On Lepanto, "the most important naval contest in human history"

Christopher Check, Executive Vice President of The Rockford Institute, provides a helpful introduction and overview of the great battle of Lepanto; here is the opening:

Americans know that in 1492 Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue," but how many know that in the same year the heroic Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the Moors in Grenada? Americans would also probably recognize 1588 as the year of the defeat of the Spanish Armada by Francis Drake and the rest of Queen Elizabeth’s pirates. It was a tragedy for the Catholic kingdom of Spain and a triumph for the Protestant British Empire, and the defeat determined the kind of history that would one day be taught in American schools: Protestant British history.

As a result, 1571, the year of the battle of Lepanto, the most important naval contest in human history, is not well known to Americans. October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrates the victory at Lepanto, the battle that saved the Christian West from defeat at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

That this military triumph is also a Marian feast underscores our image of the Blessed Virgin prefigured in the Canticle of Canticles: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" In October of 1564, the Viziers of the Divan of the Ottoman Empire assembled to urge their sultan to prepare for war with Malta. "Many more difficult victories have fallen to your scimitar than the capture of a handful of men on a tiny little island that is not well fortified," they told him. Their words were flattering but true. During the five-decade reign of Soleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire grew to its fullest glory, encompassing the Caucuses, the Balkans, Anatolia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Soleiman had conquered Aden, Algiers, Baghdad, Belgrade, Budapest, Rhodes, and Temesvar. His war galleys terrorized not only the Mediterranean Sea, but the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf as well. His one defeat was at the gates of Vienna in 1529.

Read the entire article, "The Battle that Saved the Christian West", from the March 2007, issue of This Rock magazine. Also see, from Ignatius Press:

Lepanto | by G.K. Chesterton

Related Products:

Lepanto (E-Book)  - Electronic Book Download

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Edited by Dale Ahlquist

Hilaire Belloc called “Lepanto” Chesterton’s greatest poem and the greatest poem of his generation. But not only have English classes neglected this masterpiece of rhyme and meter, History classes have neglected the story of the pivotal battle upon which the poem is based.

This book brings together the poem, the historical background of the famous battle, a riveting account of the battle itself, and a discussion of its historical consequences. The poem is fully annotated, and is supplemented with two interesting essays by Chesterton himself. Well-known Chesterton expert, Dale Ahlquist, has gathered together all the insightful commentaries and explanatory notes. Here is the story behind the modern conflict between Christianity and Islam, between Protestant and Catholic Europe, and the origin of the Feast of the Holy Rosary. A fascinating blend of literature, history, religion and romance!

“A valuable reference book that is also a great read!” —Therese Warmus,  Literary Editor, Gilbert Magazine

G.K. Chesterton was one of the most prolific and renowned literary writers of the 20th Century. Dale Ahlquist, author of G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, is the President of the American Chesterton Society.

Comments

[Gregory Williams]

Wow! That was exciting reading. Thanks for sharing it!

[scott]

Great read. Such a pivotal moment in history. Pius V was a great man.

(Though I have to admit that I didn't know Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the Moors in Grenada. I'm happy they did, but certainly there couldn't be more than five or six of them there, eh? ;-) )

Anyone wishing to read a riveting account of La Sallette's defense of Malta should check out Angels In Iron by Nicholas Prata. Fantastic read. http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Iron-Nicholas-C-Prata/dp/1889758566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286578033&sr=1-1

[John]

As a Roman Catholic, it has always been crystal clear to me that the 1588 Spanish Armada was doomed to utmost failure even before it set sail. And the reason for that was just the very name the Spanish had given to it: "The Invincible Armada" ("La Armada Invencible"). Once it was given that name, you could bet the farm it was going to be defeated.

Why? Because if you are fighting (or doing anything) for God, you have to place all your trust, all your safety in GOD ALONE. So what the Spanish did was exactly as if David had said before confronting Goliath "I will defeat you because I have The Invincible Sling", which of course would have been an absolute guarantee of failure for him. So what did David say? "I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts ... This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, ... that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hand." (1 Sam 17:45-47)

So this is the name the Spanish should have given to their 1588 Armada if they wanted to win: "The most humble and utterly useless Armada that will win only by the help of God".