Lepanto: 455 Years Later
The Catholic Thing
By Kristen Ziccarelli "On October 7, AD 1571, the fleet of the Holy League under the command of one Don Juan de Austria defeated the Turkish fleet in the Gulf of Lepanto. That was how they would put it; that was how they would teach it to their children. And it was wrong. For what really happened was that God made use of a number of his servants to stop the progress of the Crescent in the holy name of the Cross." Louis de Wohl, "The Last Crusader: A Novel about Don Juan of Austria" Louis de Wohl's biographical masterpiece, written from the perspective of Don Juan of Austria, names the titular hero "the last crusader." The novel opens with his childhood, playing a game of "Moors against Christians," and closes on the evening of October 7, 1571, when he had achieved the miraculous victory at the Battle of Lepanto. His men invite him to leave the ship for dinner, reminding him that he fought all day eating only "a few biscuits and a goblet of wine." Today we celebrate that victory, which is impossible to remember without God. Four hundred years ago, Christian Europe was embroiled in the Reformation as the Ottomans repeatedly threatened its Mediterranean frontiers. Pope Pius V, an austere Dominican, responded to growing Islamic aggression with both the zeal of worldly action and heavenly petition. Using the convening power only he had, the Holy Father formed a coalition of otherwise rival and estranged military forces across the continent: the Spanish Empire under Philip II (including Naples and Sicily), the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Knights of Malta, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Order of Saint Stephen, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Urbino, and the Duchy of Parma. Their commander was twenty-four-year-old Don Juan of Austria, the half-brother of Philip II of Spain and illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V. The Islamic Ottoman naval forces had captured Cyprus; their naval powers were virtually undefeated, threatening the Christian states of the Mediterranean and ultimately, Rome. Though confident in Don Juan's military genius and certainly aware of the exhaustive preparations, the pope called the faithful in Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. He had sanctified the Holy League as an alliance and crusade, personally fasted for the cause of Christianity against Islam, and received a vision of the victory before the news reached Rome. He attributed the triumph to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Auxilium Christianorum ("Help of Christians"). Among those who fought and were wounded that day was Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, who remembered the battle as the "best day's work in centuries." Don Juan's men, who numbered over 100,000, received the Sacrament of Penance and boarded their ships (each affixed with a crucifix) armed with Rosaries. Don Juan himself wore a relic of the True Cross. Outnumbered, and led by a 24-year-old commander, the Holy League decimated the Ottoman fleet, ending its naval supremacy. Ottoman commander Ali Pasha was killed after Don Juan rammed his ship; the crescent flag was captured. Many Christian slaves were freed from the enemy galleys. G. K. Chesterton's poem, Lepanto retells that day's drama, and the miracle Our Lady brought. In 1571, Europe was a house divided: And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room, And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom, And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee, But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea. The Church was living through the Protestant Reformation, beginning to fracture the continent. Catholic monarchies pursued competing dynastic ambitions and faced new religious and political antagonisms in Protestant territories. Maximilian II, the Holy Roman Emperor, and France, under King Charles IX, declined to join the Holy League. There were quarrels among the men on the galleys at Lepanto, but Don Juan insisted they work together under penalty of death. One powerful lesson ...