CHAPTER VII

Meanwhile in the port of Messina Marco Antonio Colonna and Sebastian Veniero, with the Pontifical and Venetian fleets, awaited the coming of D. John of Austria. The delay made the two Generals impatient, especially Veniero, an irascible, vehement, fiery old man of seventy, who saw with anxiety the season advancing and the provisions being consumed during that useless delay. Colonna shared his fears and impatience, and a dreadful blow, moreover, came to distract him at this supreme moment. His angelic daughter Giovanna Colonna, Duchess de Mondragone, died suddenly in Rome, and this unexpected sorrow plunged him in the deepest grief. He retired to his galley, not wishing to see anyone, and ordered that all the galleys of his fleet should be painted black; the ropes and the sails were also to be stained black, and the lanterns, escutcheon and flags covered with crape. This sombre mourning fleet anchored in the port was looked on as a bad omen in Messina, and sinister rumours of fresh pillage by the Turks in Corfu, and that their fleet was hastening to fall on Sicily, caused great alarm among this superstitious and fanatic people, which neither the news that D. John had left Naples nor the sumptuous preparations for his reception sufficed to calm. On the 23rd of August, at noon, the Sicilian watchmen spied a numerous fleet, with all sails set, making for the lighthouse. Hope awoke in some, terror in others, for while all sensible people were certain that this was the expected fleet of D. John of Austria, the ignorant were frightened, and cried out that it was the dreaded Turk, and upset the town with their shouting and hurrying to and fro. The two fleets, Pontifical and Venetian, set out to meet the coming one, and on the weighing of the anchors of Colonna's mourning ships, a great clamour arose among the superstitious populace, begging that if he left he would not return, because this black fleet could only bring desolation and death to Messina. Two miles beyond the entrance of the straits the two fleets met that of D. John, and the joy and enthusiasm were equal on both sides. Marco Antonio left his captain's cabin for the first time, and boarded the royal galley to kiss D. John of Austria's hand; but he ran to meet the afflicted father, and took him in his arms, and pressed him to his heart. Marco Antonio Colonna was the picture of a great Italian noble of his day: tall, well made, and of proud bearing, an oval face, with a wide, bare forehead, and big moustaches getting grey, although he was only thirty-five. He was of great intelligence, very brave and magnanimous, and had the soul of a poet.

The effect of the entrance into Messina of the three united fleets cannot be described. From the most saintly Christian hope to the most animal instinct of self-preservation, all passions, ideas and sentiments of which human nature is capable, joyfully united to bless and welcome the realisation of their hopes and the overcoming of their fears, represented at that moment by the Generalissimo D. John of Austria.

He entered Messina by the Royal Gate, under a triumphal arch which ran out to the sea, and was twenty-five poles in length; there were three stories and three arches on each front, and 128 columns, which divided the niches, pedestals and divisions of the endless statues, emblems, inscriptions and couplets which adorned them, this great fabric ending in a colossal figure of D. John of Austria, with the vanquished Moors of Granada at his feet. Perhaps what was greatest and strongest among all this magnificence was the quiet nature of the youth of twenty-four, who, far from being made vainglorious by all this adulation, said humbly to his lieutenant, the Knight Commander: "They give me this in advance; I trust to God that I shall pay the debt."

D. John assembled all the leaders and generals at once, more to greet them than to hold a Council, as he fancied some of them were vacillating from fear, and he preferred to await the arrival of the fresh Nuncio, whom the Pope was sending to uphold his valorous designs. The Nuncio, Mons. Odescalchi, Bishop of Penna, came with a great following of Capuchins, Dominicans, Jesuits and Franciscans, whom the Pope sent to serve the galleys; he also brought letters for D. John and Marco Antonio Colonna, exhorting them without hesitation to give battle to the Turk, as in God's name he assured them of victory. D. John did not require such advice, and had, with much prudence and cleverness, been meanwhile preparing the Council, according to what the great Duque de Alba indicates in the following letter: "Before proposing the matter at a Council," wrote the Duke from Brussels to D. John, "it would be well to talk familiarly with each of the Councillors, commending them to secrecy, and in this way learning their opinion, which is a very good thing to do; as the person to whom Y.E. thus talks will feel very much honoured and will be grateful to Y.E. for the confidence placed in him; and will tell Y.E. freely what he thinks. Because it often happens in the Council that the soldiers wish to get the best of each other, but having already told Y.E. their opinion, they will not fall into this error, or contradict those to whom they owe a grudge for the sake of contradicting, which is a common habit. And Y.E. having heard all, will have time to think over the pros and cons which each one has put forward; and when you go to the Council you will have made up your mind. Because while hearing and questioning each one, Y.E. must never tell anyone your own opinion, except to those whom H.M. has ordered you, or it is Y.E.'s pleasure to consult. In Council do not allow them to be obstinate; it is well to discuss matters, but private obstinacy Y.E. must never allow, as it will lower your authority. And Y.E. will be bound, and it will be a very good thing sometimes, to summon to a great Council the field-marshals, and some colonels and captains, and those who can be called to such councils, to give them a taste of public business, because it will give much satisfaction to people a grade lower than those summoned."

