by Gašper Blažič
Have you ever wondered what today’s greatest European values are and why Europe, as it is, has survived throughout its turbulent history? Mainly because of the Christian victories over Islam, which today only a few people remember. Nowadays, it is even indecent to talk about them – it is not politically correct. This is one of the reasons why Islamist terrorism is flourishing in Europe.
The beheading of a teacher in Paris, the horrific attack on a church in Nice, where innocent people were beheaded, the shooting in Vienna, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility – these acts do not envision anything good in the future. Already after the bloodstained September 11, 2001, many social scientists predicted that it would be very difficult to find a way to coexist peacefully with Islam. Many, however, still mistakenly believe that it is possible to defend ourselves from Islamism by invoking European secularism, which is in fact a spiritually empty space. At least since the European Union has declaratively renounced the mention of Christian roots in the preamble of the European Constitutional Treaty, and a significant part of the European People’s Party has supported the import of Muslim migrants to Europe, it is clear that Europe’s spiritual immune system is falling apart. In other words: (non) Christian Europe, which has renounced its roots in the name of multiculturalism and worship of non-Christian religious practices, is experiencing its spiritual AIDS, which is also associated with naivety and which leads to certain death following the example of the former Roman Empire.
Stopping the Arab incursion at Tours
The invasion of Europe by Islam is nothing new. It took place as early as the early Middle Ages, when Islam was still in its infancy and after Muhammad’s death, the Arabs embarked on conquests, penetrating the Iberian Peninsula and founding their own state there. The latter lasted until the end of the 15th century, but the remains that point to its existence have been preserved to this day – including the local name Fatima in Portugal, where miraculous events with apparitions of Mary took place during the First World War, which were later also recognized by the Catholic Church.
But in the 8th century, the Arabs would have probably penetrated far into Europe via France if they had not been stopped at the Battle of Tours, where a very important role was played by Charles Martel, a kind of European Judas Maccabeus (his nickname means the same as Martel, hence the “hammer”) and a Frankish general. The “reconquest” of the Iberian Peninsula was not actually completed until seven hundred years later, when the Arabs were finally defeated. But certainly the battle of Tours or Poitiers on the 10th and 11th of October 732 is the first key battle contributing to stopping the penetration of Islam into Europe. This side was at the time represented by a representative of the Umayyad Caliphate, Abdul Rahman Al Gafiki, the governor of Andalusia, who died in the battle.
The decline of the Arabs and the rise of the Turks
But even during the Iberian Caliphate, a new threat emerged from southeastern Europe: the Turks. The Ottoman Empire was founded by the Ottomans from the Oguz tribe in Asia Minor. From a small country at first, a militarily powerful empire emerged over the centuries, extending even to the territories once occupied by the Arabs, including the Holy Land, which was the reason for the Crusades and attempts to reconquer the holy sites. The Ottoman Empire reached its peak in the 17th century, then began to weaken and suffered a major defeat at the end of the 19th century. After the First World War, Turkey remained limited to Asia Minor, but it managed to permanently retain Constantinople (Istanbul), the former capital of the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which collapsed in the 15th century. During this time, the Turks several times invaded the nowadays’s territory of Slovenia, which is also mentioned in the book by Vasko Simoniti (historian and current Minister of Culture) “The Turks are already in the country“.
The Great Battle of Lepanto
Many miraculous signs and events are tied to the defence of the Christian Europe against the Turks. It is known that the annual feast of the Rosary (October 7) and Rosary Sunday (the first Sunday in October) is associated with the anniversary of the great naval battle of Lepanto in Greece. In fact, it was the third naval battle in the area on October 7, 1571, which was also the last major naval battle in the world history, which was fought only with rowing ships. It was also a time when all the European political forces united in the so-called The Holy League against the Turkish Empire, which had been hitherto successfully penetrating Europe. The then papal state, the Venetian Republic, the Kingdom of Naples, Genoa, Habsburg Spain, the Republic of Savoy and the Knights of Malta joined the league.
After the Turks captured Cyprus, they headed towards the Adriatic Sea, which posed a new threat to Europe. This was followed by a somewhat unfortunate raid on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, which made the Turks decide to move back to the Gulf of Patras. The naval fleets of the Holy League – consisting of 206 galleys (including one from Koper!), six galeas and 30 cargo ships – had a total of 12,900 sailors, 43,000 rowers and 28,000 soldiers. The ships were equipped with 1,818 cannons. They were led by Don Juan of Austria, otherwise the illegitimate son of Charles V of Habsburg. On the other side was the Ottoman army led by Ali Pasha. Both fleets were divided into four squadrons.
Christianity was being tested
Early in the morning of October 7, the commanders of the Christian fleet noticed that the Ottoman fleet was being deployed and that it had sailed out of the bay. To prevent general panic and escape, Don Juan of Austria ordered the deployment of the Christian fleet and an attack on the Ottoman ships. At the same time, he sent a message: “Christianity is being tested today, God will not allow these dogs to beat us. Both those who survive and those who die will be happy tonight. Firstly, because they fought in this great battle, and secondly because they will celebrate in heaven.” The battle began at half past ten in the morning when one of the Ottoman commanders, Siroco, attacked the Venetians from behind and killed Commander Barbarigo. But within two hours, the balance of the battle was restored. The Turks wanted to retreat, but 30 galleys ran aground on the coastal shoals. At 1 p.m., Christian forces managed to capture the flagship of Ali Pasha and kill him. When the Turks noticed this, their fighting morale broke and they began to surrender, while Uluh Ali began to retreat. He later attacked again, but was intercepted by reservists, thus he fled and sailed towards Algeria with about 30 galleys. He lost as many as 180 galleys while the Christian fleet only lost 45. About nine thousand men died on the Christian side, but they freed twice as many Christian prisoners. The Turkish side lost thirty thousand men.
