The Holy League (Latin: Sancta Unio) was a military alliance of the chief Christian states of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean against the mounting threat of naval raids by the Turkish beyliks of Anatolia. The alliance was spearheaded by the main regional naval power, the Republic of Venice, and included the Knights Hospitaller, the Kingdom of Cyprus, and the Byzantine Empire, while other states also promised support. After a notable success in the Battle of Adramyttion, the Turkish naval threat receded for a while; coupled with the diverging interests of its members, the league atrophied and ended in 1336/7.
Sources
- Ivanov, Vladislav (2012). "Sancta Unio or the Holy League 1332–36/37 as a Political Factor in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean". Études Balkaniques. 48: 142–176.
- Theotokes, Spyridon (1930). "Η πρώτη συμμαχία των κυρίαρχων κρατών του Αιγαίου κατά της καθόδου των Τούρκων αρχομένου του ΙΔ' αιώνος" [The First Alliance of the Sovereign States of the Aegean Against the Expansion of the Turks at the Beginning of the 14th Century]. Επετηρίς Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών (in Greek). 7: 283–298. hdl:11615/19956.