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32 Evrim Türkçelik

Imperial Council, however, he placed him in a lower rank under Damad
Halil Pasha. Although Selaniki relates that Cigalazade recognized Halil
Pasha’s superior rank with a submissive attitude 118 , contemporary re-
ports indicate that he was very disappointed with the royal decision and
left the council with great discontent 119 . Halil Pasha even exploited
Cigalazade’s disgrace, pushing him forward as a scapegoat when the
Spanish pillaged Patras by arguing that the Spanish assault had been
triggered by Cigalazade’s previous attack on the Calabrian coast a year
earlier 120 . Laying the blame on a disgraced Cigalazade was the easiest
way to disguise the problems, which were in a way related to his reluc-
tance to sail with the Armada.
Nevertheless, it proved inevitable that Halil Pasha’s domestic image as
grand admiral was evaluated either positively or negatively in comparison
to Cigalazade’s admiralty. Venier states that Halil Pasha’s appointment
was universally applauded by the maritime personnel in the arsenal, who
had been oppressed and mistreated during Cigalazade’s admiralty 121 .
Cigalazade was born a “thief” and a “corsair” and had ambitions to enrich
himself by plunder and booty whereas Halil Pasha would not have pur-
sued such policy 122 . This was because Halil Pasha’s household and en-
tourage were composed of persons of good quality and were, therefore,
much better than the “rapacious” and “shameless thieves” that sur-
rounded Cigalazade 123 . Even so, there were different opinions that raised
objections to the appointment of Halil Pasha on the grounds of his inad-
equacy for the position and the erroneousness of dismissing a famous
admiral such as Cigalazade 124 . The historian Selaniki went further and
even added an ethnic dimension to his criticism. While criticizing Cigala-
zade’s unjust appointment to Algiers, Selaniki wrote the following words:
“Albanians, Bosnians and others who were educated [in the sultan’s pal-
ace] have turned out to be of poor quality”, but “he [Cigalazade] stands
out among his peers by his high virtues” 125 . This was not only an

118 Selaniki, Tarih-i Selaniki cit., pp. 477-478.
119 G. Benzoni, Scipione Cicala (Cigala-zade Yusuf Sinan), in Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome, 1981, vol. XXV, pp. 320-340.
120 Marco Venier to the Senate, Constantinople, 14 October 1595, Asv, Sdc, 42, n. 15.
121 «Con universal applauso particolarmente delli huomini maritimi et i tiraneggiati
et mal trattati... dal Cigalla». Marco Venier to the Senate, Constantinople, 31 January
1595, Asv, Sdc, 40, f. 481r.
122 «Il Cigala è nato ladro, et corsaro, et voleva andar a farsi rico di molta preda, ma
il Capitano che è stato in luogo suo non procederà di questa maniera». Marco Venier to
the Senate, Constantinople, 5 March 1595, Asv, Sdc, 41, n.1.
123 «His court is composed of excellent men, not rapacious like those shameless
thieves who surrounded Cicala». Csp Ven, vol. 9, n. 324, Marco Venier to the Senate, 31
January 1595.
124 Selaniki, Tarih-i Selaniki cit., p. 438.
125 Ivi, pp. 462-463.

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