Caracossa

Kara Hoja , known as Caracossa, Ali Fartax or Candelissa in Europe, was an Italian Barbary corsair and defrocked Dominican friar allied with the Ottoman Empire. He is reputed to be from Chioggia, Fano, or Calabria. In June–July 1571, he led the blockade of the San Marco basin in Venice, which was the first ever direct nautical threat that the capital of the Republic of Venice faced in its history. He was present at the Battle of Lepanto later that year and was shot by a soldier with an arquebus. According to Antonio Bosio, he was killed in the Great Siege of Malta, although it is probably inaccurate.