[1] In 1659, during the Ottoman–Venetian war over Crete, in an attempt to distract Ottoman attention away from the Siege of Candia, the Venetian commander Francesco Morosini landed in Kalamata, and was joined by the restive local population, the Maniots and Arvanites.

This was especially the case for the Maniots, who resented the loss of privileges and autonomy, including the establishment of Ottoman garrisons in local fortresses, that they had suffered due to their collaboration with the Venetians during the Cretan War.

[14] In the final stage of the siege, 230 Maniots under the Zakynthian noble Pavlos Makris had taken part, and soon Mani rose up in revolt, encouraged by the Venetian presence at Coron, and besieged the Ottoman garrisons in the castles of Zarnata and Kelefa.

The Maniots, divided by mutual jealousies and rivalries, proved ineffective, and Morosini was forced to send ships and men to assist and rally them to a more determined pursuit of the sieges, and stop the garrisons' resupply over the sea.

However, Duke Maximilian William of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who commanded the Hanoverian contingent, opposed this view, urging the council to simply implement Morosini's orders to attack the Ottoman army.

On the left, the sipahis were repulsed by the Saxons, and the Venetians advanced along the whole line of the front, causing the Ottomans to fall back through the town, with the Maniots in close pursuit.