The 16th century witnessed ongoing conflict between the Holy League (collection of Spain, Austria, and several Italian States) and the Ottoman Empire which saw the Ottoman conquest of Venetian territories in the eastern Mediterranean.

On the island of Cyprus, Nicosia had just fallen and the Ottomans were marching on Famagusta on the coast. When the Ottomans arrived their commander Lala Mustafa offered the defenders honorable surrender and safe passage but this was rejected by the defending Commander Marco Bragadin. Mustafa promptly began the siege with 100,000 troops over the winter of 1570 while Bragadin with his 8,000 troops was sending desperate messages to the Pope asking for reinforcements (Pope Pius V was having trouble just keeping the League together).

The sandy soil allowed the Ottomans to build trenches and sapper mines underneath the walls. By the end of May Mustafa again offered surrender terms only to be rejected. Despite the resolve of Bragadin the siege took its toll on the soldiers & citizens. Heavy bombardment, sapper mines going off almost daily made the wall increasingly undefensible, and the people were reduced to eating livestock and pets. Eventually in August Bragadin accepted a petition by the citizens to surrender reluctantly.

Both sides agreed to terms of surrender, however on August 5th, 1571 the surrender ceremony went horribly wrong with Mustafa accusing Bragadin of breaking the terms. The Ottoman soldiers were ordered to slaughter all the Christians in the city, and Bragadin was Flayed and Quartered alive with his body parts being given to the troops as war trophies.