Chapter Summaries

Soranzo and Fabius led the Venetian and Eastern Roman fleets toward a decisive battle near Crete, each arranging his ships to counter the other’s tactics. The fleets sighted one another, and their crews completed preparations as the ships closed in.

• Soranzo learned that the Palaiologos fleet was stationed at Nafplion and sailed from Candia to meet it.
• Soranzo assembled the Venetian captains and planned to use galleasses to break the enemy formation before his warships engaged.
• Fabius reorganized the Eastern Roman fleet into a line of battle with fast squadrons assigned to intercept the Venetian galleasses.
• Felix rallied the captains with a call to take back their sea, and Fabius’s fleet shifted into its new formation.
• Both fleets sighted each other, and Fabius recognized that Soranzo intended to rely on galleasses to disrupt his line.
• As the fleets drew closer, the Eastern Roman crews readied their guns and prepared their decks for battle.

The Eastern Roman fleet fought off Venice’s first Galleass assault and exchanged heavy broadsides with the Venetian battleships. When Soranzo sent the remaining Galleasses against the middle and rear of the line, Felix and the Scala joined a chaotic melee that left eight Eastern Roman warships separated from the ships ahead.

• At eleven, Venice’s fifteen Galleasses charged the Eastern Roman battle line, and Felix followed orders to fire chain shot that wrecked their masts and oars.
• The Eastern Roman battleships used their heavier guns to rout the first Galleass assault, while the two fleets’ battleship columns began exchanging broadsides.
• At noon, two Venetian warships withdrew, and Soranzo ordered the remaining Galleasses to attack the middle and rear of the Eastern Roman line.
• Felix steered the Scala into a Galleass and his crew cleared its deck with muskets and iron bombs as more than sixty ships became entangled.
• The melee scattered the fleets, and eight Eastern Roman warships in the rear lost contact with the ships ahead and broke formation to face the threats.

The Eastern Roman fleet defeated Venice at the Battle of Antikythera, but both sides suffered heavy losses and the Roman admiral Fabius died. Vitus appointed a new fleet admiral and ordered the navy and army to retake the Aegean islands, especially Lemnos.

• Soranzo realized his fleet had gained an advantage, but reinforced enemy warships and a devastating explosion turned the battle against Venice.
• The Murano ordered a retreat, and Soranzo died from wounds as his ship sank near Crete.
• Pelato delivered the battle report to Vitus, who learned that Fabius and the Venetian admiral had died and that the Roman fleet had suffered severe casualties.
• Vitus reflected on the costly victory and the powerful enemies the Eastern Roman Empire still faced.
• Vitus appointed Cohen fleet admiral, arranged Fabius's honors and funeral, and ordered an effort to retake the Aegean islands, especially Lemnos.

Boranov and the Eastern Roman troops landed on Lemnos and began besieging the Venetian port of Moudros, racing to secure the island before Venice could restore its naval strength. By the end of 1446, illness, winter weather, and a broken landing pier had delayed the arrival of heavy siege guns, leaving the siege unresolved.

• The Eastern Roman fleet sailed from Gallipoli, drove off two Venetian warships, and landed troops on Lemnos.
• Boranov gathered the Third Dragoon Battalion and led the inland advance toward Moudros while other soldiers prepared to occupy fishing villages and build harbor facilities.
• Boranov and allied troops surrounded Moudros, and three staff officers mapped its defenses before the troops camped in a nearby village.
• The troops built a siege camp despite scarce timber, rain, illness, and delays constructing a pier for heavy guns.
• On the last day of 1446, Boranov recovered from illness and learned that a Nine-Pounder Cannon had arrived, while the damaged pier delayed the heavy siege guns for another two days.

The Eastern Roman army captured Moudros after Swiss mercenaries surrendered, while Boranov reflected on how their discipline made them more effective than German mercenaries. In Constantinople, Vitus confronted a large budget deficit and approved a new church and cemetery for distinguished naval officers, including Fabius.

