Commencing in 1332 the numerous Holy Leagues were a new manifestation of the
Crusading movement in the form of temporary alliances between interested
Christian powers. Successful campaigns included the
capture of Smyrna in 1344, at the
Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the recovery of some parts of the
Balkans between 1684 and 1697.[1]
According to
Arnaud Blin, "the Holy Leagues retained both the spirit and the language of the Crusades" while in practical terms being quite different. The initiative for a holy league often came from a secular power, not the pope, but papal involvement was inevitable if it was to have the same spiritual benefits to participants as a crusade. Several factors encouraged the transition away from supranational crusades to state alliances, including the rise of the
great powers in Europe and the unification of the Muslim enemy in the form of the
Ottoman Empire.[2]
Holy Leagues
Holy League (1332), an alliance of Christian states (including the Orthodox Byzantine Empire) raised to combat the naval threat of Turkish beyliks in the Eastern Mediterranean
Holy League (1495) or League of Venice, an alliance of several opponents of French hegemony in Italy
Holy League (1511), a Papal-Venetian-Spanish-Imperial-English alliance against France
Holy League (1526), or League of Cognac, formed by France, the papacy, England, Venice and Milan against Emperor Charles V
Blin, Arnaud (2019). War and Religion: Europe and the Mediterranean from the First through the Twenty-first Centuries. University of California Press.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1995). "The Crusading Movement and Historians". In Riley-Smith, Jonathan (ed.). The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–12.
ISBN978-0-19285428-5.
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