In this way D. John more or less knew the opinions of all the Council when he convoked it for nine o'clock on the morning of the 10th of September. There assembled that day on board the galley "Real" seventy persons, among whom were thirty officers; it was presided over by the Nuncio Odescalchi, the honour being conceded to him by D. John, out of respect for the Pontiff. The Nuncio spoke first in the name of the Pope, and in a brave speech, full of faith and enthusiasm, exhorted them to set out without losing time to seek the Turk, and to offer him battle without hesitation; such was the wish of the Pope, and, in the name of God, he promised them victory. Then the old Conde de Priego rose, who had just been able to appreciate for himself the holiness of Pius V, and without more words or arguments, said that if the Pope desired fighting and promised them victory in the name of God, it was impiety and madness to shut their ears and fail in the enterprise. All the captains were fervent Catholics and friends of the Pope, but most of them did not equal D. John of Austria's old steward in faith and enthusiasm. One of them, a long, thin man, with a pointed head, sunken eyes and a flat nose, who looked more like a Barbary corsair than an Italian prince, slowly rose, and with much pompousness and dignity said, "That he thought it rash to provoke the Turk so late in the season in those seas, and it was, in his opinion, safer to concentrate all the forces of the Holy League against Tunis, than to expose themselves to a defeat from such a formidable sea power as Selim II, up to then invincible." The proposal pleased many, because the courage of the man who made it was above suspicion; he was none other than Gian Andrea Doria, one of the most experienced mariners and bravest captains of his day. However, Marco Antonio Colonna openly contradicted him, proposing a prompt and decisive battle, according to the wish of the Pope, and turning to D. John, whose desire to fight he knew, repeated in public what he had said in private:

"Etiamsi oportet me mori, non te negabo."

Sebastian Veniero upheld Colonna with great vehemence, and the two Venetian commissaries Barbarigo and Quirini, and then D. John breathed freely, because once the two other Generals of the League were agreed, he, as Generalissimo, only had to make up the quarrel. He, however, allowed all to talk who wished to do so, some for and some against, and when they had finished, he contented himself with saying, "Enough, gentlemen; all that remains to be done is to hasten the departure and set out in search of victory."

Very simple words certainly, but they were undoubtedly the most heroic in all the story of Lepanto, because it required superhuman courage to undertake the responsibility of an enterprise so dangerous, that men of the stamp of Gian Andrea Doria recoiled before it.

D. John began his preparations for his departure by visiting all the forts and the vessels anchored in the port, which amounted to 200 galleys, fifty-six ships, six formidable galliasses, and more than 80,000 soldiers, counting mercenaries and volunteers. D. John found all the fleet well supplied and prepared, except the Venetian galleys, which were very short of soldiers; this the Generalissimo remedied by dividing among them four Spanish regiments, two of veterans and two of recruits, which wounded the pride of the Venetians, and was the cause of the trouble and danger we shall hear of later. In the galley "Marchesa," of the Pontifical fleet, D. John passed an obscure soldier, whom he did not particularly notice, but whose fame, nevertheless, was to compete with his own in the coming ages; he was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. So it happens sometimes in life; two geniuses brush against each other without knowing it, separate personages to whom Providence allots similar destinies. D. John distributed the monks sent by the Pope among the various galleys, the Capuchins to the Pontifical ships, the Franciscans to those of Genoa, Venice and Savoy, and the Jesuits to the Spanish ones. On board the "Real" was the Franciscan Fr. Miguel Servia, confessor to D. John, and two other Jesuits, H. Briones and Father Cristobal Rodriguez, a man of great learning and virtue, who had been a prisoner of the Turk. Pius V much esteemed Father Cristobal Rodriguez, and entrusted him to tell D. John very privately and with great insistency what he had conveyed to him by other channels: not to hesitate to give battle, as, in the name of God, he promised victory. He also conveyed from the Pope a piece of the True Cross, an inch long and half an inch wide, in a clumsy reliquary of silver with two angels at the sides: it was the wish of the Pontiff that D. John should wear it on his breast during the battle.

Meanwhile Mons. Odescalchi promulgated a plenary jubilee which the Pope had granted to all on board the armada who had confessed, communicated, and prayed to God for victory against the Turk.

The forces all fasted for three days to prepare themselves to gain these spiritual graces, and there was not a soldier, sailor or galley slave who did not confess and communicate, and receive from the hands of the Nuncio a wax Agnus Dei blessed by the Pope, the Generalissimo D. John of Austria setting the example with all the leaders and officers. Then they organised a solemn procession of rogation and the Pontifical Nuncio, wearing vestments, conceded from the high altar to all those who were to fight the same graces that the Church had granted to the conquerors of the Holy Sepulchre. On the 16th of September the fleet at last left Messina for Corfu, and the Nuncio, in a small vessel at the entrance of the port, blessed the galleys and smaller vessels, one by one, as they passed.