• The Swiss mercenaries surrendered Moudros after five days of bombardment, handed over their weapons and records, and accepted work on Lemnos until ships could take them back to Italy.
• Boranov compared Swiss and German mercenaries, concluding that Swiss discipline and morale made them especially formidable in battle.
• Vitus learned from Carlo Santis that the empire had run a deficit of seven hundred thousand florins in 1446 and ordered another two hundred thousand raised for the Admiralty.
• The Patriarch asked where Fabius should be buried, and Vitus ordered a new church and adjoining cemetery built in the south of Constantinople for naval officers who had served with distinction.

Vitus rejected Venice’s peace proposal and judged the White Sheep Dynasty less formidable than the Ottomans, while the Scala fled a pursuing Venetian warship through a storm and into the Atlantic. Felix used information from the sailing manual to plan a southward route along the African coast.

• Vitus dismissed King Vakhtang’s comparison of Uzun Hasan’s White Sheep Dynasty to the Ottomans and said he would deal with Uzun Hasan if he defeated the Black Sheep and Timur alliance.
• Agnes told Vitus that Florence had asked about Rome’s naval strength and the war’s duration, and Vitus said fighting would continue because Venice would not surrender its overseas territories.
• Felix led the Scala through a violent storm, but the Venetian warship continued pursuing them afterward.
• The Scala reached the Strait of Gibraltar, and Felix ordered the ship into the Atlantic when the pursuer drew near again.
• Felix studied the sailing manual, tested the southbound current, and decided to sail south along the African coast.

After a storm wrecked the Scala on an unnamed island, Felix organized the stranded crew’s survival and learned that the pursuing Venetian warship had also been wrecked nearby. He planned to repair the Scala before confronting the Venetians and cracked down on rumors that threatened discipline.

• On March 20, Felix led the Scala into a severe Atlantic storm, and the Venetian warship behind it was battered until it appeared close to sinking.
• After Felix lost consciousness, the Scala ran aground on an unnamed island, where the crew began exploring, repairing the ship, and gathering food.
• Felix learned that the island’s poor timber might not be suitable for repairs and organized the crew to collect food and fresh water while preserving their stores.
• An exploration party discovered the wrecked Venetian warship near a smaller island, with surviving Venetians fishing nearby; Felix ordered his crew to stay hidden until the Scala was repaired.
• When sailors spread frightening rumors about the island and the Venetians, Felix had three troublemakers flogged and ordered a gallows built to deter further disorder.

Felix repaired the Scala on a deserted island, captured three Venetian sailors, and sailed away without rescuing the remaining survivors. Meanwhile, Cohen sent an Eastern Roman squadron to intercept a Venetian fleet heading toward Crete, and the search line began forming south of the Peloponnese.

• Felix captured three Venetians who had landed to search for fresh water, then abandoned pursuit when the Venetian boat escaped toward the east.
• Lorenzo and the eleven foreign survivors decided to surrender to the Greeks, but the Scala sailed away after Felix refused to take them aboard.
• Cohen learned that a Venetian fleet was sailing south toward Crete and dispatched thirty-four ships to locate and delay it.
• The Eastern Roman ships began forming a north-to-south search chain south of the Peloponnese to intercept the Venetian fleet.

The Eastern Roman fleet intercepted Venetian reinforcements bound for Crete, winning a costly battle and destroying a damaged enemy ship of the line. After receiving the report, Vitus inspected rocket tests and ordered production of long-range rockets for attacks on Candia Harbor and, eventually, Venice.

