Editing Suleiman the Magnificent (section)

==Military campaigns==
{{See also|List of campaigns of Suleiman the Magnificent}}

===Conquests in Europe===
{{See also|Ottoman wars in Europe|Islam and Protestantism}}
[[File:1522-Sultan Suleiman during the Siege of Rhodes-Suleymanname-DetailBottomRight.jpg|thumb|Suleiman during the [[Siege of Rhodes (1522)|siege of Rhodes]] in 1522]]

Upon succeeding his father, Suleiman began a series of military conquests, eventually leading to a revolt led by the Ottoman-appointed governor of [[Damascus]] in 1521. Suleiman soon made preparations for the [[Siege of Belgrade 1521|conquest of Belgrade]] from the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]—something his great-grandfather [[Mehmed II]] had failed to achieve because of [[John Hunyadi]]'s strong defense in the region. Its capture was vital in removing the Hungarians and Croats who, following the defeats of the [[Albanians]], [[Bosniaks]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and the [[Serbs]], remained the only formidable force who could block further Ottoman gains in Europe. Suleiman encircled [[Belgrade]] on 28 August 1521, with 250,000 Turkish soldiers and over 100 ships. and began a series of heavy bombardments from an island in the [[Danube]].<ref name= Imber>{{cite book |last=Imber|first=Colin|title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650 : The Structure of Power |year=2002 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-333-61386-3}}</ref> Belgrade was made the seat of the [[Pashalik of Belgrade]] (also known as the Sanjak of Smederevo), and quickly became the second largest Ottoman town in Europe at over 100,000 people, surpassed only by [[Constantinople]].<ref name="belgradenetcom">{{cite web |title=The History of Belgrade |url=http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_middle_ages.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230032249/http://www.belgradenet.com/belgrade_history_middle_ages.html |archive-date=30 December 2008 |access-date=7 July 2009 |publisher=Belgradenet.com}}</ref>

The road to Hungary and Austria lay open, but Suleiman turned his attention instead to the Eastern [[Mediterranean]] island of [[Rhodes]], the home base of the [[Knights Hospitaller]]. Suleiman built a large fortification, [[Marmaris Castle]], that served as a base for the [[Ottoman Navy]]. Following a five-month [[Siege of Rhodes (1522)|siege]], Rhodes capitulated and Suleiman allowed the [[Knights of Rhodes]] to depart.<ref name="ebSiegeOfRhodes">{{cite web|last1=Bunting|first1=Tony|title=Siege of Rhodes|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Rhodes|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> The conquest of the island cost the Ottomans 50,000<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fKG5VcYPtp0C&pg=PA397|title=War: The Definitive Visual History|first=D. K.|last=Publishing|year=2009|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0756668174|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Clodfelter>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8urEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015|edition=14th|first=Micheal|last=Clodfelter|year=2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786474707|via=Google Books}}</ref> to 60,000<ref name=Clodfelter/> dead from battle and sickness (Christian claims went as high as 64,000 Ottoman battle deaths and 50,000 disease deaths).<ref name=Clodfelter/>
[[File:Battle of Mohacs 1526.png|thumb|[[Battle of Mohacs]] by [[Bertalan Székely]]]]

As relations between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire deteriorated, Suleiman  resumed his campaign in Central Europe, and on 29 August 1526 he defeated [[Louis II of Hungary]] (1506–1526) at the [[Battle of Mohács]]. The Hungarian army, encouraged by the nobility to engage prematurely, launched a frontal assault that collapsed under coordinated Ottoman counterattacks. King Louis and much of the Hungarian aristocracy were killed, resulting in the destruction of the royal army and the end of the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]] in Hungary and Bohemia. The aftermath saw the partition of Hungary between the [[Ottoman Empire]], the [[Habsburg monarchy]], and the [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]]. The battle marked the beginning of sustained [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars]] and the decline of Hungary as an independent power. Upon encountering the lifeless body of King Louis, Suleiman is said to have lamented: "I came indeed in arms against him; but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off before he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=National Geographic|last=Severy|first=Merle |title=The World of Süleyman the Magnificent |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Geographic Society |date=November 1987 |pages=580 |volume=172|issue=5 |issn=0027-9358}}</ref> While Suleiman was campaigning in Hungary, [[Yorouks|Turkmen]] tribes in central Anatolia (in [[Cilicia]]) revolted under the leadership of [[Jelali revolts|Kalender Çelebi]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| first= N.| last= Ciachir| title= Soliman Magnificul| trans-title= Soliman the Magnificent| place= Bucharest| year= 1972| encyclopedia= Editura enciclopedică română| page= 157}}</ref>

