They landed at Candia with the loot, which included the former Chief Black Eunuch of the Harem, the kadi of Cairo, among other pilgrims heading to Mecca.

In response, 60,000 Ottoman troops led by Yusuf Pasha disembarked on Venetian Crete with no apparent target, with many suspecting them heading for Malta.

The following year, Colonel Andrea Barozzi, a Venetian military engineer, defected to the Ottomans and gave them information on weak spots in Candia's fortifications.

Chastened by their failed relief effort and the loss of so valuable a warship, the French abandoned Candia in August 1669, leaving Captain General Francesco Morosini, the commander of Venetian forces, with only 3,600 fit men and scant supplies to defend the fortress.

At the same time, Venice retained possession of Gramvousa, Souda and Spinalonga, fortified islands that shielded natural harbors where Venetian ships could stop during their voyages to the eastern Mediterranean.

"[3] According to a scholar from the USA's National Defense University, information about this planned attack was previously unknown to historians of biological warfare until published in December 2015.

In season 6, episode 3 of the HBO series Silicon Valley, Gilfoyle (incorrectly) states that the Siege of Candia was only ended by use of biological warfare, where the Ottomans were defeated when they became infected with the plague-infested lymph nodes of the dead.