• The Ephesus sighted the Venetian fleet, and Eastern Roman cruisers converged to attack while the Venetian convoy continued east with its supplies.
• The Gray Parrot struck the rear Venetian ship of the line repeatedly, damaging its rudder hinges and forcing the convoy to abandon it.
• Cohen rescued the crew of a crippled Eastern Roman cruiser, then ordered two ships of the line to destroy the stranded Venetian warship after its captain refused to surrender.
• The fleet pursued the remaining Venetians, and Cohen later reported that Rome had lost four cruisers while destroying three enemy ships of the line, one cruiser, and two armed merchant ships.
• Vitus inspected rocket tests, approved the rockets' three-kilometer range, and ordered two thousand rockets named Candia for production.
• Vitus planned to use the new rockets against Candia Harbor and considered a future blockade of Venice, where existing cannons could not reach the main island.

Felix returned to Coron after the Scala’s voyage south of the Sahara, then Admiral Cohen planned a night attack on Candia using newly delivered rockets. The incendiary flotilla fired all two thousand rockets into the harbor and withdrew, leaving fires burning among the Venetian ships.

• Felix brought the Scala back to Coron with strange specimens and reported that the ship had explored islands south of the Sahara.
• Cohen questioned Felix about the voyage, recommended that he take its records to Constantinople, and said a promotion or a Military Academy post might follow.
• Cohen received orders to attack Candia harbor with rockets and devised a night assault using the lighthouse and city lights to guide the ships.
• On August 10, the battle fleet approached Candia, and ten incendiary galleys silently took up their predetermined positions outside the harbor.
• The galleys fired their rockets into Candia, setting ships ablaze as Venetian crews scrambled to fight fires and move their vessels.
• After firing all their rockets, the incendiary ships withdrew under cover of darkness while fires lit the harbor sky.

After crippling Candia’s fleet, Vitus ordered an expedition to reclaim the Ionian Islands while Venice’s forces were weakened. The Eastern Roman army occupied Zakynthos and Kefalonia, then fought its way across Corfu toward Corfu City, where Renaf awaited siege guns and learned Leo Palaiologos was among the arriving artillery students.

• Cohen ordered the fleet back after confirming that the fire attack had damaged Candia Harbor and reduced the enemy fleet’s strength.
• Vitus convened the Privy Council, the Army Department, and the Admiralty to begin a campaign for the Ionian Islands.
• The Dragon Cavalry Brigade occupied Zakynthos without resistance, and the Hermes Brigade found that the Venetian garrison had withdrawn from Kefalonia.
• Renaf’s Sakarya Legion landed on Corfu, seized a town after its defenders refused to surrender, and hanged the nobles who had resisted.
• Renaf’s forces captured a castle after cannon fire toppled its main tower, then advanced to Corfu City and blockaded it.
• Renaf received word that thirty heavy siege guns and artillery students were arriving, including Leo Palaiologos, and sent cavalry to escort them.

Leo observed the siege and capture of Corfu before learning that it would become a base for Rome’s Adriatic offensive. Romanus returned from the eastern front frustrated by his performance against Uzun Hasan, and Vitus advised him to learn from the defeat as the empire prepared for future expansion.

• Leo marched with the cadets to Corfu, where he helped with camp labor and watched the siege end after engineers breached the city’s defenses.
• An officer told Leo that Corfu would serve as a base for an advance into the Adriatic, while Vitus ordered Corfu’s prisoners and their families relocated to Cappadocia.
• Romanus returned to Constantinople and visited a newly organized competition at the Hippodrome, where he vowed to seek the return of the stolen bronze horses and other artifacts after the war.
• Romanus told Vitus that Uzun Hasan had outmaneuvered him during a campaign in the Armenian Highlands, though Romanus’s forces rescued four thousand Georgian and Armenian allies.
• Vitus reassured Romanus that he could learn from the encounter and praised Alexios Komnenos’s ability to recover from earlier defeats.

Jacob Foscari considered fleeing Venice as public anger and military setbacks mounted, while Władysław III rejected Venice’s appeal for Polish intervention. Vitus learned that Poland would stay out of the war, demanded severe terms for peace, and approved a small settlement on islands reached by the Scala.