Some Hungarian nobles proposed that [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand]], who was the ruler of neighboring Austria and tied to Louis II's family by marriage, be King of Hungary, citing previous agreements that the [[Habsburgs]] would take the Hungarian throne if Louis died without heirs.<ref name= Imber />{{rp|52}} However, other nobles turned to the nobleman [[John Zápolya]], whom Suleiman supported. Under [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] and his brother Ferdinand I, the Habsburgs reoccupied Buda and took possession of Hungary. Reacting in 1529, Suleiman marched through the valley of the Danube and regained control of Buda; in the following autumn, his forces laid [[Siege of Vienna (1529)|siege to Vienna]]. This was to be the Ottoman Empire's most ambitious expedition and the apogee of its drive to the West. With a reinforced garrison of 16,000&nbsp;men,<ref>{{cite book|first=Stephen|last=Turnbull|title=The Ottoman Empire 1326–1699|location=New York|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|year=2003|page=50}}</ref> the Austrians inflicted the first defeat on Suleiman, sowing the seeds of a bitter Ottoman–Habsburg rivalry that lasted until the 20th century. His second attempt to conquer Vienna failed in 1532, as Ottoman forces were delayed by the [[siege of Güns]] and failed to reach Vienna. In both cases, the Ottoman army was plagued by bad weather, forcing them to leave behind essential siege equipment, and was hobbled by overstretched supply lines.<ref>{{cite journal | journal= International Journal of Middle East Studies|last=Labib|first=Subhi|title=The Era of Suleyman the Magnificent: Crisis of Orientation |location=London|publisher=Cambridge University Press |date= November 1979|pages=435–451|volume=10|issue=4|doi=10.1017/S002074380005128X|s2cid=162249695 |issn=0020-7438}}</ref>{{rp|444}} In 1533 the [[Truce of Constantinople (1533)|Treaty of Constantinople]] was signed by [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]], in which he acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty and recognised Suleiman as his "father and suzerain", he also agreed to pay an annual tribute and accepted the Ottoman grand vizier as his brother and equal in rank.<ref>Bonney, Richard. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard-Bonney-2/publication/233869226_Suleiman_the_Magnificent/links/0fcfd50c76535f3f21000000/Suleiman-the-Magnificent.pdf "Suleiman I ("the Magnificent") (1494–1566)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808191602/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard-Bonney-2/publication/233869226_Suleiman_the_Magnificent/links/0fcfd50c76535f3f21000000/Suleiman-the-Magnificent.pdf |date=8 August 2022 }} The Encyclopedia of War (2011).</ref><ref>Somel, Selcuk Aksin. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tBoyoNNKh78C&pg=PA111 The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. No. 152.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808191602/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tBoyoNNKh78C&lpg=PA111&pg=PA111 |date=8 August 2022 }} Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.</ref><ref>Erasmus, Desiderius. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6t2&pg=PA The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 2635 to 2802 April 1532–April 1533. Vol. 19.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226065927/https://books.google.co.uk/?lpg=PA&hl=en |date=26 December 2022 }} University of Toronto Press, 2019.</ref><ref>Shaw, Stanford J., and Ezel Kural Shaw. [https://books.google.com/books?id=E9-YfgVZDBkC&pg=PA94 History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808. Vol. 1.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808191602/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=E9-YfgVZDBkC&lpg=PA94&pg=PA94 |date=8 August 2022 }} Cambridge University Press, 1976.</ref><ref>Faroqhi, Suraiya N., and Kate Fleet, eds. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uXdhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT70 The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 2, The Ottoman Empire as a World Power, 1453–1603.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808191603/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uXdhBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT70&pg=PT70 |date=8 August 2022 }} Cambridge University Press, 2012</ref>

[[File:John Sigismund of Hungary with Suleiman the Magnificient in 1556.jpg|thumb|King [[John II Sigismund Zápolya|John Sigismund]] of Hungary with Suleiman in 1556]]

