Holy League (Mediterranean)

For alternate uses, see Holy League

The Holy League was formed between several Catholic maritime states in the Mediterranean in 1571 in attempt to break Ottoman Turks' control of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The main participants were Venice, the Habsburg states of Spain, Naples and Sicily, the Papal States, as well as many smaller states in Italy: Genoa, Savoy, the Knights of Malta and others.

In 1571, the League won a crushing victory over the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Lepanto off the Greek coast.