Petros Lantzas

Petros Lantzas (Greek: Πέτρος Λάντζας; died 1608) was a Greek rebel, spy, and privateer. He initially worked for the Republic of Venice and from 1574 was employed by the Spanish Empire. Lantzas was involved in various plots to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greek-inhabited regions. In 1608 he devised a plan for the assassination of the Ottoman Sultan by placing a present containing explosives in front of him.

Petros Lantzas was born on the island of Corfu, then part of the Republic of Venice (but now in Greece). During the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1570-1573 he supported the rebellion of Emmanuel Mormoris in Ottoman-ruled Epirus. As such, Lantzas made preparatory skirmishes and raided Turkish ships in the regions of Lepanto and Preveza. He also attacked inland regions and penetrated as far as Delvinë. At the end of the war (1573) he was appointed governor of the coastal town of Parga, opposite of Corfu, by the Venetians.

However, in 1574 Lantzas was dismissed from office and banished by the Venetian authorities. Though the reason for this turn of events is not clear, an anonymous letter sent to the local Venetian provveditore (governor-general) alleged that Lantzas was ostensibly buying munitions from the Spanish to allow the locals to defend themselves against the Turks, but according to the letter he was in fact selling these munitions to the Turks for his own profit. The letter goes on to ask for Lantzas to be assassinated. Meanwhile, being unhappy with the Venetian–Ottoman peace settlement, he transferred to Spanish service. He served the Viceroy of Naples and became a notable member of the Greek community of Naples.

Venice decided to sue for a unilateral peace with the Ottomans in 1573. As a result, the Greek collaborators of the Venetians and their agents in Corfu and the Ottoman Empire turned to the Kingdom of Naples, then part of the Spanish Empire. On the other hand, Spain actively encouraged insurrections against the Ottoman Empire and acceded to the petitions of a number of rebels and potential rebels.

In the following years Lantzas served the Spanish as a corsair and spy. In July 1576 he went to Himara, where the local population was willing to raise a revolt against Ottoman rule. As part of this Lantzas, together with the rebels from Himara, led an attack against the nearby Ottoman fortress of Sopot, but did not meet with success.

Lantzas' assignment was to supervise the military movements of the Ottomans, as well as those of the Venetians, and to direct the shipment of weapons, provisions, spies, and saboteurs who were sent repeatedly to Epirus, the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. He led pirate raids against Ottoman ships, while from 1577 he began attacking Venetian ships, thus creating diplomatic tensions between Habsburg Spain and Venice. This activity aroused the wrath of Venice, which attempted to assassinate him. As a result of this activity Lantzas was dismissed from his post as the captain of the royal frigates in 1578, though he continued to serve the Viceroys of Naples until the first decade of the 17th century.

In 1578, under the guidance of Lantzas, plans were proposed to the Viceroy of Naples and the Spanish king Philip II for a military intervention in favor of a Greek insurrection in Cyprus, which had been occupied by the Ottomans since 1571. In August 1596 Lantzas supported another revolt in Himara led by the archbishop of Ohrid, Athanasios Rizeas.

Later, Lantzas proposed to engage in a number of clandestine operations by moving to Constantinople. In 1608 he devised a plan to assassinate the Ottoman Sultan by placing a present containing explosives in front of him.

Lantzas died in 1608 during a trip to Ragusa on the Adriatic shore.

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