By the 1540s, a renewal of the conflict in Hungary presented Suleiman with the opportunity to avenge the defeat suffered at Vienna. In 1541, the Habsburgs attempted to lay siege to Buda but were repulsed, and more Habsburg fortresses were captured by the Ottomans in two consecutive campaigns in 1541 and 1544 as a result,<ref name= Imber /> In 1542, after Ferdinand's repeated sieges of [[Buda]] and [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]],  Suleiman went to Edirne on 17 November 1542 to prepare for a new campaign and stayed there for a while. On 23 April 1543, he set out on another campaign against Hungary. On 8 August, after a two-week siege ,[[Esztergom]] was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Within a few weeks, the cities of Siklós , Székesfehérvár and Szeged were also taken. Ferdinand and Charles were foruleiman. Ferdinand renounced his claim to the Kingdom of Hungary and was forced to pay a fixed yearly sum to the Sultan for the Hungarian lands he continued to control. Of more symbolic importance, the treaty referred to Charles V not as "Emperor" but as the "King of Spain", leading Suleiman to identify as the true "Caesar".<ref name= Imber />{{rp|54}} In 1552, Suleiman's forces laid [[Siege of Eger (1552)|siege to Eger]], located in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but the defenders led by [[István Dobó]] repelled the attacks and defended the [[Eger Castle]].<ref>{{cite news |title=István Dobó |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Istvan-Dobo |work=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>
[[File:Johann Peter Krafft 005.jpg|thumb|[[Siege of Szigetvár]] by [[Johann Peter Krafft]], 1825]]

Suleiman, set out on his 13th expedition, [[Siege of Szigetvár]] on 1 May 1566, at the age of 72, after an absence of approximately 13 years. The Ottoman army, which arrived in Belgrade on 27 June and was joined by Sigismund Zapolya's forces, arrived in [[Szigetvár]] on 2 August. Suleiman arrived at the siege on 5 August and settled in his tent on a hill from which the siege could be seen.  On 6 September, Suleiman died in his tent, one day before the fall of [[Szigetvár]]. His death was kept secret with great effort, with only the Sultan's innermost circle knowing of his demise. This was because the Ottomans feared that their soldiers would give up the battle if they knew that their leader had died, so his death was kept secret for 48 days. A courier was dispatched from the camp with a message for Suleiman's successor, [[Selim II]]. 

===Ottoman–Safavid War===
{{Main|Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55)|Ottoman–Persian Wars|Habsburg–Persian alliance}}
[[File:Sueleymanname nahcevan.jpg|thumb|upright|Miniature depicting Suleiman marching with an army in [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]], summer 1554]]

Suleiman's father had made war with Persia a high priority.  At first, Suleiman shifted attention to Europe and was content to contain [[Iran|Persia]], which was preoccupied by its own enemies to its east. After Suleiman stabilized his European frontiers, he now turned his attention to Persia, the base for the rival [[Shia Islam|Shia Muslim]] faction. The [[Safavid dynasty]] became the main enemy after two episodes. First, Shah [[Tahmasp I|Tahmasp]] killed  the [[Baghdad]] governor loyal to Suleiman, and put his own man in. Second, the governor of [[Bitlis]] had defected and sworn allegiance to the Safavids.<ref name= Imber />{{rp|51}} As a result, in 1533, Suleiman ordered his Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha to lead an army into eastern Asia Minor where he retook Bitlis and occupied [[Tabriz]] without resistance. Suleiman joined Ibrahim in 1534. They made a push towards Persia, only to find the Shah sacrificing territory instead of facing a pitched battle, resorting to harassment of the Ottoman army as it proceeded along the harsh interior.<ref name=sicker206>{{cite book |last= Sicker |first= Martin |title=The Islamic World In Ascendancy : From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna |year= 2000 |page= 206}}</ref> In 1535 Suleiman made a grand entrance into Baghdad. He enhanced his local support by restoring the tomb of [[Abu Hanifa]], the founder of the [[Hanafi]] school of Islamic law to which the Ottomans adhered.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burak |first=Guy |title=The Second Formation of Islamic Law: The Ḥanafī School in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-09027-9 |page=1}}</ref>

