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Action of
the Papal League
Meanwhile the
forces of the Papal League, consisting of the fleets of Spain
and Venice with a land army on board, had assembled at Crete. At
the end of September the expedition had arrived at Castelorizo,
a small island east of Rhodes, when the news came of the fall of
Nicosia. A council of war was immediately held to decide on the
course of action. The majority wished to proceed at once to the
assistance of the garrison at Famagusta, but Doria, the Spanish
commander, would not agree to this. He represented that the
object of the expedition, the relief of Nicosia, had failed,
that the number of the Turkish forces made them vastly superior,
and finally that the lateness of the season compelled him to
return to port for safety of his fleet. So the Spanish fleet
sailed away, and the Venetians, realising that they could not
hope for success unaided, returned to Crete, without having
accomplished anything for the relief of Cyprus.
Only in
January, when the Turkish fleet had returned to Constantinople
for the winter, twelve Venetian vessels arrived at Famagusta
with food, munitions, and reinforcements, bringing the garrison
to a strength of 4,000 infantry, 800 militia, 3,000 citizens and
peasants, and 200 Albanians. Night and day they worked to
improve the fortifications under the able direction of Marc
Antonio Bragadino, the captain of the city.
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