S.A. McCarthy – WashingtonStand.com
October 7 will be remembered for years as the day Palestine-based Hamas found a chink in Israel’s nearly-impenetrable armor and wreaked havoc on the embattled nation. Days later, Palestinian Muslims sounded again the cry for a global jihad, a “holy” war against Israel, the West, and all whom the Muslim world derides as infidels. This battle cry has been heard many times before, and will probably be heard again, but in these days of turmoil and fear, it is well worthwhile for Christians to recall another October 7 nearly 500 years ago, when that terrific cry was silenced by Christian bravery and the power of prayer.
The Battle of Lepanto is considered one of the greatest naval battles ever fought, the first great victory for a Christian naval force over a Muslim fleet, and a pivotal moment in history. The Muslim Ottoman Empire had, for centuries, been seeking a foothold in Europe to carry out its global jihad and make the entire known world Muslim — either by proselytization or by the sword. Thus far, Christian forces had repelled the Ottoman efforts through a series of hard-fought defensive campaigns and crusades to reclaim fallen territories. In the very early 1570s, the Ottomans thought they’d finally found a way to launch an offensive into the heart of Christian Europe. They laid siege to the Venetian stronghold on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. From there, the Muslims could launch an invasion into Greece, Malta, and Italy.
In August of 1571, the Venetian town of Famagusta surrendered after months of siege. Marco Antonio Bragadin, the Venetian captain-general of Famagusta who had led the defense, negotiated terms with the Ottomans to ensure safe passage for his people off the island, but Ottoman commander Lala Mustafa Pasha wanted revenge for the 50,000 men he’d lost in the siege and so broke his word and imprisoned the Venetians. Many of the soldiers were beheaded, but Bragadin had his ears and nose cut off by Mustafa himself and was kept in a cage, baking in the hot Mediterranean sun for days. Bragadin was offered his freedom if he would convert to Islam, and when he boldly refused, he was slowly flayed alive. Bragadin spent his final hours praying and singing hymns, and his last words were Christ’s own: “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). His flayed skin was stuffed with straw and put on board a boat along with the heads of the slain Venetians and was shipped back to Europe.
Such behavior was not a novelty. When the Muslim Ottomans had waged war with the Knights of Malta on the island of Malta just a few years earlier, knights who surrendered were promised quarter but instead crucified and beheaded and their headless bodies floated across the harbor on their crosses. When the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, had been taken by the Muslims in 1570, Christian soldiers were promised terms of surrender, but were slaughtered; mothers in the town took the lives of their own daughters to spare them from being raped; and over 2,000 boys were rounded up to be sold as sex slaves. The fall of Famagusta meant Cyprus was now under the Ottoman Empire’s control, and so the Muslims began laying plans for an assault into the heart of Christian Europe.
While Famagusta was still under siege, Pope Pius V convened a coalition of Christian soldiers called the Holy League to defend Cyprus, if possible, and the whole of Europe if Cyprus were to fall. The coalition was a significant one at the time, coming in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, as it brought together Christians of several denominations, all united in their love of the faith and their devotion to their homelands and European heritage. Although comprised predominantly of Catholics, the force included Anglicans, Orthodox, Christians of various denominations serving as mercenaries, and even some European Jews.
Although the Pope sought assistance from the whole of Christian Europe, few volunteered ships or soldiers: the French outright spurned his call to arms, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent only a handful of ships, and even the Republic of Venice did not initially join the League, despite the brutalization of its colonies on Cyprus. Spain accounted for the bulk of the Holy League’s soldiers, sailors, ships, and funding, and was joined by the Papal States, Genoa and Tuscany, the Swiss Duchy of Savoy, and the Knights of Malta. The Venetians eventually agreed to join in force, more than doubling the size of the Holy League.
Pius V and the Spanish King Philip II assigned as the leader of the League Philip’s illegitimate half-brother, Don John of Austria, a skilled and highly educated military commander, a loyal ally of his half-brother, a member of the House of Habsburg, and a devout Christian. The author G.K. Chesterton immortalizes Don John in his poem “Lepanto”:
“Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.”
Don John stands out among the heroes of Lepanto as an example for Christians seeking God’s will, trusting in His might, and cooperating to achieve His will in this world. As a faithful Catholic, Don John had a particular devotion to Christ’s mother, Mary, and frequently prayed the Rosary, a Catholic devotion asking Mary to pray to her Son for Christians. Before setting off across the Adriatic Sea, Don John led his men in three days of prayer, asking God to bless their mission, protect them as He saw fit, and to preserve Christian Europe. He wore about his neck a splinter from the cross on which Christ had been crucified, given to him by Pius V.