Question: who did the spanish defeat at the battle of lepanto
Answer: The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League , of which the Venetian Empire and the Spanish Empire were the main powers , inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras , where Ottoman forces sailing westward from their naval station in Lepanto ( the Venetian name of ancient Naupactus Ναύπακτος , Ottoman İnebahtı ) met the fleet of the Holy League sailing east from Messina , Sicily .