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The “reluctant” admiral: Damad Halil Pasha and the Ottoman navy (1595-1598) 19

armada, “which neither he nor his wife likes”, and added that “if he
[Halil Pasha] could replace a [person] dependent on him without losing
his post [admiralty], he would gladly do so” . Thus, there was a consid-
41
erable gap between the first external impressions about Halil Pasha and
his rhetoric identifying himself with such a great figure as Piyale Pasha.
Indeed, his reluctance would be proven by his limited participation
in the expeditions of the Ottoman navy during his more than three
years-long career as admiral. Although the sultan’s fleet continued its
usual annual campaigns, Halil Pasha personally commanded only one
of the three campaigns carried out during his admiralty. In the sum-
mer of 1595, the Ottoman navy was divided into two fleets; one for the
Mediterranean and the other for the Black Sea, but Halil Pasha stayed
in Istanbul and did not take any responsibility in any of these expedi-
tions. While the fleet to the Black Sea was entrusted with 20 galleys
to Şaban Pasha, governor-general of Algiers, the Mediterranean fleet
was entrusted with 40 galleys to Arnavud Memi, governor-general of
Tripoli [Trablusgarb] . The documents in mühimme defterleri, regis-
42
ters of the Imperial Council, indicate that it was the sultan’s decision
to appoint Arnavud Memi as the deputy (lieutenant) of Halil Pasha
with respect to his “excellent command of the maritime frontiers and
the circumstances in the sea” . Although this decree indirectly points
43
to Halil Pasha’s lack of competence and merit, in fact, it serves to dis-
guise the unofficial reasons related to his condition as the dynasty’s
damad. According to contemporary Spanish and Venetian reports, it
was Safiye Sultan who did not want his son-in-law to leave Istanbul
to ensure that he stayed with his wife in Istanbul. The fact that Halil
Pasha’s and Fatma Sultan’s first child (thus, Safiye’s grandchild) was
born in October 1595 indicates that Fatma Sultan’s pregnancy must
have been known already before the naval campaign, which explains
why Halil Pasha was officially excused from his obligations as grand
admiral . However, this situation created negligence in the defence of
44
the Mediterranean producing an encouraging context for the Spanish
captains, who were looking for an opportunity to retaliate against
Cigalazade’s attack on Reggio di Calabria a year earlier. The galley

41 «Crede egli quest’anno d’essere astretto ad uscire con l’armata, cosa che nè a lui
nè alla moglie aggrada, et quando potesse senza perdere il luogo substituire uno dipen-
dente da sè, lo faria volontieri». Relazione di Leonardo Dona (1595), in F. Seneca, Il Doge
Leonardo Donà: la sua vita e la sua preparazione politica prima del dogado, Editrice An-
tenore, Padua, 1959, p. 293.
42 Selaniki, Tarih-i Selaniki cit., pp. 483 and 485.
43 Ö. Bayramoğlu, 73 Numaralı Mühimme Defterinin Transkripsiyonu ve Değerlendir-
mesi (277-433), unpublished M.A. thesis, Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi, 2018, p. 193.
44 Marco Venier to the Senate, Constantinople, 12 October 1595, Asv, Sdc, 42, n.
14.

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