Attempting to defeat the Shah once and for all, Suleiman embarked upon a second campaign in 1548–1549. As in the previous attempt, Tahmasp avoided confrontation with the Ottoman army and instead chose to retreat, using scorched earth tactics in the process and exposing the Ottoman army to the harsh winter of the [[Caucasus]].<ref name=sicker206 /> Suleiman abandoned the campaign with temporary Ottoman gains in [[Tabriz]] and the [[Urmia]] region, a lasting presence in the province of [[Van Province|Van]], control of the western half of [[Azerbaijan]] and some forts in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]].<ref name=bartleby794>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.bartleby.com/67/794.html |title= 1548–49 |encyclopedia= The Encyclopedia of World History |year= 2001 | via= Bartleby.com |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20020918101523/http://www.bartleby.com/67/794.html |archive-date= 18 September 2002| access-date= 20 June 2020}}</ref>

[[File:ImperioOtomanoSimplificado-en.svg|thumb|[[List of Ottoman conquests, sieges and landings|Territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire]] under Suleiman, (in red and orange) including [[Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman vassals]].]]

In 1553, Suleiman began his third and final campaign against the Shah. Having initially lost territories in [[Erzurum]] to the Shah's son, Suleiman retaliated by recapturing Erzurum, crossing the Upper Euphrates and laying waste to parts of Persia. The Shah's army continued its strategy of avoiding the Ottomans, leading to a stalemate from which neither army made any significant gain. In 1555, a settlement known as the [[Peace of Amasya]] was signed, which defined the borders of the two empires. By this treaty, Armenia and Georgia were divided equally between the two, with [[Western Armenia]], western [[Kurdistan]], and western Georgia (incl. western [[Samtskhe atabegate|Samtskhe]]) falling in Ottoman hands while [[Eastern Armenia]], eastern Kurdistan, and eastern Georgia (incl. eastern Samtskhe) stayed in Safavid hands.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mikaberidze|first1=Alexander|title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442241466|page=xxxi|edition=2nd}}</ref> The Ottoman Empire obtained most of [[Iraq]], including Baghdad, which gave them access to the [[Persian Gulf]], while the Persians retained their former capital [[Tabriz]] and all their other northwestern territories in the Caucasus and as they were prior to the wars, such as [[Dagestan]] and all of what is now [[Azerbaijan]].<ref>''The Reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, 1520–1566'', V.J. Parry, ''A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730'', ed. M.A. Cook (Cambridge University Press, 1976), 94.</ref><ref>{{cite book| author-link= Alexander Mikaberidze| last= Mikaberidze| first= Alexander| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQfo3a1eVMC&q=peace+of+amasya+caucasus&pg=PA698 |title= Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1| publisher= ABC-CLIO| date=  2011 | isbn= 978-1598843361| page= 698}}</ref>

===Campaigns in the Indian Ocean===
{{Main|Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts|1548 capture of Aden|Ottoman expedition to Aceh|Ottoman naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean}}
[[File:Ottoman fleet Indian Ocean 16th century.jpg|thumb|upright|Ottoman fleet in the [[Indian Ocean]] in the 16th century]]

Ottoman ships had been sailing in the [[Indian Ocean]] since the year 1518. Ottoman [[admiral]]s such as [[Hadim Suleiman Pasha]], [[Seydi Ali Reis]]<ref name="Özcan1997">{{cite book|first= Azmi |last= Özcan |title= Pan-Islamism: Indian Muslims, the Ottomans and Britain, 1877–1924|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s04pus5jBNwC&pg=PA11|access-date=30 September 2012|year=1997|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-10632-1| pages= 11–}}</ref> and [[Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis]] are known to have voyaged to the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] imperial ports of [[Thatta]], [[Surat]] and [[Janjira State|Janjira]]. The Mughal Emperor [[Akbar the Great]] himself is known to have exchanged six documents with Suleiman the Magnificent.<ref name="Özcan1997" /><ref>{{cite journal |last= Farooqi |first=N. R. |title= Six Ottoman documents on Mughal-Ottoman relations during the reign of Akbar|journal=Journal of Islamic Studies |date= 1996 |volume= 7 |issue= 1 |pages=32–48|doi=10.1093/jis/7.1.32}}</ref><ref name="Farooqi1989">{{cite book| first= Naimur Rahman |last= Farooqi|title=Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations between Mughal India and the Ottoman Empire, 1556–1748|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uB1uAAAAMAAJ| access-date= 30 September 2012|year=1989|publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli}}</ref>

