Second Longest Siege in History: The (Staggering) Siege of Candia 1648-1669
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Published 2021-03-21
The siege of Candia was characterized by a struggle for supplies at sea, a war of attrition on land and an unprecedented intensity of mine warfare. The siege was part of the Cretan War in which Candia was the last major stronghold on the island to remain in the hands of the Venetian Republic. This is how contemporary historiography recounts the staggering siege of Candia.
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Bibliography:
Duffy, C., Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great 1680-1798, Vol. 2, London 1985.
Duffy, C., Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660, Vol. 1, London 1979.
Eleni Thalassinou, Costas Tsiamis, Effie Poulakou-Rebelakou, Angelos Hatzakis, Biological Warfare Plan in the 17th Century—the Siege of Candia, 1648–1669, in: Emerg Infect Dis. 21 (12/2015), p. 2148–2153.
Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300–1923, London 2006.
Glozier, Matthew, The Long Siege of Candia (1648-1669), in: Morton, Nicholas, The Military Orders volume VII. Piety, Pugnacity and Property, London 2019.
Setton, Kenneth M., Venice, Austria and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century, (Mem Am Phil Soc 192), Princeton 1991.
Mason, Norman David, The War of Candia 1645-1669, Ann Arbor 1973.
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All Comments (21)
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You know your seige is not going well when after 20 years the garrison still has cavalry
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>be french >arrive 21 years late to a siege >lose 1200 noblemen in a single day >berate the defenders and call them cowards >refuse to elaborate >leave
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This is probably the only siege ever to be lost because they got reinforced.
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What puts it into perspective for me, is that the Executions of Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy, the lord protectorate, the restoration of the monarchy and the great fire of london all happened while this siege was ongoing. An entire era of english history passed while one siege outlived it.
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“Let’s go. In and out. 20 minutes adventure. “ -Ottoman Grand Vizier before the siege of Candia
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The Grand Vizir to the Sultan: "We have weakened them sir!" The Sultan: "How?" The Grand Vizir: "They got old!"
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@37:00 - we were doing fine for 20 years until the French turned up, launched an ad hoc raid that cost them 1200 men when a mine was set off against them, caused disarray when their flagship exploded, called us cowards for fortifying the ramparts and bulwarks, then flounced off in disgust.
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Most important info was missing: The cat was named Nini. She was embalmed alongside a mouse after her death.
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Venetian general: The siege was going well. Then we got French reinforcements...
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The French did more damage to the defenders than the ottomans.
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As a Cretan myself, I greatly appreciate the effort you have put in this research. It truly is a shame, but most Greeks, including Cretans, have never actually heard of it. Thankfully, people like you arise every now and then and render these astonishing moments of history accessible to a greater audience.
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can i just say that it's crazy that such a violent and bitter siege ended on such peaceful terms? there's so many cases in history of sieges like this ending in horrific atrocities, and here it felt like there was some mutual respect or weariness that stopped that.
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- Defends the town for over two decades - Frogs arrive to help - "Undefendable." *proceeds to fuck off* - Morale destroyed The worst enemy is a french ally.
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Candia stands! The city broke before the Garrison did!
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The reinforcements broke before the defenders did. I loved the "Cadia Stands" reference. Perfect for this kind of story.
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Really puts modern battles in perspective - at Verdun, 40-60 million shells were fired for twice as many casualties in less than a year.
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The amount arrogance you would have to criticize a commander after they have went through holding on to a besieged settlement for years is staggering in itself.
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I live in the city, no more than 5 minutes away from the center, and there is fountain called Morosini there. A couple of the venetian buildings are still standing and used for various purposes. The part of the city inside the walls is maze-like and narrow as it was during the siege and a good part of the walls and and some of the bastions are still standing, especially on the west and south, along with 3 of the main gates of the city. The walls are mind bogglingly wide, layed with grass, like a park, great for a stroll. It's a shame I'd never heard of this siege before.
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37:00 french recklessly attacking, then fleeing, hence boosting the morale of the turks. Then fucking up the attack, following that viewing the defenders as cowards. Following shortly after, they leave the city. Exactly my humour
