Probable as it had seemed for years that an invasion of Cyprus would be undertaken by Suleiman, to crown the glories of his reign by the expulsion of the Christians from the ‘rock’ which they occupied, a perpetual offence to the surrounding Moslem territories, this satisfaction was not to be his. If he listened to the overtures which were made to him by the discontented elements in the island, he took no practical steps to profit by them. Either he was too much occupied with other undertakings, or he was growing old and tired, or he feared to bring down on himself a combination of the Christian Powers. Venetian ducats or fine robes distributed by the Bailies in the proper quarters doubtless also had their effect. It can hardly have been that he was averse to break the oath which he had sworn to keep the peace with Venice ‘and so stain with infamy that glory of which he had always shown himself so desirous’. A general belief prevailed in Constantinople that Venice would never fight. Yet for one reason or another the attack on Cyprus was postponed; not but what preparations went on actively. In 1563, M. de Petremol reported that the Sultan, annoyed by the Venetian seizure of Turkish ships and the use of Cyprus harbours by Maltese pirates, had ordered his fleet to be prepared, probably for an invasion of Cyprus, to which Selim and his sons-in-law were inciting him.