• Jacob Foscari feared his family would fall with the governor and considered escaping to Rome or Portugal.
• Władysław III refused to meet the Venetian envoy and Istvan because Venice had supported the Mamluks against the Palaiologos Dynasty.
• Istvan urged Hungarian nobles to resist the king, but Hunyadi argued that a war against Vitus would be too difficult and unnecessary.
• Vitus learned that Władysław would not join the war and offered Venice peace terms that included surrendering its warships and paying three million ducats.
• Vitus reviewed improving imperial finances and learned Portugal was pursuing an alliance with France to protect its overseas exploration.
• Vitus approved further exploration of the islands reached by the Scala and a small settlement there after the war.

Romanus led the Eastern Roman invasion fleet to Crete and landed in the island’s southwest, where he found local peasants resentful of Venetian rule and prepared to establish a beachhead before Venice’s forces arrived. By March 3, more than ten thousand soldiers had landed, and Romanus expected reinforcements within five days.

• Cohen learned that the Venetian battleships had withdrawn to Souda Bay, and Romanus’s Privy Council retained the plan to land on Crete’s southern coast.
• Romanus departed for Gythio Harbor, where he coordinated with Cohen as the army and fleet prepared for the invasion.
• On March 1, the fleet sailed for Crete, and Romanus ordered the Marine Battalion to land on the island’s southwestern coast despite a Venetian scout spotting the convoy.
• The Marines encountered Greek peasants led by an Orthodox cleric, and Romanus ordered the fleet to hold its fire while the soldiers secured the beach and nearby hills.
• Romanus learned that unpaid mercenaries, shortages, and heavy taxes had fueled unrest among Crete’s people, weakening Venice’s position on the island.
• By March 3, the Sakarya Legion had landed and more than ten thousand soldiers occupied the beachhead as Romanus prepared for reinforcements and the arrival of Venice’s main force.

Romanus marched his seventeen-thousand-strong army to meet a Venetian force near Crete’s southwestern coast. The Eastern Roman army gained the upper hand, though the Hermes Brigade remained locked in a fierce fight with Swiss mercenaries on a hill.

• Romanus learned that nearly twenty thousand Venetians were approaching and marched out to defeat them before they could retreat into fortified cities.
• Orlando and the Hermes Brigade seized a hill, where Swiss mercenaries charged uphill and broke through the defenders’ line.
• Romanus reached the battlefield and ordered Renaf’s Sakarya Legion to attack while he positioned artillery, cavalry, dragoons, and militia to guard the flanks and center.
• Boranov led dragoons and militia into the grove, where they routed a German mercenary flanking force, but the militia pursued without orders.
• Romanus received word that the Sakarya Legion was nearing a breakthrough and that dragoons had reached the enemy rear; he later saw Venetian banners falling as the legion advanced, while fighting on the hill continued.

Romanus’s forces defeated the Venetian fleet and captured Crete’s coastal cities, while he began reorganizing the island and considering how to handle his Palaiologos relatives. The siege of Candia continued as Romanus prepared to deny its defenders generous surrender terms.

• Romanus besieged Chania while Cohen’s fleet pursued the Venetian ships fleeing Souda Bay, capturing transports and forcing a damaged battleship to surrender.
• Chania’s garrison surrendered on April 10 after Romanus promised safe passage to Naples, and he led the army east toward Rethymno and Candia.
• Romanus left troops to besiege Candia, toured Crete, and issued a proclamation abolishing the farmers’ one-third tax as he assessed abandoned estates and saltworks.
• Romanus returned to the siege camp on May 10 and ordered that Candia’s defenders either starve or work in the mines rather than receive generous terms.
• Romanus established his administration at Knossos and decided to send unhelpful collateral relatives to remote places if they sought his assistance.

