A force of nearly twenty thousand Ottoman Turks under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha invades southern Italy in the summer of 1480.

The first part of the plan is to capture the port city of Otranto.

After it falls, its garrison and inhabitants are executed or sold into slavery.

In response, Pope Sixtus IV issues his second call for a Crusade.

In August 1480, seventy ships of the fleet attack Vieste.

On September 12, the Monastero di San Nicholas di Casole, which accommodates one of the richer libraries of Europe, is destroyed.

Between August and September 1480, King Ferdinand of Naples, with the help of his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic and the Kingdom of Sicily, tries unsuccessfully to recapture Otranto.

By October, attacks have been conducted against the coastal cities of Lecce, Taranto and Brindisi.

However, due to lack of supplies, Gedik Ahmed Pasha does not consolidate his force's advance.

Instead he returns with most of his troops to Albania leaving a garrison of eight hundred infantry and five hundred cavalry behind to defend Otranto.

It is assumed he will return with his army after the winter.

Meanwhile, several Christian monarchs are responding to the papal call with military support.