita to his Cousin the King of Navarre Cardinal Alexandrinus shewed him with great earnestness this Allyance wou'd certainly tend to the Prejudice of his Affairs by countenancing a Party in his Kingdom which would certainly ruin it He told him moreover whatsoever might render him sensible of the ill consequences of such an Allyance The King displeased at this Discourse taking Alexandrinus by the hand pray says he assure your Unkle from me That I give my Sister to a Prince whose Humour and Temper I so well know that I can bring him into the Bosom of the Church when I please That my discontented Subjects will be ne'r the Stronger for having him on their side and I have only this means left me to be revenged on them for the deplorable condition wherein they have laid my Kingdom Cardinal Alexandrinus returned with these answers from Charles and Philip well satisfied with the Honours which he received both in France and Spain Cardinal Commendon was charged with a legation more tedious and laborious by the difficulty which detained him Two Years in Germany The Pope had entrusted him with the management of two Affairs the first to use the utmost of his Eloquence to engage the Emperor in the League and the other which was no less delicate concerned the Title of Great Duke of Tuscany with which his Holyness came from Honouring Cosmus de Medicis After the Murther committed on the Person of Duke Alexander by his Cousin Laurence the City of Florence jealous of her Liberty imagining she could not maintain it but under the Authority of one Chief chose Young Cosmus who answered their expectations and opened the way to Great Enterprises The first years of his Government were traversed by some Malicious and Envious Spirits who could not endure he should use the Counsel of some particular Persons and dispose of the Republicks Treasure The Nobility had often retired from the City displeased at his Conduct they often assembled without permission and the Banishment wherewith this new Soveraign had punished their Audaciousness drew on him a Civil War. But his application to dissipate all these Intrigues annulled the design of the Malecontents and the different Conspiracies which he happily discovered served only to strengthen his Authority Having vanquished the greatest part of the Rebels he banish'd the rest or put them to Death so that becoming Master of the rest of the Citizens by Favours and Presents they preferred an Honourable Servitude and Riches acquired under the Peaceable Government of a Soveraign before a disadvantagious and imaginary Liberty The other allyed Towns wearyed with the Pride and Avarice of their Magistrates breathed likewise a Monarchial Government Cosmus drew insensibly on himself the whole Authority of the People and Senate possessed himself with the execution of the Laws and left the Officers only Vain Titles and Names without either Force or Credit quasht all the Liberties of the Florentines altho' Idolaters of Independency and in fine invested himself with the Soveraignty The Exiles implored the Assistance of Peter Strozzi one of their Patriots a Person Couragious and Enterprizing hoping with the assistance of the French to re-establish themselves in their Country But the good Fortune of Cosmus disconcerted all their Projects He beat Strozzi drove him from Aetruria possessed himself of the City of Sienna a place considerable for its Strength and Riches and finding his Reputation much encreased by this Conquest he began to distinguish himself from the other Italian Princes But Mens Ambition generally increasing with their good Fortune the Quality of Duke which Usurpers commonly take on them flattering not sufficiently his Vanity he resolved to confirm by some Glorious Title what he had gained by Force and cunning He endeavour'd to erect his new State into a Kingdom thinking it large enough to deserve that Title He thereupon endeavour'd several times at this Honour and the Pope who had ever refused it at length granted him something like it He had wrought himself into the Affections of his Holyness by setting up Tribunals of Inquisition against Hereticks who already began to â—pread their Doctrins through Tuscany and at length obtained of Pius V. in the year 1570. the Title of Great Duke which is not much Inferiour to that of a King. Coming to Rome with a Numerous and Magnificent Train his Holyness sent two Cardinals before him received him with great Testimonies of Honour and Affection and publickly crowned him during the Celebration of the Sacred Mysteries Maximilian who pretended that Cosmus and his Estate depended on the Empire respected this Action as an Attempt against his Dignity the Holy See having no right to his Vassals Cosmus de Medicis on the contrary defended himself from being a Feudatory to the Emperor and thereupon Maximilian sent Embassadours to Rome to blame the Pope for what he had done This Contest was like to prove of dangerous Consequence and Commendon was order'd to find out expedients He discussed in presence of Maximilian the rights of the H. See and Empire