Cohen led the Eastern Roman fleet to Venice, where blocked channels prevented a direct entry into the lagoon. The Marine Battalion seized a stretch of Lido and launched rockets toward the city, but the scattered fires left the commander doubting the bombardment’s effectiveness.

• Vitus approved a cautious attack on the Venice Lagoon, and Cohen prepared the fleet to depart from Corfu.
• Cohen led twenty battleships and the rest of the fleet north along the Italian coast, reaching Venice’s waters on July 2.
• Cohen learned that Venice had blocked all three lagoon channels and ordered the fleet to carry out Plan Three that night.
• The Marine Battalion landed on Lido, dug fortifications, and defeated Venetian patrols and reinforcements.
• The fleet brought rockets ashore, and the Marine Battalion fired salvos toward Venice, setting only scattered fires on the city’s eastern side.
• The battalion commander concluded that future rockets should target Venetian ships rather than the city.

Cohen's fleet bombarded Venice until the Great Council agreed to surrender, while Romanus arrived to oversee the prolonged blockade. In Milan, Duke Sforza weighed an alliance against Venice and chose to strengthen his defenses while waiting for the war's course to become clearer.

• Cohen's Rocket raid set fire to Venice's Eastern District and inflamed public anger, prompting the Great Council to remove Governor Foscari and appoint Young Loredan supreme commander.
• The Great Council sent an envoy to negotiate, but Cohen refused talks for anything short of surrender and continued the attacks as Venice's residents fled the island.
• After a second Rocket offensive, Venice agreed to surrender and asked the Roman fleet to suspend its attacks; Cohen demanded two hundred thousand Ducats in gold before sunset to cancel the next launch.
• Romanus arrived on July 24 and learned that Crete's Rethymno had surrendered while Candia remained under siege; he accepted that Venice would have to be blockaded until the Great Council settled the terms.
• In early August, Duke Sforza considered Austrian and Venetian appeals, then decided to buy weapons, metal, and grain and reinforce Milan before potentially attacking Venice.

Young Loredan surrendered Venice to the Eastern Roman Empire, accepting harsh terms that included hostages, the loss of its fleet and arsenal, and the return of seized treasures. After the arsenal burned and Venice ceded surrounding territories, the pope mediated a fragile alliance among the Italian states against outside powers.

• Young Loredan persuaded Venice’s nobles to surrender, then offered the Eastern Roman Empire reparations and concessions in exchange for peace.
• Romanus demanded Venice’s merchant ships and arsenal, glassworkers, and noble hostages, and Young Loredan and Romanus signed the surrender agreement.
• As governor, Young Loredan delivered the noble boys as hostages, while Eastern Roman troops reclaimed artifacts and Maximus burned the Venice Arsenal.
• Venice returned the Four Gilded Bronze Horses and other treasures, surrendered the Bucintoro, and lost its navy and command of the sea.
• With Nicholas V mediating, Venice ceded surrounding territories and Italian envoys signed an alliance promising mutual aid against outside powers.

Young Loredan returned to Venice and confronted the devastation of the arsenal and the economic hardship left by the war. Meanwhile, Vitus welcomed the returning fleet, oversaw the return of relics, and made decisions about hostages and the administration of recovered islands.

• Young Loredan returned to Venice, saw nobles moving their belongings to Padua, and resolved to reverse their departure from the islands.
• Young Loredan inspected the burned arsenal and learned that rebuilding would cost about four hundred thousand ducats and take years, while Venice's trade suffered without its fleet.
• Romanus and the returning expeditionary fleet brought the Four Gilded Bronze Horses and recovered relics to Constantinople, where Romanus handed the holy objects over to the Patriarch.
• Leo told Vitus that the army still had not agreed on a subject for its church's dome painting, while the navy had chosen the Battle of Antikythera.
• Vitus ordered the Venetian hostages settled in the Rhodope Mountains until Venice repaid its debt, then approved establishing Crete as a province and selling its sugarcane, almond, and lemon plantations to the Agricultural Company.