A chronicler described the bloodshed at Lepanto: “It was a scene of astonishing devastation, it looked like a biblical painting of the end of the world. (…) The fierce battle lasted four hours, it was so bloody and horrible that the sea and the fire seemed to be one. (…) The surface of the sea was covered with Moorish coats, turbans, arrows, bows, oars, suitcases, and above all many human bodies. (…) Turks, some dead, some wounded, some torn. (…) But in spite of all this misery, our men did not have mercy on the enemy. Although they asked for mercy, they received a shot from an arquebus and a pike tip instead.”
This was the first naval battle lost by the Ottoman Empire, but also the most fatal for them, as the empire never recovered and thus lost its leading role in the Mediterranean. This battle changed the course of the war and the geopolitical situation. Unfortunately, the Christian Holy League did not endure and it disintegrated instead of using its advantage to invade some of the Turkish occupied territories. Moreover, the former allies began to fight each other, which later in history made things easier for the Turks.
The second siege of Vienna successfully repulsed
There is no doubt that the battle of Lepanto ended favourably for the Christians also thanks to a strong prayer chain, as indicated by the already mentioned feast of the Our Lady of the Rosary. The commemoration of Mary’s name (September 12) was introduced as a reminder of another historic battle against the Turks, the Battle of Vienna in the autumn of 1683, just like the Battle of Tours and Lepanto, which is very interesting. According to historians, as many as 150,000 Turkish soldiers surrounded Vienna. They demanded the surrender of the city and submission to Islam. The Viennese rejected the Turkish request, so on June 14 of that year, the Turks launched attacks on the city, which was guarded by a mighty wall.
Emperor Leopold I took refuge in Linz and called the Capuchin bl. Mark of Avian, a famous preacher and a charismatic. The only hope for Vienna was the allied defence army, consisting of Austrian, German, Polish and Italian troops. However, their commanders had to be reconciled, which was advocated by Father Marko. As he later confessed to Emperor Leopold, reconciliation between the commanders was a great clemency, for if they had missed only five days, Vienna would have fallen to the Turks. The great day of the victory for the Christian Europe was September 12, 1683 – on that day, Father Marko marched on Kahlenberg, a hill above Vienna. At the Mass, he was ministered by King Jan Sobieski of Poland, who had arrived from Poland, and his son Jakob. After the common absolution of sins to all repentant soldiers, blessing and prayer, the allied defence army attacked the Turkish army.
Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa, who led the Ottoman army, frightenedly signalled the retreat with a trumpet, and the mighty Turkish army was defeated forever in this part of Europe, with tens of thousands of dead soldiers (five times as many as the Christian army). Brother Mark was among the fighting soldiers throughout the battle to inspire and bless them. He was not too pleased with the fact hat the Christians did not take a better advantage of the victory and pursue the enemy. After the victory, the Christian world rejoiced and thanked God, and in memory of this victory, Pope Innocent XI determined the The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is celebrated annually on the 12th of September. Three years later, Brother Marko played an irreplaceable role in the liberation of Buda (1686), at the time capital of Hungary, and two years later in the liberation of Belgrade (1688).
It is also worth recalling the first Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529, when the Muslim invaders had to withdraw due to the abundance of snow. This, too, was a great miracle that happened in the autumn.
From Sisak to Belgrade
One of the battles where the Ottoman army suffered a defeat was the battle of Sisak in 1593, where the defensive troops were commanded by Andrej Turjaški. Even today, in memory of the victory, the bell of the Zagreb Cathedral rings every day at 2 p.m.
One hundred years before the battle of Sisak, the victorious battle of Belgrade also took place. There, another monk from the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, St. John of Capistrano, played a similar role as Blessed Mark of Avian in the Battle of Vienna. He too was known as a traveling preacher. With his words from the pulpit he intervened in politics and helped to reconcile the conflicting rulers and warring cities. When Constantinople fell in 1453 and the Turks’ invasion into the Central Europe was expected, Capistrano convinced princes in several national assemblies to defend the Christian world. When all the commanders despaired, John of Capistrano, internally inspired, led the Christian troops into the battle and on July 22, 1456, saved Belgrade from a dangerous siege. With a cross in his hand, he encouraged the soldiers to attack the Turks.
All these facts show how Europe has for the most part successfully defended itself against the Turkish threat, but only when the leaders of the country acted in unison and had a strong prayerful support. These historical facts are a reminder to today’s Europe, which has lost its spiritual compass, that it is necessary to return to Christian roots, not only declaratively, but also through personal conversion. Islam is now not conquering Europe by arms, but by settlement of people. It is also worth mentioning that during the Turkish invasions, children were often abducted and made janissaries (remember Jurčič’s famous story about Jurij Kozjak), and young Christian girls were abducted and sold as slaves. These practices have not been abandoned in many Muslim countries to this day – so will we still naively cultivate ideas of a kind of brotherhood or will we defend our culture and civilization following the example of our ancestors?