Petros Lantzas (1530 – February 26, 1613)
From Corfu, Lantzas was a Greek rebel, privateer & spy, involved in several plots to overthrow Ottoman rule of the Greeks.
Lantzas, along with other Greek leaders, launched rebellions against the Ottomans in Epirus, which spread to Messinia, Laconia and Mani.
He worked under Venice by the time of the 4th Venetian-Ottoman War (1570-1573), which was mainly fought over Cyprus, as well as naval battles in the Aegean and Ionian seas. Lantzas damaged & raided several Ottoman ships along the Epirus coast, taking many Ottoman prisoners.
He also attacked Ottoman positions on land, such as in Heimarra & Delvino, stealing food, supplies and at one point, even robbing the Ottomans of a large number of horses, which he would ship across to Corfu.
Following Venice’s defeat, which saw the Ottomans now in control of Cyprus. Lantzas and many other Greek rebels turned to the Spanish, who were more than happy to support and encourage insurrections against the Ottomans. Venice and Spain would almost break into outright war over Petros Lantzas.
Lantzas continued his activities at sea. He continued to raid Ottoman ships & take Ottoman prisoners. He also shipped in large amounts of ammunition to the Greeks in Heimarra, helping to launch many revolts against the Ottomans. While also monitoring the movements of the Ottomans & Venetians, for the Spanish.
By 1608, Petros Lantzas now based in Naples, created a force made up of rebels from Epirus and Thessaly to organise a landing at Constantinople. For the express purpose of killing the sultan.
The brilliance of the plan from Lantzas was that if successful, blame would be on the Venetians. The mission proved unsuccessful & Venice were so outraged that they wanted Lantzas’ head.
Petros Lantzas dies in Naples in 1613.
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