Suleiman led several naval campaigns against the [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] in an attempt to remove them and reestablish trade with the [[Mughal Empire]]. [[Aden]] in [[Yemen]] was captured by the Ottomans in 1538, in order to provide an Ottoman base for raids against Portuguese possessions on the western coast of the Mughal Empire.<ref name="Kour">{{cite book| first= Z. H.| last= Kour|title=The History of Aden |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hNCPAgAAQBAJ|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-78114-9|page=2}}</ref> Sailing on, the Ottomans failed against the Portuguese at the [[Siege of Diu (1538)|siege of Diu]] in September 1538, but then returned to Aden, where they fortified the city with 100 pieces of artillery.<ref name="Kour" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ovg_RQlklU4C&pg=PA326|title=An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire|first=Halil|last=İnalcik|page=326|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year= 1997 |isbn= 978-0-521-57456-3}}</ref> From this base, Sulayman Pasha managed to take control of the whole country of Yemen, also taking [[Sana'a]].<ref name="Kour" />

With its strong control of the [[Red Sea]], Suleiman successfully managed to dispute control of the trade routes to the Portuguese and maintained a significant level of trade with the [[Mughal Empire]] throughout the 16th century.<ref>''History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey'' by Ezel Kural Shaw p. 107 [https://books.google.com/books?id=UVmsI0P9RDUC&pg=PA107] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226065927/https://books.google.com/books?id=UVmsI0P9RDUC&pg=PA107|date=26 December 2022}}</ref>

From 1526 until 1543, Suleiman stationed over 900 Turkish soldiers to fight alongside the [[Somali people|Somali]] [[Adal Sultanate]] led by [[Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi]] during the [[Abyssinian–Adal war|Conquest of Abyssinia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=similarities between louis xiv and suleiman the magnificent |url=https://gymwp.app/hnytdoi/similarities-between-louis-xiv-and-suleiman-the-magnificent |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=gymwp.app |archive-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516071400/https://gymwp.app/hnytdoi/similarities-between-louis-xiv-and-suleiman-the-magnificent |url-status=dead }}</ref> After the [[Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–57)|first Ajuran-Portuguese war]], the Ottoman Empire would in 1559 absorb the weakened Adal Sultanate into its domain. This expansion furthered Ottoman rule in [[Somalia]] and the [[Horn of Africa]]. This also increased its influence in the Indian Ocean to compete with the Portuguese Empire with its close ally, the [[Ajuran Sultanate|Ajuran Empire]].<ref name="Clifford">{{cite journal|first=E. H. M.|last=Clifford|title=The British Somaliland-Ethiopia Boundary|journal=Geographical Journal|volume=87|issue=4|date=1936|pages=289–302|doi=10.2307/1785556|jstor=1785556|bibcode=1936GeogJ..87..289C }}</ref>

In 1564, Suleiman received an embassy from [[Aceh Sultanate|Aceh]] (a sultanate on [[Sumatra]], in modern [[Indonesia]]), requesting Ottoman support against the Portuguese. As a result, an [[Ottoman embassy to Aceh|Ottoman expedition to Aceh]] was launched, which was able to provide extensive military support to the Acehnese.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792, Volume 2|first=Jeremy|last=Black|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neUKEvaYPZYC&pg=PA17|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=0-521-47033-1}}</ref>

The discovery of new maritime trade routes by Western European states allowed them to avoid the Ottoman trade monopoly. The [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] discovery of the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in 1488 initiated [[Ottoman naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean|a series of Ottoman-Portuguese naval wars]] in the Ocean throughout the 16th century. The Ajuran Sultanate allied with the Ottomans defied the Portuguese economic monopoly in the Indian Ocean by employing a new coinage which followed the Ottoman pattern, thus proclaiming an attitude of economic independence in regard to the Portuguese.<ref>Coins From Mogadishu, c. 1300 to c. 1700 by G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, p. 36</ref>

===Mediterranean and North Africa===
{{See also|Franco-Ottoman alliance|Hayreddin Barbarossa|Italian War of 1542–46|Great Siege of Malta}}
[[File:Battle of Preveza (1538).jpg|thumb|[[Barbarossa (Ottoman admiral)|Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha]] defeats the Holy League under the command of [[Andrea Doria]] at the [[Battle of Preveza]] in 1538]]
[[File:Francois I Suleiman.jpg|thumb|France's King Francis I never met Suleiman, but they created a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]] from the 1530s.]]

