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The “reluctant” admiral: Damad Halil Pasha and the Ottoman navy (1595-1598) 15

sultan, were important factors that could produce serious conse-
quences for the Ottomans in the Mediterranean .
21
In this international context, the Mediterranean policy of the Otto-
man Empire was entrusted to Cigalazade Sinan Pasha, born as Scipione
Cicala to a Genoese aristocratic family based in Sicily, who was ap-
pointed to the position of admiral in 1591 after the death of Hasan the
Venetian . During this period, Cigalazade followed an aggressive policy
22
in the Mediterranean threatening not only the Spanish coasts but also
the Venetian domination of the Adriatic by constantly accusing the Ve-
netians of helping the Austrian Habsburgs. During the expedition in
1594, Cigalazade’s attempt to enter the Adriatic with the Ottoman ar-
mada, a clear casus belli for Venice, brought the Doge to the edge of
seeing viable an alliance with Spain and the Papacy to form a Holy
League . Although Cigalazade did not enter the Adriatic and instead
23
realized a controversial attack to Reggio di Calabria in the Neapolitan
coast, his anti-Venetian policy had caused a certain mistrust in Veneto-
Ottoman relations and had drawn the reaction of the certain palace
members, principally Safiye Sultan, and the Venetian convert Gazanfer
Ağa, who did not want the relations with Venice to deteriorate .
24
Halil Pasha’s appointment as grand admiral, which was already on
the agenda since his marriage to Fatma Sultan, became more pro-
nounced in this international context. As early as 1594, immediately
after the wedding, Venetian ambassador Matteo Zane had written in
his relazione that the sultan “will be asked and urged to bestow it [the
admiralty] on [H]alil, his new son-in-law” . Although these rumours
25
were related to the policy of the Ottoman court to give important posi-
tions to the individuals associated with the dynasty, Halil Pasha was
not immediately brought to the admiralty since the international and
domestic circumstances were not yet ripe enough. Only after Cigala-
zade’s anti-Venetian policy reached an intolerable level among the

21 C. Schneider, Pope Clement VIII and Confessional Conflict: International Papal Po-
litics and Diplomacy (1598-1605), unpublished PhD thesis, Durham University, 2016;
A. Borromeo, Istruzioni generali e corrispondenza ordinaria dei nunzi: obiettivi prioritari
e risultati concreti della politica spagnola di Clemente VIII, in G. Lutz (ed.), Das Papsttum,
die Christenheit und die Staaten Europas. 1592-1605, Max Niemeyer, Tubingen, 1994,
pp. 119-233.
22 For Hasan the Venetian, see E.S. Gürkan, His Bailo’s Kapudan: Conversion, Tan-
gled Loyalties and Hasan Veneziano between Istanbul and Venice (1588-1591), «The
Journal of Ottoman Studies», 48 (2016), pp. 277-319.
23 E. Türkçelik, Un noble italiano en la corte otomana: Cigalazade y el Mediterráneo
(1591-1606), Albatros Ediciones, Valencia, 2019, pp. 59-72.
24 Ivi, pp. 66-68.
25 «Sarà Sua Maestà pregata e sollecitata a conferirla ad Alil bassà suo genero no-
vello». Relazione di Matteo Zane (1594), in E. Alberi, Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti
al senato durante il secolo decimosesto, 3rd ser., vol. III, p. 427.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Aprile 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)