him to declare War against Philip having often represented in the Council that there never could be so favorable an Opportunity and that all things promised an advantagious Success In the mean time the King of Spain's Letters to his Holiness put the whole Court of Rome in a rage and the Venetians fill'd all Europe with Complaints and Murmurings saying that the Spaniards not only abandon'd Christendom but deliver'd it up to the Infidels That the Discontents and Divisions of France were only Pretence to make the Republick lose the Benefit of the Victory of Lepanto by giving the Barbarians Leisure to set forth a new Navy The French that were at Rome used the same Language The Cardinal of Lorrain and the Embassador du Ferrier stiled these Reports an Imposture and Calumny publickly declaring that the Spaniards endeavour'd dexterously to cast their Perfidiousness on the French. Some believ'd that Philip the Second intended by this manner of proceeding to try the Popes Patience with a Design to attempt greater matters in case he found him of an easie and Flexible Temper But Gregory without examining whether the Spaniards Excuse were true or false dispatcht away two Prelates Salviati and Ormanet the latter into Spain the former into France to prevent the War that was ready to break forth between these two Crowns Salviati being arrived at Paris writ him word that he found no appearance of Division in that Kingdom and that the King and his Ministers laught at the Spaniards absurd Pretences for deserting their Allies The Pope in the mean time could not suffer so open a Violation of the League in the beginning of his Pontificat His Predecessor had granted the King of Spain the raising of about an hundred Thousand Crowns a year on his Clergy on condition to maintain Threescore Gallies against the Infidels and of this his Holyness demanded the Performance The Spanish Ministers answered him they had no orders about it and Address being made on his behalf to Don John he offered Twenty Gallies in case the Cardinal Granvelle and the Spanish Embassadour would consent to it These two Ministers consulting of this Affair were of opinion that instead of the Threescore Gallies demanded by the Pope there should be only Two and Twenty granted to the Venetians on the one side for fear of rendring them too strong and on the other to enable them to support and continue the War. They were delivered to Colonni who immediately went with those of the Holy See and some of the Republicks to join the rest of the Venetian Fleet at Corfou The King of Spain and his Subjects were become odious to all the other Nations of Europe for having so shamefully gone back from the League and abandoned the Common Cause as well as that of the Venetians Philip having received Advice thereof from several parts and amongst the rest from Don John of Austria re-call'd the natural Inclination he had for his Honour and the advancement of Religion and sent Orders to Don John to pass with all his Forces into Greece and to behave himself in this War with all the Valour and Fidelity he expected from his Obedience Don John had no sooner received this Order but he writ to Colonni But this Letter having been differently reported the Original falling into the Author of this History's Hands he thought it his Duty to set it down here in its very Words Don John of Austria to Marco Antonia Colonni HIs Catholick Majesty having recovered Valenciennes and driven thence the French who still continue Masters of Mons and Haynault the Perplexity of his Affairs in the Low Countrys not hindring him to satisfie his other Obligations has commanded me that leaving all things else I should with the whole Confederate Army carry the War into the Morea I am extreamly pleased with imparting to you such Agreeable News upon which I am sure you will take good Measures I am of opinion to let the Greeks know that we shall soon be upon their Coasts to maintain them in their purpose of declaring for us in the mean time attempt nothing of Consequence without me only hinder the Isles from being plundred and stay for me to the end we may all together make a greater Effort I write to the Marquess of St. Cross and send him Word that in what place soever he receives my Orders he incessantly repair with what Vessels he has to Corfou where I shall no sooner arrive but we will begin the War. I desire you to keep the Soldiers in Discipline and above all things to prevent the breaking forth of any Quarrels between the Spaniards and Italians nothing more troubling me than to see these two Nations at difference I will set Sail at the first Arrival of the Vessels Communicate this News to the Venetians to whom I have not leisure to write I believe you will take my Word for the good Faith and sincere Intentions of the Catholick King. Colonni received this Letter in the way between Corfou and Cephalonia and having read it call'd a Council The Venetians still fearing some disappointment from the Spaniards gave little Credit to this News and were of opinion to keep on their way remonstrating that the State of Affairs imposed on them a necessity of continuing this Navigation alone if their Allies either stopt or turned back and in effect Don John having recommended to them the confirming the Greeks in their Intentions to revolt and the securing the Republicks Frontiers 't was impossible to do either the one or the other if the Fleet returned to Corfou wherefore Colonni and Andrada Commander of the Spanish Ships were of the same Mind with the Venetians Being then arrived at Cephalonia and Zant they re-assured their Allies against the Fright the Turks Fleet had given them and sent discreet Persons to the Greeks inhabiting the Mountains of Morea to renew the Intelligence and stir them up afresh to Rebellion Steering towards Cythera now call'd Cerigo they met Leoni and Soriano Captains of the Venetian Gallies who were ordered to go upon Discovery These Two Officers told them that the Enemy was not far off riding at Anchor under the Walls of Malvasia which is the ancient Epidaurus of the Greeks That their Fleet was composed of above Two Hundred Gallies and many other Vessels but that though this was the greatest Navy they ever had at Sea neither their Hulls nor Furniture was any way comparable to the Christians and that there was great likelyhood they would not expose themselves to a Fight The Confederates Fleet consisted of an Hundred and Forty Gallies Six Galeasses and one and Twenty great Vessels fitted for War though laden with Victuals and Ammunition The General resolved the next day to seek out the Infidels and draw them to a Battel But Colonni altered this Resolution fearing that if the Turks continued in their Post the Retreat of the Great Vessels might become dangerous this sort of Ships not being very sure in Fight for though