Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Battle of Lepanto


It's the 444th anniversary of the battle of Lepanto, in which a Mohammedan navy was destroyed by a smaller Christian force, led by Don John of Austria. It's a comparable victory to the lifting of the siege(s) of Vienna, and prevented the Jihad from invading Italy.

Here's an excerpt from Chesterton's Battle of Lepanto:

They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, “Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces—four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not ‘Kismet’; it is he that knows not Fate ;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey in the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.”
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still—hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

Had the battle gone differently, Europe, and by extension the world, might look rather different today. I'd say we owe a vote of thanks to Don John.

God bless,

LSP 

4 comments:

LL said...

I wonder what John would say today, what with 800,000 military age Muslim males moving into Germany/Austria?

LSP said...

What could possibly go wrong?

infidel de manahatta said...

Ah the good old days when Europe actually had the energy, resolve and Christian values to oppose a Muslim invasion. Don't see that happening now. That would be racist.

The Egyptian said...

at that time it was Catholic values, when Christians were united under one faith, one leader, as fragmented as the faith is today I don't hold out much hope, it was after all the Pope who got the leaders together, not the women priests and gay bishops who claim to follow God's law. I ain't givin the catholic bishops of today any slack either, some of them are total wusses