I thought I'd start this thread to give a little reminder of Christian history. Some Christians seem to White Wash Christian history as being oppressed by Rome, then followed a never ending flowering of Christian peace upon the world stage. Only if it were so.
Politically incorrect, still insightful, I start with 2 battles, nearly a 1,000 years apart keeping Muslim invaders out of Europe. While the Bible does not embrace violence as a tactic, the world will always be ruled by the effective use of force.
732 Charles "The Hammer" Martel: Battle of Tours
Western France, under under Odo the Great, the defeated a larger and offensive Muslims army. With a name like "The Hammer" his preparation for the battle is legendary.
His victory set up the Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne The Great & The Holy Roman Empire, which lasted 1,000 years.
Legacy
Edward Gibbon, contended that had Charles fallen, the Umayyad Caliphate would have easily conquered a divided Europe. Gibbon famously observed:
A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.[44]
Nor was Gibbon alone in lavishing praise on Charles as the savior of Christendom and western civilization. H. G. Wells wrote: "The Moslim [sic] when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of [Tours-Poitiers] (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary. He ruled over a multitude of subordinate lords speaking French-Latin and High and Low German languages."[45]
Gibbon was echoed a century later by the Belgian historian Godefroid Kurth, who wrote that the Battle of Tours "must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe."[46]
German historians were especially ardent in their praise of Charles Martel; Schlegel speaks of this "mighty victory",[47] and tells how "the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam." Creasy quotes Leopold von Ranke's opinion that this period was
one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defense calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions.[47]
The German military historian Hans Delbrück said of this battle "there was no more important battle in the history of the world."
1683 Jan Sobieski III & The Duke of Lorraine: Battle of Vienna
On September 11, 1683, the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth led by John Sobieski defeated the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Vienna, shaking Ottoman hegemony in Central Europe and setting the stage for the reconquest of Hungary and the Balkans.
The Battle Begins To the Turks it seemed “as if an all-consuming flood of black pitch was flowing down the hills” at whose head fluttered proudly a large red flag with a white cross. Lorraine’s main concern was the maintenance of a unified front, a daunting task due to the uneven ground.
The Poles finally appeared on the heights after an exhausting march through the rough terrain of the Weidling Valley. (Today we can hardly imagine marching all night before battling all day).
Boiling with vengeance, Mustafa ordered the troops in the trenches to stop the bombardment of the city and called for the destruction of equipment and massacre of captives. Mustafa knew the battle was lost but his will to fight remained undiminished. With lance in hand he led his personal bodyguard in a heroic but doomed assault against the Christians.
Legacy of the Decisive Conflict between the Ottoman Turkish Empire and Holy Roman Empire
It was the greatest victory over the Turks since Don John of Austria’s 1571 victory at Lepanto over the Sultan’s armada. For his heroic defense of the city, Starhemberg was awarded 100,000 crowns, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the title of field marshal.
Joined by the Republic of Venice and the Russian Empire, a new “Holy League” was initiated by Pope Innocent XI and John Sobieski to recover previously ceded land and prevent further Ottoman expansion into Europe in what has been called a “14th crusade”.
Politically incorrect, still insightful, I start with 2 battles, nearly a 1,000 years apart keeping Muslim invaders out of Europe. While the Bible does not embrace violence as a tactic, the world will always be ruled by the effective use of force.
732 Charles "The Hammer" Martel: Battle of Tours
Western France, under under Odo the Great, the defeated a larger and offensive Muslims army. With a name like "The Hammer" his preparation for the battle is legendary.
His victory set up the Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne The Great & The Holy Roman Empire, which lasted 1,000 years.
Legacy
Edward Gibbon, contended that had Charles fallen, the Umayyad Caliphate would have easily conquered a divided Europe. Gibbon famously observed:
A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.[44]
Nor was Gibbon alone in lavishing praise on Charles as the savior of Christendom and western civilization. H. G. Wells wrote: "The Moslim [sic] when they crossed the Pyrenees in 720 found this Frankish kingdom under the practical rule of Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace of a degenerate descendant of Clovis, and experienced the decisive defeat of [Tours-Poitiers] (732) at his hands. This Charles Martel was practically overlord of Europe north of the Alps from the Pyrenees to Hungary. He ruled over a multitude of subordinate lords speaking French-Latin and High and Low German languages."[45]
Gibbon was echoed a century later by the Belgian historian Godefroid Kurth, who wrote that the Battle of Tours "must ever remain one of the great events in the history of the world, as upon its issue depended whether Christian Civilization should continue or Islam prevail throughout Europe."[46]
German historians were especially ardent in their praise of Charles Martel; Schlegel speaks of this "mighty victory",[47] and tells how "the arm of Charles Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam." Creasy quotes Leopold von Ranke's opinion that this period was
one of the most important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of the eighth century, when on the one side Mohammedanism threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other the ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their champion, maintained them with all the energy which the necessity for self-defense calls forth, and finally extended them into new regions.[47]
The German military historian Hans Delbrück said of this battle "there was no more important battle in the history of the world."
1683 Jan Sobieski III & The Duke of Lorraine: Battle of Vienna
On September 11, 1683, the combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth led by John Sobieski defeated the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Vienna, shaking Ottoman hegemony in Central Europe and setting the stage for the reconquest of Hungary and the Balkans.
The Battle Begins To the Turks it seemed “as if an all-consuming flood of black pitch was flowing down the hills” at whose head fluttered proudly a large red flag with a white cross. Lorraine’s main concern was the maintenance of a unified front, a daunting task due to the uneven ground.
The Poles finally appeared on the heights after an exhausting march through the rough terrain of the Weidling Valley. (Today we can hardly imagine marching all night before battling all day).
Boiling with vengeance, Mustafa ordered the troops in the trenches to stop the bombardment of the city and called for the destruction of equipment and massacre of captives. Mustafa knew the battle was lost but his will to fight remained undiminished. With lance in hand he led his personal bodyguard in a heroic but doomed assault against the Christians.
Legacy of the Decisive Conflict between the Ottoman Turkish Empire and Holy Roman Empire
It was the greatest victory over the Turks since Don John of Austria’s 1571 victory at Lepanto over the Sultan’s armada. For his heroic defense of the city, Starhemberg was awarded 100,000 crowns, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the title of field marshal.
Joined by the Republic of Venice and the Russian Empire, a new “Holy League” was initiated by Pope Innocent XI and John Sobieski to recover previously ceded land and prevent further Ottoman expansion into Europe in what has been called a “14th crusade”.
