Siege of Negroponte (1688)

Siege of Negroponte
Part of the Morean War
Date 13 July – 21 October 1688 Location Chalkis (Negroponte), Greece Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Republic of Venice	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Francesco Morosini Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck Charles-Félix de Galéan, Duke of Gadagne	Ismail Pasha
Strength
15,000 troops 10,000 in the fleet	6,000
Casualties and losses
Heavy losses, 4,000 from the plague	Unknown

The Siege of Negroponte (modern Chalkis) was undertaken by the forces of the Republic of Venice from July to October 1688. The Venetian army, composed of several mercenary and allied contingents from western Europe, had succeeded in capturing the Peloponnese in the previous years, and proceeded to capture Athens and attack Negroponte, the main Ottoman stronghold in Central Greece. The Venetian siege was hampered by the Ottoman resistance and their inability to completely isolate the town, as the Ottoman general Ismail Pasha managed to ferry supplies to the besieged garrison. Furthermore, the Venetian army suffered many casualties from an outbreak of the plague in the Venetian camp, which led to the death of 4,000 troops and the experienced general Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck. The departure of the Florentine and Maltese contingents further weakened the Venetians, and when the German mercenaries refused to remain there in winter quarters, the Venetian commander, Doge Francesco Morosini, had to concede defeat and retreat to the Peloponnese.

Sources

• Andrews, Kevin (2006). Castles of the Morea (Revised Edition). American School of Classical Studies at Athens. pp. 183–185. ISBN 0876614063. 
• Chasiotis, Ioannis (1975). "Η κάμψη της Οθωμανικής δυνάμεως" [The decline of Ottoman power]. Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους, Τόμος ΙΑ′: Ο ελληνισμός υπό ξένη κυριαρχία, 1669–1821 [History of the Greek Nation, Volume XI: Hellenism under foreign rule, 1669–1821] (in Greek). Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon. pp. 8–51. 
• Finlay, George (1856). The History of Greece under Othoman and Venetian Domination. London: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 227–228. 
• Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1991). Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: American Philosophical Society. pp. 347–362. ISBN 0-87169-192-2.