Having consolidated his conquests on land, Suleiman was greeted with the news that the fortress of [[Koroni]] in [[Morea]] (the modern [[Peloponnese]], peninsular Greece) had been lost to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]]'s admiral, [[Andrea Doria]]. The presence of the Spanish in the Eastern Mediterranean concerned Suleiman, who saw it as an early indication of Charles V's intention to rival Ottoman dominance in the region. Recognizing the need to reassert naval preeminence in the Mediterranean, Suleiman appointed an exceptional naval commander in the form of [[Hayreddin Barbarossa|Khair ad Din]], known to Europeans as [[Hayreddin Barbarossa|Barbarossa]]. Once appointed admiral-in-chief, Barbarossa was charged with rebuilding the Ottoman fleet.

In 1535, Charles V led a Holy League of 26,700 soldiers (10,000 Spaniards, 8,000 Italians, 8,000 Germans, and 700 Knights of St. John)<ref name=Clodfelter/> to victory against the Ottomans at [[Tunis]], which together with the war against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] the following year, led Suleiman to accept proposals from [[Francis I of France]] to form [[Franco-Ottoman alliance|an alliance against Charles]].<ref name= Imber />{{rp|51}} Huge Muslim territories in North Africa were annexed. The piracy carried on thereafter by the [[Barbary pirates]] of North Africa can be seen in the context of the wars against Spain.

[[File:Siege of malta 1.jpg|The siege of Malta in 1565: arrival of the Turkish fleet, by [[Matteo Perez d'Aleccio]]|thumb|left]]

In 1541, the Spaniards led an unsuccessful [[Algiers expedition (1541)|expedition to Algiers]]. In 1542, facing a common Habsburg enemy during the [[Italian Wars]], Francis I sought to renew the [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]]. In early 1542, Polin successfully negotiated the details of the alliance, with the Ottoman Empire promising to send 60,000 troops against the territories of the German king Ferdinand, as well as 150 galleys against Charles, while France promised to attack [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], harass the coasts of Spain with a naval force, and send 40 galleys to assist the Turks for operations in the Levant.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EgQNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA461|title=The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571|first=Kenneth Meyer|last=Setton|year=1976|publisher=American Philosophical Society|isbn=978-0871691613|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In August 1551, Ottoman naval commander [[Turgut Reis]] attacked and [[Siege of Tripoli (1551)|captured Tripoli]], which had been a possession of the Knights of Malta since 1530. In 1553, Turgut Reis was nominated commander of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] by Suleiman, making the city an important center for [[Barbary slave trade|piratical raids]] in the Mediterranean and the capital of the Ottoman province of [[Ottoman Tripolitania|Tripolitania]].<ref>''A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period'' Jamil M. Abun-Nasr p. 190 [https://books.google.com/books?id=jdlKbZ46YYkC&pg=PA190]</ref> In 1560, a powerful naval force was sent to recapture Tripoli, but that force was defeated in the [[Battle of Djerba]].<ref>''A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730: chapters from the Cambridge history'' by Vernon J. Parry p. 101 [https://books.google.com/books?id=nUs7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA101]</ref>

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, when the Knights Hospitallers were re-established as the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Malta]] in 1530, their actions against Muslim navies quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans, who assembled another massive army in order to dislodge the Knights from Malta. The Ottomans invaded Malta in 1565, undertaking the [[Great Siege of Malta]], which began on 18 May and lasted until 8 September, and is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of [[Matteo Perez d'Aleccio]] in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George. At first, it seemed that this would be a repeat of the battle on Rhodes, with most of Malta's cities destroyed and half the Knights killed in battle; but a relief force from Spain entered the battle, resulting in the loss of 10,000 Ottoman troops and the victory of the local Maltese citizenry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.malta.com/about-malta/history-of-malta.html|title=History of Malta and Gozo – From Prehistory to Independence| first= Georgi | last= Mitev}}</ref>